Page 100 of Take The Risk

​Now, I was sick to my soul knowing I’d waited too long.

​Adding to our misery, we’d learned the hard way Amber-Rae had gone full-on crackers and had called the media, outing Phoebe. No one had expected the reporter, with their cameraman in tow, coming into the waiting room asking questions.

​Alex had finally gotten to use Wanda.

​Being the great-niece of the Edith Devereaux, something she’d proudly proclaimed when they demanded her arrest for smashing the camera and chasing them with the bat, kept her from being arrested. As long as she replaced the camera.

​Dad called from Canada. He was trying to get a flight back, but winter had hit up there and it would be a couple of days. He hadn’t been surprised finding out “officially” about Phoebe and me. All he’d said was “It’s about damned time.” Then told me to listen to my mother. I didn’t have to forgive her. I wasn’t sure I could ever forgive her. But I needed to hear her out. Trust him.

​So I did.

​I didn’t forgive her. I couldn’t. Not yet, anyway. She admitted she’d lost control of herself and agreed she needed to get help. I wasn’t sure if she’d go to jail or not, but I didn’t want to see my mom locked up. I knew her past with Harris and Mindy played a part here, along with my hiding my relationship with Phoebe. I didn’t exactly blame her either for jumping to conclusions after finding those letters, all of it fueled by my secrecy.

​When I’d written those notes, I’d been graphic as hell. I loved watching Phoebe read them, her cheeks turning my favorite shade of pink. Sometimes she’d sink her teeth into her bottom lip, a sensual smile on her face.

​I’d never expected Mom to find them in Jesse’s room.

​I had to ask myself how I would have responded if I’d found something like that in Lock’s room at eighteen. I’d started thinking like a father, like Lock’s father or the father I wanted to be to him, and knew I’d have lost my shit, too.

​I was going to be Lock’s father. Or at least as close to it as he’d let me, whether Phoebe lived or not. Lock was mine now.

​“On your feet!” Alex whispered, nudging my arm.

​Coming down the hall were two men dressed in hospital scrubs along with the nurse who’d spoken to us earlier.

​Quietly, we got up, making our way as calmly as possible to the door, not wanting to alert Lock.

​My feet felt like lead with every step I took when I saw their grim faces.

​Closing the waiting room door behind us, the nurse introduced us.

​“Her son is in there,” Alex said at the doctor’s questioning look.”

​“I understand,” the doctor with the round face and bushy eyebrows, Doctor Wolstencroft, acknowledged.

​“How is she?” I forced the words out.

​“She’s alive,” the nurse assured us, earning a look of censure from the doctors.

​I thought I was going to pass out. I grabbed for Alex, needing her to steady me this time. She’s alive. She’s alive.

​“She’s alive, for now,” Doctor Wolstencroft said. “As you know, Ms. Lebonaire was shot twice. One bullet entered her lower abdomen and lodged in her uterus. I’m sorry to say we had to perform an emergency hysterectomy.” He gave me a sympathetic look.

​“We already have a son.”

​Alex gave me the first genuine smile I’d seen from her all day.

​“The second bullet,”—Doctor Morgan took over— “entered her back, punctured her lung, traversed her chest cavity, cut right along the right ventricle of her heart, and lodged in the breastbone.”

​“She was shot in the heart?” Alex looked sick.

​“In layman’s terms, yes. She was lucky. The bullet lodging in her breastbone put enough pressure on the heart to keep her from bleeding out, allowing her to get to the hospital. It was rather ironic. The bullet that nearly killed her was also the bullet that helped save her life.” Doctor Morgan shook his head as if he couldn’t make sense of it.

​“So she’ll live?” Alex held my hand tightly.

​“We don’t know. The damage to her heart was extensive combined with the collapsed lung and other internal injuries. She’s alive right now. We’re taking her to the Cardiac I.C.U., where she can be monitored around the clock. There was also some swelling in her brain from a head injury. We’re going to keep her in a medically induced coma for several days. It will help the swelling but will also give her a lower load on her heart, giving it a better chance to start healing.”

​We both just looked at him.