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Really happened.
I don’t want it to have been real—but it is.
Barrett hit me that night. My Bear.
I sit on a rolling chair in the empty room and put my head in my hands.
“You okay?” I hear Michael murmur.
I shake my head. I use my feet to scoot my chair over to the examination table, then I put my arms on the paper-covered table and I lean against it as my mind gallops ahead of me.
My heart starts racing.
Barrett hit me.
Nic came at me with a gun.
I shot Nic.
A sob leaks out.
I shot Nic! I shot Jamie’s boyfriend! Will I get arrested?
Where is Barrett?
I want Barrett!
Someone rubs my back as I cry, hunched over the table. The hand stops. I hear someone come in and look up to see Dove. His lips are pressed together and his arms are crossed.
As his eyes move over mine and Michael’s, he uncrosses his arms. “Talked to someone. Brothers. Wife,” he waves at me, “we have a right to updates. Bear’s in surgery. They cauterized the artery right after he got here, so the bleeding’s stopped. He’s getting blood. The surgery they’re doing isn’t major. Mostly on his trachea, they told me. And they think he’s stable now.”
I see him hold Michael’s eyes, and even though Dove’s aren’t soft or emotional, I can feel that he is checking his friend over, making sure he’s okay. Michael nods, and Dove’s gaze shifts to my face.
“Gwenna, do you want to be here? One of us can take you home.”
I don’t even realize I’ve stood up until I notice how close my face is to Dove’s. “You aren’t taking me home!” My voice shakes. “You can’t make me leave. I’ve never even seen you.”
“Whoa, now—”
“I don’t know you, but I know Barrett. Maybe everything is all messed up with us. I know—” my voice breaks. “I know he might have…” I shake my head as tears fall down my cheeks. “I still want him to be okay, though. And alive.” I give a fragile little laugh, devoid of humor.
“I’m not leaving till I know he’s okay and he doesn’t want me here. I’m not going to force my presence on him—”
I hear someone chuckle and look back at Michael.
His brows wiggle. “Force.” He’s looking smirky.
“Yes, I said I wouldn’t—”
Dove’s hand closes on my arm. I look from Michael to him. “Sit down, Gwenna. You’re shaking and I’m worried that you’re going to fall. Barrett would kill both of us.”
I end up on the exam table, my feet dangling off, feeling sick and leaking tears, looking out at Bear’s two good friends.
“Sorry.” I cup my face in my hands so I don’t embarrass myself further. “You can leave me in here and just give me updates. I’ll come out,” I sob, “in just a little bit—” my body quivers on another sob— “to hear…if…he’s okay.”
I can feel Dove stepping closer, his hand touch down on my back. He pulls me up against him and I can’t help it— I let him, and I cry into his flannel shirt. Bear’s friends. If they were at his house, they know him; they love him. They’re the ones he wanted with him, not me.
“It’s a shame how this went down,” I hear one of them say.
