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“No!” I thought of Rose and of tiny, crying Sammy never knowing his own father because of this man, and I wrenched myself away from Connor as the mugger’s finger moved on the trigger. Whatever happened, my brother would be okay. Connor would be okay. Whatever happened to me didn’t matter. Two of the most important men in my life were in immediate danger right in front of me and I’d be damned if I was about to let anything happen to them. I let go of Alex and I felt him reach out for me, yelling. I ran, pushing my legs across the short length of hardwood floor until I was right on the mugger and Oliver was screaming at me to Stop!
Someone shoved me away with one, hard push, and I hit the hardwood floor with a painful smack, crying out at the pain in my elbow. There were footsteps across the floor and a shout. I turned to look as quickly as I could, just in time to watch Connor tackle the mugger to the ground and Oliver fall backward against the display case. Alex jumped forward, but he wasn’t fast enough.
Neither one of us was fast enough to reach Connor.
The gun went off, echoing in the corners of my mind like the memory of every bad dream I’d ever had. My ears rang and I felt woozy from where I sat on the floor, blinking at the light from the fireplace. I heard police sirens, distantly, and I pushed myself from the position I was in, swaying as I stood as pain throbbed in my arm. Oliver stood frozen and Alex was putting away his phone. I realized he must have called the cops.
Connor. When I looked over, his body was crumpled on the floor and I cried out, stumbling over to him, and praying to whatever god that was listening.
Suddenly, the mugger jumped from the floor and stumbled with wide eyes under his mask. He still held his gun and he waved it around at us, herding us backward as he tumbled toward the door, throwing it open as Alex jumped away from him.
“Connor?” I called out and my voice sounded small. I looked at Oliver, who reached a hand out and then let it fall again. My throat ached and my eyes burned as I fell to my knees beside Connor. “Connor, please.”
He was turned away from me, twisted onto his side, and with his long legs splayed. This morning seemed so long ago, watching Connor cook bacon and eggs and feeling his warmth next to me. I could still feel his hands on me, holding me close in the soft sheets of his bed, and his voice, sending shivers trailing down my spine. The thought of his body going cold, of never feeling the heat of him ever again—never seeing his smile ever again, was heart-wrenching. My whole world crashed around me and I reached out a trembling hand to touch his golden hair. He had saved my brother and thrown his own life into immediate danger in the process.
“Please, no,” I was crying then, salty tears smearing down my cheeks, and I felt a hand on my back that I knew must have been my brother’s.
I laid over Connor, pressing my body to his as if I could protect him from his fate. My chest ached with my sobbing breath and I heard the wailing of the sirens just outside the doors now. The ambulance would be here soon—or maybe the coroner like before with my mom, cooling bodies zipped into cold, black bags like they had never been people. I couldn't watch them take Connor away, I couldn’t let them pull him away from me when he meant so much…
“Sadie?”
At the hesitant call of my name, the sound that left my mouth was some kind of hybrid laugh and sob. Connor’s hoarse voice was the most beautiful thing in the world, and I cried even harder for whatever deity had spared him, letting Oliver and Alex help him turn over when they crouched down beside us. Connor sat up slowly, rubbing the side of his head, and I refused to let him go. I pressed my hands to his flushed cheeks, down his arms, over his chest to feel the rise and fall of each breath.
He blinked, looking around in confusion. “I must have hit my head or something. Where did he go?” I couldn’t even speak, and I shook my head. Connor raised his eyebrows, seeing me clearly. “Hey, hey, what is it? Why are you crying? Are those tears for me?”
“You’re an asshole,” I coughed out a laugh, wiping the tears from my eyes. Connor thumbed away the rest, bringing our foreheads together and looking like I was the one who needed comforting when he was the one who had just tackled a mugger.
