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Elizabeth
“Congrats, Lizzy!”
“Thanks!” Elizabeth returned James’ high five, grinning broadly. This bill had been a long time in the making. It had had many vocal opponents, as she’d known it would, but thanks to her efforts, as well as the efforts of her political allies, Elizabeth had finally managed to push it through.
With the new law in place, doctors would no longer legally be allowed to turn away LGBT+ patients for treatment.
Elizabeth wasn’t out in public, but she had made it her business to promote LGBT+ rights in her career. Someday, she hoped to come out, but that day was a long way off.
She knew that her being a lesbian would change everything. Many people who respected her as a straight LGBT+ ally would think differently of her if they knew who she really was. She couldn’t afford to lose the momentum she had gained. There were too many vulnerable people relying on her doing what she had promised when she was elected.
“Dinner at Amy’s Diner, my treat!” Her staff all cheered.
Their boisterous group made its way down the street, chatting about the finer points of the bill that had finally been passed after months of waiting. It wasn’t far to the diner, and it was a pleasant night for a walk.
Elizabeth didn’t even see the man coming. One moment, she was laughing with Megan about the looks on the oppositions’ faces when their bill went through, and the next, she was staring down the barrel of a gun.
Everything happened so fast that she didn’t have time to react. James shouted her name and leaped in front of her just as the gun went off. James’ body jerked violently as he was pushed back by the force of the bullet.
He collided with Elizabeth and the two of them hit the ground. She was vaguely aware of her staff surrounding her and caught a brief glimpse of her attacker sprinting away, but most of her attention was on James.
More specifically, his blood, which was swiftly covering both her and the sidewalk beneath them.
Elizabeth’s hands were shaking so badly that she could barely hold her phone, but she somehow managed to dial 911.
She didn’t remember the conversation. She must have given the operator their location, because she soon heard sirens in the distance, but she didn’t look up. She had her hands pressed to James’ chest.
He was breathing, but his breath rattled alarmingly, and he was getting paler by the second. The bullet had hit the left side of his chest. It was a wonder he wasn’t dead already. Elizabeth had her doubts about him even making it to the hospital alive.
The thought filled her with paralyzing dread. James had been her assistant for over ten years. He was like family. He couldn’t die, much less because of her. How would she ever be able to look at herself in the mirror again?
Paramedics hurried through and took James into the ambulance. No one protested when Elizabeth got in to ride with him.
“Stay with me, James. Just keep breathing. You can do this. Help is here. Just hang on.”
She didn’t know if James could hear her or not, but she kept talking to him, just in case. The paramedics did something that caused him to arch up off the bed, crying out in pain.
“It’s okay, James! Please, just try to relax. The paramedics are trying to help you. I know if hurts, but you have to let them do their job.” Elizabeth didn’t try to fight the tears that were streaming down her face. This was a nightmare. She’d gotten death threats before, of course, but she’d never had anyone actually attempt to act on those threats.
This was all her fault. She should have known that this bill would put her on the map. Of course, people were going to target her, and that meant that anyone around her was in danger. She should have hired security. If she had, maybe James wouldn’t be dying in front of her right now.
No, he wasn’t dying. She couldn’t bring herself to think like that. He would be fine. Hehadto be fine.
They got to the hospital and James was immediately rushed to surgery. A kind nurse took Elizabeth into the shower, helped wash the blood off her and loaned her some scrubs to wear, since her own clothes were soaked with James’ blood.
“Thank you,” Elizabeth mumbled.
“You’re welcome, dear. You just sit here, now, and the doctor will be out shortly.”
Elizabeth had barely sat down when Alex hurtled into the hospital, her jaw set and her face white.
“Alex!” Elizabeth got up at once. She had met James’ sister a couple of times before. She knew that Alex was a former Marine who was struggling with PTSD. The last thing she needed was to have that PTSD added to, but there was nothing to be done about that right now.
“Elizabeth! What happened?”
“He was trying to protect me.” Elizabeth found she couldn’t meet Alex’s gaze. “He shouldn’t have been shot. The gunman was after me, but James jumped in the way.”
