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“Maybe half an hour more,” the staffer responds.
Sweets looks at me, requesting my approval. I look at Brody, giving him a questioning look as to what to do, when I quickly see he has no idea what I’m asking him for.
One way or the other, he signs me an ‘okay,’ and I give Sweets a thumbs up that we can continue.
More fans come. It all goes smoothly, that is until a tall boy in a black and a blue baseball cap changes the status quo and requests a picture with me first.
“I told you would be mine, Lily.” It’s Ben’s voice, and as his hand reaches out to me, I rip his baseball cap, finally recognizing him.
“Brody!” I yell.
Brody dashes forward like an arrow, hands at the ready to apply some martial arts moves on Ben. But Ben reaches inside the pocket of his hoodie and pulls out a knife before he can reach him, swiping it against Brody and drawing out a spray of blood.
“Oh, my God!” I cry with tears in my voice, trying to support Brody with my weight as he feels his lower belly.
“I’m okay,” he says, poorly convincing as he wheezes and stumbles.
The staffers run for us, offering help and calling 911. Security officers are running around in chaos, trying to locate the culprit. From what I hear from Brody’s radio, everyone has gone completely haywire with the commotion, and he’s running away.
I try to make Brody sit down on the floor, but he won’t budge, so I just hold onto his hand until the paramedics come. Not even then can I get him to lay down, so he’s still standing as he gets bandaged and whisked out to the emergency room.
He gets inside the ambulance with minimal help, but when I try to get in as well, I’m barred. “Family only, miss,” the paramedic in charge says, blocking my way and my view.
“Go find Sandra! Stay out of the crowd!” Brody shouts at me, but I don’t want anything to do with Sandra or quiet places - I want to be with him.
“Where are you taking him?” I ask the medic as he goes to close the ambulance door.
“Grady Memorial. It’s a short distance from here,” he says, disappearing as the doors shut. I’m left with my heart in my throat.
Alone in the middle of an ocean of people, I start to cry. A security officer finds me and takes me inside, guiding me with hands on my shoulders, speaking to me words I can’t, or don’t care enough to, understand.
“Lily!” Sandra is the one to find me now, standing at the elevator lobby.
“Where were you?!” I ask her, angry fists curled into balls.
Sandra holds into my fists and lowers them gently. Looking me straight in the eye, she disarms me, and I collapse crying in her arms.
“I’m sorry, Lily, I… I was with Sweets’ social media manager. I couldn’t have known this would happen!” she says, all apologies. “Do you know where they took Brody?”
I nod. Calming down, I brush my hair with my fingers and say, “Grady Memorial. No idea where that is.”
“In GPS we trust. You!” she points to the officer who brought me there. “Drive us there!”
The man barely has a chance to know what hit him and soon we are in his vehicle driving through traffic, following instructions from Sandra’s phone. He is deaf to my pleas of going faster, and Sandra tries to calm me down.
“Okay, I was afraid to ask, but… Was it as serious as they told me?” Sandra asks, fearful.
I start to go into disarray again but hold back for her sake. “He bled a lot but was walking all the way into the ambulance. He might be fine,” I smile to Sandra, who smiles at me, relieved.
The officer stops the car in front of the hospital’s reception, and despite him calling out to us “Wait!”, Sandra and I run ahead to talk to the nurse on duty.
“Brody Garrison, I’m his sister,” Sandra says, showing the nurse her driver’s license. “Can you tell me where he is?”
“Brody… Garrison…” the nurse types so slowly if feels like it’s almost on purpose. “He’s in the Emergency Room right now but will be moved to observation any minute. You can take this hallway to the left, first door to the right.”
“Thank you,” I say, knowing that my makeup is completely ruined.
We get to the Emergency Room after a moment’s search, but Brody is no longer there. We’re then pointed to another area in the myriad of hallways, where a young doctor confirms he’s there, but tells us to wait outside for a few moments.
