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“In shock. Bruised and battered. She probably has broken bones in her left foot. The skin on both feet is raw and ripped,” Joy’s anger was hard to miss. “And the emotional trauma…it’ll stay with her forever. But we have her back, Heath. We have our Crispin back. We didn’t lose her today. I thought we had lost our baby girl today, but we have her now. No matter what.”
Heather hugged her sister with one arm. She had just stepped back when the chief moved closer. Heather’s free hand dropped. Joy’s wrapped around hers. They held each other like they used to when they were young girls and afraid. Until Bonnie would be there to tell them they’d be ok. “Any word?”
The chief nodded. His face…wasn’t quite as tense as it had been when they’d last spoken. Heather fought feeling hope. She knew better. “We’ve found her. They are bringing your sister in now. By private chopper on loan from Barratt-Handley. They found her behind the building. No word on her condition yet. But she’s coming in now. I wanted you to know as quickly as possible.”
Heather nodded. She looked toward the waiting area off the emergency department. Where her family waited. “Thank you. I mean that.”
He just nodded.
Heather and Joy went to their family. And told them.
Then…once again…it was time to wait.
143
They were takingZoey up to radiology for X-rays. She wanted to protest, wanted to be there in the waiting room. Waiting on news of Pen, Sydney…and Murdoch.
She wanted a chance to tell that man that she loved him. She had never told him that she loved him. She…wanted to tell him before he said it to her first. She wanted to beat him to the punch.
And then she was going to tell him to have his brothers pack his gear and get his butt to her new robo-house, and he was staying there forever.
Her, him, Pen, and two little kids she had found tonight.
It was a lot to take in. She was tired. She would think about it all later. But she needed to be there. To find out about her sister.
She was being wheeled out of the exam room when the emergency department doors opened. And a woman with dark hair was rolled in on a gurney—Gunnar Erickson and Dom Acardi coming up behind the responders.
Ariella’s sister-in-law, a trauma physician at FCGH, met them just inside. And then they took the woman away, a short blond woman running next to the gurney the whole way.
Nikkie Jean continued to push Zoey’s wheelchair. “Where are the kids, Nik? I need…to be with them. They are going to be so afraid. And I need to get to Pen. She’ll need me now. I need to be there. And Murdoch. I need to tell him first.”
“What do you want to tell that sexy blond man of yours?”
“How much I love him. I want to say itfirst.”
“You’ll have plenty of time for that after we are finished cleaning you up for him. Besides, it’s not exactly a secret. Everyone knows how you two feel about each other. There’s even a betting pool.”
Zoey rather liked the sound of that. “I still want to tell him first, though. Can’t let him get the jump on me all the time.”
“You two are exceptionally cute together, by the way. We all know that.”
“Have you heard anything about anyone else?” Nikkie Jean had been keeping track of everyone’s conditions. Zoey had to know. Nikkie Jean checked her phone and the group message everyone was using to communicate.
“Pen is in surgery to remove the bullet now and repair the damage. But it doesn’t look like it hit anything vital. Our baby has a broken collarbone. It’ll take about six weeks to heal properly, Zo. She has a few bruises, but that’s it. Grace Reynolds lost quite a bit of blood, but she was brought to us in time. It was very, very close and she coded once on the table, but they brought her back.”
“Sydney and Murdoch?”
Nikkie Jean’s expression was more worried now. Zoey tried not to panic.
“Murdoch lost a lot of blood, but his wounds were superficial. He’s going to not be moving too well for a few weeks—at least he shouldn’t, anyway, he’ll be pretty sore—but he’ll make a full recovery. His tank just got a little low—we filled him right back up.”
“Did Jo-Jo make it?” Zoey asked quietly. Nikkie Jean was close friends with Josie’s older sister Annie. Nikkie Jean and that girl were close as well. “Nik?”
Nikkie Jean nodded, but her face told Zoey it wasn’t good news. “She’s in intensive care now. She’s got a longer road to recovery. The bones in her leg was shattered, Zo. One bullet hit the femur, the other hit the tibia. She may not ever have full mobility again. There was also damage to her liver. I can’t say too much more. HIPAA.”
“And Sydney? Just…tell me she’s going to make it. I really need to know Sydney is going to make it right now.”
Nikkie Jean hesitated. “She made it here in time, we think. In the critical first hour. And barring any complications, she’ll probably make a full recovery. At least physically. We all know…what trauma does to a person.”
