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“Can’t, that hurts.” She frowned.
“Try,” her brother encouraged.
She breathed in, pain shooting through her ribs. “That’s all you get,” she managed.
“Okay.” When Colin finished assessing her, he sat back. “Your vitals are stable, El. We’ll know more once they run you through the CT scanner, but I don’t see any sign of internal bleeding.”
“That’s good.” She turned to gaze at Joe, telling herself it was time to let the horror from the Christmas parade go. God had watched over them. They were alive and relatively unharmed. She couldn’t ask for anything more.
“Are you okay?” Joe’s blue eyes were full of concern.
“Yes.” She couldn’t help but smile, even as Colin eyed Joe with suspicion.
“We’re coming up on Trinity Medical Center,” the driver said.
“Understood,” Colin replied. He patted her hand. “Don’t worry, I’ll let Rhy and the rest of the sibs know.”
“Oh, please don’t.” She winced as the rig went over a bump. “I’m fine. There’s no need to get the family all riled up.”
The stubborn expression on Colin’s face made her realize protesting was useless. She should be used to her older brothers’ overprotectiveness by now.
When they arrived at the hospital, Colin and Joe wheeled her inside. She felt like a fraud because she wasn’t hurt badly enough to need an ambulance.
When she was wheeled into a room, Alanna came rushing over. “Elly! I heard you were hurt! How are you?”
Elly inwardly groaned. This was what happened when you had eight older siblings working as first responders. “Fine, it’s not bad.”
“They won’t let me be your nurse, but I’ll be checking in frequently.” Alanna moved back to allow a pretty dark-haired nurse to come in. “This is Dana Callahan, Mitch’s wife. Dana, this is Elly Finnegan.”
“I’ve heard so much about you,” Dana said with a smile. “And we’re all looking forward to the Christmas family reunion. Let’s get you hooked up to our monitor.” Dana arched a brow at Colin and Joe. “A little privacy please?”
“Of course.” The tips of Joe’s ears turned red as he hastened to get out of the room with Colin on his heels.
Once the bullet-resistant vest and her clothes were removed, Dana put her in a hospital gown. Shortly thereafter, a doctor came in. Not Colin’s wife, Faye, probably for the same reason Alanna couldn’t be her nurse, but an older guy by the name of Dr. Willis who had kind eyes.
Things happened quickly after that. She was whisked down the hall to the radiology department for the promised CT scan. Moving from the bed to the table hurt far more than she’d expected.
“This shouldn’t take too long,” the tech assured her.
“I’m fine.” She was tempted to write the words in indelible ink on her forehead so she wouldn’t need to keep repeating herself.
Twenty minutes later, Elly was transferred back to the gurney and wheeled into her room. The tech assured her someone would be in shortly. Being alone, even briefly, was nice. She couldn’t take a deep breath without wanting to cry, but the nightmare was over.
Her body and her mind would heal. Her heart? She couldn’t hide the wave of sadness. Joe had protected her for her brother’s sake. And because she’d been like a sister to him.
Loving Joe was incredibly easy. Letting him go would be one of the most difficult things she’d ever done.
“Elly?” She turned to see Joe hovering in the doorway.
“Hey.” She lifted her hand. “Please don’t ask how I’m doing. I feel like I’ve answered that a hundred times already.”
“Okay, I won’t ask.” His intense gaze held hers. “I just heard from Raelyn. They found the trailer Ashton was living in, along with a detailed sketch of the parade route and his assault weapon, but there’s no sign of him. They’re canvassing the neighbors now. And, of course, we’ve issued a BOLO for him with his Detroit driver’s license photo. He’ll be caught soon enough.”
“I’m sure he will.” She honestly wasn’t worried. Having the evil man’s name was a game changer. He’d no longer be able to hide in anonymity.
The sound of loud beeping came from another room. Hospital staff, including Alanna, scurried past her doorway to attend to the patient’s needs.
Joe stepped out to glance toward the commotion. A tall man wearing hospital scrubs, a paper hat over his head, and a face mask loomed behind him. The guy turned and looked directly at her.
