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Sneaks let out a huge sigh and against all logic, she wanted to hug the boy. She’d had a hell of a day. His had been far worse.
Sneaks turned quickly toward them and his eyes were distraught. “Who’s going to take care of him if I’m in jail?”
Lia’s heart cracked a little more and she started forward. She wasn’t sure if she was going to hug him or talk to him, but Joe’s hand shot out and grabbed her arm to keep her in place.
Joe spoke, pulling Sneaks’ gaze back to him. “I’ll make sure he’s okay and I’ll find him a good place. I know it can be hell out there. But we’ll get him a good place. I promise.”
Tears glimmered in the young man’s eyes. “One where he can have pineapple on his pizza?” He turned the gun around, ready to hand it to Joe.
Joe grinned. “My sister does the pineapple on pizza thing too.”
The doors behind them slammed open and they all turned. Out of her peripheral vision, she saw Sneaks lift the gun and she turned back again. “Get down, Sneaks.”
Joe whirled to the door and held up his hands. “Don’t shoot.”
The rest happened too quickly for her to track. Sneaks looked past her with such fear in his eyes.
Joe shouted at the arrivals to stop.
Lia turned with her hands up to join the plea to stop.
But a gun fired and the sound ricocheted around the room.
With a shock, she felt pain bloom in her palm and spread outward.
Noise ricocheted around her as she collapsed to the floor. Her hand was nothing but a bloody mess. Her clinical mind catalogued the trauma. Broken bones. Ligaments and tendons ripped apart. Catastrophic damage.
She’d never operate again.
And if she couldn’t operate, who the hell was she?
Joe managed to contain the clusterfuck to one gunshot. Goddamn friendly fire. The kid who’d been holding the gun had dropped it to hold the doctor’s hand together. The other doctor had rushed over to help and was calling out for an emergency team.
The police team that had stormed the OR looked shellshocked. Joe wanted to ream them out, but they’d obviously been following orders. And once he found out who’d given that order, then he’d let loose. Who the hell chose an emergency word like pizza, then forgot to mention it to the negotiator?
Absolute clusterfuck.
They were lucky the kid hadn’t returned fire. He’d been about to give Joe the gun. All he’d really wanted was for his brother to live. He’d gone about it in a terrible way, but his brother was going to live because he’d done it.
Joe knew there were no limits to what he would do for his sister. Up to and including doing anything required to get her medical help.
The cops who’d entered looked more than a little ill at the scene in front of them and when the nurse Tabora ordered them out, they went without an argument.
Doctors and nurses flew into the room. Some took care of Gogo and others headed toward Lia.
Joe moved with them and picked up the gun Sneaks had dropped to take care of the doctor who’d saved his brother’s life.
He squatted down beside the kid and patted his hands. “It’s okay. Let the doctors take care of her like she took care of Gogo.”
“Gogo. Where is he?”
Sneaks shot to his feet and Joe stood with him. “They’re taking him to the recovery room. She wasn’t lying to you. He’ll be fine. I’ll make sure we get updates on his progress.”
“I want to go with him.”
Joe nodded. “I know you do. But we’ve got to deal with the other stuff. I promise I’ll have someone checking on him for you. Tabora?”
The reliable nurse popped up beside him. “Tabora, this is Sneaks. He’s worried about his brother. If I give you my phone number, can you keep us updated about his stats through the recovery process? We want the truth, even if it’s bad.”
