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Aaron knelt at her feet. “Little sister,” he said, and then hugged her.
Wiley didn’t hide his shock at the sight of her. “What the hell, girl? Are you okay?”
It was their sympathy that broke her. She started sobbing, then couldn’t stop. They just gathered her up in their arms and held her close.
“It’s okay, sugar,” Aaron said. “Adrenaline crash. Cry it out. Sean’s going to be okay. He’ll probably make a necklace out of the damn bullet they dig out of his shoulder. He’s our quiet brother, and you know what they say, ‘Beware of the quiet ones.’”
But she just kept sobbing, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” over and over and over.
“Where’s Mom when we need her?” Wiley muttered, and then took Amalie by the shoulders. “Girl! Did no one ever tell you the weight of the world does not belong on your shoulders? Stop apologizing for someone else’s sins.”
“Not gonna say this often, but Wiley’s right,” Aaron said. “Sean did what he did because he loves you. If something happened to you, he would never survive the grief. Protecting someone we love is a reaction, not a thought. It’s instinct. Don’t deny him the choice. Okay?”
She still couldn’t face them, and leaned back in the chair and closed her eyes, and as she did, Wiley looked up and let out a sigh of relief.
“Thank God. Mom’s here,” he said.
“Just in time, because we’ve got to get back on duty,” Aaron said. “Sister! If you need anything, call us.”
Amalie nodded, but her gut was in knots. She stood, bracing herself to face Sean’s mother, but she need not have worried.
Shirley saw all the blood, and the look on Amalie’s face, and knew she and Sean had been through their own level of hell.
“Sweetheart!” Shirley said, and wrapped her arms around her.
Amalie was shaking all over again, her voice barely above a whisper.
“Sean’s in surgery. He took a bullet in his shoulder meant for me. He saved my life.”
Shirley just held her closer. “My sons take care of their own. Are you okay?”
Amalie nodded.
“Then let’s go wash off some of this blood. I swear to my time, has everyone gone blind around here? Could they not have helped you do this before?” Then sherealized they were being followed and gave the security team a quick look. “Are they with you?”
Amalie nodded. “They’re the security team my dad sent.”
Shirley said nothing more, but as they were about to go into the ladies’ room, Joe stopped them.
“Ma’am, we need to make sure there’s no one else in there but the two of you,” he said.
Shirley frowned. “But surely—”
Amalie intervened. “The sniper who shot Sean was a woman. That’s how they initially missed her, but they didn’t miss when they took her out, or Sean would have more than one bullet in him, and I wouldn’t be standing here talking to you.”
Shirley paled. “My apologies.”
Joe just shook his head. “None needed, ma’am.” He knocked on the door and then shouted, “Anyone in there? Man on the floor! Incoming!”
Nobody answered, and he pushed his way in and checked every stall.
“All clear,” he said. “We’ll be waiting when you exit.”
Shirley got down to business as they entered the ladies’ room. “Here, honey, take off your coat, and then get to the sink.”
Amalie grimaced when she saw herself in the mirror, then grabbed a handful of paper towels and began washing the blood off her face, then her neck, and then pushed up the sleeves of her sweater and began scrubbing the blood from her hands and wrists.
It was only after she began scrubbing the heels of her hands that she realized she’d scraped her hands when she fell. And there was a tiny cut beneath her chin from when she hit the pavement.
