Page 110 of Resist

“Oh my God! Call triple zero. Quick!”

He reached for his phone while I kneeled beside Lucas.

“The police are already on their way,” he said.

“What?”

“I called them before I stepped into the hallway.”

Turning Lucas onto his back, his left shoulder and chest were dark crimson.

I cradled him to my body. “It’s okay, it’s okay,” I said, applying pressure. “Help is on the way.”

He coughed and groaned again. “Where … is … he?”

“He’s gone. Don’t worry, he’s gone.” I moved his caramel hair from his eyes, both of them floating and misty.

“Are you both … all right?”

“Shh…” I kissed his forehead. “Yes, we’re fine thanks to you.”

His eyelids lowered. “Good,” he breathed out.

“Lucas, stay awake.”

He didn’t respond.

“Lucas!” I shook him. “LUCAS!”

Lying in a stark whitehospital bed, Lucas almost looked peaceful. Peaceful and beautiful, almost passing for sleeping soundly if it weren’t for the chest tube poking out of his side, the drip in his hand, and the nasal cannula protruding from his nostrils.

His family stood by his bedside, together with Jason and I. I’d flown them all to Melbourne as soon as the doctors had told me he was stable, knowing that when he woke he’d need as much love and support as he deserved.

Lucas had saved our lives, because I had no doubt whatsoever that Colin would’ve killed Jason and I that morning had he not been interrupted. There’d been something ominous about him, something demonic and dark, much more so than I’d experienced in the past.

“I can’t believe you were stupid enough to jump in front of a bullet,” Tilly said, as she stood up from giving her brother a kiss on the forehead. She scoffed and punched him on his good arm. “I should kill you.”

Lucas groaned. “Heyyyy! Gunshot wound victim, remember?”

“Matilda Malone!” Sandra pointed at her daughter. “Your brother has just been shot. Can you please refrain from injuring him further.”

Lucas opened one eye and gave Tilly the kind of look a baby brother would give his older sister while being chastised by their mother. It warmed my heart and made me smirk. Tilly smirked too.

“I’m glad I don’t have a sister,” Jason whispered into my ear.

I tried desperately not to laugh but couldn’t help chuckling. I didn’t have siblings either, so their usual squabbling wasn’t something we were used to.

“I’m glad you don’t either,” I whispered back.

Jason draped his arm over my shoulder and hugged me to his side. Ever since the shooting the day before, he’d been very attentive to both Lucas and me. He’d also been the only other person besides me who’d stayed by Lucas’s side the moment he’d been moved to the ward several hours after surgery. Jason had refused to leave until Lucas had woken up.

He’d sobbed in my arms, blaming himself for what had happened, while surgeons had operated to remove the bullet and heal the damage caused to Lucas’s shoulder and lung. He’d kept saying, over and over again, “He saved my life. He doesn’t even know me and he saved my life.” All I could do at that point was hug him as hard as a mother could while praying the surgeons would save Lucas’s life.

And they did.

And now he was in recovery with a gunshot wound, perforated lung, and pneumothorax.

I stared at his face that had once again relaxed, remembering the fear and determination he’d displayed as he ran toward us before Colin had pulled the trigger. The memory made me shiver, the thundering sound of the gun still playing on repeat in my mind.