Page 82 of Structure of Love

With their tolerance, that was likely true. Still. Not exactly smart.

“Then he started shooting at us.” Cooper’s eyes filled with tears again. “I don’t know if he was actually trying to kill anybody or just got lucky, but he fired through the driver’s window and hit Billy right in the head. He was dead instantly, the car just lost control, we didn’t even have time to react. I was the only one wearing a seat belt, so I was okay, but everyone else…”

Shit. I could somehow see this playing out. His group of friends wasn’t exactly known for their common sense. Still, firing on a moving vehicle? Was this guy batshit insane? Even if he’d only intended to kill Billy, he could have killed everyone in the car!

Wait, was that who was in the second vehicle? The former friend?

“Cooper, the other car on scene, was that the friend?”

“Doug. Yeah.”

The paramedic shook her head and typed everything into her little laptop.

I was seriously speechless. All this insanity tonight could have been avoided with some healthy communication andnot firing a gun.

Cooper reached for me with his good hand, and I took it, holding on firmly. I had more empathy now that I understood what had gone down. Cooper hadn’t expected violence, and anyone would be shaken up when fired upon. His group normally got drunk and did stupid shit in public, but they weren’t a violent kind of crowd. He had no immunity to being shot at. I’d offer any comfort to help him through this. He’d survived hell tonight.

“Thank you for answering,” he murmured, eyes still leaking tears. “I didn’t know who else to call.”

911, to start with, but I knew better than to say that. “I had a bad feeling I had to answer.”

“I’m glad you did. You’ll tell Mom?”

“Not until you’re properly seen to. I want to be able to tell her you’ll heal when I contact her. Otherwise I’ll be calling 911 for her, as she’ll faint on the spot.”

“Probably a good call,” he admitted ruefully.

They took us straight to the ER in Brighton, as apparently that was the closest hospital. It felt like it took an eon to get there, despite the ambulance rushing through traffic. The second we arrived, I got out and stood out of the way as the nurses leapt into action, taking Cooper straight back. I prayed the ER had experienced a quiet night so far, because they were about to be pretty busy.

I pulled up my group chat and texted the situation so my friends were in the loop, just in case I needed moral support. I hoped this could be resolved by tomorrow, or at least have Cooper in a state where he was resting and healing. OtherwiseI’d call out of work, although I might anyway. I doubted this would wrap up quickly.

God, I did not want to tell my mother. Cooper had already been in one accident that had nearly ended him. She was going to lose all reason when she heard he’d had another close call.

Logan joined me at the front waiting room, sitting down next to me. He saw the phone in my hands and asked, “Mom?”

“Not yet. Group chat.”

“Ah.” He glanced at my phone, since it was repeatedly dinging in my hand. “They’ve got a lot to say.”

“Mostly reassurances they’ll do whatever I need. Like I didn’t already know.”

“Your dad?”

“Still blocked. I’m not unblocking him. If it upsets him to not hear about Cooper until everything has blown over, that’s on him.”

Logan hummed, accepting my answer and not commenting. Out of everyone, he probably understood best what the neglect of a parent did to you. How much it broke the relationship and shut down communication. I basically didn’t have a relationship with my father, and it was his fault. I had no desire to bend over backward for a man who’d dumped all the responsibilities on me and left.

Logan and I sat in the waiting room for a long while. I saw him texting various people, one of them his day manager, and couldn’t stop the protest that slid out of my mouth.

“You don’t need to take tomorrow off.”

Logan stared me down, brow cocked. “You’re funny if you think I’m going to let you handle this alone. You’re still shaking.”

I looked down at the hand he pointed to and there was a fine tremor. Dammit. It was the waiting. I was awful at waiting when bad news could be delivered any second. Cooper was likely worse off than he realized because of the adrenaline. Hisbreathing had hinted at cracked ribs. At least, he hadn’t sounded right. My mind spiraled with doomsday scenarios of how this might impact Cooper for the rest of his life. He’d already pulled through one major crash. He might not have enough luck to survive another.

“Hey.” Logan’s hand found mine, squeezing tightly. “Gage, don’t borrow trouble before it arrives. He was able to free himself from an overturned car, so he can’t be that bad off.”

I released a shaky breath. “You make a good point. Thank you. I needed a reality check.”