Page 133 of Things I Read About

“Oh.” I look down at the bandages around my right shoulder. “How bad?”

Will I be able to perform surgery? Will I be able to play piano?

Dad squeezes my fingers. “You’ll be good as new in a few weeks. Maybe months, but that’s only if you don’t take it easy.”

I nod.

Skye eyes me, waiting for her answer.

“I saw her, Nicole. A few times. It was fast and out of context, so I didn’t place who she was. Not until I saw her inside the hotel lobby. She was arguing with him, then he came out, determined and angry. I finally got a clear view of her face, so I knew it wasn’t me. The target was Sam, and Nate—” I look around the bed, as the faces grow serious. “Wait. Where’s Nate?”

“He just got out of surgery, sweetheart. The bullet… the bullet went into his chest.”

“His chest!”

“Not heart, though. He’s stable now but headed to the ICU.”

“Stable? Is Dean?”

Sadie leans in. “Dean and Shep are with him, Sal. And they called his family.”

“I heard more shots?” My voice sounds frantic.

“No one else was hurt,” Skye explains. “Just one shot hit you and Nate. The others took down Nicole’s cousin. He didn’t stop coming at us and didn’t lower his weapon. He… didn’t make it.”

Tap. Tap.

“Ah!” I screech.

“Shhhh, sweetie, it’s just the nurse at the door.” Susan smooths my hair back from my face. “It’s over. Okay? It’s really over. Fergus, all his men, they’ve left. There’s no more threat.”

It’s over.

The job is over. Which means as soon as he’s able, Nate will go to Chicago.

“Emerson?” I ask, wincing as I move.

Dad and Susan have moved to the door to talk with my nurse. Now, Kat and my siblings line the bed.

“Yes.” He leans in, serious as ever.

“Will Nate get in trouble for getting shot? Like, shot on the job or for not stopping the—”

“No, love, he’s not in trouble. Even injured and holding you”—he glares at me, unhappy about my jump, and my sisters seem to agree—“he still got off a shot to the man’s leg, first to stop him in his tracks. His promotion is guaranteed now.”

“Okay.” I sigh.

“All right,” Susan says, in her boss voice. “We have to clear out so she, and all of us, can sleep. Only one of us can stay the night.”

Everyone starts saying they’re goodbyes and grabbing their purses.

Susan makes me drink some more water. It’s exactly what I needed. She looks at me, worried. “Do you want Sadie to stay?”

“What?” I am genuinely confused.

“Suze, if she wants someone to weave a verbal tapestry about the drama that is our family, she’ll call Sadie. Right now, she needs our resident mama bear. Obviously.” Skye scoffs.

“That,” I say, tired.