Page 63 of Stopping Short

As soon as I enter the hospital, Mom’s waiting for me. She wraps me in a hug before silently leading me to a waiting room.

Harper’s sitting in the corner with Cali and Emma. Their heads are bowed and they’re sobbing. Mason’s pacing back and forth while Dad is talking to a doctor with Kelsey at his side.

“Harper,” her name comes out somewhere between a whisper and a sob. When she hears my voice, her head snaps up and she jumps out of her chair. She races over to me and throws herself into my arms. “What happened, baby?”

“Ev-Evan shot him,” she cries, burying her face in the crook of my neck.

Though I really want to know what else happened, I don’t ask. She’s too upset to talk to me right now. I can discuss this with her later on. Right now, I'm focusing on how she’s unharmed and finding out how Maddox is doing.

I lift Harper into the air and she quickly wraps her arms and legs around my body. I take a seat next to Cali, keeping Harper on my lap.

“Hey, Cali, what can I do for you?” I wrap my arm around her shoulders and tug her closer.

“You’re already doing it,” she whispers, nodding towards Harper.

“What happened?”

“Evan came looking for Harper. Mason and Maddox got her out of the kitchen before he came back there. Evan had Emma at gun point when he entered the kitchen but Mason stole Evan’s focus. They made sure Emma was able to escape, but when Evan’s focus was a little too strong on Mason, Maddox jumped in and surprised Evan. He got shot in the shoulder. There was a lot of bleeding, but they think he’ll be ok. He’s almost finished with his surgery now.”

“What happened to Evan?”

“Well, I don’t think he’ll be a problem. He’s in the operating room…” she trails off and glances at her daughter. “They don’t think he’ll make it.”

I sink back into the chair, taking Harper with me. I hold her close as she continues to cry. I'm sure she feels some sort of guilt over Evan being hurt as well, but she shouldn’t. Everything that’s happened is Dennis and Evan’s fault, no one else’s.

Chapter 40

Harper

“Harp, I'm ok. Stop crying,” Dad whispers, holding out a hand to me.

“But you got shot!” I bury my face in my hands. I can’t stop crying no matter how hard I try.

“I didn’t die,” he teases, rolling his eyes.

“But you could’ve!”

He wiggles his fingers and I take his hand. How can I deny him after he got shot because of me?

“We don’t live life in the ‘what ifs’, sweetheart. That will make you go crazy with worry. A lot of things could’ve gone wrong. Evan could’ve shot Emma or you. His shot could’ve been fatal. He could’ve hurt Sophia or the babies. It could’ve gone so much worse, but it didn’t.”

“Is he going to die?” I ask the question I'm not sure I want to know the answer to.

“I don’t know,” he answers honestly.

“Kels spoke with Derek and Jesse. They were able to stop the bleeding. They think he’ll live, but he probably won't be able to use his right arm for much.” Mom settles onto the side of Dad’s hospital bed and brushes a few strands of his hair off of his forehead.

“He’ll be spending a long time in prison too,” Mason murmurs, coming up behind me.

“Really?” I spin around to face him.

“Um… yeah.” He frowns at me like I'm crazy and maybe I am. “He held someone at gunpoint and then shot a cop.”

“He’s an ex-cop.” I roll my eyes.

“Are you seriously defending him?” Mason scoffs.

“No, just correcting you.” I smile through my tears.