"She got shot trying to protect me. She stabbed him with a kitchen knife and then he shot her," she sobs, "I’m sorry. I should have never opened the door," She starts to violently shake. Her adrenaline is wearing off and the shock from the whole ordeal is starting to set in, "I shot a man. Oh my god, I killed someone, didn’t I? Gabriel, I’m..." another contraction cuts her off.
"Breathe through it, Cariño Sweetheart," I encourage her. With all that’s going on, there is no way I’m going to get her to calm down enough to concentrate. The fact that she shot the fucker to protect herself and our baby fills me with pride. She fought to stay alive. She fought for our son. My sister fought for her family. I spin around and position myself behind her. I spread my legs, settling her between them to support her back to my front.
"I need you to focus right now, baby. The ambulance is on its way and Doc has control of Leyna. Focus on the baby right now." Knowing that it’s something Bella has done to calm her sister in the past I soothe her by stroking her hair, which I notice helps her immediately.
Looking off to my side, "How much longer, Doc? Did they give you an ETA?"
"We should hear those sirens any moment. Luckily the weather has let up, so it will make it easier to get here. Although, getting their trucks around the wreckage in the driveway will cause them to go through the grass so let’s hope those heavy rigs don’t get stuck in the wet ground out there."
Fuck, I forgot all about that SUV and Logan’s truck. I’ll carry them out if I have to.
Another twelve or so minutes go by and Alba makes it through another contraction. I look over at my sister. Her eyes are closed, and her face is very pale. "Doc, how’s she doing?" I ask through a lump in my throat.
"She’s going to be fine," he says, but his words are to ease both my sister and Alba. The look he gives me though says she needs help, and fast. The sound of sirens finally fills the air. As all the first responders pull into the front yard I hear footsteps approaching.
The police announce their presence upon entering my home. "Polson PD," They walk in and round the corner with guns drawn. Instantly, I recognize the two officers—Lawrence and Perkins. The club has dealt with them on many occasions. Lucky for us we have a good rapport with these two.
They spot Prez standing off to their left by the window, "Shit, Jake?" then he spots Green laying on the floor. "This guy dead?" he asks as he’s holstering his weapon after making sure the room is clear of threats before the paramedics come in. I have no time to answer him. He walks over, kneels down and presses his two fingers to the guy’s neck. Alba goes into another contraction, this one taking her by surprise and by the moan escaping her lips is much worse than the other one before.
A couple paramedics along with two EMTs appear with all their gear in tow. Things happen extremely fast after that. My sister is prepped and loaded onto a stretcher as Doc stays right by her side while they wheel her out.
Alba is loaded onto a stretcher soon after. I leave the cops with Prez to do his best to wrap shit up here. If they have questions for me or the rest of my family, they’ll have to wait. Following alongside my woman, I wait for them to load her into the back of the ambulance for a second time within the span of a week before climbing in behind them.
The ambulance carrying my sister has already left. When the EMT driver goes to close the back-door, officer Perkins stops him and pokes his head just inside the door, "Listen, I’ll be needing statements sometime soon. And I thought you’d like to know I heard over the radio a while ago that one of your members was brought into the ER just before we arrived on scene," he tells me. My nod gives him my thanks before stepping back allowing the driver to finally shut the door.
My mind is racing with a thousand thoughts right now. Kicking my own ass because I wasn’t here to prevent everything that has taken place. My sister and my brother are fighting for their lives right now and it’s crushing me.
Turning to look at Alba I focus all my energy on her. As I try to help Alba through another contraction, the Paramedic asks, "Is this your first pregnancy?"
"Am I that obvious?" Alba says as she catches her breath.
"You’re doing good. The first one is always the hardest. I felt like I didn’t have a clue what I was doing either with my first child," her glance lands on me then back to Alba, "But I didn’t have someone to help me through it. You look like you have an abundance of support." She finishes.
Alba looks my way and squeezes my hand a little tighter, "I’m definitely lucky, even if I’m totally terrified."
"Given the circumstances, I can understand," she says putting her hand on Alba’s arm and giving her an understanding smile, "We’ll be pulling up to the hospital in five minutes."
Logan is the first one I spot as we enter through the ER doors standing over by the triage room talking with Dr. Evans, whom I notice is in regular clothes instead of scrubs and her doctor coat.
Alba turns to the nurse who took over as soon as the Paramedic wheeled us in and asks him to stop for a second and looks up at me, "Go find out about Reid and Leyna, please. I’m fine. I’ll be in the room waiting. I promise to have someone come bring you up just as soon as they get me settled."
She’s just as worried about the two of them, if not more than I am. I give her a brief kiss on the forehead, "I’ll be there soon, mi amor my love."
"Gabriel, how’s Alba doin’?" Logan asks as I make my way towards him and Dr. Evans.
"In labor. Heard any word about Reid or my sister?"
"I was just talkin’ with Emerson. Why don’t I let her fill you in?"
Craning her neck to look up at me, she gives me a weary smile, "As I was telling Logan, I talked with my colleagues tending to both your sister and Reid. Leyna suffered a gunshot wound to the lower abdomen. It was a clean shot, but since she has signs of internal bleeding they have to take her to the OR to open her up and find the source. She lost a good bit of blood as well." I clench my fists and swallow through the knot forming in my throat as she finishes.
"She’s stable and the doctor is confident she will make it through. As for Reid, he’s busted up pretty bad, guys. The impact from being hit by a vehicle caused a good bit of damage to his body. He has four broken ribs, one of which punctured his right lung—causing it to collapse. Broke his right arm in two places, and may or may not have fractured his lower spine. Everything is so swollen and inflamed right now, they’ll need to wait and reassess him later. If nothing more, there may be nerve damage because he can’t feel much of his lower half. That’s all I can tell you at this point. I’m really sorry. If you’ll excuse me, I need to go get ready for work. I promise to let you know more as soon as I can."
We watch her walk off and disappear through the double doors. They’re both going to make it, but at a price. I’m feeling defeated. I’m supposed to protect my family and I failed. My emotions and heavy burden must show. Logan puts his hand on my shoulder and squeezes, "None of this is your fault, brother."
Quinn, Bella, Austin, Blake and Jake come walking through the automatic doors and the first thing out of Bella is, "Where’s my sister, Gabriel? God, please tell me she’s okay," fresh tears fall down her face and Logan pulls her close. The rest of the men I know will start showing up soon. The ones in front of me are waiting for answers.
I look down at Bella, "She was taken to labor and delivery. Nothing physically wrong with her other than she’s in labor." I’m about to tell Logan to fill the guys in on Reid and Leyna when screeching tires cause all our heads to turn towards the emergency room doors, and Agent Taylor comes bursting through the doors into the waiting room, "Where the hell is Leyna?" he roars.