"He shot him!" she cried as she pointed to the kitchen. I ran around to the entry and saw Cam lying in a pool of blood on the tile floor. He wasn't moving. I dropped to my knees and searched for a pulse, and then lifted him up to find that the bullet had gone into his abdomen. I searched the kitchen drawers and found a handful of dishtowels that I used to staunch the flow of blood.
"Liz, get help! Go get help!" I shouted as I pressed the towels to the wound.
"They're already here," she replied weakly as a team of police officers slammed open the door and rushed inside the apartment with their guns drawn.
"Don't shoot! Don't shoot!" Liz screamed as they aimed their guns at her. "He's over there!"
They quickly assessed the scene and called in the paramedics. Cam was loaded onto a stretcher and taken down to the ambulance, which drove off in a blaze of sirens and flashing lights. A se
cond set of paramedics loaded Victor onto a stretcher as Liz and I were taken down to the second ambulance. Meanwhile, the police secured the apartment and began their investigation.
"We're going to take you to the hospital to get checked out," the paramedic said. She helped Liz and I up into the ambulance before closing the doors and taking off for the hospital.
I held Liz's hand the whole ride to the hospital wondering if Cam was still alive. Suddenly, the fact that he'd paid my rent and tuition didn't seem like something worth being mad about.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Cam
"Oh, shit," I groaned as I rose up through the layers of drug-induced sleep and began to feel the pain. "Fuck, that hurts!"
"Shh, shh, lie still," a voice said as someone moved around the room. I couldn't tell who it was because my eyes felt like they were glued shut and it took an enormous amount of effort to crack them open. When I did, everything was fuzzy, but I could feel a hand holding mine.
"What the hell happened?" I mumbled through cracked dry lips.
"You were shot," the voice said.
"How long have I been out?" I asked as I tried again to open my eyes and focus on my surroundings. "Where am I?"
"You're in Chicago General in the ICU," the voice replied. "You've been out for two days, and we were beginning to really worry."
"Eh, I'm fine," I said as I struggled to try and move my arms. I wanted to sit up. I wanted to open my eyes and see what was going on around me. I wanted to know whose voice that was.
"No, no, no," the voice said, gently holding my shoulder to the mattress. "You are not in any shape to be getting up, Mr. Connor."
"Alex, I need to find Alex," I said, suddenly remembering the events that had led to this point. "Where is Alex?"
"I'm right here, Cam," Alex whispered in my ear as she squeezed my hand. I opened my eyes and focused them on the face next to me. Her blue eyes were bright with tears as she gripped my hand more tightly and smiled. "I'm right here."
"Oh, thank God, you're okay." I sighed as I felt the pain in my side begin to throb intensely.
I groaned as Alex tucked the button that released pain medication in my other hand and said, "Press it when you're in pain, it'll ease it."
I pressed the button, and a few minutes later, I felt the pain begin to ease as I fell back into a groggy, half-wakeful state. I could feel Alex's hand tucked in mine as I drifted back to sleep.
Chapter Forty
Alex
Liz and I were checked out in the ER and kept overnight for observation despite the fact that I pointed out I hadn't been hurt and protested loudly. Mrs. Rikka had been summoned to the ER to tell me that I didn't have a choice in the matter, and her word was final. I grudgingly accepted the edict but requested that they put Liz in the bed next to me, which they quickly did.
Liz didn't talk much as she began an intense process of detox, but it was nice to be near her while the police questioned me and got the whole sordid story before filing me in on the details of the aftermath. Victor had survived the shooting, but was down in the ICU under lock and key. They weren't sure he'd come out of the coma, but they weren't taking any chances.
"What about Cam?" I asked every person who came in the room. He'd been in surgery for most of the day and the doctors said it was touch and go. I nodded when they told me he had a slim chance of surviving, but that he was strong and healthy, so that tipped the odds in his favor. I desperately wanted to see him, but they wouldn't let me visit until they were sure he was out of the woods.
"Someone needs to check on Tesla!" I said to the nurse who came in to do my vitals.
"What are you talking about?" she asked as she wrapped the blood pressure cuff around my arm and pressed the button.