She congratulated herself on sounding confident, but inside, she wasn’t as positive. She could still see all the blood on Tyler and the ground. So much blood.
They walked into the hospital and headed for the emergency department. Rachel and Josh were already there, pacing the floors, waiting for some word about Tyler’s condition.
“They’re still working on him,” Josh said when he saw them arrive. “One nurse did say that they’re trying to stabilize him for surgery.”
Larry and Diane stepped off of the elevator, rushing toward them, wearing matching worried frowns.
“What’s going on? Have you heard anything?” Larry asked, slightly breathless.
“We got here as fast as we could,” Diane explained. “Finn is still taking statements. He doesn’t seem to understand the seriousness of the situation.”
“Someone tried to shoot Tyler,” Tate interjected. “That’s attempted murder, and that’s serious. He has to do this by the book. We don’t want a killer getting off on any technicalities, right?”
“Of course, we don’t,” Diane replied defensively. “It’s just that we needed to be here. He could get our statements later.”
“After we all have a chance to compare notes?” Tate asked. “C’mon. He can’t do that. He’s doing his job.”
“You know the one thing I’ve never liked about you, Tate, is that you have a need to be right,” Diane said, her teeth visibly gritted together. “In fact, there are many things I don’t like about you.”
“Your disdain doesn’t make me any less correct,” Tate said with a smile and a shrug, completely unbothered by Diane’s aggression. “The law doesn’t care about our delicate feelings. And unless you’re a trauma surgeon, Tyler doesn’t technically need us here.”
Diane was not a surgeon, and if anyone needed to be right all the time, it was her.
“Let’s just stop all of this,” Larry said with a loud sigh. “Honey, Tate’s right. Finn is just trying to do his job. I don’t like it either, but he has to do it. We’re here now.”
“We could have been here earlier,” Diane sniped back, her lip curled in derision. “And if you had any sort of backbone?—”
“This is not helpful,” Rachel shouted over the other woman talking. “We shouldn’t be having petty arguments when Tyler is fighting for his life.”
Luckily, Diane didn’t get to reply. The swinging doors to the treatment area swung open, and a man wearing scrubs and a mask stepped into the waiting room where they’d gathered. He pulled down his mask, his expression sober and not encouraging in the least. The pit in Cat’s stomach tightened painfully.
Had Tyler died?
“I’m Dr. Phillips, the attending in charge. We were finally able to stabilize your friend,” the man said. “He’s heading up to the operating room right now. Have you been able to reach his family?”
“I left a message with his dad,” Josh replied. “Tyler’s made jokes about how his parents let their cellphones die all the time. I’m sure they’ll get the message soon.”
“No other family? No wife or kids?”
“He’s single,” Rachel explained. “No brothers or sisters. I think he has a girlfriend back in Seattle, but I’m not sure. I don’t know how to get hold of her.”
“Please let the nurse know when his parents arrive,” the doctor said, as he turned to go. “We’ll need to talk to them. I would suggest that you all go home. I know it’s hard to leave your friend, but the surgery is going to take at least six to eight hours. We can’t make you comfortable here. If you leave your phonenumber, we can call one of you when he’s in recovery. You can come back then to see him.”
“Doctor?” Josh said, his tone sharp and a little desperate. “Is my friend going to make it?”
Something passed across the tired physician’s features. Pity? Sadness? Cat couldn’t identify it.
“I don’t know. I wish I could answer your question, but the truth is…I don’t know.”
With that, the doctor disappeared into the treatment area, leaving them all standing there in stunned silence.
It was real. This wasn’t some television show or terrible nightmare. Tyler had been shot.
He might die.
There wasn’t a damn thing that Cat could do about it. Not one thing.
And they didn’t even know who did it. Or why.
