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As soon as the dryer stopped, I got dressed and the three of us headed for the hospital. "I'll see you there," Jim said. "I'm just going to make a quick stop at home to change."
At the main road, Chance turned toward Hairy's. "Did they take Tom to a different hospital?" The hospital where Chance was treated was in the opposite direction.
"Thought you might want to change, grab your laptop, and pack a bag."
"I'll help out however I can, but I'm sure Tom's family will stay with him if he needs someone to be there."
"You're staying with me, Babe. It's not safe for you to be alone until we know more about who shot Tom."
"I don't need protection, Chance. I have a life."
"We need to look at your pictures and analyze what happened out there."
I wanted to argue on the principle of the thing, but he had a point. "I also made some notes about the Cryptid Coffee idea I want to go over with you."
"And we have the meeting with Roy tomorrow. We can come back to Hairy's anytime you need to check on things."
"Why don't you go in and order us coffees to go. Well, I want a large Earl Grey with milk and sugar. Just tell Sally it's for me. She knows how I like it."
"You OK?"
"Yeah. I just need a couple of minutes alone. Thanks. I won't be long." It looks like hovering, protective Chance was yet another adjustment I'd have to get used to.
Upstairs, I dropped my pack on the sofa on my way by. I threw a few days’ worth of clothes options in a bag, tossing in the travel-size bottles I had of bathroom stuff like shampoo and soap. I changed into a nicer pair of jeans and a sweater for the hospital, grabbed my laptop bag, and went down to the cafe.
Chance stood up from the counter when I walked in. "I'll take these on to the car. You can check in with Rick if you need to, then grab our drinks on your way out."
"OK. I'll just be a minute." As always, the cafe seemed to run the same whether I was there or not. At the moment, that was a relief because it allowed me to take care of the other stuff going on in my life, but in some ways, I felt bad that they didn't need me.
"You OK?" Sally asked as she handed me the two large to-go cups.
"I've been better, but I'll be OK. Call me if you need anything."
"You staying at Chance's?"
"For a few days, but I'll be in and out of here."
Silence filled the truck as we drove to the hospital. I don't know what Chance was thinking, but I was worried about Tom. I knew this wasn't my fault. This incident was much different than what happened with Chance. It was much more frightening to think that someone was trying to kill us. I still couldn't quite believe that, though nothing else made sense.
Laurie ran into us in the hallway before we got to Tom's room. "Are you OK, Em? I can't believe someone shot at you." She pushed right past Chance to hug me.
"How is he?" I asked as she stepped back.
"He's going to be OK. He hasn't said much. He's mostly been sleeping. Sorry to ignore you, Chance."
"No problem. Glad Tom's going to be OK."
"How are your folks?" I asked.
"They're OK. Come on. I'll introduce you."
She led us into a room where an older couple were sitting in chairs. Tom was sleeping. He was hooked up to IVs and monitors, and his right shoulder was heavily bandaged. "Mom. Dad. This is Everly Mason."
They both stood up and hugged me. "We've heard so much about you from both our kids," Mrs. Beckett said.
"Can you tell us what happened out there?" his dad asked. "Laurie said you were with him when he was shot."
"I was, and I'm so sorry he got hurt. I did everything I could to take care of him until help arrived." As soon as he saw that I was tearing up, Chance stepped between us.
"Hi Mr. and Mrs. Beckett. Have the doctor's told you anything?"
"Hi, Chance. They said the bullet shattered against the bone," Mr. Beckett explained. "They think they got out all the fragments. He lost a lot of blood, but they gave him a transfusion. He opened his eyes a couple of times, but he hasn't been awake enough to talk to us."
"You guys must be tired," Chance said. "Laurie, why don't you take your folks down to the cafeteria to get something to eat. We'll sit with Tom a while."
Laurie had to cajole her parents into leaving but they seemed to trust Chance to handle things in their absence. After they left, I leaned over the bed and kissed Tom's forehead. "Tom, it's Everly. I'm here with Chance. We came to see how you're doing."
We sat, as people do in hospitals, just watching Tom sleep. I was fidgety. I paced around the room and ended up back by Tom's head. Like with Chance, it was jarring to see such a big strong guy looking so helpless. As I looked at him, the tears welled up again. I pulled a tissue out of the box on the bedside table and dabbed at my eyes.
Chance stepped up beside me and turned me to face him. "This wasn't your fault, Everly. You didn't do this."
"Says the man still wearing a cast for the broken ankle I caused."
"Not the same situation, but that was an accident. You didn't purposely push me off a cliff, though I have the feeling there were times when you thought about." He gave me one of his dimple grins, and I collapsed against his chest. He held me for a while before he tilted my head up and gave me a kiss that was so hot I worried the smoke alarms might go off.
"Hey, you two. I'm not dead," Tom said. "What the heck is going on?"
"Tom. You're awake," I said, moving away from Chance and taking Tom's left hand.
"Yeah. I'm awake. I'm pretty sure I'm not dying, so what do you think you're doing with my girl, Chance?"
"City Girl, didn't you tell him?"
"Tell me what?" Tom asked.
"I was going to," I explained to Chance, but he got shot. I couldn't do it then."
"Do what?" Tom asked. "Will someone tell me what's going on?"
"I'm sorry, Tom. God, I'm sorry about a lot of things, but I realized I just can't ignore my feelings for Chance," I said. "You're a great guy, and I truly mean it when I say I hope we can remain friends. I was going to tell you, but you got shot and then I couldn't. I'm really sorry." Tom reached for my hand and gave it a squeeze as the tears started to fall.
Chance gave my shoulder a squeeze. "Give us a minute, Babe. Why don't you go tell the nurse he's awake and get Laurie and his folks?"
"You OK, Tom?" I asked.
"I'll be fine. For what's it's worth, I thought we had a shot."
I leaned down and kissed his forehead before I walked out the door. I went to the nurses’ station, and they said they'd let the doctor know Tom was awake. I was curious what he and Chance were talking about, so I stopped outside the door to Tom’s room on my way past. I heard Chance say, "Sorry, man. I didn't realize she hadn't told you. You know I wouldn't get between you."
Then Tom said, "It's OK. Didn't figure I'd win this one but had to take a shot. Be good to her."
I didn't go in but continued on to the cafeteria. The Beckett's were relieved to hear that Tom was awake. They picked up their drinks and rushed back to his room.
"Hi, Jim," I said when he joined us in the elevator.
After greeting us, he asked about Tom, and joined the group as we trooped back into Tom's room. A doctor and nurse were there, so we left his parents to hear about any medical issues or arrangements, while the four of us waited in the hallway outside.
"Is he talking?"
"Yeah. He seemed good," I said.
"Is someone going to tell us what happened," Laurie asked. The hospital staff seemed to think it was a hunting accident. Is that what happened?"
"We really don't know," Jim said, holding onto her hand. "All we know is he was shot. We don't know who was shooting or why?"