AFTER... JESS

The car felt stifling, the air too thick to breathe. I stared out the windshield, watching the ambulance ahead of us, its flashing lights bathing the night in ominous reds and blues. My hands trembled in my lap until Luke grabbed one, his firm grip grounding me just enough to

keep me from spiraling completely.

"She's going to be okay," he said, his voice calm and steady despite the storm swirling around us.

I turned to him, my throat tight, my heart in pieces. "You don't know that."

Luke's jaw clenched, but he didn't respond, his thumb brushing over the back of my hand in quiet reassurance.

Laura had been shot. She had been shot-because of me. Because she tried to save me and the baby. The thought turned my stomach

And Sarah... God, Sarah had been a lunatic. A gun-wielding, delusional lunatic. She'd been in our house, in our lives. How had we missed it? How had I not seen how dangerous she was?

My breath hitched as the tears finally broke free. "When does it end, Luke?" I whispered, my voice cracking. "When do we get our happy ending?"

He didn't answer.

ambulance turned into the hospital, and Luke followed close behind, pulling into a parking space just as the EMTS wheeled Laura through the emergency

pounding as I scanned the waiting area. Josh was at the reception desk, his hands gripping the counter so tightly his knuckles had turned white. He turned as we

doctor in scrubs appeared, his expression grim.

his body

ultrasound, and there's free fluid

blinked, shaking his head. "What

to take her to the operating room immediately to stop the bleeding. There's no

words hit like a punch to the gut. Laura was bleeding inside. They

vision blurring. Laura could die because she

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my voice cracking under the

clutching at his hair as though trying to physically keep himself together. I stared at him, my own

steadying me. "Jess, are you okay?" His voice was soft,

head, tears streaming freely down my cheeks. The ache in my stomach that I had

look pale," Luke said, his

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