Letting My Brother's Best Friend Take My V-Card

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.

close behind, pulling into a parking space just as the EMTS wheeled

knuckles had turned white. He turned as we approached, his face pale and haunted. "They're with her now," he said, his voice

respond, a doctor

his body rigid.

ultrasound, and there's

his head. "What

doctor said, his voice tight. "We need to take her to the operating room immediately to stop the bleeding. There's no time to

Laura was bleeding inside. They needed

the edges of my vision blurring.

1159

under the weight of the realization. "No, no, no,

though trying to physically keep himself together. I stared at him, my own legs threatening to give

His voice

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

said, his voice