Every Promise You Made

by J. E. Parker

  Wide-eyed, the man turned, shifting his aim from Clara to Hope.

  My gut twisted.

  “No!” I ran forward just as the first shot rang out.

  Time slowed.

  Horrified, I watched Hope’s body jerk as the bullet made contact, tearing through her delicate flesh, and penetrating her chest. “Fuck, no!”

  Hope’s body spun around from the force of the shot. Losing her balance, her knees hit the cold, linoleum floor. Hard.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the gunman lower his aim toward where she’d just fallen. Without thinking about what I was doing, I dove for her.

  My chest hit her back just as two more shots rang out.

  Pop! Pop!

  A sharp burning pain ripped through my side as Hope and I fell to the floor simultaneously. Pressure built in my torso and my chest began to rattle as I fought to take a breath. It was obvious that I’d been hit.

  Yet, I didn’t give a fuck.

  The only thing I cared about was Hope.

  Fighting to push myself onto my elbows, I grabbed Hope by the arm and flipped her to her back. Unconscious, her breathing had already become weak and shallow. I pressed a finger to the side of her neck, checking her pulse.

  I found it right away.

  Thank Christ, she’s still alive.

  Blood oozed from the bullet wound at the top of her chest.

  Ripping the top of her dress, I balled the fabric up and pressed it to the wound in an attempt to ebb the flow of blood pouring out of her.

  It’s an artery… just like Ryker.

  Fuck!

  “Kyle,” I managed to yell out. “Get over here! I need a fucking medic!”

  Not once did I stop to think about the man who was still holding the gun or why he hadn’t fired another round. The only thoughts running through my head consisted of saving my girl.

  “Baby, please,” I whispered as my heart broke. “Hang on for me.”

  Using my waning strength, I turned my head to the side just in time to see the gunman point the gun right at my face. He looked freaked, possibly just realizing what he’d done. Red-hot rage consumed me as every fiber of my being twitched with the need to rip his head off with my bare hands. But even given the chance, I wouldn’t have been able to do it.

  I was already too weak.

  Unable to do anything but protect Hope, I locked eyes with the son of a bitch holding the gun and leaned down, and use my body to cover hers all the while making sure to keep pressure on her wound.

  I’ll protect you until my dying breath, little bit.

  At any second, I fully expected the gunman to pull the trigger again, ending my life.

  But he didn’t.

  The bastard never got the chance.

  Movement from the hall suddenly caught my eye.

  My gaze moved from the gunman to the person standing ten feet behind him in front of the bathroom door, her small revolver raised in the air.

  Covering Hope’s body tighter, I screamed, “Take the shot, Grandmama!”

  After steadying her aim that’s exactly what she did.

  Pop!

  One shot. One bullet.

  One dead gunmen.

  The mother fucker never saw it coming.

  Growing lightheaded, I screamed for Kyle again. “Kyle!” My voice sounded weak to my own ears. “Help…” I wheezed, trying to take a breath. “… her.”

  Losing my balance, I fell to my side next to Hope right as Clara dropped her knees opposite me. “Tell me what to do,” she shrieked as Kyle kneeled beside her. He reached for me but I smacked his hand away. “Her… help… my girl.”

  He nodded once before ripping back the ripped dress material I’d been using to the apply pressure. “Fuck,” he cursed, reaching for the phone in his pocket. Pulling it out, he handed it to Clara. “Call 911. Tell the operator exactly what I say. Got it?”

  Even through the hysteria overwhelming her, Clara managed to nod once.

  Kyle looked over his shoulder. “Carissa, baby, find me some towels, t-shirts, anything that’s cotton.”

  Teary eyed, Carissa nodded once before running down the store aisles.

  Just as Kyle opened his mouth to bark more instructions, Hendrix and Pop—of all damn people—burst through the doors, both looking like they were ready to go head-to-head with whatever had been happening in the store.

  Pop’s eyes locked on Grandmama who was still holding her pistol in her hand. “We heard shots. What the fuck happened?”

  Sobbing hysterically—a first as far as I knew—she pointed at us.

  Hendrix and Pop’s gazes swung our way.

  One look at Hope lying on the ground and Hendrix lost it.

  Charging forward, he dropped to his knees at her feet. “No, no, no!” He screamed. “Fuck no!” Looking over his shoulder, he shouted at his father. “Pop, help!”

  Pulling out his cell phone, Pop dialed a number before lifting it to his ear. Looking directly at Heidi, who was hearing impaired, Pop spoke as slow as he could under the circumstances, giving her time to read his lips. “Heidi, run to my truck and get my EMT bag out of the back.”

  Not wasting a second more, she turned and ran out the door.

  The pressure in my side increased, extending into my chest, making it hard to breathe. I coughed and blood mixed with saliva flew from my mouth before landing on Hope’s bare belly.

  Realization set in.

  It’s my lung. I’m not going to make it.

  Hendrix looked from the blood to me. “Are you fucking hit?”

  I wheezed loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. “Her…”

  It was the last thing I managed to say.

  Blackness began to creep into the edges of my vision.

  Senses dulling by the second, I was fading fast.

  Just like Ryker.

  Just like Amira.

  Unable to fight against him, I didn’t object as Pop pushed me to my back and pulled my shirt up so he could inspect my wound. His hands ran up my side before freezing right below the place where it felt like I’d been hit with grenade sized shrapnel; Kyle’s finger simultaneously dug into the side of my neck, checking my pulse.

  I wasn’t a doc, but I knew I didn’t have much time left.

  And from the looks of my girls wound, I doubted she did either.

  Fuck! This can’t be happening!

  “We’re losing them both!” Kyle shouted, confirming my thoughts.

  “Goddammit,” Hendrix cursed. “Pop, they can’t fucking die!”

  Pop remained silent as a helpless Clara wailed in the background.

  “Evan, man!” Hendrix screamed, clutching my shirt in his hands. “You’ve got to hold on for me!” My eyes slid closed. “Fuck, dude, don’t do this!”

  Hadn’t I said the same thing to Ryker?

  It was my final thought as I slipped away

  Forty-Two

  Hope

  I woke to the sound of sirens.

  Something—a mask maybe—was covering half of my face; the fit was tight, almost suffocating. I tried to raise my hand to push it away from my nose and mouth but my arms were too heavy, my muscles too weak to move.

  Confused, I fought to open my eyes.

  Where am I?

  Bright lights danced across my pupils as my lids separated the slightest bit causing pain to streak through my head.

  I immediately closed them again.

  Opening my lips, I tried to speak but the words wouldn’t come.

  A second later, a steady, rhythmic beeping sound filled the space surrounding me. I briefly wondered if Clara had forgotten to change the batteries in her apartment’s smoke alarm again. If she had—

  “Hope,” a familiar voice spoke. “Oh God, please tell me she’s awake.”

  Clara.

  A hand wrapped around my wrist a second before I felt, rather than saw, a person hovering above me. “Hope,” a man’s voice said. “Can you hear me, sweetheart?”

  Wher
e have I heard that voice before?

  A glove—is that latex?— covered hand slipped into mine. “Hope, if you can hear me squeeze my hand.”

  “Itty bitty,” Clara cried. “Please, baby.”

  Soft hands, ones that I knew belonged to Clara, rested on my thighs. “Please, sweet girl, I am begging you. Squeeze his hand.”

  Not wanting her to cry anymore, I concentrated as hard as I could—seriously, why is my body not working right?—and gave the man’s hand a soft squeeze.

  The man, whose voice I still couldn’t place, blew out a relieved breath. “We’ve got a positive response.”

  Clara sobbed next to me. “What does that mean?” She asked, her voice stricken with concern and panic. “Answer me, Ty! What does that mean?”

  “It means she’s awake. How long that’ll last, I don’t know.”

  Wait a minute… Ty? As in Ty Jacobs?

  Oh crap! Evan is going to flip his—

  Flashes suddenly bombarded me, interrupting my thoughts.

  One after another, they played out in my head, revealing the things I’d recently done and the people I’d just seen.

  Grandmama’s face pressed against the window…

  Clara standing in the gas station…. Scared….

  The tweaked out man with a gun…

  Oh God!

  Crippling fear combined with overwhelming panic swamped me as the reality slammed into me. That reality? I’d been shot. At that moment, there was literally a bullet lodged in my chest.

  But wait… why don’t I feel pain?

  And where is Evan?

  At the thought of him, my fear reached a whole new level. He’d been there, in the store with me, and yet he wasn’t with me now. I didn’t understand…

  Had he been shot?

  Had he been hurt?

  Was he… was he dead?

  A million different questions raced through my head but I didn’t have answers for any of them. And I wasn’t sure I could speak enough to demand them either.

  Fight to speak! The voice in my head screamed.

  Parting my lips, I centered my focus. Using every bit of strength I possessed—which admittedly, wasn’t much—I tried my best to speak.

  I managed two words.

  Well, two names.

  The first? Clara.

  The second? Evan.

  Clara’s soft fingertips traced the edge of my scalp. “I’m right here, Hope.” Her voice was distorted sounding. Why, I didn’t know. “I know you’re probably confused right now so I’m going to talk fast.”

  You always talk fast, I mentally replied.

  “You’re in an ambulance on the way to Toluca Memorial. You know Ty, well he’s an EMT, and he’s helping to take care of you.”

  Ty was an EMT now? That was… shocking.

  “Grandmama along with Carissa and Heidi are in the car, following us. I can hear Grandmama honking every thirty seconds so I know they’re still back there.” Clara blew out a breath. “And Maddie and Shelby are on the way.” Running a hand through my hair, she pressed a soft kiss to my forehead. “We’re all going to be there with you, honey. I just need you to hold on for me, okay? Because Hope you can’t…”

  Her voice trailed off as she began to cry harder.

  “… you can’t leave me. I need you so much. Please don’t go.”

  Tears began to well behind my closed eyelids. My chest felt like it was cracking open but the pain had nothing to do with the bullet buried somewhere deep inside of me.

  No, what I felt was my heart breaking into a million pieces.

  Even terrified and hurt, I hadn’t missed the fact that Clara hadn’t said Evan would be waiting at the hospital for me. That could only mean one thing—my big guy had been hurt. Badly. Either that or he was… gone.

  No, no, no!

  Not Evan. Please God, not Evan.

  The beeping surrounding me grew more rapid; more off pattern.

  “Hope, sweetheart,” Ty said. “I need you to calm down.”

  “What’s happening?” Clara asked, her panic rising as a blaring alarm started to sound. “What is that sound?”

  “Fuck,” Ty hissed as he pounded on something above my head. “Drive faster, Tank!”

  “Ty, answer me!” Clara shouted. “What’s happening to her?”

  A single tear slid from my closed eye as the pressure in my chest increased. Head pounding, the floating feeling from before returned.

  The alarm grew louder, more incessant.

  Again, Clara screamed, “What’s happening?”

  Grabbing my arm with his hand, Ty pressed something sharp into the bend of my arm. A needle maybe? “Come on, Hope. Stay with me,” he demanded.

  “Talk to me!” Clara demanded, causing Ty to become unhinged.

  “I’m fucking losing her!” he screamed back. “That’s what’s happening.”

  Floating away…

  “Hope, no!” Clara cried, latching onto my other arm. “Itty bitty, please. Stay with me. I need you!”

  Unable to hold on any longer, I simply let go.

  Forty-Three

  Hope

  I was standing next to daddy and Ryker’s graves.

  What I was doing there or how I’d gotten there in the first place, I didn’t have a clue. My head was a blur; my mind completely blank. Feeling like I was sitting on a cloud, I was halfway convinced that I’d finally gone crazy.

  Obviously I spent too much time with Grandmama.

  Wearing the same blue dress I’d worn to Shelby’s wedding, I kneeled beside Ryker’s tombstone and ran my fingers over the engraved letters that spelled out his first name.

  Then, suddenly, it began to rain.

  Closing my eyes, I dropped my head back and let the cool drops dance across my face before sliding down my neck and onto my chest. How long I sat there, letting the rain soak my hair and clothing, I’m not sure. It could’ve been minutes, could’ve been hours. Heck, it could’ve been days.

  I swear, the longer I sat there, the slower time seemed to move.

  Blowing out a breath, I lifted my head and looked ahead of me.

  The rain had begun to fall from the sky in thick sheets, making it nearly impossible to see more than ten feet ahead. Despite that, I was able to make out someone standing about twenty feet away. Who they were, I didn’t know. All I could tell was that they were wearing a hat—a baseball cap from the looks of it—and their arms were crossed over their chest.

  Get up, the voice in my head said. Move closer.

  My heart began to pound as I stood. Blinking to clear the water from my eyes, I took a small step forward. There was something about the person’s posture that I recognized.

  It couldn’t be, I thought. It’s not possible.

  But apparently it was because a second later, I heard a voice that I never thought I’d hear again. And that voice? It belonged to my big brother.

  “Shortcake!” Ryker hollered, extending his arms out to his sides. “You better get your ass over here and hug me. It’s been too long since I—”

  For a single second, I wondered if I really had gone crazy. But then the next second passed and I decided I didn’t give a crap if I had. Because there, in the nutty part of my brain, my big brother, the one I’d missed with every ounce of my tattered heart, was alive.

  It’s just a dream. Enjoy it while you can.

  With an ear drum bursting scream, I ran forward and slammed my body into his, cutting him off mid-sentence. He chuckled as his arms wrapped around me like vines.

  Standing on my tip toes, I slid my arms around his neck and pressed my face against his chest. Then, unable to control it any longer, I began to sob.

  Ryker squeezed me tighter. “I missed the hell out of you,” he whispered against my hair where he’d buried his face. “So damn much.”

  “I missed you too,” I replied between cries. “More than you could ever imagine.”

  And like black magic, upon saying those words, the anger that I’d buri
ed for over three years fought to make its presence known. Lifting my head from his chest, I looked into the hazel eyes of the man who’d been my best friend since the day I was born. He’d been my protector, my comforter, and the person I could always count it.

  And yet he’d left me.

  It was illogical and wrong—so dang wrong—but I was so angry at him for dying, for leaving...

  How could he do that to me?

  Clenching my hands, I hammered my fists against his hard chest. “Ow!” He yelled, shocked at my behavior. “What are you hitting me for?”

  “You!” I yelled back as I hit him again. “Left.” Another hit. “Me!”

  A small smile tilted his lips heavenward.

  My hands immediately dropped to my sides at the sight.

  That smile… Oh how I’ve missed it.

  “I had too, Shortcake.” I was about to ask him exactly what he was talking but I didn’t get the chance because he kept speaking. “Besides, I left my favorite dickhead in charge of you.” Ryker rolled his eyes in a dramatic fashion that only he was capable of. “But apparently he’s been doing a shit job. I swear I could give that dumbass written instructions, and he’d still jack shit up. All he had to do was take care of you and since he’s in love with you, I thought it would be—”

  “Wait!” I said, holding up my hand and halting whatever tirade he was about to go on. “What do you mean he’s in love with me?” I paused and shifted my weight between my feet. “You know?”

  Ry arched a brow. “Well, duh,” he replied with another roll of his eyes. “I may not be the brightest crayon in the box but I’m not blind.”

  I was so lost. As usual.

  “Seriously, Hope?” Ryker asked, chuckling. “I’ve known Evan was in love with you since we were sixteen.”

  The revelation was shocking to say the least.

  “The idiot didn’t even try to hide it half the time.” He raised his chin in the air. “And why do you think no guys asked you out after you and Jeremy broke up?”

  Wide-eyed, I shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t have the slightest clue.”

  Ryker smirked. “It’s because that big dumb monkey that follows you around everywhere scared them all away. Hell, I lost count of how many guys he threatened to throat punch if they so much as looked at you, much less asked you out.”