Noah said, “Will she live?”
Dr. Justofin frowned. “She’s alive now. If you’re asking for a long-term prognosis, I can’t tell you with any degree of accuracy. A lot will depend on the next couple of days. She’s in her eighties and this has been a lot of stress to put on her body. Risk of infection is extremely high, and we’re still worried about internal bleeding. I’ve seen a few hunting accidents by way of shotgun in my time. Younger, healthier people have died with far less serious injuries. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I think you should be prepared that the next few days with your grandmother may be her last.”
Josie swallowed. She was so dehydrated, her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth. “When can we—when can we see her?”
“A few hours,” said Dr. Justofin. “You can go downstairs to the third floor where the ICU waiting room is and someone will come get you when it’s time.”
Someone thanked him, and Josie watched him walk out of the room.
Sawyer stood up. Glaring at Josie, he said, “She’s going to die. We have a few days with her, if we’re lucky. I hope this case—whatever the hell you people are working on—was worth her life.”
“Hey,” Noah said. He put himself between Sawyer and Josie. “I know you’re suffering, but you’re way out of line.”
Sawyer’s voice was so calm, it felt like a knife straight to Josie’s heart. “She didn’t have to be out there. No one did. You two could have had your wedding like normal people, but no, the great Josie Quinn couldn’t stay out of the spotlight.”
A chorus of protests went up around the room. Drake tried to insert himself between Noah and Sawyer, but it was too late. Josie never even saw Noah’s hand leave his side, but then his fist smashed into Sawyer’s face. Misty cried out, then clamped her hands over her mouth. Shannon said, “That’s enough.”
Drake dragged Sawyer toward the door while Christian and Patrick restrained Noah.
A hand slid into Josie’s. She looked over to see Trinity beside her.
One of Sawyer’s hands shot over Drake’s shoulder, pointing an accusing finger at Noah. “You know I’m right. She’s nothing but trouble, man. You’re lucky you didn’t get married. She’ll probably get you killed, too.”
Drake pushed Sawyer through the doorway and out into the hall, leaving the rest of them in silence. Noah stood behind Christian and Patrick, chest heaving, fists clenched at his sides. “You better hope he doesn’t press charges,” Christian muttered. “Your career will be over.”
“I don’t care,” Noah snapped.
Shannon said, “Everyone just needs to calm down. Take some deep breaths. Has everyone eaten?”
Taking her cue, Misty opened another of the boxes of food and offered some to Christian, Patrick, and Noah. Noah refused and went to sit in the corner of the room. Josie stood up, sliding her hand out of Trinity’s grasp. “I need to get some air.”
Everyone stared at her, but no one argued or tried to go with her, for which she was glad.
She went through the Emergency Department, striding through the lobby doors unnoticed. Outside, she walked several feet from the doors, sucked in the cool, fresh air and turned her face to the sun. It was amazing the way things worked, she thought. Her entire life was being shattered into pieces and the sun still came up, still shone indifferently onto the world.
“Quinn.”
Josie looked over to see Chief Chitwood walking toward her. Dread settled in her stomach. For the first time in hours, sensations returned to her body again and she felt like she might pass out. She should have eaten more. She didn’t want to, but whether she liked it or not, her body demanded it.
“Sir,” she said.
He kinked a bushy brow as he looked down at her. “I’m not going to ask you a bunch of dumb questions,” he said. “I was just up in the ICU waiting room looking for you. Got a full report.”
“Then you know that Noah hit Sawyer?” Josie asked.
He waved a hand in the air. “I don’t care about that right now.” He held out a set of car keys. Her car keys. “Brought your car back from Harper’s Peak. It sat there all night. I thought you might want it. You know, in case things get too intense in there and you need a break. Parked it in the visitor’s lot.”
Josie took them. “Thank you, sir.”
“Something else.” He dug into his jacket pocket and came up with what looked like a set of thick beads which he deposited into her hand.
“What’s this?”
“Rosary bracelet,” he said.
“I’m not Catholic, sir,” Josie said.
“Neither am I.”
She stared at the bracelet. There was a medal with a woman in flowing garb on it. Around her were the words: “Our Lady Untier of Knots.”
Josie was too tired to figure out what Chitwood was doing. “I don’t understand, sir.”
He reached forward and curled her fingers over the bracelet. “Someday, I’ll tell you the story of how I got that thing. All you need to know right now is that even if you never prayed a day in your life, when someone you love is dying, you learn to pray pretty damn fast. Someone who believed very deeply in the power of prayer gave that to me, and at the time, it was a great comfort. Maybe it won’t mean shit to you. I don’t know. Regardless, if this is Lisette’s time, nothing’s gonna keep her here, but you? You’re gonna need all the help you can get. You hang onto that until you’re ready to give it back to me, and Quinn, I do want that back.”
“How will
