My Brother's Best Friend

Chapter 57

Emma above

Today was meant to be like any normal day. Instead, this morning, December 19, 2018, my life nearly ended. My heart almost stopped, my world stopped spinning and I saw a world with no one.

I was in class when I got the news. Three victims, a bloody attack, one cop down, two others injured.

I was taken out of class, hands shaking, body frozen, mind spiraling.

It wasn't until I faced Jax and Hunter that reality hit. I lost it when Hunter explained to me dad was one of the victims who got hurt.

Jax ran two red lights trying to get us to the hospital and now here we were, waiting for any doctor to give us news about our dad.

By tomorrow the news would have traveled around school. Emma Delgado, orphan, down two parents.

"I'm sure he's fine, Emma," Jax squeezed my hand but I couldn't feel a thing. "He's stronger than he looks."

"W-What if he's the o-one who didn't make it?" My voice cracks. "What if the doctors are stalling because they don't know what to tell us?"

"He's not dead." Hunter says, anger in his voice. "They would have told us at the school, just stop talking."

I stopped talking. I sat there with Jax as he rubbed my back and tried to keep me from shaking too much. Hunter sat next to Jax, arms crossed, leg shaking up and down as he stared off into the distance.

"What's taking them so long?" Jax begins to get impatient. "I'm going to go ask one of the nurses, I'll be back."

"No," I grab him before he could get up. "Don't leave me, stay here, please."

"Okay, okay I'm right here." He runs his fingers through my hair as my head lays on his shoulder.

"P-Please, don't leave me, Jax." I cried.

"Shh, I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere."

Two hours later and a doctor had finally told us the news. I let out tears of joy, hugging Jax and Hunter.

Dad was well and alive. He was in surgery while we had been waiting. A shot through his shoulder, the bullet went in and out. The bad news was, the officer that didn't make it was one of dad's friends; Gale.

Jax waited in the waiting room meanwhile Hunter and I stood outside dad's door, waiting for the okay to go in.

Once the doctor allowed us in, I wiped my tears away and frowned as I saw dad lying in bed, cast around his shoulder, down his arm.

"Hey, guys." He smiles. He looks as though he didn't just get shot.

"I thought we lost you." I began crying again. "I'm so glad you're okay."

"You can't get rid of me that easy." He jokes.

Silence filled the room.

Hunter and I looked at each other. We knew we had to tell him about Gale. I just didn't want to be the one to break the news to him.

"So, how's the shoulder?" I ask, sitting on the chair beside his bed.

"Eh, just a little sore. Guy barely touched me." He chuckles.

"What happened?" Hunter speaks next to me. My dad sighs, scratching his head with his other hand. "How did this happen, dad? We almost lost you."

"You didn't lose me, sto-"

"You were shot." Hunter cuts him off. "We almost lost you."

"There was a call last night at a store; a robbery. Gale and I were the first ones to get to the scene but the guy had left. We were at the station all night and then this morning. The owner of the store called in a robbery again, the same guy and we thought when we got there he had already left. He was still there, shot at Gale and I. The other officer, Chris, gets there and he's down too." He stares off into the distance, remembering the horrific details of what happened.