Page 122 of Make Me Sin (Bad Habit 2)
Just before Eric squeezes the trigger, I’m shoved to the side. I start to fall, arms flailing. A shot rings out. I hit the floor hard; my breath is knocked from my lungs. I hear several more gunshots in quick succession—bam bam bam bam bam—and I scream.
Someone else is screaming. It’s my mother; she’s standing stock still, her shaking hands covering her face.
Eric is lying on the floor behind her. A widening pool of dark liquid surrounds his head.
I turn to see who pushed me aside, and moan in horror.
A.J. is lying on his back on the floor a few feet away, eyes closed, unmoving. A single, perfect hole is punched through the fabric of his shirt, just above his heart.
Blood flowers from the hole, staining the pristine white fabric red.
“Let me see him! I need to see him!”
I’m screaming at the nurse who’s holding me back from the doors that lead to the corridor of surgical suites at the hospital. She’s trying to calm me, but I’m out of my mind.
I can’t lose him again. I can’t. I won’t.
“Chloe, shhh, let them do their job! Stop! Come with me now, stop it, bug!” Jamie envelops me in a bear hug, tearing me away from the nurse. I cling to him, sobbing hysterically. My parents are in the waiting room, along with the band; their manager, Saul; Kat and Nico; and Grace and Kenji, with about fifty cops stationed outside.
“I have to see him,” I wail, my face buried in Jamie’s neck. “It can’t end like this.”
“Nothing’s ending, Chloe. He’s in surgery, they’re taking care of him. He’s going to be all right.”
“You don’t know that! You saw how much blood there was!”
Jamie holds me tight, letting me cry on his suit jacket. He strokes a hand over my hair. “He’s going to make it, bug. And so are you. Now please try to calm down. Hysteria can’t be good for the baby.”
He’s right. I’m probably dousing my baby in some really bad panic hormones. I try to breathe, and only manage to start hiccupping. Jamie gives me his handkerchief and makes me blow my nose.
“We’re going to go sit in the waiting room until they have something to tell us, okay? There’s nothing else we can do now but wait.”
I nod, whimpering as I try to hold back sobs. I know Jamie’s right, but waiting around doing nothing when I have so much to tell A.J., when we have so little time together left anyway, seems like cruel and unusual punishment.
Jamie guides me through the quiet, sterile hallways of the hospital to the waiting room. Everyone rushes me when I come in. Kenji, Grace, and Kat—who is still in her wedding gown—surround me and get me into a group hug. My parents are right there with them, putting their arms around us. My mother is crying; I think she’s still in shock. My father is grim and tense, as is Nico, who stands behind Kat with his hand on her shoulder. Ethan and Chris stand a little apart with heads bowed, their arms folded across their chests. Brody is in the corner with his hands on his hips, shaking his head.
Saul is the only one who remains sitting. From the look on his face, he might not be able to stand.
“Nico,” I whisper.
“Yeah, darlin’?”
“Did you know? About A.J.’s brain tumor?”
He blinks. His cobalt-blue eyes widen. “Brain tumor?”
So he didn’t know. I look at Brody, Chris, and Ethan, who are all staring at me in horror. They obviously didn’t know either. But when I look at Saul, he just looks defeated.
“Saul,” I say, my voice choked.
He sighs. “He swore me to secrecy. He didn’t want anyone to know he was dying.”
The room erupts into chaos. Nico, always a hothead, stalks over to Saul and starts barking questions. While Chris tries to get him to calm down, my parents look at Kat and Grace, and all of them start talking at once. Kenji is jabbering to himself like a crazy person, Brody is grilling Ethan for information, and he’s denying any knowledge of anything. My brother is the only one not saying anything, and that’s because he’s looking at the door.
My heart leaps; is it the doctor?
I whirl around to follow his gaze, but it’s not a doctor. There in the doorway stands a very ordinary-looking man in a suit, carrying a briefcase, gazing in bewilderment at the scene.
“Miss Carmichael? Is there a Chloe Carmichael here?”
