Shane ran into the hospital breathing heavily and stopped right in front of Alice, Dana, Angie, and the twins. Shay was a little bit behind her looking flustered and worried.
 
"How is she?" Shane said.
 
Dana responded since Alice was still in shock. "They induced coma because the bullet hit her spine and did some serious nerve damage. Bette and Tina are in there now."
 
"A coma?" Shane said sounding panicked.
 
Shay touched her arm gently and said, "our father Gabriel went into a coma seven years ago after an accident and he still hasn't woken up."
 
"What!" AJ and Cameron screeched shooting up out of their chairs.
 
Angelica stood up more slowly, "so there's a chance Ellie will never wake up?"
 
"No, no!" Alice cried standing up, "Dr. Lewis said the coma was induced and she has high vital levels so she should wake up in a few days."
 
"A-are you sure?" Cameron said.
 
"Alright, that's enough," AJ said angrily, "Cam tell us what the Hell happened, right now!"
 
Cameron gulped and took a step back.
 
"We need to know Cam," Angelica said softly.
 
"Mercer asked me to go with him to meet with some shady guy named Devon," Cameron said, "I didn't know who he was or what they were doing I swear to God. When I realized he was selling crack I tried to leave but Devon went all crazy and started shooting. Mercer sacrificed himself for me I don't even know if he survived. I was just running out onto the street and I saw Aunt Alice and Ellie and I was screaming at them to go back inside but they couldn't move on time."
 
"I should have thrown my body over Ellie's instead of to the floor," Alice said sadly, "I could have saved her."
 
"Alice, there's nothing you could have done," Dana said.
 
"Exactly Aunt Alice," AJ said angrily, "this is no one's fault but Cam! He was hanging out with those low-life fuckers..."
 
"AJ stop!" Angelica cried as Cameron started crying.
 
"No I won't stop!" AJ shouted, "he could have met up with those guys anywhere else, instead he met them next to the dentist office where he knew his Aunt and little sister were."
 
"I didn't know he would..."
 
Cameron was cut short by AJ's fist connecting to his jaw and sending him flying back.
 
"AJ!" Angelica cried.
 
AJ lunged at Cameron but was stopped by the strong arm of Shay who wrapped one arm firmly around AJ's stomach and tugged him back.
 
AJ struggled against Shay like an animal, but Shay was older, taller, and stronger. He didn't even falter when AJ tugged and pulled against him.
 
"Hey! What's going on here?"
 
AJ froze when a black female cop appeared standing firmly. Angelica was gently helping Cameron, who was bleeding from his nose and lip, stand up.
 
"Oh officer," Alice said sounding a little dazed, "no problem here, just emotions running high can get a bit out of control."
 
Dana rolled her eyes. It was obvious to her that her wife was attracted to this cop.
 
"Tasha?" Angelica said as she turned and saw the police officer for the first time.
 
"Oh Angie hi! You're related to the little girl?" Tasha responded.
 
"She's my sister."
 
"Oh I'm so sorry," Tasha said. "Cameron, come on to the children's ward to get your lip and nose cleaned up."
 
"Uh Tasha have you seen Derek?" Angelica said softly.
 
Tasha shook her head, "no. My brother's always disappearing. I saw his things packed at the door a few days ago. Have any idea why he's leaving?"
 
"Actually, uh we need to talk," Angelica said softly, "take Cam in first."
 
"Okay," Tasha said.
 
"Officer Williams, what happened to Mercer? Is he alright?" Cameron cried desperately as Shane helped him walk to the officer.
 
AJ had visibly calmed down and was sitting beside Shay who was comforting him. He merely shot Cameron a look when he passed by but had no intention of apologizing.
 
"Cameron," Tasha said softly, "Mercer was shot in the back of the neck. It severed the connection with his spine. He died right away."
 
"No!" Cameron cried falling to his knees and breaking into tears.
 
"Cammy," Angelica said kneeling beside him and pulling him into a hug.
 
"Mercer was an asshole and he was into some bad shit, but he was my friend," Cameron said, "my only friend and he was only 16 years old."
 
He felt a strong hand on his other shoulder and he turned to see AJ standing there. "I'm sorry man."
 
Cameron stood up and pulled AJ into a firm hug sobbing on his shoulder. AJ hugged him tightly and just let him cry.
 
"I'm sorry for your loss," Tasha said.
 
"What about the shooter?" Shane asked.
 
"I had to shoot him to stop him," Tasha said sadly, "he died by the time he got to the hospital."
 
"Good!" Alice snapped angrily, "he shot a little girl and he didn't even flinch. He was still trying to kill Cameron."
 
"I don't even wanna imagine how Bette and Tina would be if Cam would have been shot too," Dana said softly.
 
"Come along Cameron," Tasha said, "you're bleeding all over the place."
 
.....
 
Bette rubbed Tina's back as the blonde sobbed hysterically. She had broken down once she saw her daughter's prone form. All those tubes and needles and connections. She just looked even more tiny and weak.
 
Dr. Lewis had an even harder time extracting blood from Tina's arm with the blonde shaking with hysterical crying. Eventually he had to give her a sedative to calm her down.
 
Now the sedative was kicking and Tina was finally starting to calm down. "She's gonna be okay T," Bette said.
 
"How do you know that?" Tina responded at once.
 
"Because she's your daughter," Bette said, "and like you she is strong and courageous. If anyone can fight this it's her."
 
Tina wiped away her tears and froze when she saw through the window Cameron being led by a cop.
 
"Bette! Cam's being led by a cop!"
 
"What?"
 
"I just saw them pass by," Tina said standing up anxiously, "there was a lot of blood."
 
"Whoa, whoa," Bette said. "You stay here, I'll deal with that."
 
Bette stepped out of the room and quickly spotted the cop standing next to Cameron who was sitting on a stretcher in front of a nurse who was wiping away blood from his face.
 
"What happened?" Bette said walking to them.
 
"Mom," Cameron mumbled.
 
"Don't talk yet sweetie, let me finish cleaning the blood," the nurse said.
 
"Mrs. Porter-Kennard," Tasha said, "I'm Officer Tasha Williams and I'm the one who stopped Devon Treyallis, the shooter."
 
"You're gonna tell me what happened now?" Bette said noticing Cameron shrinking away as if ashamed.
 
"Mercer Peterson was dealing drugs to this guy," Tasha said, "evidently Cameron was with Mercer on this occasion..."
 
"I didn't know he was doing that mom! I swear I didn't know!" Cameron cried.
 
"No talking honey," the nurse said.
 
"Devon started shooting at both of them," Tasha continued, "Mercer was killed on the scene and Devon kept shooting at Cameron. Even after Ellie was hit he kept trying to shoot Cameron, and I had to shoot and kill Devon to stop him."
 
"All done," the nurse said throwing away the bloody napkins.
 
"I'm sorry mom," Cameron said, "I swear I didn't know! It's all my fault..."
 
"No it's not," Bette said pulling Cameron's head against her chest and caressing his face gently. "It was an accident, you had no way of knowing."
 
Cameron started crying, "that's not what AJ thinks. That's why he hit me."
 
Bette pulled away slightly. "AJ did this to you?"
 
"Don't get him in trouble mom, he was just angry and sad about Ellie," Cameron said.
 
"I'll go file in all the paperwork," Tasha said softly, "and again I'm sorry for everything that happened. I was investigating Devon and I should have been on the scene sooner."
 
"You did what you could," Bette said, "thank you so much."
 
Tasha nodded then walked away. "Alright, everything's good now sweetie," the nurse said writing on a clipboard, "nothing more than a busted lip."
 
"C-can I see Ellie?" Cameron said.
 
"Sure but only for a little while since she's only allowed two visitors at a time," the nurse said.
 
"Come on," Bette said taking Cameron's hand and leading him to the room. He had a similar reaction to Tina's when he saw Ellie's limp body all covered in tubes.
 
"What happened?" Tina said worriedly.
 
"I'll tell you later just stay calm," Bette said.
 
"She looks so tiny," Cameron whimpered.
 
Tina walked to him and pulled him into a hug. Laying on his mother's shoulder, Cameron just cried.

TBC