“Ash,” she said, “do you want anything?”

            “No,” I said. I was just staring at the wall.

            “Ashley?” I heard someone say. I looked up and it was Paula.

            “Is he ok?” I asked standing up.

            “We’re still working on him,” Paula said. “Do you know what happened?”

            “No,” I said. “I wasn’t there. He wouldn’t tell me anything. He said he didn’t know. Why? What’s wrong?”

            “Well,” Paula sighed, “he has multiple gunshot wounds. Four to be exact. Only one is proving to be a problem.”

            “Where was he hit?” I asked.

            “Let’s see,” she said. “The right thigh, left shoulder, right forearm, and the abdomen.”

            “Is he going to be ok?” I asked.

            “We’re doing everything we can,” she said. “I need to get back but I will let you know more as soon as I know anything.”

            “Thank you,” I said. I sat back down as she walked off. I leaned forward putting my head in my hands.

            “He’ll be ok,” Kyla said.

            “Yeah,” Spencer said. “He’s a fighter. He’ll be fine.”

            “Did you grab my phone?” I asked Spencer.

            “No I didn’t see it,” she said.

            “Do you have yours?” I asked.

            “Yeah,” she said.

            “Can I use it?” I asked. I was restlessly shaking my leg.

            “Sure,” she said. She got it out and handed it to me.

            “I’ll be right back,” I said standing up and walking outside. I dialed Tommy’s number.

            “Yeah,” Tommy said answering the phone.

            “Tommy,” I said. “It’s D.”

            “What up?” he said.

            “We got problems,” I said. “Big problems.”

            “What?” he asked.

            “It’s Aiden,” I said. “He’s been shot.”

            “Are you serious?” he asked. “Is he ok?”

            “I don’t know,” I said. “I just got an update from the doc. They said he has four gunshot wounds. One of them is pretty bad.”

            “How did this happen?” he asked.

            “I don’t know,” I said. “He wouldn’t tell me anything. That’s why I’m calling you. You need to find out for me.”

            “Ok,” he said. “I’ll see what I can find out.”

            “Once I find out who did it,” I said. “I’m going to kill them. I hope you know that.”

            “I know,” he said. “You shouldn’t do that though.”

            “Tommy,” I said. “Aiden is practically my brother. I can’t just sit around.”

            “I know, D,” he said. “Just gimme some time and we’ll figure this out.”

            “Ok,” I said. “Try me on my phone first. If I don’t answer, call this number.”

            “Aight,” he said. “Stay cool and call me if you find anything else out.”

            I hung up and went back inside. I sat down and handed Spencer her phone back. “I might be getting some calls on your phone,” I said. “Is that ok?”

            “Yeah,” Spencer said. “That’s fine.”

            I just nodded and forced a small, fake smile. She kissed my temple and rubbed my back. I leaned towards her and she hugged me tightly. A few hours later, Paula walked back out. I stood up and walked over to her.

            “How is he?” I asked. I heard Spencer and Kyla get up and come behind me.

            “Well,” Paula sighed. “We worked really hard for a long time. We got all of the bullets removed but there was significant damage to his abdomen. There was a lot of bleeding and some damage to some organs.”