Carmen walked into the house now, gently touching Shane on the shoulder. She extended her hand and Shane reluctantly gave her the car keys. She gave me a small nod and they walked out of the house slowly. I rushed into the room where Tina was desperately dressing.

“Tina, please baby, you have to relax, Alice is going to be okay,” I said, “she is strong.”

“That’s what we said about Dana and look at what happened to her!” Tina cried.

“Baby,” I said tenderly hugging her onto my chest. She cried into my chest and wrapped her arms around my neck. When her sobs subsided I let her go and she went back to the closet. I had to hold in my own tears because I needed to be strong for Tina, but now I let them slide down my cheeks. I cried as I walked to the closet and grabbed a shirt and some jeans. I walked to the drawer and grabbed underwear then started changing. Tina, who had finished getting dressed, sat down next to me and watched me as I cried silently and got dressed. When I was done I stood up and grabbed the keys that were on the dresser still letting my tears fall.

She grabbed my arm and turned me around gently. Her soft hand wiped my tears gently and she placed a gentle kiss on my lips. I gave her a small smile and we walked out of the house. We drove in silence until we reached the hospital then we rushed in.

“Bette! Tina! Over here!” Carmen called.

We ran to her and asked at the same time, “how is she?”

“We don’t know yet, they’re prepping her for surgery,” Carmen said.

“Where did they shoot her?” I asked.

“Who shot her?” Tina asked at the same time.

“Hey guys, don’t badger her!” Shane said stepping in between us, “she was shot when she was talking to Tasha at her post in a drive by shooting. The guys had murdered someone just down the street and I guess when they saw Tasha, they thought she was going to arrest them and they shot at her. Alice jumped in the way and got shot in the back.”