Chapter 30 #2
“It’s been too long,” April whispered in a panic. “Come on, Violet. Wake up for me. Open your eyes. It’s all over, Sweetie. Come back to me.” She wiped away the beads of sweat on her niece’s forehead and carefully pushed her damp hair out of her face.
“Maybe you should get her to a hospital,” Blake suggested. “She did lose a fair amount of blood.”
April hadn’t even noticed that all of Tanner’s friends had closed ranks around her and Violet. She shook her head. “Violet’s never needed medical intervention before. Come on, Sweetie, open your eyes for me,” April pleaded. “I don’t even know what we would tell them.”
Violet’s hand moved and April instantly took it in hers. “There you are. That’s it. Wake up, Sweetie. I’m right here. It’s all over now.”
Violet nodded just as her eyes opened. “Aunt April?”
“Hi, Sweetie, how are you feeling?” April asked with tears in her eyes.
“Did Ned hurt you?”
Touched by her niece’s concern, April shook her head, forcing a smile. “No, I’m fine.” She would wait to tell her about Tanner and Echo for as long as possible. “Do you think you can sit up for me?”
Violet did, and her eyes grew big as she looked around at all of Tanner’s friends. “Where’s Daddy?”
“They just put him into that ambulance over there so he can go see a doctor,” Caden quickly informed her. April appreciated that he’d made it sound like it was no big deal.
Violet turned to where Caden had pointed, and April took that opportunity to carefully position herself so as to block Ned’s body from Violet’s view.
He had a bullet hole in the side of his head that was bleeding out onto the pavement.
Now that Violet was more alert, it was the last thing she needed to see.
As awful as it was, April was actually glad it was finally really over.
Violet was truly free from that monster.
“Why don’t we go to the hospital with Tanner,” April said.
When Violet eagerly agreed, April picked up her niece, who lay limply in her arms, still exhausted from her ordeal, and started walking toward the ambulance with Tanner in the back.
Hopefully seeing him alive and maybe even semiconscious would be less scary than trying to explain to Violet how he’d been shot trying to get to her.
When no one followed, April turned and stared at Tanner’s friends. “Aren’t you coming?”
“We can’t,” Caden said, a mixture of sadness and anger brewing in his steel gray eyes. “We all fired our weapons, so we need to stay here until we’re debriefed. An officer will need to get your statements, but we can worry about that later.”
Garrett approached her, the Texas Ranger she’d seen him with earlier, walking beside him. “April, I’m told you’ve met Ranger Hayes Wilder. We work together, and he’s agreed to go with you and Violet to the hospital.”
April nodded, not sure what to say to the man, and turned to Garrett. “I thought we could go in the ambulance with Tanner,” she said, eyeing the paramedics that were already closing the back doors.
“They want to get him there as quickly as possible,” Garrett said. “Listen, I trust Ranger Wilder. He’ll get you there safely and stay with you until we can join you. Come on.” Garrett guided April to Wilder’s vehicle with Caden following close behind.
April handed Violet to Caden just long enough to climb into the back seat, then opened her arms to take Violet back.
He placed Violet onto her lap, and gently wiped away the blood from her nose and face with a handkerchief.
“She saved our lives today,” Caden said, his voice barely above a whisper but still so full of emotion.
“We would’ve never held out against Ned’s guys if it hadn’t been for her. ”
April nodded. “I just wish her own stepfather wasn’t the man she had to protect the people she loves from.”
Caden sighed, then stepped back and quietly shut the door. Ranger Wilder got in the front driver’s seat and then to April’s surprise, the back door opened on the other side and Martin got in. “Where did you come from?” April asked, confused on how and when he’d arrived.
“Just got here. Blake filled me in on what happened. When my firehouse got the call to this address, I had a feeling it might have something to do with you and Violet. I asked my captain to take charge on this call because I had a situation that needed my attention. He’ll be fine.
My men and women are good at what they do and there’s no actual fire here.
Just some clean up. Let’s go, Wilder. I want to see Tanner for myself, and we need to get this little girl to a doctor. ”
April shook her head. “No, no doctors. She’ll be okay. The only thing she’ll need is a bath and some rest.”
Martin ran the back of his hand over Violet’s forehead, like he was checking her for a fever. “She looks drained.”
“What the hell happened back there?” Wilder asked, peering at them in the rear-view mirror. By the time he and the rest of the cavalry had arrived, Violet had already passed out, so all they’d seen was a bunch of gunfire.
April looked to Martin, then to Violet, and finally to Wilder. “All hell broke loose and we managed to survive.”
Wilder looked like he wanted to ask more questions, but April caught Martin pinning him with a glare.
He drove them to the hospital, making good time. They arrived just a few minutes after Tanner’s ambulance, but Tanner was immediately rushed into surgery, while April, Martin, and Violet were ushered into a waiting room. Violet’s color was already improving and she was starting to move around more.
“Are you sure she doesn’t need a doctor?” Martin asked. April looked over at Wilder who was busy staring at his phone, acting like he wasn’t paying attention to them.
April nodded. “Just give her a few more minutes. I wish we knew more about how Echo was doing. He saved her.” Even after everything she’d said to him, blaming him for everything that was going on, Echo had still come through.
If he hadn’t jumped in front of Violet like he’d been trained, those three bullets would’ve probably hit her niece, and likely killed her.
“I’ll go see what I can find out,” Martin said. “I saw a restroom across the hall. Maybe take her to go get cleaned up.”
April sighed, feeling the stickiness of Ned’s blood on the back of her neck. She nodded and stood, carrying Violet to the restroom as Martin headed for the nursing station.
In the restroom, she sat Violet on the counter between the two sinks.
Then she grabbed a handful of paper towels, ran some warm water over them, and used them to wipe off as much of the blood from her neck as she could.
A bruise was starting to form at her throat where Ned had gripped her, but she tried not to focus on it right now.
After cleaning herself up, she snagged a few more fresh paper towels, ran them under warm water, and wiped Violet’s face and neck.
She needed a bath as much as April craved a shower, but this would have to do for now.
“How are you feeling?” She asked Violet, who still seemed a bit out of it and a little lethargic.
“I want to see Daddy. When can we see him?”
“Soon,” April said, hoping Tanner’s surgery was going well. “Do you need to go potty?”
Violet nodded.
Martin wasn’t back yet when they returned to the waiting room a few minutes later. April sat with Violet in her lap in one of the chairs arranged around the perimeter of the room. A large flat screen television hung in the corner, currently playing an infomercial for some skin care line.
With Violet drifting off to sleep again in her arms, April leaned back in the chair, resting the back of her head against the wall behind it. She closed her eyes and let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding.
“Hey,” Martin said, quietly, as he came back into the room and sat in the chair next to hers. “I called Tanner’s family. Let them know what happened.”
“Thanks. Any news on Echo?”
“The nurse said he was in surgery, but she couldn’t tell me more.”
April nodded. It was only then that she registered that Ranger Wilder must’ve stepped out because they were the only ones in the room.
“I’ve always hated that man so much. Every time I saw him, it was like a trigger.
It always meant Violet was about to be attacked.
And even though he’s never been the one to attack her, a part of me blamed him for it just the same. Sorry, I’m totally babbling right now.”
“Don’t even worry about it. You need to let it out, and I’m more than happy to listen,” Martin said. “I’ve only heard about what she can do from the guys, but it sounds intense.”
April was grateful Wilder had stepped out of the room, giving them some privacy. It was the only reason April felt comfortable opening up a little. Then Violet started to squirm and opened her eyes, looking around in a panic.
“Hey, Sweetie,” April cooed. “It’s okay. You’re safe. Just rest.” She swiped a few stray hairs out of Violet’s face and helped her sit up. Violet leaned back against April’s front, her head falling heavily onto April’s shoulder.
“Did I stop all the bullets?” Violet asked.
April closed her eyes, not wanting to answer. Violet had always been able to stop any and all bullets that came at her, at least when April was there. But tonight, that just wasn’t possible. There were too many guns and too many bullets. “You did amazing,” April said.
Violet looked around, turning her head from side to side. “Where are we? Where’s Daddy? I thought we could see him at the hospital.”
April swallowed and turned Violet in her arms until they were facing each other. “Tanner had to go into surgery so the doctors could fix him.”
Violet’s eyes immediately welled with tears. “I didn’t stop all the bullets, did I?”
April didn’t know how to answer her without causing more pain and anguish. None of this was Violet’s fault. “The doctors are going to do everything they can to help him, and I know he’ll be so happy to see that you’re safe when he wakes up.”