Close Your Eyes (22 page)

‘No, stay please
,
’ he managed, his voice
strained and
croaky. She
bit
her lip to stop herself from crying
.
Unable
to look at him, she let
her eyes cling to the swift, efficient paramedics
who
bustled around his body.

‘I should have been faster
.
’
Matt
’s
dull and lifeless
voice reached her from
somewhere
far away. ‘I should have
grabbed
him earlier, before he had the guts to actually pull the trigger.’ His tortured words hurt her almost physically
,
and she ached to reach out and stroke his hand. She didn’t
though
,
and she
concentrated
all her efforts
on watching
Ry
an
’s
pale face
as the paramedic hooked him up to an IV
. Anything else could wait for later.

‘You were fast enough,
Matt
,
’
Rupert
answered, his voice reassuring. ‘
You
couldn’t have known what would happen, nobody did.’

‘Don’
t worry
.
’
Unbelievably
, Ry
an
joined in
.
The paramedic shushed his
attempt to calm his brother. But not before he pointed out, his voice stronger
,
‘
He
was bloody fast,
Matt
. If you
hadn’t
push
ed
him
when
you did, he’d
have
shot again
.
’

She saw
Matt
press his lips together as he struggled to stop himself from answering. He
didn’t look very
relieved
, and she
couldn’t imagine
how horrible
this must be
for him. His brother was lying here,
in pain and quickly
losing blood. She knew enough about the strong bond the two of them shared to know how deeply
this must be
affecting
him.

She decided she would talk to him later.
He would need as much moral support as possible. Sonia had disappeared into the crowd
when
the whole ordeal
had
started
,
and anyway
,
after what he
had
told her, there was little chance she
would be interested in consoling
her
ex-
boyfriend.

The ambulance pulled into the ambulance bay,
where the staff was
already prepared to take Ry
an
past triage into a secure waiting area. His injuries were serious enough to make sure he would receive proper treatment right away.

To Meg’s surprise,
a
small
bunch of photographers greeted them at
t
he hospital
entrance.
Meg
wondered how on earth
they had found
out about the shooting,
but she
suspect
ed
that one of the guests must have leaked some information right after it happened. She watched the group of men and women, excited and disturbingly friendly, shouting at
Rupert
and
Matt
and
obnoxiously
snapping photos. It was a part of being who the
Harper
s were
. Being rich and important came at the steep price payoff
of
their privacy, and sometimes their dignity.

As
they finally reached the
well-lit
interior
o
f the hospital
and left
behind a disappointed crowd
, s
he dreaded the idea of having to
leave the hospital
and face those sharks
.

Hospital staff rolled Ryan
into the surgery room
, where t
hey would remove the bullet
,
stop
the bleeding
,
and
make
sure no vital organs were harmed in the shooting.
The doctor explained to Rupert that Ryan
would likely
need a
blood
transfusion,
given the amount of blood he had already lost.

Time moved excruciatingly slow
ly. Meg’s
thoughts drift
ed
in and out of the room
. She was b
arely aware of the hushed conversation going on around her. She couldn’t have said if mere minutes or hours
had
passed
when
she finally heard someone say her name and make her snap out of her stupor.

‘Would you like a cup of coffee or tea, maybe?’
She
looked up to see
Rupert
watch
ing
her with serious, observant eyes. He looked worn and much older, his impeccable clothes wrinkled and stained with blood
—
Ry
an
’s blood, she realized
. She s
hiver
ed
as she
remembered
the horrible moment she
’d learned
Ryan had
been
shot. Still,
Rupert’s clothes weren’t
even nearly as stained as
Matt
’s.
R
usty stains of his brother’s blood
smudged Matt’s once-pristine shirt and hands
.
Now that she really looked at him
,
Megan
realized that
Matt
looked terrible. He raked his hair with his fingers
,
and she noticed they were shaking slightly
. H
is iron
self-
control that
had
held
strong during the attack
and the resulting offense by him and his brother
finally
verged on
snapping.

‘
Hey, it’s going to be
okay
,
Matt
.
’
She
reached out hesitantly and touched his sleeve, hoping to ease his misery ever so slightly. There were no words to make things better, really
, not
when the two
brothers
were as close as Ry
an
and
Matt
were
. She knew
Matt
adored
Ryan. Ever
since they were kids,
he had trotted
around in his big brother’s shadow, following his lead and trying to be just like him.

‘
Yes
, I’d love a cup of tea
.
’
She
smiled at
Rupert
and nodded towards the cafeteria down the hallway. ‘Why don’t I go and fetch us some, Mr.
Harper
?’
They
needed some time alone, son and father.

‘Call me
Rupert
, dear
.
’
When the
older man
grinned sadly
, his austere face transformed into a warm expression. ‘I’d say it’s about time
,
after all those years, don’t you think?’

‘Well, yes,’ she stammered, taken by surprise. If someone
had
told her
she would
be on a
first
-
name basis with
Rupert
Harper
by the end of the night,
she’d
have thought
that person was
insane.
She wasn’t sure how much he knew
about her relationship with Ry
an
, but it was a
pparently more than she
had suspected
, judging by his rather paternal smile and
the
awkward pat on her back.

‘I’ll come
with you
,
’
Matt
offered, his face tired. ‘I bet the police will want to talk to us as soon as possible, so I’d rather have some caffeine in my system.’

He was right
,
of course. They
had been
allowed to accompany Ry
an
on his ride to the hospital, the
Harper
status perhaps allowing
for some special treatment. Still, as witnesses and participants
in
the whole drama, it was obvious that they would have
to
offer their statements.