Chapter 29: Addy

A guttural, animal noise from the pit of Addy’s stomach slipped between her lips as she focused her eyes on the still figure in front of her. Her body numb and tingling, she struggled to her feet to get to Jay. She tripped twice, almost falling. One of the police officers had finally fired, and his gun was still pointed at Jay.
“Jay,” Addy breathed. Behind the officers, Barnett was watching the scene in shock. Blood streamed from the open cut on his head, staining his nicely pressed, white button-up shirt. Sitting on the floor near the window, Laurel had her legs drawn up to her chest, and she was sobbing.
“Jay,” Addy whispered again. She fell to her knees beside him, reaching one hand out to touch his forehead. “What did you do?”
“He wouldn’t release the weapon,” one of the cops said in a shaky voice. He was a rookie, probably not long out of the academy, Addy figured. She’d worked with them often in her line of work. “I didn’t mean to kill him. I…” he trailed off, gasping for composure, looking dizzy with shock. On his radio, one of the officers called for EMS. Addy barely heard him speak. She reached over and rolled Jay onto his back, surer than ever that he was dead. He’d gone. He’d left her.
“Jay?” she said. “Jay, please open your eyes. Please?”
She grabbed his hand and squeezed, trying to ignore the bloodstain seeping from under his shirt. She had to focus, had to clear her mind. Fingers shaking, she reached up softly to the base of his neck and felt for a pulse. The trembling of her hands almost hid it, but it was there. He was alive.
“Jesus,” Addy said. She rested her hand on his cheek, leaning over him, touching her forehead to his. “Wake up, please.”
Another few moments passed, and Addy melted into him, allowing the world around them to slowly fade away. She rested her lips on his head, and then down to his mouth.
“Stay with me, Jay,” she whispered. Behind her, one of the officers was going through the blue bag she’d found under the bed. However, she didn’t care what was or wasn’t found. Her reason for being here was dying on the floor, and all anybody could do was wait for the ambulance.
“Hey.”
The crack of his voice made Addy’s heart jump in her throat. She looked down at Jay as his eyes fluttered open, wincing with pain. It took a moment for him to focus on her, but when his beautiful blue eyes met hers, he smiled weakly.
“Hey, beautiful,” he said. “I think I got shot.”
Addy chuckled, but her laughter turned into tears, and before she knew it, beads of saltwater were streaming down her face. She reached out again and rested her hand on his cheek, feeling the stubble on his chin. His skin was cool and pale, and he reached up to place his hand over hers.
“Don’t do that again,” she said. “You scared the hell out of me.”
She closed her eyes and lay down on the carpet next to him, drawing herself closer to him. One officer was kneeling on the other side of Jay, saying something, but Addy had no idea the words that were coming out of his mouth because she wasn’t listening. Jay was alive; he was okay, that was all that mattered.
“She didn’t confess,” Jay said. Laurel, who was still sitting under the window, was still weeping, but Addy knew it wasn’t for Jay.
“Sergeant, we’ve got something over here,” somebody said. Addy peered over her shoulder to where one police officer was holding up a lunch baggie full of pills. They weren’t labeled, but Addy didn’t doubt what they were.
“I don’t think she’ll have to confess,” she said, turning back to Jay. Tyson Barnett was standing in the corner being questioned by another officer, and Addy heard someone else tell Laurel she needed to come to the station for questioning.
“Hey,” Jay said. Addy looked back at him, her eyes meeting his, and she noticed that in the few moments she’d been by his side, the touch of his skin beneath hers was even cooler than it had been.
“Don’t talk, okay?” Addy said. She squeezed his hand, turning to look at one of the cops. “I need towels from the bathroom. Now, please! I need to put pressure on the wound to keep him from bleeding out.”
Fortunately, one of the officers obeyed, jogging to the bathroom and returning with a towel and some wet clothes. Addy took the towel, folded it, and pressed it tight against Jay’s abdomen, trying to count his respiratory rate as he breathed, but unable to because of the tears blinding her vision. Crimson blood stained her hands as it seeped through the towel, and she pushed harder, fighting the urge to lose her composure.
“Thank you for helping me,” Jay said. “Thank you for trusting me.”
He smiled at her again and then coughed. When he coughed, tiny dribbles of blood escaped from between his lips and slid down his chin.
“Dammit, Jay,” Addy said and looked around her for something that might help. There was nothing. She had no IV, no assistance, and no trauma bag or blood clotting agent that could buy them more time. She was on her own. Addy scrambled to her knees. Gut-wrenching anguish that she’d never experienced before in her entire life gripped her chest and pulled her under.
“EMS is five minutes out,” one officer said. He dropped down on the other side of Jay and applied more pressure to the gunshot wound. Addy let her chin drop to her chest as she struggled to catch her breath. Tears dripped, soaking Jay’s shirt.
“Don’t cry,” he said. “I got what I came for.”
“But I didn’t,” Addy said. She closed her eyes and laid her head on his chest, listening to the raspy air escape his lungs. With great effort, he wrapped one arm around her and squeezed.
“I don’t regret anything,” he said in her ear. “Except for not meeting you sooner.” Addy squeezed her eyes shut tighter, focusing on his words, feeling his breath against her cheek.
“Hold on for a little bit longer,” she said. “The ambulance will come—and they’ll help you. And then we can go home and—”
“Shhhhh.” Jay closed his own eyes and rested two fingers on Addy’s lips. “Just listen.” She heard nothing. Even Laurel’s sobs had subsided. Their audience was quiet as they looked on. Nobody moved. Below Addy’s chest, she felt the blood from Jay’s wound soak into her shirt and stain her skin. She didn’t move, only prayed that the pressure of her body would subside the bleeding just a little bit longer.
“Just hold on,” she told him. “Just a little while longer. Please, Jay. Please don’t leave me.” She rested her head on his chest and closed her eyes.
“Listen,” Jay said again. “Can you hear it?” She caught her breath, squeezing her eyes shut, listening to the soft thumping of his heart against her cheek.
“I feel it.”