“Dammit Hadley, you’re not going in there.”
“Nick! Scott!” I shouted.
I tried to fight her off, but there was nothing I could do against an MMA fighter. Paxton glanced back at Gabriella, a silent plea on his face; Gabriella nodded. “Go.”
“Nick doesn’t have a gun. What if he’s hurt?” I cried. Gabriella loosened her grip, but kept a vigilant watch of the house. I wished I was strong like her. I’d be able to take care of myself instead of having others do it.
“Don’t worry, everything’s going to be fine,” she said, but even I could hear the uncertainty in her voice.
“Gabby!” Paxton yelled from inside the house. “I need help in here.”
She jerked me to my feet and we both took off for the house. When I got inside, the smell of blood was overwhelming. Everything came crashing down the second I saw Scott and Nick on the floor, covered in blood. But it was Scott who was unmoving, lifeless, his unseeing eyes staring up at the ceiling.
“Scott!” I cried. Paxton rushed over and took his pulse. The pained look on his face was answer enough. I stumbled over and fell to my knees beside him. “He has to be alive.” But he wasn’t; he was gone.
“Hadley,” Nick croaked. Gasping, I crawled over to him and placed a hand over his. Blood oozed out of the wound in his gut. He glanced over at Scott’s still form and closed his eyes. “He . . . saved me.”
“Where did the shooter go?” Paxton demanded.
Nick swallowed hard. “Back door.” His eyes rolled into the back of his head and his body shook.
“Nick! Hang on, please,” I cried. Putting my hands over his wound, I attempted to stem the blood flow.
Sirens blared down the street, but they were going to be too late.
Growling, Paxton dashed toward the back door. “I’m going after the fucker.”
Tears streamed down my cheeks as I watched Nick’s life slowly slip away. Gabriella rummaged through my house and came back with a towel. I took it from her and placed it over the wound.
“Nick, stay with us,” Gabriella commanded, as I applied pressure to the wound. It seemed to help, but what did I know.
He turned to me, his sea green eyes glassy and full of tears. His body stopped convulsing, and was replaced with a sense of calm. “I wanted . . . to protect you.”
“Did you see who it was?” Gabriella asked softly.
He closed his eyes, his grip on my arm loosening.
“Nick? Nick. Don’t you dare die on me,” I shouted.
The police and paramedics burst into the room and rushed over. Gabriella put her arm around me and everything moved in slow motion. I subconsciously noted how Nick and Scott’s blood had soaked through my jeans, but I didn’t care. All I could do was sit there, realization staring me in the face. Scott was dead and Nick laid in a pool of his own blood . . . because of me. It was all my fault.
Hadley
“You gonna be okay by yourself?” Gabriella asked.
Nodding, I hugged her and Paxton both. “I’ll be fine. Thank you for trying to catch the guy who did this. You risked your life,” I said to Paxton.
He shrugged. “I just wish I’d caught the fucker. Let us know if there’s anything we can do.”
I nodded. “I will. But I think you’ve done more than enough for me at this point. I really can’t thank you enough.”
They made their way to the door just as my phone started to ring. It was Felicity. Everything had moved so fast, all I could tell her after the accident was that Nick was in the hospital and that she had to get there. I dreaded having to explain the details.
“Felicity.”