name.
More gunshots rang out and Caleb moved off her. Rather than wait, she got to her feet with her name being called.
James was only a little boy. Running through the house, she chased her way upstairs, going toward the bedroom where she found James huddled in a corner, ears covered, tears streaming down his face.
She grabbed his favorite bunny from his bed and went to him. Wrapping her arms around him, she held on to him tightly, telling him it was going to be okay. She didn’t know if she was lying. She only hoped that Caleb would make it better.
Grace closed her eyes, humming to try to calm James down.
The noise faded, but she didn’t let him go.
Movement outside his door had her tightening her hold around James, ready to protect him if she had to.
Caleb entered the room. He looked at her then at James.
“Everything is fine,” he said.
James sniffled. “I wet myself.”
Grace’s heart went out to the sadness in James’s voice. She got to her feet and was about to lift him into her arms when pain washed over her.
Caleb rushed to her side and that was when she realized her shirt was covered in blood. She’d been shot and hadn’t even realized it.
“Ouch,” she said, moaning.
Pressing her lips together, Caleb applied pressure, which really started to hurt.
“I need some help in here.”
She was not going to faint. Her stomach began to turn, but she was determined to keep her shit together. James didn’t need to see her pass out. She was a lot stronger than this.
“Grace, can you hear me?”
The room spinning was so pretty, but that wasn’t a good sign. Rooms didn’t spin on their own.
The sound of her name continued to fade. Sickness washed over her and she closed her eyes as everything slowly faded. Until finally, it was blank.
****
“I can’t believe I fainted,” Grace said, wincing.
“It can happen,” the doctor said. “The pain and the adrenaline. You’re lucky it’s not shock.”
“I am in shock. I’m so totally shocked.”
Caleb stared at Grace. The bullet had been lodged in her shoulder and the doctor had no choice but to dig around in her shoulder to take a look. He’d wanted to take her to the hospital, but with the latest threat and now the attack on his home, he wasn’t going to let her out of his sight.
“How is James?” Grace asked.
“He’s fine. He’s cleaned and I’ve put him in your room for now while I get his room cleaned.”
James had been so upset that he’d soiled himself. Caleb wasn’t angry at him. At three years old, any child would have been afraid.
Caleb recalled being afraid himself. He’d once lived in a really rough neighborhood where gun shootouts had been a regular occurrence. His father had beat him whenever he soiled himself or cried. He wasn’t raising a pussy, that was what his father would drunkenly say. After a lifetime of beating, Caleb learned to cut everything off.
When it came to James, he would not lift a finger to harm that boy. There would be time for him to learn the cruelty of life. He would make sure James was prepared but not until it was absolutely necessary.
“You shouldn’t have run away,” Caleb said.
“I’m sorry. Gunshots scare me, and well, no one was with James. I thought this house was safe,” she said.
“It is.”
“I got shot.”
“It will be safe from here on out,” he said. He shouldn’t be here with her, but dealing with the four people his men had captured. They weren’t people he recognized. They even looked like military trained. Well, they made a big mistake coming to his home. There were an additional five bodies also being taken care of.
The attack had been unexpected. He’d lost six of his own men as well, which pissed him off.
It seemed he was going to have to deliver a message. There were always people willing to take him on, and he dealt with them swiftly. With Grace, James, and his sister’s death, he hadn’t been swift enough. Now people were taking advantage, and that just plainly pissed him off. They would all learn that attempting to take him out would have severe consequences.
The doctor finished stitching her arm and gave her a list of instructions with the promise he’d be by in a week to see how it was.
Caleb saw the doctor to the door for one of his men to see out, then turned back to Grace.
“Don’t you ever fucking run off like that