Relentless

Chapter 55

Juliet

I hear myself gasp and feel like I'm going to throw up. So many different emotions are flying around in my stomach and brain and I want to scream.

The son of a bitch has been alive this entire time. He lead me to believe that he loved me and then let me think that he was dead. He's a sicko! He's an asshole!

"Now, since I gave you the syllable you were looking for, can I explain?" Lisa asks.

"The asshole has been out of the hospital this entire time and he hasn't called me? Not even a text message telling me that he's okay! He lead me to believe that he was dead! Who the hell is he to do that to me? He told me that he loved me and all of this shit before he supposedly 'died' and now you're telling me that he's alive?!" I use air quotation marks around the word died and feel my face turn red with fury.

"Juliet, it's not what you think."

"Not what I think? Aunt Lisa, I've been living with a pit in my stomach because I thought that I was the reason that he was dead and now you're telling me that he's alive? Why hasn't he talked to me? Why didn't anyone tell me?"

"Because we don't know how long it will last!" Lisa shouts, standing up. I stop in my tracks and hold my breath, staring at her.

"What?"

"Will you let me talk now?" Lisa asks, sarcastically.

"Yes, yes, what do you mean? Where is he?" I ask, rapidly, walking towards her and crossing my arms over my chest and feeling sick.

"When the EMTs didn't feel a pulse, they put the sheet over him. When they placed him in the ambulance, one of them wanted to check his pulse again. There was nothing for a few seconds, but then it started again."

"That's why the officers ran to the ambulance." I say under my breath, sitting down and running a hand through my hair.

"Yes. They transported him immediately and took him into surgery. Both bullets broke inside of him so it was harder to get all of the fragments out. There are still some inside of him the the surgeons have to work carefully on to get them out because of the area they are located in. The one in his chest is a few inches away from his heart and the one in his abdomen is near some vital organs.

"He was in his first surgery for about ten hours and then sent to the ICU. They had to put him in a medically induced coma. They continued to work on him as time progressed, but, as I said before, fragments are still in his body." She explains. She sits next to me and places her hand on-top of mine.

"Is he still in a coma?" I whisper, looking at her with tears in my eyes.

"Yes. They are waiting to take him out of it."

"Why?"

"They need to see if his body is recovering or not. If he wakes up in the state he's in now, he will be in too much pain for his body to handle and he will die."

"Is he in pain now?"

"No. Since he's in a coma, he can't feel anything. Plus, we have morphine and anesthetics running through him."

"What did you mean when you said you didn't know how long it would last?"

"With injuries this serious, we never know what to expect. We don't know how strong his body is or how much treatment it can take. We just need to hold onto hope." She says. I look to the ground and see tear drops fall.

"I need to see him." I say, jumping up from me seat and starting for the door.

"You can't." Lisa says, stopping me in my tracks. "It's family only at this time."

"But,"

"It's unfair, I know. But there's nothing I can do. I'm sorry, baby." I shake my head and run to my room to see Maris standing at my bedroom door with her jaw wide open.

"What am I supposed to do?" I whisper, chocking on my words. She comes to me automatically and hugs me tightly.

"We're going stealth mode tonight, babe." I look at her and see that devilish smile of hers appear on her face. "Still have your handy dandy hoodie?"