Chapter 3

It was the morning after the shooting.

"Hello?"

"Hi Collette, it's Barbara."

Collette's heart clenched. After upsetting Bobby the night before, she had been debating whether to call him. Now his mother calls?

"Oh, hi, Barb, how are you?"

"Collette, I'm sorry, I can't really talk now, but can you get a car, or a ride from someone?"

"Uh, I guess so." She could hear voices in the background. "Is everything alright?"

"No."

"Where are you?"

"I'm at the hospital. Raul's here..."

"Raul? What happened?"

"Can you please – please just come? Bobby needs you."

"Of course I will. I'll be there as soon as I can. What's..."

"I'll ... I'll tell you when you get here, okay? Thank you." She hung up.

Collette dialed quickly. "Dave? I need you to come get me, right now."

As they entered the waiting room, Barbara's haggard expression took Collette back to the day Barbara's first husband had succumbed to a heart attack on a baseball field. At her side, Sandy stared with dull unseeing eyes.

Barbara rose and held out her arms, hugging both the brother and sister together.

"Thanks for coming, guys." Releasing them, she added, "Sammy and Bobby are with their dad right now. They only let us in two at a time for five minutes every half hour."

"Is Raul going to be okay?" asked Collette.

Barb cleared her throat. "There was trouble at the garage last night. He was shot."

Collette and Dave gasped.

"They said ... they said he lost a lot of blood before help arrived, and they're not sure how much damage that caused. He's basically in a coma, but the doctors say that's not always a bad thing as his body recovers."

Collette's face was nearly white with shock. "Damn," was all Dave could manage.

"That's not all, I'm afraid," Barb said, gesturing at Sandy with her eyes. "Ron Harris was there. He was killed."

Tears came to the teens' eyes as they stared back at her. "Oh sweet Jesus," said Collette. She went to sit next to Sandy and wrapped her in her arms. "Sandy, I'm so sorry."

Sandy just patted Collette's arm, otherwise remaining motionless.

"She's exhausted," Barb said gently. "We were up all night. As soon as they come back I'm going to send the kids home to get Gina from our neighbor's and get some sleep." She took Collette's hand. "Walk with me for a minute?"

They went down the hall, finding a women's restroom that was unoccupied. Barbara put her hands on Collette's shoulders, looking at her as warmly as she could manage.

"Thank you for coming, Collette. Bobby and Sammy are going to need all the support they can get." She took a deep breath. "Especially Bobby; he was there last night."

"What? But he was with me last night. Then he left to take Sammy home."

"He went out again after leaving Sammy with me. I thought he was going back to see you." Her head shook. "I knew what was going on with Raul and Ron at the garage, and would have told him not to go there if I thought he might.

"He just ... decided to go see his dad, I guess."

Guilt washed over Collette. She had upset him by telling him about being with a girl, and he must have gone to talk to his dad about it. She had unknowingly walked him right into a gunfight.

"Collette, I know basically what happened at the garage, but Bobby hasn't talked to me about it yet. There's more to it than just Ron and his dad being shot."

"What?"

"I think he should be the one to tell you. He must be traumatized, and he's got to let it out. If you can get him to talk it through, it will be the best thing for him. But it's going to be hard – for both of you. Just be there for him, okay?"

"Okay," she said doubtfully, wondering what could possibly be worse than being there when his father was shot, and Ron was killed.

A few minutes later, Bobby and Sammy returned to find the siblings waiting for them. Collette rushed to embrace Bobby tightly.

Dave approached Sammy cautiously, and gave her a careful, gentle hug. After tensing briefly, Sammy returned it weakly.

Barbara spoke up. "Any change?" Bobby just shook his head. "Alright. I've asked Dave and Collette to take you guys home to pick up Gina and get some rest. Stacy - Sandy's mom - is coming to get her. I'll man the fort here for now."