Aftermath
Emily watched in horror as both her mother and Aaron fell back shot. She ran to Aaron who'd been hit this time in his chest. She tried to find some cloth nearby and press it against his chest trying to stop the blood.
"Your mother," he rasped trying to keep his eyes open.
She looked over to her mother and saw she'd stopped breathing. Part of her felt devastated she was gone but she was more thankful. At the end of the day she was still her mother but she'd tried to kill her daughter.
"She's dead," she assured him.
He nodded and tried even harder to keep his eyes open. Her heart sunk seeing how bad he was but she hoped to God Haley had heard and was calling for an ambulance.
"Aaron, come on you can pull through. Jack and Phoebe need you. You can fight I know you can..." she cried.
Haley ran down and tried to keep him fighting while informing Emily the ambulance was on its way. She nodded and stepped aside to let his wife tend to him. She still loved him with everything in her but he was married. It wasn't her place no matter how much she cared.
She let the tears roll down her face and her heart clenched as she saw Haley try to stop her husband's blood. The dreams she'd had of being with Aaron had been dashed the moment she knew he was married but seeing them together only made the pain stronger. It felt like a dagger in her heart that she wasn't allowed to remove.
She wouldn't run away though. Aaron and Phoebe needed each other despite her feelings for him. She just had to move on herself and possibly give Phoebe a stepfather. She'd always have her father too.
She looked up to see Phoebe cuddling a young boy who she presumed was Jack. She ran up to look after them and held them close to her. She'd only just met him but she already loved him like her own.
"It's going to be alright, daddy's going to be alright. He's a fighter. He'll make it," she soothed them as they both clung onto her. She stroked both their hair assuring them.
"You still love him, don't you, mummy?" Phoebe whispered.
"Yes I do but he's married to Haley," she answered. She wouldn't admit her love for him had only increased tenfold today as he tried to save their daughter's life twice.
"Come on, Aaron, the paramedics are on their way. You can pull through. I know you. You can make it. We need you," Haley encouraged with tears rolling down her cheeks.
Just as the paramedics arrived Aaron closed his eyes saying wobbly, "Emily."
