Chapter eleven.

Cat couldn't keep focus, she felt like she'd been pushed under the water and left there. Her breath hitching, her vision blurry, her speech slurred, her hearing sounding like the static on a radio between caught between stations. The occasional words slipped through but they became crossed over and hazy. The lights, so bright, so loud, so alive. Her thoughts stumbled over each other as they tried to become her only focus. Why did it hurt so much? The pain refused to go away. She tried to get up but her body was unresponsive. She tried to explain who she was but it came out completely opposite to what she wanted. The ceiling flew by her. Blue blobs were either side of her.

'I don't want to die' was the last thought to creep into her mind; it was the only one that made sense.

She felt sick letting Cat go to hospital alone but the ambulance told her to wait for Beck when they understood her hysterical words about him coming over. As soon as his car pulled up, he got out and wandered over. Jade didn't move from the spot they'd taken her out of her arms.

"Hey babe, where's Cat?"

She didn't reply to him, her back facing him, she didn't even flinch at the sound of his voice.

"Why are you sat in the middle of the road? You could get hurt, come on, let's head inside," Beck walked over to her, placing his hands on her shoulders. "Has Cat gone to bed? I'm sorry it's so late."

"Cat's gone."

"Gone where? Her car's still on the drive, babe."

"Help me up, Beck? I want to go see her," She held up her hands for him to pull her up.

Beck grabbed them and pulled her up. He felt the warm, red blood on her hands.

"Jade? Are you hurt?" He said panicked staring down at the blood that was now on his hands too.

She turned to face him, her make-up streaking down her face and her eyes puffy from crying.

"They told me to wait for you so you wouldn't find the pool of blood with no explanation, the police are going to take care of this, get some forensics or something."

"Who told you? What is happening?"

"Cat was shot by my brother; she took the bullet for me. That should have been me," Jade started crying again, Beck pulled her into his chest.

"It'll be okay, the doctors will fix her up and she'll be happy Cat again," He mumbled into her hair.

Jade pulled away. "I need to see her."

"After we get you cleaned up, I'm sure Cat won't mind you borrowing some clothes and I probably have a clean shirt in the trunk."

"No, I need to go now."

Beck shook his head. "You'll scare her when she wakes up and you're covered in blood, you'll look like something out of a horror film to her."

Jade frowned. "What if she wakes up and I'm not there?"

"She won't wake up before we get there, I promise. She'll be taken into surgery straight away."

"Are you sure?"

Beck nodded. "There's no one home?"

"Her parents are with her brother at some university, we should probably call them," Jade wiped her eyes on her shirt. "We have to tell Robbie."

"I guess we'll call them all from the hospital or the car."

He took her hand and guided her up to the house; he produced a key and unlocked the door. Jade looked at him.

"Her parents gave it me so if she ever needed me…"

Jade lifted up her necklace which was tucked into her top, at the end of the string was also a key.

"They gave me one too."

He let Jade go first, she ran straight upstairs and washed her hands and face. Beck cleaned himself up in the bathroom downstairs, he was still in shock, it was the only reason he was so calm.
Jade walked into Cat's room, her head was spinning, all she needed something that reminded her of Cat. She opened the closet searching for Cat's favourite jumper then she pulled out some jeans from the shelves. Jade walked towards the bed after she put them on, picking up Mr Purple and hugging the stuffed giraffe tightly.

Beck appeared in the doorway. "Ready?"

She nodded and went to sit in the car, leaving him to lock up the house. She stared at the dash which stated the time. One a.m. Beck slid into the car and started the engine. The hospital was about 10 minutes away, Cat would have been there about half an hour now, she thought.

"How do we tell Robbie?" Jade asked hoping Beck would have the answer like he always did.

"The basics and tell him to get to the hospital."

She nodded and found her phone still clutching the giraffe to her chest.

"Mammaw, I told you, I'm dating Cat whether you like it or…"

"Robbie it's me."

"Jade? Is this a prank call because I'm trying to sleep," He whined. "Tell Cat it's not funny."

"Robbie, listen to me, Cat's…hurt. She's in hospital, I'm with Beck driving there now, meet us there."

The phone cut off dead.

"I can't ring Cat's parents, they'll be heartbroken," Jade said.

"I'm sure the hospital staff will do it for us when we get there, babe."

She didn't reply, instead she pieced together the hour that had just passed. Her best friend had managed to save her life, he was aiming for Jade's heart instead the bullet was in Cat's stomach. She shouldn't have jumped in front of her. She couldn't help but feel anger towards Cat yet that was overshadowed by the huge amount of guilt and pain. She had to pull through, Cat couldn't die.

The hospital was bright with the white lights. Unnaturally bright, it hurt Jade's eyes. Hospitals smelt funny to her, there was the lingering scent of disinfectant and pain. She could almost see the unsaid words dance around the people, the flat line beeps flooded Jade's senses making her almost believe Cat was dead, the last regrets of the dead painted the walls a sad shade of grey. Jade watched the clock. The surgery would be over soon. 15 more minutes if there had been no complications. She wanted to say something to Beck, console him perhaps; he was her best friend after all. But she couldn't make his lips move.

Beck stared at Jade, intently as they waited in some family room. Cat would be okay, he told himself over and over. She had to be. The nurse, he couldn't remember her name, had explained what was happening in surgery, she'd also offered to call Cat's parents for them. Beck watched the clock. The surgery would be over soon. 15 more minutes if there had been no complications. He wanted to say something to Jade, console her perhaps; she was her best friend after all. But he couldn't make his lips move.

She shifted uncomfortably, Beck moved away thinking she wanted more space on the small leather settee, she stared at him. They hadn't officially got back together yet. No one had stated it and made it clear to either of them. Beck was waiting for Jade to confirm it; Jade was waiting for Beck to call the shots. Jade sighed and decided she needed him more than she needed her pride, so she swallowed the few scraps of pride she had left and took his hand then placed her head on his shoulder. Beck was a little surprised, he thought he'd have to put up more of a fight to win her over, instead she was simply too tired and too sad to bother acting like the hard to please.

The nurse walked in. Jade's head shot up but she moved a little closer to him.

"I rang her parents, they're driving back but it'll take them at least a day or more to get here so they asked if you two would stay with her," She smiled reassuringly. She sat down in the chair opposite. "Now, we just wait for the doctor."

Beck chuckled under his breath, Jade looked at him with one eyebrow raised.

"I just thought what Cat would say, she'd ask if it was Doctor Who and if she could go in the TARDIS for a look around," Beck shook his head laughing.

Jade laughed too. "Yeah, that would probably be it. God help him if he wears bow ties."

The nurse smiled at them. "So you two are Caterina's friends?"

"We're more like family. We've been through too much to be friends. She's more like a sister to us," Jade said, playing with Beck's fingers, positioning her hand on top of his then wrapping her own around his hand. She did when she was scared, nervous or sad. Beck could tell it was a mixture of all three.

"I guess you're dating then?" She nodded towards their intertwined hands.

Beck nodded hesitantly after Jade gave him a confirmation smile.

"You make a good match."

Robbie ran through the door, he was breathless and his hair was a mess. His face hid no secrets of how he was feeling.

"And I'm guessing this is Caterina's boyfriend? They all have this worried look in their eye," The nurse explained to Beck and Jade. She turned to Robbie. "She's in surgery; the doctor will be in any moment."

Robbie nodded and sat down silently. "I text André and Tori to come too, they'd want to be here."

Within minutes they also flew the doors holding hands.

Jade pointed at them with her free hand. "Are you two…?"

Tori blushed. André just turned selectively deaf. The nurse explained to them the same she had with everyone else. They just nodded. Robbie had a glazed look like his soul had escaped him and had gone wandering along the lengthy corridors.

The doctor appeared with a clipboard. All of them stood up faster than the bullet that had struck Cat.

"Well…" He began.

Their hearts all skipped multiple beats.