Chapter Eleven

Kaitlyn can't stop shaking as she holds her hand against one of Dean's wounds. She looks at him through her tears, unable to tell if he's even looking back at this point. "Dean…"

"I'm 'ere," Dean says softly. He coughs then.

"Oh God." She shifts a little. "Did it go through? No, don't talk. Save your strength." She licks her lips as she looks over to see if the ambulance has arrived yet. "I'm sorry, Dean. This is all my fault."

Dean shakes his head. "Never. He pulled…" He coughs again and winces.

Kaitlyn slides her free hand through Dean's hair. "What's taking them so long!?"

Seth rests his hand on Kaitlyn's shoulder. "They're here. Back up."

"No." She shakes her head and watches the EMT kneel down on the other side of Dean. "I can't…"

"Ma'am, you have to step back," he says.

Seth pulls her up and beside him. "Here," he says handing her a towel.

Kaitlyn follows the paramedics out to the front once they get Dean onto the stretcher. She stops at the ambulance. "I want to go with him. Please."

The EMT looks over at her and nods. "Hop in."

"Kaitlyn," Seth says. "You don't have to go with him. I know you think…"

"I'm going with him because I'm his girlfriend," she interrupts before climbing into the back of the ambulance. "And this is my fault."

Kaitlyn stops at the door of the emergency room and watches as Dean disappears into a room. She takes a shaky breath. "I'm sorry, Dean." She jumps when she feels a hand on her shoulder. When she sees Seth standing there, she turns and hugs him. "I'm sorry."

Seth holds her close. "It's okay. He's going to be okay." He rubs her back. "So this is why you got weird in the kitchen, huh?"

She nods a little. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you. We were going to and then you said that so I panicked."

"How long?"

"Almost two months." She looks up at Seth when he pulls back. "We wanted to wait to know that it was going somewhere. And then I got too scared."

He grins. "Does he make you happy?"

She nods slowly. "He does. I know what you said, Seth. But…"

"I just want you happy. Am I thrilled that it's one of my best friends? No, but I'll get over it. I just want you happy. And I am having a talk with him when he's up for it."

"Okay."

"Come on, let's go into the waiting room. They'll come out as soon as they know something." He tugs Kaitlyn into the waiting room.

She lets him pull her down onto one of the chairs. Leaning against him, she lets the tears fall once again. She can't believe she let this happen. How is Dean ever going to forgive her? She turns her face into Seth's shoulder as she cries.

"How did this happen?" Seth asks after a few minutes. "You and Dean."

Kaitlyn sniffles as she sits back. "After that day at school when I was…" She trails off. "I wanted to thank him for pretty much saving my life. So I made him dinner. We were just talking and the whole prom thing came up about why I asked Roman instead of him. The next thing I know, after I'm back home, I'm walking back out to head back to his place and I find him on my porch. And that was it. It just happened." She looks at Seth to see what his reaction is going to be.

"Okay, so…" He frowns a bit. "And you were scared to tell me?"

"In the beginning it was more of wanting to know it was going somewhere. Then I started to worry. And today…"

"Yeah, well, don't listen to me. I don't always know what I'm talking about." He grins. "He's going to be okay."

"I hope so. I just… it's my fault he's in there."

"No, Kaitlyn…"

"If I would have just told everyone, mom would have never invited Nick."

"You don't know that." Seth squeezes her thigh. "For some reason, your mom always thought Nick was the perfect guy for you. She never saw what we all saw." He looks at her.

"You mad at me?"

"Never." He leans over, kissing her forehead. "Going to be weird, but at least I know he'll treat you right."

"I'm looking for Dean Ambrose's family," someone says walking in.

Seth, Kaitlyn, and Roman all stand up at that. "We're his family," Seth says. "Is he okay?"

"He's in surgery right now. I'm Paige, one of the nurses. We wanted to come update all of you though. Are you his brother?"

"Well… I guess in a way. He's my best friend. We all grew up together and became family. Please, he's not close with his family. We are it."

Paige nods. "He got lucky. As bad as it is, he could be much worse. We've been able to pull one of the bullets out. The second is going to be more difficult. One wrong move in the location and we may lose him."

Kaitlyn turns into Seth. "Oh God."

"So what now?" Roman asks.

"For you? You'll just have to wait. I wish I could give you more. But we will keep you updated. I'll come back out when we have another update."

"Thank you," Seth says.

Kaitlyn stands at the window, staring outside as they continue to wait. She wants to know something. She wants to be able to be with Dean. Turning around, she lets out a heavy breath. "I wish they'd come tell us something." She moves to sit down beside Seth once again. "Shouldn't they know something by now?"

"I don't know," Seth says. "Could just be taking a long time."

"What if he…?"

"No, don't think that. He won't."

Paige walks in then, smiling at them a little. "He's out of surgery. Not out of the woods yet, but it's looking good. We'll know more when he wakes up."

"Can we see him?" Kaitlyn asks.

"I'm afraid not. Once he's awake and we check everything you'll be able to. Right now it's too much of a risk."

Kaitlyn nods. She hates that she can't be back there with him. "Okay."

"It could be a while before he wakes. I would suggest going and getting something to eat. It'll help pass time. I'll come out and let you know when he's awake."

"Thanks." Kaitlyn looks at Seth and lets out a soft breath.

"It's a start," he says.

Kaitlyn wakes up several hours later when Seth nudges her. She can't believe she was actually able to fall asleep. She looks over to see Paige standing near them.

"He's awake. Been awake for about an hour now. We just wanted to make sure everything was going well before we brought you four back."

"We can see him now?" Kaitlyn asks.

Paige nods. "Yes. He is still in ICU. He'll be there for the night. If all goes well, he'll be brought down to another room tomorrow. You won't be able to stay long tonight. But you can come see him. If you'll follow me, I'll bring you back."

Dean looks over when he hears footsteps, smiling when he sees Kaitlyn, Seth, Roman, and Eve standing there. "Hey," he says softly.

"You do anything to get attention," Seth says, "you know that?"

"Yeah, I know."

Kaitlyn walks over and sits down on the edge of the bed. She rests her hand on Dean's stomach and meets his gaze. "Forgive me?"

"Nothing to forgive." He watches her.

"I should have…"

"Kiss me."

She smiles sadly. "Dean…" She leans down and kisses him softly. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"Letting all of this happen. If I would have told Seth sooner, Nick would have never been there. You wouldn't be in here."

"You don't know that." He smiles at her before looking over at the other three. "Seth…"

"I'll kick your ass when you're able to defend yourself."

"Looking forward to it. Just… I love her." He rests his hand over Kaitlyn's.

Seth nods. "Good to know." He grins. "How you feelin'?"

Dean groans. "Like I've been run over by a bus." He rests his head back once again, closing his eyes. "What happened to him?"

"He's sitting in jail right now," Roman says. "I saw him pull the gun, man. Just didn't get to him in time."

Dean nods. "No worries." He looks at Kaitlyn once again. "We okay?"

She nods. "We're okay. I'm sorry." She leans down and kisses him once again. She squeezes her eyes shut. "I thought we were going to lose you."

"Can't get rid of me that easily."

She smiles against his lips. "Don't want to get rid of you." She pulls up and wipes her eyes. She looks over to see Paige walking in.

"All right, I'm afraid it's time for you to leave," she says. "You can come back in the morning. By then we should know a little more about the room situation."

Seth nods. "Okay. Don't let him boss you around too much. He's a bit stubborn."

Paige grins. "I can handle him."

Kaitlyn looks at Dean once again. "Get some rest."

"You too," Dean says. He watches as Kaitlyn curls her fingers through his. "Katie, I'm okay."

She nods. "I know."

"Come here." He tugs her down the best he can and kisses her. "Go to my place if you want," he whispers. "Sleep in my bed."

She nods. "I love you."

"I love you too." He kisses her again.

She wipes her eyes as she stands up again. She walks over to where Eve is standing. Eve squeezes her arm lightly.

Seth hits Dean's leg gently. "All right, ass hole, we'll see you tomorrow."

Roman hits Dean's foot. "Get better, man."

Kaitlyn wipes her eyes once again after they walk out of the room. "I can't believe this happened."

Seth slides his arm around her shoulders. "Want me to stay with you tonight?" he asks.

"No, I'll be okay. I'm going to stay at Dean's."

He looks at her. "Okay. Let me know if you change your mind. Want me to drive you to your car or just home?"

"Home. I don't want to go anywhere near that house right now."

"Okay."

It doesn't take long for Kaitlyn to get ready for bed. She climbs into Dean's bed, curling up around one of his pillows. She closes her eyes. If she can't be in Dean's arms tonight, this is the next best thing. She can at least still smell him.