Disclaimer: I don't own it
"Do you want to do something after school?" Jo asked Matt as they left their English class. "Maybe go to the pizza place you told me about?"
He shrugged one shoulder and nodded. "Sure. I thought you were grounded though."
She stopped near their lockers, turning to look at him and leaning back against the wall. "What my parents don't know won't hurt them. Honestly, they won't even realize I'm gone. My dad's been locking me in my room basically every day."
Mat smiled as the bell rang, putting his hands into his pockets. "If you're sure, then yeah. Definitely."
She leaned up to kiss his cheek quickly. "Definitely," she whispered. "See you after class."
"I have to take you to this place in the city, Lombardi's," Jo told Matt as she swallowed a bite of pizza. "It's like, the best pizza in the world."
"Best in the world? I think a place in Italy might have slightly better."
She shook her head. "Nope. Seriously, this place has been around forever. And we probably won't be going to Italy any time soon to test your theory."
"So really it's the best in our world then."
"The world in which we can take a taxi to, yes." She reached across the table to take his hand. "I really like you."
He grinned. "Good. I like you too."
Jo jumped when her new phone buzzed in her pocket. Kate had given it to her over the weekend after she babysat as a partial payment but she had strict rules on who she was allowed to contact, mostly every number outside of her family's was blocked.
She groaned softly, looking at the ID on the display. "It's my dad."
"Busted."
She pressed the button to ignore the call then put her phone on the table. "I'll deal with it when I get home." Her phone buzzed again, sliding across the smooth table as it vibrated.
Again, she ignored the call. Moments later, it rang again, this time it was a text from her brother: Were ru ou?
She blinked as she read Ricky's message, he'd taken after their father with his command of grammar and spelling, he never abbreviated words texting and rarely misspelled.
"What's going on?" Matt asked.
Jo stared at her phone, shaking her head as two more texts came in, both from her father. Please, answer your phone. Then, seconds later: Meet us at Lenox Hill Hospital. Hurry.
Her hands shook as she reread the last message, the word hospital seemed to bold itself, getting bigger and bigger the more she stared at it.
"What happened?" she heard Matt say, his voice sounding distant. "Jo, what's going on? Jo!" He finally pulled the phone out of her hand and read the texts. He pulled his wallet out of his pocket and threw a couple bills onto the table to cover their check before he stood. "I'll drive you."
She shook her hand again, tears now forming in her eyes. "What if… what…" she stammered, unable to complete her thought.
"Come on," he said, putting his arm around her to help her stand before he walked her out of the restaurant. "Everything's gonna be ok," he whispered.
When they'd finally arrived at the hospital, Rick was in the waiting room with the other three kids. Sara was curled up in his lap, her head against his arm as she slept. On either side of him were Ricky and Luke, Ricky was staring straight ahead, his eyes red while Luke was playing a game on Rick's phone.
Matt ran down the hallway with Jo, taking her hand as they left his car and holding it tightly until they found her family.
"Dad," Jo gasped, stepping towards her father, her hand slipping out of Matt's. "What happened? Where's Mom?"
Rick stood slowly, carefully putting Sara into the chair he'd been sitting in so he wouldn't wake her. "She's gonna be ok," he told her. "She's in surgery but she's gonna be ok."
Jo shook her head. "I don't… why is she in surgery? What happened?"
"She was shot. She was wearing her vest but it was at close range, the bullet pierced the vest. Four broken ribs and a punctured lung. It could have been a lot worse. She's survived a lot worse. She'll be ok."
She fell into her father's arms, her arms tight around his middle. He hugged her back tightly, rubbing her back. "It's gonna be ok," he whispered over and over.
Rick spotted Matt, standing silently in the corner of the waiting room, watching Jo. Rick slowly released his grip on his daughter, straightening up too look at the teenager. "Thanks for bringing her," Rick said.
Matt nodded silently then carefully approached them. "Tell me how it goes, ok?" he whispered, touching Jo's back.
She nodded, muttering a quick "thanks."
Matt hesitated then kissed the side of her head quickly before he left the waiting room. Rick watched as he walked away, his jaw tight until he felt Jo's arms wrap around him again.
"I'm sorry, Daddy," Jo said, her eyes brimming with tears. "I'm so sorry."
AN: don't kill me! There's a reason I did this, it was originally going to happen later in the story but nothing is really happening the way I'd originally planned it
