Chapter 12

Running over to Lucas as he lays bleeding on the court Daytona starts to panic. She didn't know him all that well, but she did know that the shot seemed to be not as life threatening as it could be. By some kind of luck the wound didn't look deep enough to do any serious damage in her mind not to mention that the bullet seemed to be lodged into an area that wouldn't effect any major organs. That was the miracle in her mind.
Looking closer she sees that it had hit a bone in his shoulder region. Or was it a muscle? She really couldn't tell at that moment which it was. All she knew was that he was seriously injured and that her adrenaline was pumping.
Pulling out her brand new cell phone she quickly hit's the digits to call 911. Her voice was trembling, she could hear it doing so. She also had a tone of terror in it too, which didn't surprise her. Daytona couldn't get over the shock that one of the nicest people, by how much she knew Lucas, had gotten shot in such a manner.
As she bends down closer to him to get a better look as she waits for the ambulance and police cars to get there, she sees his eyes try to open and then close. It must be too bright she thought knowing that she wasn't blocking any of the light.
"I'll be alright," he says weakly. "You can't tell anyone…"
The first part made sense to her. She didn't see a reason why he would die from the injury. The second part got to her though. Just as she wanted to ask him why she couldn't tell anyone she felt his body go limp.
Coming back into her conscious mind as she feels someone poke her Daytona knows that she has been daydreaming about one of the most baffling days she could of ever have experienced in her life. Looking at the culprit that poked her she finds a rather out of it Nathan staring at her. Taking a closer look at him she could see some light bruising on his neck.
"What happened to you?"
"Dan," Nathan says looking uncomfortable calling his father that. "I just had to get out of town while I could after it."
"And you always know that around here we can't stand having that guy around."
"Yeah… I just can't believe he shot Lucas."
"Oh my…" Her jaw literally dropped and she knew it. She always had wondered who had shot him, but she had never thought about the possibility of that person being Dan. What Lucas said that day now made a lot more sense to her in a way she never thought possible. "You said that he shot Lucas," she says thinking more about how Nathan had just worded it. "Don't you mean that he killed Lucas?"
"No, by what I know he's very much alive."
"He was right."
"What the heck are you talking about?" Looking at her puzzled Nathan tries to figure out what she could mean by it but comes up blank.
"Lucas told me that he was going to be alright after he got shot that day. I kind of thought he would be, but than he supposedly… died."
"I still don't know how he pulled it all off. It's hard getting out of town without that man half knowing your every move."

"Trying to kill off the other one now Danny?"
"No," Dan says looking over at Royal shocked by his accusation. "I've never killed anyone."
"Why should I believe that? You killed Keith, even your mother has figured that out by now. Then you try killing Lucas, and now you half tried strangling Nathan. Just tell me when you plan on stop acting like the devil because you certainly don't act like one of my sons anymore."
"She's figured that out?"
"Yes," Royal says with a stern look on his face. "We had it looked into when we heard about it. Even we couldn't believe that someone would kill Keith. He always had a big heart."
"I didn't try killing Lucas, I killed him."
"There's two people that you've killed with big hearts."

It was the day after the shooting, and cautiously Rachel made her way into the hospital. She knew no one really liked it when she went to the hospital to see anyone. It was mainly all her fault and she couldn't really blame anyone for feeling that way. Making her way down the hall when she gets up onto his floor she goes to head towards his room.
Seeing an older couple standing across from his room as she approaches it, she notices that it's his and Nathan's grandparents. At first she thought it was odd, but they were family and in a time like this they should be there. Heading into his room slowly she walks over to his bed and sits down in the chair next to it.
Studying him she realizes that he's breathing rather easily as he lays there sleeping. Leaning over him as she moves up onto the bed she gently runs her fingers through his hair. Kissing him gently on the cheek she frowns.
"Hey stranger," he says softly as he awakens. "What are you doing here?"
"I just came to see you and tell you that I'm sorry for so much."
"You're just human."
"I know," she says feeling his hand rest on hers. "What I've done though is inexcusable."
"At least you feel bad about it."
"Look, I should get going. I didn't mean to stay this long."
"Do one thing for me," Lucas whispers so that she can barely hear him. Leaning down closer to him to hear she wonders what he could want her to do. Handing her a box he leans up slightly to whisper in her ear. "Don't let anyone see what's inside."
Looking down at Keith's gravestone with the box in her hands tears run down her checks. She had been guarding that box with her life, and even she wouldn't dare look inside it. Rachel owed Lucas that much after all she had a hand in bringing about.