The next morning Dottie arrived at the hospital as soon as visiting hours at begun. She told one of the nurses that she was there to see Brandi. The nurse made her wait while they were transferring her to her own room. After about a half hour Dottie was brought to Brandi's room. They had taken her off the respirator and some of her color was starting to return. Her shoulder wound made it hard to breathe so she had a tube in her nose to help keep her lungs filled with oxygen.

Dottie sat by her left side so she could hold her hand. "Sweetheart?" she said quietly. "Brandi, honey, can you wake up for me?" Brandi remained still. "Brandi?"

While Dottie waited for Brandi to wake up she heard someone come into the room. She looked up and saw a giant teddy bear coming through the door with Ricky behind it. "I thought I'd get my girl a small get well present," he explained as he set the giant bear by her bedside. He gave Dottie a hug and a kiss, "How is she? Tiny called me late last night to tell me what had happened."

"I'm so sorry that I didn't call you. With all that was going on."

Ricky put up his hand, "No need to apologize. You had more important things to worry about." He motioned towards Brandi.

Dottie smiled at him. "The doctor said she's going to be okay. She's down for the count for a while though."

Brandi started to stir and her eyes slowly opened. Her sight was fuzzy at first but things started to come into focus. "Mom," she said softly.

"I'm right here, honey. Are you okay? How do you feel?"

Brandi's brow creased in confusion, "What happened?"

Dottie held onto her hand, "You got hurt last night. You were shot."

Brandi blinked to try and clear her vision, "Ricky."

"How's my girl?"

Brandi thought about her answer as she tried to figure out how she felt. The medication made her feel out of it. Since she was a righty she went to move her right hand up to her face and felt a red hot burning sensation in her shoulder. She shut her eyes tightly against the pain.

"Easy there," Ricky said as he patted her left shoulder.

"Who shot me?" she asked.

"Let's not worry about that right now," Dottie said. "Just relax and rest."

"Who shot me?" she asked again.

Dottie looked at Ricky and then back at Brandi, "Um, we don't know. The police are trying to find him."

Brandi felt sleepy but wanted to stay awake so she could remember what had happened. "Your mom is right, you need to put it out of your mind and relax. The police will handle it."

"The police," Brandi said. "The police. Oh my God."

Dottie could see the panic in Brandi's face, "What?"

"Where's Mark?"

Dottie and Ricky looked at each other and knew that this wasn't the time to tell he that Mark was dead. "He's in another room," Dottie said.

"Is he okay? I remember...I remember the blood."

"He was seriously hurt. They're watching over him though." Dottie hoped Brandi couldn't tell she was lying.

Brandi was getting tired and rambled. "I tried to help. There was a red light."

"Let it go for now, Brandi. You'll have plenty of time to talk about what happened but now isn't the time. We're going to let you get some rest. I'll be back tonight with Tiny. He'll be happy to hear that you're awake." Dottie and Ricky kissed her good bye and left her to get some sleep.

Ricky walked Dottie to her car. "How are you going to tell her about Mark?"

"I don't know. She's going to keep asking about him and will eventually want to see him. She's hurt enough physically, I don't want to hurt her emotionally too." Dottie knew she couldn't put it off forever. There was no easy way and no good time to tell her gut she had to be told.



Over the next few days Dottie continued to dodge Brandi's questions about Mark. She hated lying to her and it was beginning to get harder and harder to come up with the lies.

Dottie arrived at the hospital in the afternoon. Brandi was sitting up a little watching TV. "How are you feeling?" she asked as she sat next to her.

"A little better today. As long as they keep pumping that pain medication into me I'm good to go." Brandi smiled but Dottie could see the pain in her eyes. "I was thinking, maybe in a few days they'll let me get up and walk around a little bit. Then I can go see Mark."

"Brandi, you're not ready to be walking anywhere. You've got a bullet hole in your leg for God's sake."

"Well, they can wheel me over there then."

Dottie moved her chair closer to the bed and looked Brandi the eyes, "Brandi, there's something I have to tell you. I really wanted to wait until you got a little stronger but I can't avoid it anymore."

Brandi knew that Dottie tended to be over-dramatic at times with little things and she hoped this was one of those times. But the more she looked at her mother's face the more she could tell it was serious. "What? What's the matter?"

Tears started to fall from Dottie's eyes, "Mark," she hesitated. "Mark is gone, Brandi."

"What? What are you saying?" Brandi started to panic and felt her heart leap into her throat.

"Mark was killed that night. I'm so sorry." Dottie got up and did her best to hug Brandi gently.

"No, that can't be right. I was with him and he was alive. He was alive and I was talking to him." She started to cry. "I told him that we were going to get married."

"I'm sorry." It was all Dottie could think to say and didn't quite know what other words could possibly make a difference.

The flow of emotion made Brandi's breathing edgy as her shoulder screamed in pain. "Why didn't you tell me sooner!"

Dottie put her hands gently on Brandi's shoulders, "Try and calm down. You'll tear your stitches. Slow, even breaths."

"Don't tell me to calm down!" As she tried to back away from her mother's touch she leaned her head back and closed her eyes as the pain took hold. "You just told me that the man I loved is dead and you expect me to...to calm down." Brandi held her right shoulder with her left hand in hopes of stemming the pain.

"I'm gonna go get the nurse," Dottie said as she ran out of the room.

Moments later the nurse came into the room with Dottie following close behind her. She did her best to tell Brandi to calm down but Brandi wasn't listening. The nurse pulled out a syringe and filled it from a small bottle. She inserted the needle into Brandi's I.V. and within a few minutes she was sedated. The nurse checked on the stitches to the entrance wound and saw no major tearing. She rolled Brandi onto her side and checked the exit wound. The bandage had blood seeping through it and a couple of the stitches had popped. "She tore a few on her back. I'll get my kit and sew them back up."

Dottie faced Brandi who was now fast asleep, "I'm truly sorry and I wish I could bring him back for you. I know all too well what it's like to lose someone you love."