Britt slowly sat up with her right hand pressed firmly against her bleeding stomach.
The back of her head continued to pound due to the fall it just took against the concrete.
She shifted her gaze from her own body, her forest green eyes falling onto her motionless best friend.
Britt slid herself closer to Melanie, using both of her hands to turn her onto her back.
Jesus Christ.
She had a total of six bullets that pierced through her body.
Two through the back.
Two in the chest.
And, two in her stomach.
Britt began to sob as she took in her best friend's horrifying appearance.
"Mel. Mel, can you hear me?," she asked, gently taking her head in both of her hands.
Her eyes remained closed, her body still motionless.
No response.
There needs to be a response.
Her left hand moved away from the side of her head, bringing her pointer and middle finger to Mel's neck in attempt to find her pulse.
Britt didn't feel a pulse underneath her blood soaked fingers.
"Come on Mel, not like this," she pleaded, ignoring the pain radiating from her stomach and leaned forward, resting her forehead against hers.
The sound of multiple ambulances and police cruisers pulled into the parking lot, bringing their vehicles to an abrupt hault.
Two emts that were parked closest to the picnic table wheeled their gourney that had their large black medical bag placed atop of it over to Mel and Britt.
The young woman lowered the gourney, taking a knee next to the two injured women.
"I.. I didn't feel a pulse," Britt stated, getting a nod from her.
"We're going to do everything we can to save your friend, mam. Are you able to walk?"
"Yes," Britt breathed.
"Okay good. I'm going to help you up and bring you over to one of the ambulances to get looked at. The sooner, the better," the older man that was the young woman's partner chimed in.
He gently took Britt's hands in his own only for her to yank them from him.
"No, I'm going with you. I need to make sure she's going to be okay. I'll get looked at afterwards, do you understand me?", Britt hissed.
"Understood."
The young woman raised the gourney once Melanie was secured and an oxygen mask was placed over her face.
With the man's assistance, Britt stood to her feet.
She went back to applying pressure to her wound while her right hand held onto Mel's.
Once the three women were in the back, he closed the doors, jogging to the driver's door.
Gina, who Britt learned was the woman trying to prolong Mel's life, removed her left hand from her body, pressing the side of her radio that just so happened to be located on the left side of her body as well.
" I have a twenty six year old woman with a total of six gunshot wounds and is unresponsive," she stated, letting go of the button on her radio's speaker.
"Roger that. How far out are you?"
"About fifteen minutes out."
With Mel's hand still in Britt's, she looked away from her and over at Gina.
"How long have you been an emt?"
"Honestly?"
"Honestly."
"This is my first day."
Britt shook her head.
"A hell of first day."
Jax sat in front of his father's tombstone, bringing his legs upward so he could rest his arms on the both of them.
With the information he now knew, all he saw was red.
He knew if he was going to make things right, he needed to be smart about it.
That's why he distanced himself from everybody and everything.
His thoughts would get the best of him if he didn't and he would act on impulse.
Jax's cellphone began to ring from inside his kutte.
He reached inside the pocket, pulling out his phone.
He glanced at the caller i.d. and discovered it was his mother-in-law calling.
Jax opened his phone, answering the incoming call.
"Hey Linda."
"Jax, you need to get to St. Thomas right now," she breathed in a flustered tone.
He immediately got up from the ground, making his way back to his bike.
"Lin, what happened? Is it Abel? Mel?"
" It's Mel. From what Britt told me, a van filled with masked men rolled up onto Cara Cara's lot and they just started firing, " she began to cry on the other line, becoming incoherent.
"Jesus Christ. I'm on my way."
He closed his cellphone, shoving it back into his kutte.
Without putting his helmet on, Jax started his bike and took off in the direction of the hospital.
Jax abandoned the hospital's elevators and sprinted up the four flights of stairs to reach the intensive care unit.
He shoved open the doors to the waiting room where Linda sat, waiting patiently to hear any updates on her daughter's condition.
When Jax reached her, she stood to her feet, wrapping her arms around her son-in-law.
He pulled back first, revealing a fresh set of tears that just fell from his heartbroken eyes.
"Is the club on their way?', Linda asked.
"Yeah. So is my mom. But, she told me you beat me to the punch."
Linda forced a smile and took a seat with Jax sitting right next to her.
"Is Elita with Abel?"
"Yeah. He was asking for Mel, but Elita told him she's here for another one of her required check ups. We didn't have the heart nor the balls to tell him the truth. He's far too young for this type of trauma."
"Ain't that the truth. Have they said anything yet?"
"Not a doctor, but a nurse came out and told me she was completely unresponsive when she came in. Her heartbeat was faint, but she's still alive. She's currently in surgery so they can remove five god damn slugs from her body. Only one went clear through. She warned the surgery could take a while."
"I don't give a shit how long it takes. I'm not going anywhere."
"Neither am I."
Jax's head fell into his hands while his elbows were propped up onto his knees.
He tried to envision what his wife had felt in the final moments leading up to her being gunned down.
Each scenario was worse than the last.
"Holy shit."
"She will get through this. She has to," she repeated to comfort herself and Jax.
He nodded in agreemeny, lifting his head.
"If anyone can, it's her."
"Besides, my husband isn't ready for her to join him quite yet. I know that man. He wants to see her live until she's gray and old with endless amounts children and grandchildren to carry on those big brown eyes of hers."
"Even if with me being the father of those children?"
She looked over at Jax.
"Of course. Why would you say something like that?"
"Come on, Lin. Joe, sorry, Mr. Torres hated me. He probably still does. If he wanted to get back at me, this would be his fucked up way of doing it."
" Sure, he didn't like the boy you were when you were sixteen. But, if he was still alive and saw the kind of man you became, and how much you love our Mel bear, I have a feeling he'd play a different tune."
Jax gave his mother-in-law a small smile before his signature frown took its rightful place once again.
With just as much force as Jax used on the swinging doors, Gemma stormed through the waiting room, coming face to face with her son and Linda.
Jax's body tensed as he stood and his mother's arms coiled around him.
His arms barely touched her, causing Linda's brows to furrow in confusion.
"What do we know?"
"Mel and the rest of Cara Cara were gunned down by men in ski masks. She's in surgery right now."
" Oh my god. I'm so sorry baby. "
"Yeah, so am I. I'm gonna find out what room Britt is in. Ya know, see what else she might know about the shooters. Let me know if the doctor comes out and gives us an update on Mel."
"Do you want me to go with yo-"
"No, I'm good", he replied, cutting off his mom, causing her to feel taken aback.
Jax walked to the nurses' station while Gemma took a seat next to Linda.
"Don't read to much into it, Gem. He's just worried about Mel is all."
"Yeah.. You're right."
Britt was on the same floor even though she was nowhere near as bad as the shape Melanie was currently in at the moment.
She refused to be moved to any floor except this one and promised to raise complete and utter hell if she was.
Her threats worked and she was placed in room 15D.
Jax knocked on the open door, causing Britt to turn off the television, bringing silence to the room.
"Hey Jax. Any news on Mel yet?"
He shook his head and entered her room, taking his place at the end of the bed.
" She's still in surgery. How are you feeling?"
"It feels like I got shot. But, the meds they're supplying is top notch."
"Britt, what else do you remember? Every detail matters to me."
"Are you sure? I mean.."
"I can handle it."
"The reason I'm not in surgery along with Mel is because she jumped in front of me when the gunmen turned their guns onto us."
Jax's teeth began to violently chew at his bottom lip as he squeezed the rail at the end of Britt's hospital bed.
"What else?"
"Like I told Linda, I didn't see what they looked like. They were wearing masks. But right before they left everyone for dead, I could hear them speaking Spanish if that means something."
"It actually does. Thanks Britt."
"You're welcome. You have an idea who did this, don't you?"
"You can say that."