As soon as Nick saw the gun, he dove. He didn't know what was happening, didn't know what was going on, didn't know what he was doing. But he had the instinct of a cop and a husband and a father. Bullets were flying and people were screaming all around him. Nick could barely hear any of it. The blood was thundering in his ears as adrenaline took over. He grabbed onto Cody and hurled both their bodies across the altar.
Jen was screaming Nick's name. She was on the ground, covering Ella, who was crying and screaming in fear. Jen saw Nick and Cody huddled nearby, but there was too much chaos to know what was happening. Nick's arm was flung forward and Jen, without thinking, reached out and grabbed his hand. She squeezed it as hard as she could. He didn't squeeze back.
The gunfire stopped, but the screaming hadn't. Women and men both were crying from terror. Bernice Waverly, ever the leader in any dramatic situation, began shouting.
"Kingston! Go!" Bernice barked, sending their professional runner detective after the shooter. She grabbed Terry Jarvis's hand and used it to help her get up and stand on the pew. She continued to give orders. "Levitt, get the ambos here now! Everyone, if you are uninjured, please sit down and don't get in the way! If you have first aid training, start helping those in need!" She turned to the man holding her hand. "Terry, get me some uniformed officers so we can start initial interviews.
Terry helped her down again and took his mobile out of his pocket but first leaned in close to Bernice. "You alright?"
She just shook her head. "We'll deal with it later. We need to make sure everyone's alive." Bernice gave Terry's hand one more comforting squeeze before letting go. She hurried up to the altar, where everyone was still huddled on the floor. There were blood stains all over the place.
The first thing anyone saw was Hope. She had Duncan in her arms and across her lap and she was crying her eyes out. Sam, a veterinarian by trade, was doing his best to dress the wounds and keep the bleeding to a minimum before the ambos arrived. He didn't look up as he informed Bernice, "He's breathing, but barely. Shot in the arm and stomach."
Nearby, Danielle and Kimberly, both rather shaky and tear-stained, were pulling the altar cloth over to the priest. From experience, Bernice know that the bits splattered nearby were the man's brains. One dead. At least.
Matt Ryan was unharmed and he'd run over to help Rhys and Allie coordinate the crowd control. But the only members of the wedding party who weren't otherwise engaged were the Buchanan family.
Cody and Ella were both bawling. Ella was curled up on the floor and Cody was nearby, clutching his arm. Bernice wanted to scoop those precious children into her embrace, but there would be time enough for that later. What concerned her for now were Nick and Jen. Jen's face was contorted in agony as silent tears streamed down her face. She held her husband's hand. He wasn't moving.
"Nick," she begged, her voice hoarse. "Nick, please!"
Bernice crouched down beside them and saw that Nick had been shot three times in the back. It would be a miracle if all three bullets had missed his most vital organs. But in a desperate attempt at hope, Bernice felt at Nick's neck for a pulse. "He's alive," she told Jen, shocked to be able to say so. "Weak pulse, but it's there."
The merciful blare of sirens filled the air and ambos with stretchers and medical bags burst into the church. Terry was shouting, directing them where to go. "Up at the altar! We've got gunshot victims still alive!"
At that point, Bernice had to pull Jennifer away from Nick. "Let them do their work, sweetheart," she said gently. "Come on, we've got to see to the kids. Let the ambos take Nick and Duncan."
Jen's eyes widened in fear. "Duncan?" She had been so single-minded over Nick that she hadn't even looked three feet away from her where Hope now sat crying, her white wedding gown smeared with blood.
"He was hit, too. Still alive," Bernice said.
Thank god for that. But Jennifer had other priorities, now that she knew her friend was alive and being looked after. There was nothing she could do for Dunny or for Nick. Not now. And she could not afford the panic and helplessness to overpower her. She turned instead to her children.
That had been the first thing Jen had done. She saw a gun and she leapt forward to where Ella stood between Danielle and Hope. She took her daughter in her arms and tackled her to the ground and shielded Ella with her own body. It wasn't till the shooting had stopped that she even looked up. Nick was there, and she took his hand. Cody was shaking, she could see, so she called to him. Her boy was sobbing uncontrollably, but he was safe. She had instructed Ella, also crying, to sit with Cody. And she had been begging Nick to be alive when Bernice had found them.
Now, though, she needed to see to her children. They were safe, and that was all that mattered. The trauma from this experience would scar them all, to be sure, but her babies were just so little still! They were only six, and they'd survived a mad gunman who shot their father. Oh god, please let Nick live! Her mind was scattered and weak and afraid, and she could not do a single thing for it. Focus, Jennifer! she shouted to herself.
"Ella, sweetie, take deep breaths for me, please," she soothed, coming to put an arm around her daughter. "Cody, come here, come sit with me, please."
Cody scooted over, still cradling his arm in his little suit. The jacket was a bit torn.
"Does your arm hurt?" Jen asked, worried over how bad it was. Cody nodded, unable to speak through his tears. "Can you let me see it, please?"
With one arm still around Ella, Jen tried to take Cody's arm, but he screeched in pain. Odds were, it was broken.
Bernice had heard Cody yell out, and she knew that sound. She had been a mother of an athletic little boy. She knew the sound of an injured child. Immediately, she sent a stray ambo to see to Cody.
Terry came over and pulled her off to the side. "They're all being seen to now, Bernice," he told her softly. "Now onto you. You okay?"
"I'm not injured," she assured him. "And you?"
"Not a scratch."
She exhaled in relief. There was still so much to worry about but knowing that Terry was alright was at least one worry she could set aside. Bernice put a soft hand on his cheek. "Good."
He took her hand in his and gently kissed her palm. "Good," he agreed.
But there was no time for that now. "Come on, we've got a job to do. We have at least one homicide here, so let's get the team together."
"Bernice!"
She turned to see Jennifer carrying Ella—who was still crying, but was at least no longer hyperventilating—and following a uniformed emergency worker who was carrying Cody. "What's happened?" Bernice asked sharply.
"Cody's broken his arm. When…when Nick tackled him to the ground, I think. We're all going to the hospital," Jen told her. It was pure agony to even mention Nick. Her husband had been rushed off immediately, as his wounds were so severe. He might already be dead and she didn't know.
"I'll meet you there as soon as I can," Bernice told her. "I want to get the investigation organized first and then we'll come see you. Message me with updates."
Jen just nodded and carried her child away. Bernice watched them go, noticing how the Buchanan boys had both been injured but the girls had been unscathed. But Bernice knew from dire personal experience that if the worst should befall Nick or Cody, both Jennifer and Ella would be broken beyond repair. Bernice longed to be able to take those girls she loved so well and hold them and promise that everything would be alright even as they all cried together. But such comfort and catharsis was a luxury she could not afford now.
"Terry, get Detective Smith here to supervise the witness statements. Send Detective Taylor to the morgue with the priest. The rest of the team to the briefing room at headquarters. We have to get some preliminary things settled before I can do a press statement and then go see to the Buchanans."
Jarvis nodded curtly. "You got it, boss."