Jessica could only remember the people screaming and getting shot the day she and Natalia had gone shopping with 15-month-old Sophia. The feeling of panic and fear of dying was something she would never forget. She would forever remember the pain when she was shot in the shoulder. Jessica would forever remember the fear of never seeing her daughter or husband again and to never see her friends and family again.
Natalia and Jessica had decided to go shopping and bring Sophia with them. Calleigh was going to come along at first, but then she had gotten sick and had to stay home. Horatio and Kyle would engage in some father and son bonding while the girls were out. No one could have expected that the day wound end with Jessica and Natalia in a hospital.
"This dress would look so cute on her." Jessica grinned as she held up a blue dress that was for Sophia.
"I agree." Natalia smiled, "Do you like it Sophia?"
Sophia shook her head and giggled. Jessica and Natalia chuckled. After Jessica had done some shopping for Sophia it was time for the two women to buy something for themselves.
"If you buy this top Horatio won't be able to take his eyes off you." Natalia grinned.
"Nat!" Jessica exclaimed, "Are you plotting to make your boss unable to control himself at the presence of his wife?"
"Always." Natalia winked.
Jessica chuckled and shook her head. Then she picked up some underwear and when she showed them to Natalia, she gasped.
"Oh my god! I want those too." Natalia exclaimed happily.
Jessica handed her the same item.
"They do look very good. But I can't by them." Jessica said.
"Why not?"
"Last time I bought something as sexy and daring as this, Horatio ripped them off me." Jessica blushed.
"He's a wild man!" Natalia laughed.
It was when the trio was on their way to eat lunch that they heard the shots and saw people running passed them.
"Is that what I think it is?" Jessica asked as she heard the shots.
"It is." Natalia nodded, "Run after the other people and try to hide."
Jessica nodded and started walking quickly with the stroller away from Natalia.
"Nat? Aren't you coming?" Jessica asked as turned around.
"I'm calling the police. Go!" Natalia said and peeked around a corner.
Natalia cursed silently. She didn't have her gun with her since she was off-duty. She saw Jessica and Sophia hurry further away from her and sighed in relief, they would be more safe the further away they got. The shooter was a woman and she was holding a rifle. She was obviously agitated and shot anyone who got in her way. When Natalia realized that the woman was coming towards her she made an attempt to hide in a store, but she was too late.
Natalia screamed as the bullet shot through the right leg and she fell down on the floor. Natalia had noticed that ten other victims had been shot in different places. The woman was not a professional shooter. The woman walked passed Natalia and towards the direction that everyone had run, including Jessica.
"It's okay sweetie, mommy's here." Jessica whispered and she tried to calm down her crying daughter.
Sophia was of course very scared and upset about everything that was happening. Jessica feared for her life and the lives of Sophia and Natalia. She saw a glimpse of the shooter outside the store in which she was hiding and Jessica tried to calm Sophia down. Jessica and Sophia were hiding in a clothing store, behind a shelf and they wouldn't have been noticed by the shooter if it wasn't because the clerk screamed as she saw the woman. The woman walked right in to the store and shot at the clerk, she missed the shot. This only made the woman more angry and just as she was about to pass Jessica, she spotted the stroller. Jessica wanted to scream, but no sound would come out. She looked in to the eyes of the woman and then heard the shot. The bullet hit her in the left shoulder and Jessica was so shocked that she couldn't even scream in pain. She could only focus on Sophia and the sounds of her cries. The woman ignored Sophia and left the store. She shot five more people before she committed suicide. Of the 17 people she shot, only 6 survived.
"Natalia! Where's Jessica?" Horatio asked as he arrived at the scene just as Natalia was being loaded in to an ambulance.
"I told her to run; I don't know where she went. I'm sorry." Natalia said.
"It's okay." Horatio said.
He surveyed the scene and ran from one ambulance to the other. He asked if anyone had seen a blonde woman and a child. Kyle and Frank were right behind Horatio all the time.
"How many victims have you found?" Frank asked a paramedic.
"16, they were lying in plain sight." The paramedic answered.
"What about people who weren't shot?" Frank asked.
"More than twenty; they're over there." The paramedic answered and pointed at a group of people.
Horatio scanned the crowd quickly and realized that Jessica was not there.
"She must still be in the mall." Horatio said and ran inside.
Frank, Kyle and several officers helped Horatio look for his wife and daughter. As they searched store after store without any sign of Jessica and Sophia, Horatio started to feel panic rise within him. Then he heard the distant cries of a child and rushed towards it. As he came closer and closer to a clothing store he saw the stroller behind a shelf and ran to it.
"Jessica, baby, can you hear me?" Horatio asked as he knelt down next to his wife.
Jessica's wound was bleeding a lot and she was unconscious. Kyle picked up Sophia and held her close.
"H, let the paramedics take care of her." Frank said and pulled Horatio away from Jessica.
Two paramedics had come after the cops and lifted Jessica on to a gurney. Horatio took Sophia from Kyle and hugged his little girl.
-I-
"How could they miss me?" Jessica asked quietly.
She had been at the hospital for several hours and undergone surgery for the wound.
"The stroller was barely visible behind the shelf. All the other victims were lying in plain sight." Horatio sighed, "I know that doesn't explain why they didn't check the stores."
"What about Sophia's cries then?" Jessica asked.
Jessica had been told how Horatio had found her.
"During all the commotion they didn't hear her." Horatio said.
"Where is she now?"
"With Kyle at home." Horatio said, "She's been really upset and she refuses to be with anyone besides me or Kyle. She's been asking for you."
Jessica started crying softly as she heard this. Sophia would probably not remember what had happened as she got older, but to watch your mother get shot and watch as people panicked around you was hard even for a 15-month-old.
"I thought I was going to die. I thought I would never see you, Sophia or anyone else again." Jessica sobbed, "I'm still panicked. I feel like I need to hide because something bad is going to happen."
"Oh honey, I'm sorry you feel that way." Horatio said and gave his wife a kiss.
"Will it go away?" Jessica asked.
"Yes. It will take time though." Horatio said, "I'm sorry I didn't go with you today."
"Horatio, no one could have known that this was going to happen." Jessica said, "How's Natalia?"
"She's doing fine." Horatio said and rubbed his tired eyes.
"The doctor said it would take some time for my wound to heal. Until it heals I won't be able to hold Sophia." Jessica cried, "I almost lost her today and I want nothing more than to hold her in my arms and tell her that I love her, but I can't!"
Horatio caressed Jessica's cheek softly.
"I know it's hard." He said, "But you can still hug her, you just have to remember not to use both arms."
Jessica smiled and nodded. She yawned and closed her eyes. Horatio gave her a kiss as she started to fall asleep. First he had been seriously sick from the flue and now Jessica had almost died because of a crazy woman with a rifle. Horatio knew that after this; he and Jessica would need a vacation and hopefully nothing bad would happen again.
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