I'll Take the Shot for You

“Can you let me explain what happened?” Tom asked Lila.

Lila took an aggravated drag off of her freshly lit cigarette. “Fine.” she said, blowing out the smoke.

Tom exhaled. “Okay. I was standing in the parking lot, having a smoke break, when out of nowhere, someone shoved me. I looked down to see, your sister, sprawled across my legs. I saw blood. I nudged her and she turned over. And that's when I saw that she had been shot in the shoulder. I didn't even hear the gun go off. I threw up and called an ambulance.” Tom explained. “When they arrived, they told me that I would have died. Where I was standing, I honestly would have died..”

Lila's eyes widened and she dropped all of her rage. “I'm so sorry.” she said.

Tom nodded. “It's me who should apologize. I'm the one who is supposed to be in the O.R. Not your sister.” He said. Bill gasped.

“Tom, don't say that! You have no idea how worried I was. I thought that you were hurt!” Bill exclaimed.

Lila snubbed out her cigarette. “I'm going inside.” She made her way to the door, but was stopped by Tom, grabbing her arm.

“Don't go in there. She's in surgery. It's better to wait out here.” He said. Lila huffed and sat down on a bench. The tears began to well up in her eyes again. Lyra was always the brave twin. She had no fear what so ever. She took bullet for a man she knew about but didn't know. Bill sat down beside her and put his arm around her. She leaned into him and cried.

Tom watched Lila as she cried. He didn't know how to offer any sympathy for her in this situation. She obviously loved her sister. The bond between twins was unexplainable. He knew this from being Bill's twin brother. He knew when Bill had a problem, even when he tried to hide it.

Tom walked away from the scene. He felt tears welling up in his own eyes. He knew what his fans were going to do. He knew that a flock of them would be at every hospital in L.A. He just wondered what they were going say about Lyra.

Tom walked away from the hospital. He needed to clear his head and think. He didn't want Bill to see him cry. That would only make him worry, and Tom didn't want his baby brother getting into a fuss over him. Tom stopped.

Maybe walking around L.A covered in blood wasn't such a good idea. He turned around and went back. When he got there, a flock of fans were standing outside the Emergency Room door and security guards were trying to hold them off. Tom ran around the back and went inside. Bill and Lila were sitting on a waiting room loveseat. Lila was still crying and Bill was trying to comfort her as best he could. Bill looked up and saw Tom.

Bill knew that Tom had walked away to cry. He knew that Tom knew that he would worry. Bill didn't quite understand what Tom was feeling. Bill never had any body throw him out of harm's way like Lyra had done for him. He hoped that that would never happen.

A doctor came in and asked for Lila. Lila stood up and went to her. The doctor sighed and bowed her head. “Ms. Shultz, I have some bad news. You're sister is in a coma.” she said.

Lila felt dizzy. The room was spinning and her hearing went fuzzy somewhere around the words “your sister” and “coma”. She stumbled back to the twins.

“Well?” Tom asked.

Lila couldn't bring herself to reply. She couldn't find the words.

“Coma.” was all she had to say. Bill stood up and pulled her into a hug. Tom punched the wall.