Listen up Cause This Is Not the End

"Shot?!" I yelled, my voice cracking, "I'm going to leave now. What hospital are they taking her to?"

"Grace Valley," he replied, crying.

"Okay. I'll be there in a bit. Hold on, sweetie," I said, then hung up.

I shoved my phone in my pocket, grabbed the keys and turned to Ronnie, who looked worried and confused.

"Audrey got shot. She's in critical condition, and Steve's a mess. I'm going to the hospital, you coming?"

His eyes grew wide and he quickly nodded. He grabbed his phone and followed me out of the door and into the car. I got in the driver's seat, and I don't think I've ever driven that fast in my life. I was definitely speeding, and making Ronnie nervous as hell. When we finally got there, he let go of his death grip on the door handle.

"Thank God," he whispered.

I parked the car, turned it off and bolted to the enterance, Ronnie trying to catch up. I got in there and automatically heard, "Cassie girl!" I looked and saw Tony. I ran to him. He took my hand and led me to the guys. I saw a crying Jaime, then wrapped him in a hug. I didn't let go, and seeing him cry made me start to cry as well.

"Cas?" he whispered after a while.

"Yeah?" I pulled away to look at him.

"As much of a mess I am, Steve's 12 times worse," he pointed to a lump of black fabric sitting on a chair.

I let go of him and sat down next to the lump.

"Steve?" I said, gently placing my hand on his back.

He looked up at me with red puffy eyes and tears running down his cheeks. He collapsed into my arms and let out a soft sob. I held him and cried, rubbing his back. After a few minutes, he looked up at me.

"She was with me and the band at a signing at the concert they had, and everything was going normal. There were two people left, and a girl was talking to Audrey, telling her how beautiful she thinks she is. Then the girl left, and the last girl stopped at Audrey and started telling her how she disagreed with the other girl, and how ugly Audrey is, and how she didn't deserve the love and lifestyle she had. Then she brought you into it and said you deserve to die and she should've kicked you harder. That got everyone, including me, extremely pissed. So, Audrey started to defend you, then the bitch pulled out a gun and shot her. I would've taken the bullet, but nobody saw the gun!"

"Steve, don't you dare blame yourself!"

It fully sunk in what he said.

"Wait. 'She should've kicked me harder.' That's the girl that sprained my wrist at my CD signing!"

Steve, and everyone else, including an officer, looked at me with wide eyes. The policeman walked up to me and held up a picture of a platinum blonde, my and my daughter's attacker, Destiny.

I nodded. "That's her. That's Destiny."

The officer looked at the guys. "That's her name, Destiny Markaholtz. That means, you are all unsafe," he looked at me, "Including your baby."

Ronnie, who I didn't even notice in the room, said, "You better keep her locked up. If she comes anywhere near my daughter or my Cassie and friends, I'm gonna be locked up again."

I looked up at him in shock, and saw he was dead serious.

My mouth was dry, but I managed to say, "Ronnie, please, don't do anything stupid."

"If that bitch comes anywhere near MY daughter, she's dead."

I stood up and gently put my hand on his cheek. His expression softened and he put his hand on mine. The fear was still lingering in the air, but remained unspoken. A doctor came into the room.

"Is this Miss Preciado's family?" he asked.

"Yeah," Jaime replied.

"Okay, I'll need the parents to visit first," the doctor replied.

Jaime grabbed my hand and pulled me along into the room with the doctor. We walked to the bed where Audrey was laying still, sleeping. I can't see her wound because almost her whole body was covered with a blanket.

"She's stable right now, and we're going to try to keep her that way. We had to operate to get the bullet out, and fix the damage," he turned to me, "Miss Jordan, I know you weren't there to witness, so I'll fill you in on what happened. Your daughter was shot in the chest, and the bullet tore tissue and broke a rib , so we fixed the rib and stitched up the tissue and entry point. Like I said, she's fine right now, but she'll have to stay for a few nights for monitoring."

Audrey stirred, then her eyes fluttered open.

"Mama?" she asked softly.

"Yeah, baby, I'm here," I said, grabbing her hand.

I noticed I was still holding Jaime's hand. I let go of it and he shoved both of them in his pockets.

"Daddy, can you get Steve?" Audrey asked.

Jaime smiled and went to the door, "Of course, baby girl."

He left. A few moments later, he returned with Steve, his eyes red and puffy. Steve went to Audrey's side and grabbed her hand. He held it and kissed her forehead. She gave him a weak smile and puckered her lips. He kissed her softly. I put my head on Jaime's chest, and he held me. After a minute, the doctor spoke.

"Okay, I'm sure other people would like to visit, so two people at a time."

"Can my daddy and boyfriend stay?"

"Sure thing."

I kissed Audrey's head, then left the room. I walked into Ronnie's arms and he kissed my forehead.

"How is she?" he asked in my hair.

"Stable, but the bullet broke a rib and they want to keep her there for monitoring."

"It broke a rib?" Vic asked, before going into the room.

"Poor kid," Mike said, following him.

Ronnie let go of me and sat on the chair next to Tony. I sat next to him and Steve, who rested his head on my shoulder. After a few minutes, Vic and Mike came out.

Tony stood up and looked at Ronnie, "Come on, man."

Ronnie got up and followed Tony into the room. A few minutes passed, then they came out. Tony sat back down, while Ronnie began walking down the hall.

"I'm talking a walk," he said.

Mike got up and followed, "I'm coming with ya."

They disappeared, and Vic looked at Tony.

"What's up with him?"

"She asked him about jail," he replied, "The things he said were truly horrifying."

Vic looked at me.

"How bad was it?"

"I don't know. He never told me."

"He never told you?" Tony chimed in.

"I never asked. I thought I wouldn't push it, and he'd tell me when he was ready. I assumed it was bad, though."

"It was."

The room fell silent. I began to think about the day I took Ronnie home. He looked happy, greatful almost. I bet he was. I'd be happy if I got out of jail, and the love of my life accepted my proposal. That poor thing. I shook the thought out of my head and a song popped into my head.

"Red Solo cup," I sang.

The boys chimed in.

"I fill you up," Vic sang.

"Let's have a party," Tony sang.

"Let's have a party! I love you, red Solo cup, I lift you up, proceed to party! Proceed to party!" we all sang in unison.

We laughed.

"Oh, I love that song," I said.

"Ditto!" Tony and Vic replied.

They laughed more. Ronnie and Mike came around the corner and looked at us funny.

"Did we miss something?" Mike asked.

"Oh, we just sang Red Solo Cup. No big deal," Vic replied.

I went up to Ronnie and kissed his cheek. He smiled and picked me up, then sat down and made me sit on his lap. I stifled a yawn and rested my head on his chest.

"Aw, Cassie girl's getting tired," Mike said.

"It's getting late. Maybe you should bring her home," Vic added.

Ronnie yawned.

"Yeah, I'm getting tired, too," he stood up and picked me up, "We're going home. We'll see you guys tomorrow."

There were a unison of goodbyes, and Ronnie carried me to the car, put me in my seat, and drove home. When we got there, he carried me up to our room, put me in bed, and climbed in with me.

"Goodnight, baby," he said.

"Goodnight," I half said/half yawned.

With that, we were out like lights.