I lose track of time and place. I can't see anything, I can't hear anything. I know I'm still in the living room and on the floor, but I'm crying so hard that I can't focus on my surroundings. I'm too scared and I'm panicking too much. I'm too weak to fight back, especially when I know it'll only make things even worse.

I don't know what happened to Alexander because no one said a thing. I know Lena is panicking, but she doesn't move to go look. I wish she would. I wish, just this time, she'd go to him and make sure he's okay. But I saw she's scared of Ryder, too, and that made me scared even more.

I'm completely defeated.

I don't know what to do, other than let him do what he wants to me because if I don't, God knows what else he's going to do. To me or to someone else.

But then comes the sound that pierces through me and makes me go completely still and quiet. A door. Loudly closing. And then whistling. Happy whistling. I hold my breath, lifting my head to see what's going on.

My eyes meet a pair of legs first before they jump up and I almost sing in relief. It's Sam. Sam, who stopped whistling and is now looking around the room at all of us. "What in the fuck is going on here?" she asks.

I'm almost too busy swimming in relief to catch the look Ryder gives Lena and her shaking her head as if they have some kind of private conversation.

"What the fuck?" she repeats again, looking at me.

I sit up now against the wall, ignoring the mess I've made when I vomited. I try not to cringe and be embarrassed about it, but this has always been my reaction when anxious, stressed and scared.

"Alex," I say weakly.

Sam just blankly stares at me, probably trying to figure out the situation in the room. I see how her body and face both change from happy to serious and ready to attack.

"They shot Alex," I say again, barely being able to choke the words out. My throat burns from the pain and the tears just won't stop falling down my face.

Sam's eyes widen and she spurs into action. She takes her phone out immediately. "Where's he?" she asks me, already dialing a number.

"Garage," I say weakly.

"Oh, no, you fucking won't, Samantha," Ryder sneers and goes to her, wanting to grab her phone, but Sam pushes it out of the way, standing all fearless and badass in front of him. I know Sam and Ryder go way back and I know he tried to hurt her, too. I admire her for being able to look at him in the eyes and not have any reaction other than anger.

"Oh, yeah, I fucking will, Ryder. Don't you ever come up to my face like that again and try to threaten me because I will snap your neck."

Ryder grins at her, not threatened at all. "Let's face it, Sam. You're not going to do shit because if I wanted to, I'd handle you with my one hand."

Sam actually chuckles at that. "Buddy, you have no idea who you're talking to, do you? You think you're the shit, but actually you're just shit," she snorts.

While Sam is having a conversation with Ryder, I'm eyeing Lena and door, thinking about running to see what happened to Alexander, but I'm not sure I'd succeed.

I hear someone answering Sam's phone and she quickly tells we need help and that someone is probably shot, telling the address. My eyes are on Ryder, seeing how his own eyes flare and he gets ready to take off, but I jump forward and wrap my hands around his ankle. "No!" I yell and he trips.

"Son of a bitch," he hisses and I keep holding on because I don't want him to get away again. He kicks his leg out, hissing, "Let me you go, you stupid bitch!"

He manages to kick me in the face and I automatically release his ankle, letting him go so I can protect my face with my hands, putting them over the spot he kicked. But Ryder doesn't run away because Sam stops him, even though he tries swinging in her direction to hit her, too, but she ducks her head, chuckling. "Oh, no, you won't." She kicks him between his legs so hard he doubles over, hearing how all breath leaves his lungs.

"You're going to be good and wait for the police to come and lock you up, yeah?" Sam says, pushing the groaning Ryder on the floor and sits on top of him.

He squints his eyes at her, buckling his hips, but he's still in pain. Lean backed away towards the wall in the meantime, her eyes wide and scared. She's chanting "Sorry, I'm so sorry," under her breath, shaking her head. "I didn't want this to happen," she murmurs.

I get up from the floor to run down to the garage, but it's Lena who stops me this time. "Gabrielle, don't. They'll shoot you, too," she says.

My heart and stomach sink and I stop in my tracks, my shoulders hunching forwards, my chin dropping in defeat again. My fists clench at my sides because I hate how powerless I feel. I can't do anything but sit here and wait for the police and ambulance to arrive so they'll save him. If they even can save him.

I take a lingering look towards the door, ready to risk it and run anyway, but Sam stops me. "Gabby, don't. The ambulance is on the way. You can't do anything, anyway."

My shoulders sag at her statement because she's right and it makes everything so much worse. I go back towards the wall where I sag against it, keeping my eyes on Ryder trying to fight Sam off him, but she's too fast for him and she also twisted his arms behind his back, pushing his head down towards the floor.

I bend my legs and wrap my arms around my knees. And I wait. I still don't know how it could all happen so fast and I still don't know what was the point of this. Why would they do this? What did Alexander and I ever do to them? Especially Lena. Everyone was nice when she came here until she showed her true colours. I never did anything to make her hate me. I was trying to be her friend, trying to overlook her behaviour at first.

I put my head on the knees, staring at the other wall in shock, trying to process it all and also praying that Alexander is okay. I can't stop crying because I'm so scared of what's going to happen next. I'm scared to find out what happened, but on the other hand, I want to know immediately because it's killing me.

Lena has her hands in her hair now and it seems like she's completely losing it. I don't know what I'll do if Alex is hurt. I don't even want to think about it. I try to give myself some other explanation about the gunshot I've heard. Maybe it wasn't a gunshot. Maybe it wasn't Alexander who got hurt. Oh, God.

When the police and paramedics come, it all happens so fast. They take Ryder and Lena away and wrap a blanket around me, asking me if I'm alright. Someone starts checking the bruise on my face out, but I turn my head away. "My boyfriend is down in the garage and I heard a gunshot. How is he?" I ask the man and his gaze gentles, looking away for a second, making my heart stop completely.

"Someone was shot," he confirms. "They're already taking care of him. It's a shoulder wound and no other visible wounds."

The tears spring into my eyes again. "Shoulder wound?" I repeat in almost a whisper. "So he's going to be okay?"

The man nods his head. "Yes. He's in good hands."

"I want to see him," I say, turning my head until my eyes find Sam. She's standing beside me, quietly, watching as the police go through the place.

"He's on the way to the hospital already. You'll need to give a statement to the police. Both of you," he says, looking at Sam.

Sam puts her hand on the hip, giving the guy a no-nonsense look. "She was just attacked and her boyfriend was shot. She needs a little breather before giving any statements to anyone, don't you think?"

His body turns towards Sam. "I understand completely, but if you want them to lock up the bad guys, you'll need to talk to them as soon as possible."

"Yeah, we will. Just not right at this moment," Sam presses, not giving up.

"Sam, it's okay," I say softly. I appreciate her looking out for me. I'm thankful she came here when she did because, quite frankly, she saved me. And Alexander. "I'll go talk to them now. Get it over with so I can go check on Alexander. Excuse me," I say to both of them, heading to the police myself, anxious to get out of here.

"Hi. Hello. I'm Gabrielle. I believe you want to talk to me."

˙˙˙

I feel lost and tired and still too shaken up. I had to go to the police station and it lasted forever until I told them everything that happened. Rosalyn came to the station, shocked and all flustered, hurrying to me with wide eyes. She almost couldn't believe what happened and she sat there while I talked the whole time. Sam was there, too, but she had to go to the other room to give her own version of what happened, so it was nice to have Rosalyn here with me.

After that, we both went to the hospital. The car ride was filled with tension and Rosalyn kept glancing at me. I'm glad she didn't try to make a conversation with me because I really just wanted some quiet space where I could process it all. Alfred was at the hospital already with Amelia and Clara, telling us Alexander is in the operating room and it shouldn't take long. Sam is there, too, calming Amelia down who looks scared because she doesn't really know what's going on or what that means for her brother.

Alfred tells us he's not in a life-threatening situation, although he did lose quite a lot of blood. That doesn't make matters better for me. I wrap my arms around myself, leaning my head against the wall and close my eyes because I want to be alone right now. No. I want to be with Alexander right now. But I can't. And the next best option is being alone.

Someone puts a hand on my shoulder and my eyes snap open, my body jumping up at the sudden contact. "Sorry," Rosalyn says softly, removing her hand immediately. "It's all going to be okay, Gabrielle. He's going to be okay."

I nod with a lump in my throat. Yes. Yes, he will be okay because he has to be. She gently brushes my hair down in an affectionate matter. "I'm so sorry for not believing you, Gabrielle. I made a huge mistake and it almost cost me my son and you. You're like my daughter and I'm so sorry I made you think you meant anything less than that."

Tears spring into my eyes and I get all choked up with emotions. I don't know what to say. Today has been very hard on me and I don't have any energy in me left. It seems that all I can do is cry. Rosalyn understands me somehow and wraps her arms around me in a motherly hug that makes my tears involuntarily start running down my cheeks. I don't remember how mother's hugs feel like, but I'm pretty sure this is how it's supposed to be.

The doctor's arrival breaks us both apart, telling us that they successfully removed the bullet and that he's now recovering in ICU. We all want to immediately go see him and he only allows close family members to go, but no more than two at once, but he warns us that we better make it quick because visiting hours are almost over. I let Alfred and Rosalyn go in first, but they refuse and tell me to in there first and that they'll wait.

I'm grateful for that because I've been dying to see him and just be with him ever since I heard that awful gunshot.

I don't think what I was expecting to see when I'd enter the room, but I couldn't imagine Alexander looking so ... weak and still. The monitor's beeping in his heart's rhythm and when I get closer to the bed, the tears come again. There's a big bruise around his right eye which makes me wince. I have no idea what was going on down there. How many guys did attack him?

I hesitantly place my hand on top of his lifeless one, my touch so soft as if I'm scared he'd break if I put any pressure on it. But he looks so fragile right now when he's usually anything but.

I know I can't stay long and make this quick so his parents can see him, too, but it's so hard to walk away from him when he's in that state. I want to stay with him until he wakes up, making sure he's okay at all times, but I know that I can't and I also have to trust they'll take good care of him.

I gently brush his hair back, silently crying, watching him through my tears-filled eyes. "I love you so much," I whisper into the silence, getting no response in return.

I take in a shaky breath and give him one more lingering look before I turn around and walk out of the room, sniffing. I don't look at anyone else when I walk out, just sit down on one of the chairs, feeling weak and drained as if today has lasted for weeks.

Sam comes to my side, wrapping her arm around me, pulling the side of my body into her. I close my eyes, gladly accepting the comfort she gives me. "Is this ever going to end? Are we ever going to find peace?" I ask, even though I don't expect to get any answer from her.

But she gives one, anyway. "Yeah, you will. You two are invincible together, Gabby."

I don't feel very invincible right now. And I'm pretty sure neither does he.