Tate looked to Justice.

“They want to clean my hands,” she bit at him. “They want to take him from me. They don’t get him. I’m keeping him.” She wrapped her arms around her middle. “I’m keeping him until they give him back to me.”

He heard Laurie make a noise, felt her make a move but he looked down at her and shook his head.

“She needs to get cleaned up, sir, and she needs a sedative. She was there when—” one of the staffers started.

“Leave me with her,” Tate ordered.

“She’s exhibited signs she might get violent,” the man went on.

Tate spared him a glance and clipped, “Leave her with me.”

Tate felt the man’s gaze. He hesitated, but backed off, though only a couple of steps, the other two following.

Tate went to a standing gurney not close to Justice but closer than he’d been.

He hauled his ass up on it, opened his thighs, doing all this eyes locked on Justice.

When he got there, he said gently, “C’mere, Jussy.”

“Don’t make me wash him away, Tate,” she snapped.

“Honey, come here.”

“I’m keeping him with me,” she shot back.

“Jussy, right now, where would Deke want you to be?” he asked. “Who would he want minding you? Tell me.”

She did a shuffle step away from him, turning her shoulder, keeping eye contact over it.

Fuck, she was fucked up, in shock, way beyond tweaked.

“Deke was here right now, Jussy, who would he want taking care of you?” Tate asked quietly.

She hesitated, looked around, took in the staffers, Lauren, Jonas, then back to him when she answered, “You.”

“Yeah. Me. Now c’mere.”

Another shuffle step, this one toward him. And another.

Then she turned fully to him. Ducking her head, her long hair falling down either side, she hit him head first, right at his collarbone, and drove in.

He wrapped his arms around her.

Lauren got close behind Justice, lifted her hand, hesitated, looked at her man and Tate gave her a short nod. Jonas just got near, and when Tate glanced at him, he saw his boy’s eyes locked to his old man.

Laurie moved in closer and started stroking Justice’s hair.

Her touch set Justice to talking.

“I don’t know if I did wrong. He told me to run. But I heard gunshots. I called Chace. But Deke was in there. Unarmed. They had guns. And I wanted him to have his gun.”

“You didn’t do wrong,” Tate said, not knowing what went down, if what he said was a lie, or the truth.

What it was was what she needed to hear right then.

Though calling Chace was the right thing.

“Then I saw it was Rudy. My cousin. I thought I could talk him down. We’re Lonesomes. He wouldn’t hurt me. No matter how fucked up he was, he wouldn’t hurt me.”

“I can see you thinkin’ that.”

“He…he…didn’t mind hurting me.”

Tate knew that to be true but he didn’t say anything.

“I got Deke the gun,” she whispered.

“Right, honey.”

“But I’m worried I did wrong.”

“Got lots of worries right now, Jussy. Why don’t you let that one go for now?”

“He tackled me.”

“Who? Your cousin?”

“He tackled me,” she repeated.

“Jussy—”

She burrowed in, fuck, so strong, she almost took his back to the gurney.

Tate braced, wrapped her tight and shifted his gaze to his wife’s anguished eyes.

“He didn’t tackle me,” Justice whispered, her voice fracturing. “He shielded me.”

That was when she went down, knees failing.

Tate caught her as she fell, pulled her up, swung her out and settled her in his lap.

She cried in his neck, holding on tight.

She was limp, almost lifeless when she’d cried herself out.

He coaxed her to take the sedative. As she got drowsy, he and Laurie helped her wash her hands. As she’d been crying, Lauren made the calls, got through to Twyla who hadn’t left yet. When she arrived, they got Jussy’s jacket off, her bloody shirt, and changed her into one of Twyla’s sweaters.

She didn’t lapse into sleep until they were in the waiting room and she did this collapsed into Tate’s side, holding the bundle of her bloody clothes tight to her chest like a child would a teddy bear.

He moved her head to his thigh, Krys shifting in to lift her legs, curl her up on the seat beside him. And Lexie covered her with Ty’s jacket.

Everyone showed, including Chace.

He reported the two men who invaded Justice’s home were both DOA.

Eventually, a lot of the folks who showed left. They had little kids. They had to get home.

It was the early hours of the morning when the surgeon came out.

Deke pulled through. But he’d lost a tremendous amount of blood, took four bullets, the damage was extensive, and he was in critical condition.

As he spoke carefully, uncomfortably, words he didn’t have to say because his manner screamed it, the surgeon shared they could not make any guarantees. If he lasted twenty-four hours, something left unspoken but it was clear the doctor did not think that would happen, then there might be hope.

“But, think it’s best, if he’s of that religion, that you call for Last Rites,” the man finished solemnly.

This made Nadine, Cindy and Lauren all lose it, Twyla, Jim-Billy and Jonas moving in to give them comfort.