Page 73 of When the Smoke Clears

Eden sits on the edge of my bed and gently touches my leg over the sheet. “Yesterday.”

Chase leans down close, a grin playing on his lips. “Dude, what’s it like to get shot?”

“I wouldn’t recommend it.”

“But now you have a cool story,” he insists, his grin widening. “The chicks are gonna dig it.”

Dalton steps up and shoves Chase to the side. “Luke, how are you feeling?”

“I think I feel okay, all things considered.”

“I just can’t believe this happened,” Sav says. “This kind of thing just doesn’t happen in Wildhaven.”

Dalton crosses his arms, leaning back slightly. “I have a feeling this is the influence of Cedar Hollow. I can’t believe Dad wants to do business there.”

Suddenly, my father’s voice booms through the hallway like thunder. “I don’t care what you say. My son will get the best care.”

“Speak of the devil.” Eden giggles.

I let my head drop against the pillow, closing my eyes for a moment as he strides into the room with an air of authority.

“You look like hell, son.” His voice scrapes like gravel, but his hand rests gently on my shoulder as his eyes lock onto the monitor’s jagged green line, pupils constricting with each spike. “I’m going to take care of everything.”

I open one eye, then the other, as his dark-suited form comes into focus. “Dad, what are you talking about?”

“This room is unacceptable. You need to be in a single room. The nicest room they have.”

“It’s not the Plaza, Dad.” Chase’s voice is tinged with sarcasm. “There isn’t even anyone in the other bed.”

“It’s not fitting for a Wild,” he says, absentmindedly straightening my blanket. “We own this town.”

Chase bends forward, murmuring, “It’s that kind of attitude that makes people want to shoot at us.”

A laugh tumbles out of me, rattling through my body. Pain spikes across my shoulder and chest.

Sav steps closer, smoothing the rumpled blanket. “What do you remember, Luke?”

I shake my head, eyelids heavy. “Not much yet.”

My father rubs his jaw. “Maybe they should transfer you to St. Michael’s. This place—” he jerks a thumb at the nurses’ station outside “—is running low on blood. They asked the family to donate. Can you believe that?”

“That’s not unusual, Daddy,” Eden says.

His stern mask softens at her tone. “I’m worried about my son.” He turns his attention to me. “You’re supposed to be smarter than this.”

The words sound like a rebuke, but the way he won’t stop pacing betrays a restlessness that he won’t say out loud.

Sav winds her arm around his. “Okay, that’s enough excitement for now. Luke needs rest. Let’s all go donate that blood they need.”

He huffs but follows her out, their departure marked by the door’s soft click. Dalton lifts his cowboy hat, nods, and trails after them, hauling Chase with him.

My mother pauses at the frame, brushes a strand of hair off my forehead. “Be back soon, Baby.”

Eden is the only one left. The heart monitor’s steady beep seems to fill the silence. She perches on the edge of the bed, eyes bright.

“So,” she says, “why aren’t you telling everyone what you remember?”

I tilt my head, the pillow creasing under me. “What makes you think I’m not?”