She Wanted It All - Kathryn Casey [90]
Grasping for some explanation for the man’s wounds, Howard asked, “Did you have surgery recently? Did your stitches open?”
“No,” Steve said. “No, I didn’t.”
Alexander pulled bandages from his supplies and bound Steve’s wide belly, hoping to keep him pieced together. Another EMS officer arrived, one who worked for the Texas Highway Patrol, and he pitched in dressing Steve’s wounds. Minutes later Austin EMS arrived and pushed them both out of the way, hooking Steve up to an IV and putting him on a portable oxygen tank. Just then word came over Howard’s radio that STAR Flight was on its way. To open the house for those he knew would be arriving, he told Truitt to unlock the front door. It was in the living room, as he approached the door, that Truitt encountered Celeste and Kristina making their way out from the opposite wing.
The lights woke Kristina. She was sound asleep when something flashed, then again, and again. She opened her eyes and realized they were white and blue, like the lights on a squad car. When her eyes focused, she saw her mother standing at her bedroom door dressed in a T-shirt and boxer shorts.
“What’s going on?” Kristina asked.
“Someone’s at the door,” Celeste said.
Frightened by the prospect of strangers in the middle of the night, Kristina walked to the bedroom door. Before the teenager realized what was happening, her mother pushed her out into the hallway.
“Find out what they want,” Celeste ordered.
Panicking, Kristina ducked into the guest room, where Jennifer normally slept, and dialed 911. When the operator answered, she recited her address, saying someone was at their front door. “It’s the police and EMS,” the dispatcher told her. “Your father called. He has an emergency.”
“Mom, something’s wrong with Dad,” Kristina called out as she ran from the room.
“Who are you?” Celeste demanded of the uniformed officer when she emerged from the children’s wing. “What’s going on?”
“We’ve got a medical emergency,” Truitt said as he came to the door. “Your husband called 911. Has he had recent surgery?”
“No. Is he okay?” Celeste asked.
When Howard told her that Steve appeared badly hurt, Celeste sobbed: “Don’t let my husband die. Don’t let him die.”
Kristina moved forward, trying to comfort her mother.
As soon as Celeste quieted, the teenager rushed to the master bedroom. “Is he all right?” she asked one officer. “Is my father all right?”
“They’re working on him,” he said. “STAR Flight is on its way.”
Kristina went to Steve’s bedside but couldn’t get near because of the crush of police and medics. “Dad, they’re going to take you to the hospital,” she said, looking directly into his eyes, not wanting to see the bloody bed. “We all love you. I love you.”
Steve forced a fleeting smile then nodded. “Is your mother all right?” he asked.
“Yes, she’s fine,” she said, then urged, “Don’t worry. Just get better.”
Steve smiled weakly. With that Kristina left to check on Celeste in the living room. By the time she arrived, her mother was outside on the front steps, smoking a cigarette. She’d just said something that Truitt found surprising for a woman whose husband was critically injured: “This is perfect timing. We’re supposed to leave for Europe tomorrow.”
When she found her mother, Kristina noticed that Celeste had stopped crying. She stayed only moments, then returned to the bedroom to check on Steve.
In the bedroom, Deputy Thompson saw something yellow and round peeking out from under one of the medics’ bags. While the others worked on Steve, he bent over and picked it up. It was a spent shotgun shell, .20 gauge.
“I’ve got a shotgun shell,” he said. “He’s been shot.”
Another officer pointed toward the headboard and wall. Blood splatter and small bits of tissue fanned out in a pale, pinkish spray.
“This is a crime scene,” Thompson announced. “From this point on.”
At that moment Kristina was on her way out the door, after looking in on Steve a third time. She spun back into the room when she heard Thompson’s announcement. “What?” she said. “How