Chapter 3 THE NEWS I FEARED

POV: Alex

"Lucinda Devereux was dead when she arrived."

I stared at the doctor.

"And Lana?"

He glanced at his clipboard before meeting my eyes.

"We've managed to stabilise her, Mr Mercer. She's alive, but she's still unconscious. She's suffered a serious gunshot wound, and we'll need to monitor her closely."

My fingers tightened around the back of the chair beside me.

"She'll be all right, won't she?"

"I can't make that promise yet. The next few hours are important."

I stared at him, waiting for him to say something else. Something reassuring. Anything that would tell me Lana wasn't going to die because I hadn't been able to protect her.

But he only gave me a sympathetic nod before walking away.

"She'll be all right," Gabrielle said beside me.

I turned towards my sister.

"You don't know that."

"No, I don't. But neither does that doctor. She's alive, Alex. Hold on to that."

I lowered myself into the chair. My legs felt too weak to support me.

Lucinda was dead.

Lana was alive.

Those were the only two facts I had, and neither was enough.

I could still see the gun in Lucinda's hand. Hear Lana's frightened breathing. Remember the moment I'd lunged forward and the shot had gone off.

I'd been too late.

"I should have known she'd do something like this," I muttered.

"Alex, stop."

"She came to our house with a gun, Gabrielle. She knew Lana would be there."

"And you didn't know she was coming to kill anyone."

"I should have protected her."

"You tried to stop Lucinda. You can't take responsibility for every decision that woman made."

I looked away.

Gabrielle was trying to help, but nothing she said could change what had happened. Lucinda had brought a gun into our home, and Lana had paid for it.

Our home.

The house Lana and I had chosen together. We'd spent weeks looking at properties, arguing over kitchens and laughing at each other's terrible suggestions. She'd insisted that the place needed a proper workspace for her designs. I'd told her she could have an entire room if she stopped criticising my taste.

She'd laughed and kissed me.

Now I couldn't stop thinking about the blood on the shirt she'd borrowed from me.

"Can I see her?" I asked when a nurse passed us.

"She's still being assessed. We'll let you know as soon as you can go in."

I nodded, though waiting was the last thing I wanted to do.

Gabrielle sat beside me. Neither of us spoke for a while.

I reached into my pocket and felt the edge of the small jewellery pouch I'd been given earlier. Inside was Lana's engagement ring, removed before her procedure and handed over with her other belongings.

I took it out and tipped the ring into my palm.

It looked so small.

I'd slipped it onto her finger when I asked her to marry me. I could still remember the way she'd stared at it before looking up at me, her eyes shining as she said yes.

She'd turned it around her finger ever since, especially when she was thinking. I'd teased her about it more than once.

Now my thumb moved over the smooth band, rolling it slowly between my fingers.

We hadn't had our wedding. There were still plans to make, details to argue over, and a future we hadn't finished building.

I hadn't imagined that the next time I held her ring, she'd be lying unconscious in a hospital bed.

"She's going to need that back," Gabrielle said quietly.

I closed my fingers around it.

"She'll get it back."

I needed to believe that.

A nurse eventually approached us.

"Mr Mercer? You can see Lana now. She's been transferred to recovery, but she needs rest. Please keep your visit brief."

I stood immediately, slipping the ring back into its pouch before putting it in my pocket.

The nurse led me down the corridor and into a quiet room.

Lana lay motionless beneath a white sheet, an IV attached to her arm and monitors beside the bed. Her face was pale, her eyes closed.

For one terrible moment, she looked as though she were already gone.

I moved to her bedside.

"Lana?"

She didn't respond.

I pulled a chair closer and took her hand. It was warm against mine, and I held on as if that small detail could keep her here.

My other hand went to my pocket. I took out the ring again, rolling it between my thumb and forefinger.

"You're going to have to wake up and put this back on," I whispered.

The monitor continued its steady rhythm.

I placed the ring carefully in my palm and bent over her hand.

"I know we haven't figured everything out yet. The wedding, the house, all the things you keep telling me we need to plan. You can argue with me about every single one of them when you wake up."

My throat tightened.

"Just don't leave me to do any of it without you."

I pressed her hand against my lips, then lowered it gently onto the bed.

I had spent months learning how to live without Lucinda in my life. I couldn't begin to imagine a world in which Lana wasn't in mine.

I curled my fingers around the ring.

"Please wake up, Lana."