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Excuse the Mistakes.

Dedicated to chocolatetime because she is too damn sweet!!!

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"Now let me get this straight; you got a text from Miss Dawson's phone giving you the address of the warehouse, and you go there without question. When you got there, you find her shot and a bunch of other men dead or wounded. Then, you called the ambulance."

I nodded silently, and the cop scribbled something on his notepad. The police had shown up about ten minutes after I'd finished called Sawyer's grandma and my mom. For the past hour, they'd been asking me what I knew about Marcus, who last name was apparently Crowe, and how I'd been at the warehouse with all of the men.

That said, they didn't seem too concerned with the small holes in my story. I think that the cops were just happy that someone as dangerous and powerful as Marcus was off the street.

"Can I go now?" I said, "My parents are probably here and worried about me."

"Sure, kid," the cop replied, "Make sure the doctor knows to call me when Miss Dawson wakes up so that I can get her statement."

"Yeah," I said, and I bolted from the small room I'd been questioned in. I hurried past the vending machines to the waiting room. As soon as my mom's eyes met mine, she was out of her chair and wrapping her arms around me.

"Oh my god!" she breathed, "Are you alright? Thank god you're safe!"

"I'm fine, Mom," I replied, "Really." I squeezed her tightly, and I looked past her. Sawyer's grandma, Aggie, was standing up next her seat, her worried eyes locked on my mom and me. "Mom, I need to talk to Sawyer's grandma. I'll be right back."

I pulled out of her embrace and stepped over to Aggie. "What happened?" she asked, her clear blue eyes searching my face for hints. "What's wrong with my granddaughter?"

I hesitated before answering, since I didn't know the best way to break it to her. "She has a broken wrist, a couple broken bones, and some internal bleeding." I paused before adding, "And she was shot in the shoulder."

Aggie gasped, and she fell back into the chair and put a hand to her heart. "Dear lord," she whispered, and a tear rolled down the side of her cheek.

"She's in surgery right now," I said, settling down in the seat across from Aggie. "One of the nurses promised to keep me fully informed."

"This is all her father's fault," Aggie murmured, "He brought her into this mess, and he almost got her killed."

I looked away, unsure of what to say to her. Deep down, I agreed with her. Sawyer's father's debt was the reason she'd been kidnapped, and by extension, he was the reason she'd been shot. His choices had almost cost Sawyer her life, and I don't think that I would ever be able to forgive that.

You know, since I love her.

I stayed seated for a minute, but after listening to Aggie mumble under her breath about how much she hated Sawyer's father, I decided I needed a drink. I got some money from my mom, who was sitting a few chairs down from Aggie, and then made my way over to the vending area.

I inserted the two dollars into the coffee machine and pressed a button. As I waited for the coffee, I placed my forehead on the humming machine and sighed loudly.

"Hey bro."

I glanced to my right to find Jake leaning against the snack machine, his arms crossed over his chest. He had a sympathetic look on his face, and I groaned. "How's your girl?" he asked, and I just shook my head.

"I don't know," I said quietly. "The nurse said she'd keep me updated, but I haven't seen her. Does that mean something's gone wrong?"

"Not necessarily," Jake replied thoughtfully, "It could be that there's just nothing to report. You've got to be optimistic about this."

"Why?" I asked bitterly.

"Because Sawyer needs you to be."

*

"Sawyer Dawson?"

Aggie, my mom, and I all jumped out of our chairs when the doctor called Sawyer's name. He walked over to us, and we all crowded around him, eager to find out how she was doing.

"Sawyer is out of surgery and stable," the doctor said, and I breathed out sigh of relief. Aggie gasped and started to cry, and my mom, who'd made friends with Aggie, squeezed her hand.

"What about her injuries?" I asked, remembering the awful discoloration in her stomach.

"We've managed to stop the internal bleeding, and we've repaired all damage without any complications. Sawyer's very lucky because the bullet didn't make it to her shoulder blade, so the damage there was relatively easy to clean up. We've bandaged up her ribs and put a hard cast on her wrist."

I smiled broadly, happy at the news. Sawyer was going to be okay. She was out of surgery, stable, and all patched up. That didn't mean I was going to stop worrying, but I could worry less.

"Where is she now and when can we see her?" Aggie asked, wiping away her tears.

"She's in recovery right now. She's unconscious, but we can let two people in to see her," the doctor said. He gave us her room number, and after giving us another smile, he hurried back through the double doors to the other operating rooms.

My mom turned to me and said, "I'm not going to be able to get you to come home tonight, am I?"

I shook my head and she nodded. "Call me if you need me, okay?"

"Thanks Mom," I said, and she pulled me into a hug. I kissed her softly on the cheek and then Aggie and I approached the nurses' station.

After getting directions to Sawyer's room, Aggie slipped her delicate, wrinkled hand into mine. I could tell she was worried and scared, but also relieved that Sawyer was out of surgery. Together, we navigated the halls of the hospital until we came to room 216A. The door was open slightly ajar, and I pushed it open further and Aggie slipped inside in front of me.

As I followed her, I started feeling sick to my stomach. I didn't know what Sawyer would look like, laying unconscious in a hospital bed. I was scared.

I crept into the room to find Aggie standing next to the hospital bed, her hand clutching Sawyer's. Sawyer's hair was fanned out on the pillow underneath her, and her skin looked pale. The bruises on her neck and arms were dark and angry, and I swallowed hard. That was a bright orange cast encasing half of her arm, and I could see bandages peeking out from the top of her hospital gown.

I came to stand next to Sawyer on the other side of the bed. I pulled one of the chairs up to the side of the bed and took her casted hand in mine. Aggie did the same on the other side. We looked at each other, and even though neither of us spoke, we understood that we were thinking the same thing.

Sawyer, please wake up.

~*~

Light seeped through my eyelids, making everything turn orange.

I groaned quietly and forced my heavy eyelids open. My vision was fuzzy, and the lights were bright, but after blinking a few times, things started to become more focused.

The first thing I saw was the cast my arm. It was pretty hard to miss, seeing as it was neon orange. Then, I saw the hand holding the cast, which lead me up to Griffin's sleeping form. He was slouched in his chair with his eyes closed and his mouth open slightly.

I smiled, and in an effort to not wake him up, I tried to shift my body in a way so that I could study my wounds. However, pain shot through my shoulder and torso, and I squeaked- yes, squeaked- in pain.

Griffin jolted awake and his head snapped to me. "Sawyer," he breathed, his eyes widening.

"Hi," I said, my voice coming out much softer than I expected.

"You're awake!" he cried, jumping out of the chair. My shoulder jostled in the commotion, and I cried out again. "What's wrong?" he asked, freezing in place.

"My shoulder hurts," I replied, "and my ribs."

"Shit," Griffin said, "I'll be right back. Your grandma's talking to a nurse, so I'll get them, and the nurse can give you some pain meds."

Before I could say anything in reply, Griffin was out the door, and I was alone. Frowning, I looked around the hospital room. To my surprise, there were balloons in the corner, and an actual bouquet of flowers in a plastic vase sitting on the tray at the end of my bed. On the chair on the opposite side that Griffin had been sleeping on, there was a medium sized purple puppy dog with a heart around its eye.

I let out a small laugh, and then winced at the sharp pain it caused. A second later, Grandma Aggie came running into the room. Her eyes were red and puffy, and her usually neat hair was falling out of its bun.

"Sawyer," she sobbed, slipping her arms around me. I grunted in pain as she brushed my shoulder. Immediately, Grandma Aggie released me and took a step back. "I'm so sorry! Did I hurt you?"

"No," I said, reaching for her hand. "I'm fine, really." Grandma Aggie looked skeptical, but someone cleared their voice loudly, and I saw a man wearing scrubs and a white coat standing in the doorway.

"Good to see you're awake, Miss Dawson," he said, walking over to the end of my bed.

"Sawyer," I replied, and he nodded.

"Well," he said, "You should consider yourself very lucky."

"Lucky?" I echoed, confused.

"Yes ma'am," the doctor stated. "You're wrist fracture was pretty clean, you only broke a couple ribs, and we were able to fix the damage caused by the internal bleeding in your stomach and the bullet wound in your shoulder. You, Sawyer, are going to make a full recovery."

I smiled and glanced from Grandma Aggie to Griffin, who was both beaming at me. "When can I go home?" I asked, and the doctor flipped through the sheets on his clipboard.

"We want to keep you for the next couple days, since your shoulder and ribs are still pretty fragile. Then you're free to go home. However, you'll be confined to bed rest, which means no school."

"That's fine with me," I replied, and the doctor laughed.

His beeper made a pinging sound, and after checking it, he flipped the clipboard under his arm. "I've got to run, but I'll send a nurse in to get you some meds for your pain."

"Thanks!" I called as he rushed out of the room. I let out a deep breath and looked at Grandma Aggie, who had tears in her eyes. Then I turned to face Griffin, who looked beaten down and tired.

"Guys!" I cried, "Chill. I'm going to be fine. The doctor says that I'm going to be fine!"

Deep down, I believed it.

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Sorry it's been so long. I missed you guys.

Just to let you know, there are only like two chapters left of this story.

I'm cooking up something awesome for the next story i post :)

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