Chapter 23
Lucky surveyed the crowded club and sighed. He really didn’t want to have to do this show, but Charisma had twisted his arm, so now he was stuck. He made his way to the bar and smiled wanly at his father.
“What’s wrong, Cowboy?” Luke asked with a small grin.
“Nothing, really. I just don’t want to do this.” He turned his back to the bar and looked around the room again, noticing that Jason and Michael were sitting at one of the tables. He caught himself wondering if Elizabeth was with them, then quickly pushed the thought out of his mind and turned back to Luke.
“I better get backstage before Charisma comes out here She hates it when I mingle before a show.” He chuckled and started for the back as the low din of the club was interrupted by the sound of gunshots exploding everywhere. Instinctively, he threw himself to the ground. As soon as the room was quiet again, he slowly picked himself up and looked around the room. Aside from an extremely shocked and flustered group of people, there was no harm done, which only meant one thing: the shots were fired outside.
Without a second thought, Lucky was out the door, closely followed by Jason and Luke. They all froze at the sight in front of them. There was a small crowd of people dusting themselves off, still in shock from what had just happened, but none of them seemed to be injured. As they slowly dissipated, the three men gasped as they spotted two figures on the ground, surrounded by a spreading pool of blood.
“Carly!” Jason gasped, rushing over to one of the prone bodies.
At the same time, Lucky whispered, “Elizabeth,” and fell to the ground near her, trying to figure out where she had been shot, if she had been shot. There was blood everywhere, but it was possible that it was all coming from Carly.
“Elizabeth!” he shouted, feeling her neck for a pulse. It was low, but it was there. Suddenly, he noticed the source of some of the blood: a gunshot wound in her left shoulder.
“Oh God,” he whispered, standing up and whirling around to find Luke. “Dad, she’s shot, hurry!”
“Ambulance is already on the way,” he said, rushing over to look at her. “It doesn’t look too bad, I think she’ll be okay.”
“Carly!” Jason shouted, doing pretty much the same thing Lucky was doing with Liz. After assuring himself that she still had a pulse, he began searching her body for bullet wounds. Finally, he found one, in her abdomen. Running on instinct from the medical training he had before his memory loss, he tore off his shirt and used it to put pressure on the wound, looking around wildly for the ambulance to show up.
“Come on, Carly, stay with me,” he whispered, looking down at her peaceful expression. “Wake up and fight this. If there’s one thing you can do better than anyone I’ve ever met, it’s fight, so don’t stop now. Michael can’t lose his mother, not like this.”
Lucky was pacing back and forth, watching for the ambulance, muttering to himself. “I told her this would happen. People who hang around with them always end up getting hurt.”
The sound of sirens could be heard approaching, and everyone jumped to attention. The ambulances screeched to a halt in front of the club as the paramedics poured out. One group headed for Carly, and the other to Liz.
They quickly got both women onto stretchers and began to wheel them to the vans. Jason jumped on with Carly, throwing a worried look over to the stretcher where Liz lay, feeling guilty that he had not only gotten her into this mess, but had then run to Carly instead. Suddenly, Lucky rushed forward, following her stretcher to the other ambulance. Jason sighed in relief that she had someone to watch over her, then turned back to Carly, silently willing her to live.
As Lucky dashed toward the ambulance, Luke quickly followed. “Cowboy, what are you doing?”
“I’m going with her,” he said firmly.
Luke raised an eyebrow, wondering what this new turn of events could mean.
Lucky sighed and shook his head. “Don’t get too excited, Dad. Remember, you rode with Nikolas when he was shot, and I don’t see the two of you getting married anytime soon, do you? Let’s just call this tradition: if someone gets shot outside the club, they get a Spencer to ride in the ambulance with them.” Before Luke could respond, Lucky hopped into the van as the doors slammed shut. Both sped away, sirens blaring, just as the police department began to arrive.
~*~
“What was that?” Charisma asked, rushing out of the back. The gunshots had been more muffled from backstage, and she wasn’t sure what they were. She could hear sirens growing distant. Everyone in the club looked shaken, and the front door was standing wide open. She stuck her head outside and gasped at the pool of blood on the ground.
“Oh no,” she said quietly, covering her mouth as she backed away. She remembered Lucky telling her stories of life in Port Charles, and how there had been numerous shoot-outs in front of his father’s club, one of which almost killed his brother. Obviously, that’s what had just happened, but who’s blood was on the ground?
“Spence?” she asked, looking around the room. She couldn’t find him anywhere, and began to panic.
“Hey, Charisma!” Rich shouted, rushing over to her from the other side of the room. “He’s okay, he just went to the hospital with one of the victims.”
She sighed with relief, but then looked at him seriously. “You mean there was more than one? Who?”
“I don’t know. I just saw him jump on the ambulance before it drove away. Luke’s talking to the police right now, but once he’s done, we can ask.”
~*~
“Luke!” Nikolas shouted, rushing up to the him with Emily. “What happened?” They had been running late, and heard the sirens as they drove up. Luke had just finished giving the officer his statement, and turned around to face them.
Luke rubbed his head, still trying to grasp everything. “There was another shooting.”
Both Nikolas and Emily gasped, their faces becoming pale. “Who...did anyone...?” Emily stammered.
Luke sighed. “Caroline and Liz were both hit. Jason and Lucky just went with them to the hospital. Liz was shot in the shoulder, so she should pull through fine, but Caroline looked pretty bad. I should call Barbara.....” he trailed off at the thought, then hurried into the club, leaving them standing alone, staring at the slowly drying blood in front of them.
“Oh no, Michael!” Emily shouted, breaking the silence around them. “Jason said he was bringing him here. Where is he?” She ran into the club in search for her godson, and was relieved to find him with Tammy, happily eating some pretzels.
“Oh good,” she sighed. “I was so worried about him.”
Tammy smiled and rubbed Michael’s back. “He’s okay. When Jason bolted out of here, I brought Michael to the kitchen for some pretzels. I’ll keep an eye on him, don’t worry. Do you know where Jason went?”
“Luke said he went with them to the hospital,” Nikolas said, still not sure what was going on.
Tammy leaned down and whispered something to Michael, then smiled as she watched him run back into the kitchen. Once he was out of sight, she became serious again. “Who was hurt?” she asked, growing worried.
“Carly and Liz,” Emily answered, wringing her hands. True, Carly had never been her favorite person, but she was still Michael’s mother. Knowing first-hand what it was like to lose a parents at a young age, she prayed that Michael wouldn’t have to know the same kind of pain.
