Chapter 243: Could It Be?!...

Chapter 243: Could It Be?!...
Jasper's POV:

At this very moment, which was quite tense to say the least, I was too stunned to even speak. All I could do was look out the open door at her lifeless body, lying there across Dimitri and Garrick's arms as they slowly and carefully checked through the blood-stained section of her shirt for an entry wound. Suddenly, with each passing moment, I was once again flooded from head to toe with a cold sensation that swept over me like an icy wave. Could it be?!...

I didn't know what to do. Fuck, I couldn't even breathe as I waited for the impending news. "Check her!" I demanded, rather loudly, as fear was quite evident in the sound of my voice, as I leaned forward toward the open door. "Please tell me she's not injured...!"

I continued to look at her lifeless body, lying there, as her head was still lying back with her eyes closed. Their reaction had me taken aback when both of them stopped moving, as if they had the answer they were looking for. Suddenly, without words, they both started to slowly lift their heads and look at each other. I gasped, wondering what was taking so long in their delay to respond to me.

Just then, they slowly turned their gazes over to me. By this point, both Devon and Oliver were standing closer to the vehicle, and they were now between me and Dimitri and Garrick, who were holding her, as I continued to watch them, waiting for either of them to speak.

"No! Please tell me she's not injured!" I demanded as I nearly jumped out of the vehicle, despite the fact that my guard was still trying to hold pressure to the wounds in the front and back of my shoulder.

Even Stefan tried to reach around my other shoulder and hold me at bay. To be honest, he was at a disadvantage as his position in the back seat prevented him from accessing me as well as he would've liked. No one got out of the vehicle while we were all waiting there to see how Kelly Anne was, and I understood their wanting to make sure she was all right before any of us moved.

However, I knew by Dimitri and Garrick's stunned silence that their news was rather grave in nature. I didn't waste another moment as I actually jumped out of the vehicle this time, when I landed on my feet, only to be obscured in my reaction as both Devon and Oliver stepped in front of me by blocking my path. They both prevented me from gaining any ground closer to Dimitri and Garrick as Oliver placed his hand on the front side of my shoulder to put pressure on my wound, and Devon reached up and placed his hand over the back side of my shoulder, doing the same.

"Fuck it! Let me through!..." I demanded that either of them release me so that I could get to her. "I need to get to her, release me!"

"Boss, she's still breathing," Dimitri said as he looked over at me.

I couldn't believe what I saw next. Dimitri turned away from me as Garrick adjusted her in his arms. At the same time, Dimitri placed his hand on the front side of her shoulder and applied significant pressure on an apparent wound there. How could I have missed the fact that she was injured?! How could I have been so selfish that I didn't notice that she had been shot?! Was I just going to let her die there in my arms as my men were tending to me and not even bothering to examine her?

"She's going to be all right," Garrick spoke up at that moment as well, trying to help appease my flood of frustration and anger.

"No! It can't be..." I said suddenly as shock took over me completely. "She can't be..."

It was at that point in time that my legs collapsed out from underneath me, and I could no longer remain standing on my own. The cold chill that swept over me seemed to rob me of my ability to remain standing past this point. I didn't know how to think. I didn't know what to do. I couldn't believe all of this.

Was this actually the truth? Did I somehow miss the fact that she was injured and I didn't know it? Could it be that she was indeed struck, and I was completely oblivious about her apparent wound? Could it have been the same bullet that pierced my flesh? Could it be the same one that struck her? How could I not have known that she was injured?

Wait! I went over the details again in my head. I felt like someone bumped into me as we were standing on the curb, right before Stefan said our vehicle had arrived. It was at that very moment that she went limp and that I reached out and scooped her up in my arms. Could that be the precise moment she was struck? Did it actually penetrate my shoulder and go all the way through me and straight into her? Could that be how all this happened?

I didn't even realize that I had looked down at that brief moment as shock was taking over me. How could I have failed her? How could I not have been stronger to prevent something like this from happening to her?"

"Sure enough, there's no exit wound," I heard Stefan call out as he got out of the vehicle.

When I looked up, Miles was standing over my Garrick, still supporting his right arm with his left hand draped around his right elbow, as Stefan was standing there at her head, leaning down to examine the back side of her shoulder. When he was finished checking her out, he stood back up and looked directly at me. Then he turned his gaze to Oliver and asked his next question.

"Oliver, where is your phone?" Stefan asked him rather suddenly. "I need to contact Dr. Miller. We need to have her get here right away."

"It's in the inner pocket of my suit jacket," he said as he turned back to look at Stefan.

Without another moment to think about anything else, from the tip of my head to the soles of my feet, I was swept over like a wave of rushing cold water. The cold sensation sent a whole new set of chills down my spine. This feeling didn't happen all that often. The only other time I recalled such a feeling was when I was kidnapped as a child, all due to my father's foolish reign. However, this time was seriously different. It wasn't my life on the line here. If I had a through-and-through, I would live. She still has yet to wake up.

"Let's get everyone upstairs," Oliver said as he and Devon turned to head toward the elevator, still managing to support me in their arms. "You can send a message once we are out of sight of the garage entrance.

I couldn't breathe. My vision was....