Where the Forest Meets the Stars(71)

“How many are there?” he called to Jo.
“I think two. Ursa is hurt!”
“I know, but stay down!” He scuttled over to Ursa, his gun ready.
Jo was relieved when she heard him speak to Ursa. She must be okay. Gabe left Ursa and ran to Jo. “Are you hurt?”
“Just a little. What about Ursa?”
He didn’t answer.
“Tell me!”
“It’s bad.”
“Oh my god!” She got up and ran for Ursa, dragging her left leg. “You have to stay down!” he said, running with her. “I’ve killed two, but there could be more.”
Jo sank to the ground next to Ursa and Gabe crouched over her, peering around for more assailants. Ursa was on her back. Jo didn’t need a light to see where she was hurt. In the dim glow of stars, she saw the dark stain soaked into the fabric of her pink Hello Kitty pajamas. She’d been shot once, on the right side of her stomach. She was breathing, but she was in shock. Her body trembled and her eyes stared at Jo, but she didn’t seem to see her. “Is an ambulance coming?”
“Lacey called 911 when we heard the first shots.”
“They might not bring an ambulance!”
“She heard all the gunfire. They’ll bring an ambulance,” he said, but he looked worried. He laid down his gun to call Lacey. “Are the police coming?” he said. “What about an ambulance? Not me. Ursa is hurt bad.” After a pause, he said, “Yes, the girl.” He listened for a few more seconds before ending the call.
“Lacey has called twice,” he said. “First she said we needed police. When she heard the gunfight, she called back and said they needed to send lots of police and ambulances.”
“What if they don’t get here in time?” Jo wept.
“They will.”
“No one finds this road!”
“The sheriff knows where it is. And Lacey said she’d call back to tell them Ursa is hurt.” He pulled off his T-shirt. “Use this to put pressure on the wound. Press firmly, but not so much that you hurt her.” He grabbed his gun again.
Jo held the shirt on the awful wound, uncertain of how hard to press. “What if there’s an exit wound?”
“There probably is,” he said. “He shot at close range.”
Keeping pressure on the front wound, Jo slid her hand under Ursa’s right side. She felt blood oozing out of her back. The bullet could have entered from either side. She stripped off her T-shirt and pushed it under Ursa’s body, keeping pressure on both wounds. “You’re going to be okay, love bug,” she said, touching her lips to Ursa’s cheek. “Stay with Gabe and me, okay? Try hard to stay with us.”
Ursa was awake, her eyes focused on Jo. “D-don’t cry,” she said through chattering teeth. “Jo . . . stop crying!”
“I can’t,” Jo said. “I’m sorry, but I can’t.”
Ursa stared into her eyes. “Are you c-crying because you love me?”
“Yes! I love you so much!”
Ursa smiled. “That’s it . . . the fifth miracle. That was what I want . . . wanted m-most, and I m-made it happen.”
Jo cried harder, and tears spilled from the corners of Ursa’s eyes.
“Jo . . .”
“What?”
“If I die, don’t be sad. It’s n-not me,” she said.
“You aren’t going to die!”
“I know. I can g-go back now. I saw five miracles. Don’t be sad if it happens.”
“You’re staying here! I want to be your foster parent and maybe adopt you. I was going to tell you . . .”
“You were?” Her eyes brightened. She looked like familiar happy Ursa.
“You’ll come live with Tabby and me in the pretty house. Would you like that?”
“Yes . . . but I feel bad. I might . . . I might have to go back in the stars.”
“Here they come!” Gabe said.
Jo heard a convoy of distant sirens. But the sound was too distant. Ursa had closed her eyes.
“Ursa?” Jo said. “Ursa, stay with me!”
“Stars . . . ,” Ursa murmured. “Jo . . . I see stars.”
“Ursa, no! Stay with us!” She tried to keep pressure on Ursa’s wounds, but her arms had no strength. Her legs buckled. She collapsed on her side and fell onto her back. She saw stars, too. Where was the bear? Where was Ursa Major? Which stars were those?
Gabe’s hands lifted her. “Jo! You’re losing a lot of blood! Your pants are soaked!”
He was right. She’d been fighting the fog in her mind since the man had shot her. She closed her eyes and let the darkness come. She would find Ursa. She would find her, even if she had to climb into the sky and pull her down from the stars herself.


30

Ursa. Ursa. Ursa. It was the mantra that drew her out of anesthesia. When she opened her eyes, she wasn’t surprised to see a hospital room. She wasn’t afraid either. The environment was all too familiar.
A middle-aged nurse who’d been fiddling with her IV bag looked at her. “Awake already? I didn’t expect that for another hour at least.”
“Do you know if the little girl who came in with me is okay?”
“You’re asking the wrong person.”
“Meaning, they told you not to say.”
“How do you feel?” the nurse asked, lifting Jo’s wrist to find her pulse.
“Well enough to be told what happened.”
“Do you know what happened to you?” She probably had to establish that Jo could handle the news.