“Avery! Chloe needs you to wake up!”
Chloe? Chloe’s at school. Is it time to pick her up? Wait!He’s here! Dragging me! Stupid cunt! I scream and there is blood and I gasp a deep breath of air and the darkness fades away as my vision comes back sharp and clear.
“Zack!” I scream. Zack was in the car with me. He’s hurt! My head snaps side to side sending spikes of pain through it but I don’t care. I need to find Zack.
“There you are. Baby, you fucking scared the hell out of me.” Ryker rumbles against my neck as he pulls me closer. “I thought we lost you.”
I push away from him and wince at the pain coursing through my body.
“Ry? Ryker! Zack, Zack was hurt. Where’s Zack?” I cry.
“Shh, it’s okay. He’s okay. He’s in the next room getting looked over but they think he’s going to be fine. Are you okay? Where does it hurt?”
I shake my head causing me to wince again. “What happened? We dropped off…Chloe!” I push against him, struggling to get him to let go because now I remember, I remember everything that happened and if he can’t punish me then he’ll go after her. I need to get my daughter!
“Stop! East just left to go pick her up. He’s bringing her back here right now. She’s safe. I promise, baby. Chloe’s safe and so are you. He won’t get to you again.”
A desperate whine escapes me because that’s what they said before. They said we would be safe but today proves that to be a lie. We aren’t safe and we never will be until he’s dead. I turn to face Ryker and clutch my fingers around his face leaving smears of blood from my sliced-up hands.
“We are not safe.He’ll NEVER stop! I need a gun. Can you get me a gun?”
His brows furrow and sadness fills his eyes but he nods. “I’ll get you one and I’ll fucking teach you how to use it too.”
At that statement, the curtain is ripped back showing two scowling police officers. The one on the left steps forward and pulls his handcuffs from his belt with a hard look.
“Let’s go. Time to put the cuffs back on and we’re taking you to the station.”
Ryker sets me on the bed and then rises to his full height, stepping between me and them and crossing his big arms over his chest. I start to shake even more than I already am. Oh, God! They’re going to arrest me. I’m going to lose Chloe! Ryker’s hard bark has me flinching back even further.
“No. She’s not going anywhere. She hasn’t even been seen by the doctor.”
The one who stepped forward smirks. “She looks fine to me and we’ve been waiting long enough. She was healthy enough to wave a knife around and attack someone. Assault with a deadly weapon trumps a few scrapes and bruises, buddy.”
My eyes are bouncing in every direction looking for a way out as an older man in a very expensive suit walks up behind the officers and clears his throat.
“And her attorney trumps that easily. Gentlemen, remove yourself from my client’s vicinity. She is a victim of domestic violence and was protecting herself from her abuser. What progress have you made in capturing the man responsible for the accident and attacking her?”
When neither officer answers him, he shakes his head slowly with a look of contempt on his face.
“Ah, I see. You took the easy, lazy option to not investigate what the situation actually was. You may wait in the waiting room until I’ve conferred with my client and she has received medical treatment. Only after the doctor clears her will she make herself available to make a statement.”
He steps back and swings his arm wide in a gesture to get them to leave causing more scowls but they do as he says and move away. My breathing is rapid and my whole body is shaking as Ryker spins around and scoops me back into his arms, holding me tight and murmuring assurances into my hair. Hot tears soak his shirt. I’m a mess, but now that I’m not about to be hauled away all I can think about is Zack. His body jerking around in the car like a rag doll. I push back from Ry’s chest and blink wet eyes up at him.
“Zack, please, Ry. I need to see him. I need to see that he’s okay.”
His arms tighten around me. “You need to see a doctor, baby.”
“I will! But please, I need to see him!”
His chest rumbles in disagreement but he picks me up and carries me out of the draped area and down to the next one yanking the curtain aside. The breath in my lungs seizes when I see Zack laying on the bed with his eyes closed. He has a brace of some kind on his left arm and a thick bandage wrapped around his head. He’s so pale and still that my stomach rolls with nausea. Oh, God! I did this. This is all my fault! I make a whine full of despair that I’ve caused such damage to him and the sound has his eyes flying open and pinning me in place with one hand reaching out to him.
He leans toward me with a wince. “Give her to me!” He barks out to Ryker and then I’m in the bed with him and his arms are around me in a death grip. The relief is overwhelming. He’s okay, he’s going to be okay. It takes me a minute to process the words he keeps crying into my hair.
“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry. Please, Aves, please forgive me.”
I rear back in shock and press my hands to his face shaking my head side to side.
“What? No! No, Zack. This is my fault! All of this, I brought him right to your door. I should have run. I should have left so you would be safe!”
