“What I mean, Sweetheart, is I haven’t signed those fucking papers, so we are still married. Which means you cheated on me with that asshole.” Matt was waving the gun around, and Tana worried that it was going to go off. She shoved Sarah behind her and told her to run to Torren.
“Stop,” Matt shouted. But Sarah kept running towards Torren. She just about reached him when Matt pointed the gun in her direction, and before Tana could stop him, he pulled the trigger. She wasn’t sure what was louder—the gunshot or her scream. She turned, knowing that she was going to see her little girl lying on the ground, but instead found Torren clutching his side and falling to the grass. He must have pushed Sarah out of the way, and the bullet hit him instead.
“Torren,” she shouted, running to him, falling to her knees. There was so much blood soaking his T-shirt that she wasn’t sure just where the bullet hit him. “Torren, stay with me.”
“Fuck, that hurts.” Torren cursed. Tana tried to cover his hand with hers, but she needed to call for help. She fumbled with her phone, trying to dial 911, but stopped when she heard Beth cry out. “He’s taking Beth,” Sarah cried. Tana looked up to see Matt pull Elizabeth into his arms and back out of the park, keeping an eye on the officer who was still watching him. He pulled his gun, but Tana was thankful that he didn’t take a shot with Beth being caught in the middle. Tana didn’t know what to do. She wanted to run after Matt to get to Beth, but she couldn’t leave Torren to bleed to death with Sarah looking on.
“Hold on, Torren, I’m going to get help.” Tana pulled her phone up to her ear and told the emergency operator where to find them. Torren was losing so much blood; she was worried that he wouldn’t be able to hold on for the ambulance to get there. Luckily, they were only two blocks from the hospital, and help arrived quickly.
“I’m so sorry, honey.” Torren winced in pain. “He got Beth,” he grunted.
Sarah wrapped her arms around Tana’s neck and cried. Tana knew that she had to get to Beth, but first, she would need to make sure Torren and Sarah were safe. Then, she would get Elizabeth from Matt because there was no way she was going to let him lay a finger on her daughter. It was time to show her ex that she was stronger than he gave her credit for.
Torren’s side felt like it was on fire, and he was having trouble staying awake. He knew that the trip to the emergency room didn’t take long, but it felt like an eternity had passed. He worried that Tana was going to go off and do something stupid, and there would be nothing he could do to stop her. She looked so lost when they loaded him up into the ambulance. Tana promised to be right behind him with Sarah, but he worried that she was going to go after Matt to get Beth back. He saw her determination and knew that there would be no stopping her. She chose her daughters, and he couldn’t blame her. He’d want her to choose them every time, but it still hurt like hell watching her walk away from him. And all that pain was for nothing because that asshole still got Beth.
The EMTs rolled him through the emergency room doors, and there was a flurry of activity around him. Honestly, he washaving trouble keeping up with what everyone was saying. The pain in his side was almost unbearable—it felt like his skin was on fire. He was wheeled into a private room, and the doctor came in to talk to him, only to be just about bulldozed over by Tag.
“Fuck, Tor! What the hell happened?” The doctor cleared his throat and pushed past Tag, which was no easy feat.
“How about you let me do my job and ask the questions?” The doctor pointed at Tag. “I’m guessing you’re his brother, so you can stay—for now. No one else gets back here.” He nodded to the nurse, who scurried out of the room.
“Tag, where are Tana and Sarah?” Torren looked at Tag, hoping that his brother would have seen them on his way in. “Tag, her ex got Beth.” Torren groaned. Tag’s face went pale, and Torren knew that his brother understood the gravity of the situation.
“Fuck! Were Tana and Sarah with you in the ambulance?” Torren shook his head and groaned at the pain that little movement caused him.
“All right, enough!” the doctor barked. “Can you tell me your name?” He looked at Torren, shining a light into his eyes to check his pupils.
“Torren Harrison.” He looked around the doctor to where Tag was pacing, running his fingers through his already unruly hair.
“You have to find them. Get Sawyer on this and make sure that they are safe. She’s my fucking world, Tag. They all are.” Tag stopped pacing and stood off to the side as two more nurses entered the small room.
“Is he going to be all right, Doc?” Tag watched as they checked Torren out, wincing at every groan or painful yelp they elicited from him every time they moved him.
“It looks like the bullet missed any major organs, but it’s too close to his appendix to be sure.” The doctor was typing something onto his tablet as he spoke. Tag smiled at the doctor.
“He doesn’t have an appendix. Torren had to have that out when we were nine. He got to lie around for two weeks while I had to bring him home all his schoolwork and wait on him hand and foot.” Tag shook his head as if still disgusted by the whole thing.
Torren laughed and groaned, holding his side. “Yep, best two weeks of my life.”
“Well, if that’s the case, then this should be a pretty simple procedure.” The doctor signed a form that one of the nurses handed him and pulled up the guard rail on Torren’s bed.
“Wait, what procedure are you talking about?” Tag asked, looking a little worried again.
“Your brother has a bullet lodged in his side. It’s not life-threatening, but they are going to have to dig it out of him, and he’s lost a lot of blood.” The doctor turned to Torren. “Do you have any questions before they move you upstairs to pre-op?” Torren looked around the doctor again, trying to find Tag.
“Yep, I have one fucking question—why are you still here?” Tag laughed and held up his hands. “Okay, okay, Tor. I’ll go and find Tana and Sarah. Sawyer and I will find that asshole and get Beth back. You just concentrate on behaving yourself and letting them dig that bullet out of your side.” Torren nodded and lay back, confident that Sawyer and Tag could handle Tana’s ex-husband. He just hoped like hell that she and Sarah were safe. He couldn’t think about losing them, not now that he had finally found them all.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Tana decided to take the steps up to the second-floor maternity wing. She called Tag on her way over to the hospital to tell him that Torren was being brought into the emergency room. But that was all she shared. She needed to get to Lorna if her plan was going to work, and she didn’t want Tag or Sawyer trying to stop her. Sarah was sobbing uncontrollably into Tana’s shirt, and she felt like giving into that same despair herself, but she couldn’t. Crying wouldn’t get her Beth back, and that was exactly what she was going to do. She grabbed Sarah’s hand and pulled her up the last few steps. Tana crouched down to be eye level with her daughter.
“I’m going to have to leave you with Mrs. Lorna, baby. She will keep you safe while I go and get Beth back.” Sarah shook her head, tears still streaming down her little face.
“No, Mommy,” she begged. Tana wished she had more time to comfort Sarah, but she knew that the longer this took, the more time Matt would have to get out of town. Not seeing Beth again wasn’t an option, so she was going to do the only thing she could—fight like hell to get her daughter back, even if that meant giving up her own life.
“Why did Daddy hurt Mr. Torren?” Sarah cried. Tana could feel her sob bubble up inside of her at the thought of Torren lying in the ER, possibly bleeding to death. If she allowed herself to focus on him, she wouldn’t have the guts to leave the hospital. Her entire world was turned upside down, and she felt like everyone was counting on her to flip it back around.
“I don’t know, baby. But I won’t let him hurt anyone else. Can you be my brave girl and stay with Mrs. Lorna?” Tana looked down at Sarah. Her girls had already been through so much; they shouldn’t have to experience any more pain. Sarah nodded back up at her and wiped the tears from her eyes with the back of her little hand.
