He killed my mother.
And somehow my mind buried it so deep that I forgot.
Trauma… self-preservation.
Whatever the fuck the reason was, I don’t have the luxury of dwelling on it now.
Not when my Piper is bleeding on the floor.
I descend on him, landing punch after punch before my hands close around his throat, and for a sickening moment I realise I’m doing exactly what he did to my mother all those years ago.
He claws at my arms and fights for air, but he’s no match for me.
Not anymore, and not ever again.
Eventually, his body goes slack and unconsciousness claims him.
I release him and rise to my feet, breathing hard.
A quick death would be a mercy, and mercy is the last thing he deserves.
If I allow myself to think about all the years I spent treating him like a father, respecting him, trusting him, I won’t stop until he’s dead.
But my reckoning with him can wait.
Piper can’t.
So I close the distance between us, kneel beside her and lift her carefully into my arms.
So fucking carefully.
As I carry her towards the car, I keep bringing my ear to her mouth, needing to hear that she’s still breathing.
The reality of what happened keeps slamming into me.
I left her alone with a monster.
And she suffered for it.
I promised that whoever was hurting her would never touch her again.
I failed.
I failed so badly that not only did he touch her again, she’s now fighting for her life.
Every promise I made to protect her means fuck all when she ends up bleeding in my arms.
By the time I reach the car, my jaw hurts from how hard I’m clenching it.
I lower her onto the passenger seat as gently as I can, recline it and fasten her seatbelt before checking her pulse once more.
The moment I feel it beneath my fingers, I close the door, round the car and get behind the wheel.
I slam my foot onto the accelerator and ignore every speed limit, road sign and traffic law in existence.
The fucking hospital feels as though it’s on the other side of the world.
I keep looking towards her, and with every passing minute her breathing seems shallower, more uneven.
