Torn

by A. F. Crowell

  “Uh, yeah.” Looking over to Jaxon, I started chewing on my bottom lip and tearing up. Bob nodded for me to continue, I took a deep breath and launched into the worst part. I told him what he had said, then everything that happened in the bathroom up to the part where I passed out in the panic room.

  Jaxon looked as if someone had taken a knife and gutted him right there on our floor. When I mentioned Drill wanting his taste of me, I think Jaxon actually burst a blood vessel in his forehead. He got up and started pacing as I described in vivid detail what transpired after I grabbed for the scissors.

  “Enough. You got everything you need. She needs a doctor, Bob.” Jaxon put his foot down. “Anything else can wait ’til tomorrow. And call first.”

  “I think I got everything, but if you remember anything—”

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah… She’ll call ya. I’m takin’ her to the hospital now.” Jaxon shouldered past him and scooped me up.

  “I’m walking. You’re not carrying me down two flights of stairs. Just shot, remember? Put me down, just help me.”

  “Babe, I got you.”

  “No, Jaxon, I am walking. Now put me the hell down.” I was done with this shit. He was going to put me down or I was going to… Well, I don’t know what I would’ve done but it would’ve hurt. Luckily, it didn’t come to that because he put me down.

  “Whatever you want, babe.” He wrapped his arm behind my back and under the opposite underarm to support me. We walked out of our bedroom down to the second floor where Drew, Bobby, the SWAT guy barking orders earlier, and Carlos my favorite EMT had all congregated.

  “Wait, where’s Ruger?” I looked around for my shepherd.

  “It’s okay, he’s out back. He wouldn’t let anyone in, so Drew put him out back,” Bobby answered first.

  “He’s fine, Lei. I’ll take him with me tonight.” Drew came around and took the opposite side, helping me down the rest of the stairs. I was thankful we had a wide staircase.

  “Thanks, Drew.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Brody

  Monday night I was working on a contract for a piece of property in Mount Pleasant when my phone started to ring.

  “Hey, Drew, what’s wrong?” I noticed it was damn near eleven o’clock; something had to be up.

  “Leila’s in the hospital and she asked me to call you.”

  “She’s in labor?” I jumped up from the desk, slamming my knee into the middle drawer. “Son of a bitch.”

  “No, she was attacked in the house. She’s okay, she just wanted you to know that she’s here and everything is fine. Baby’s good too.” Drew’s voice was calm and reassuring.

  “I’m actually at the office, I’ll be there in ten minutes.” I hung up before I could hear him argue. I knew Drew wouldn’t lie to me, but I had to see her with my own eyes. She was the mother of my child and even though she had walked away from me, I still loved her. I wanted to be able to turn it off and stop the hurting, but unfortunately, love didn’t work like that.

  Driving to the hospital, I caught myself getting excited and worried to see her. Damn it. I punched the steering wheel, making it honk.

  Parking the car in the bullshit-parking garage was a nightmare as usual. When I finally arrived at the ER desk, I was directed to the back. Walking down the hall, I saw a group of men dressed in all black, so I took a wild guess that was probably her room.

  “Drew,” I called from behind the group. Drew came forward. “Where is she?”

  “Hey, B, she’s in there but they are getting ready to take her for an ultrasound.” Drew slapped my hand and pulled me in, patting me once on the back.

  “Did something happen to the baby? Is she okay?” My stomach leapt into my throat at the thought of something wrong with either of them.

  “Nah, they’re both fine. Lei got fourteen stitches in her face and a mild concussion, but should be all right. The baby’s good, they just want to be sure.” He walked past the other two guys standing beside the door. One I recognized as Bobby, Drew’s partner.

  “Hey, sis, Brody’s here.”

  “I told him to tell you that you didn’t need to come all the way down here. We’re totally fine, B, promise,” she said as she rubbed her tiny hand across her large belly. Seeing her hit me like a freight train. Her face was bruised, lacerated, and swollen. She had dried blood matting her beautiful hair. And as always, Jaxon was right beside her. Son of a bitch.

  “Jesus Christ, Lei, what in the hell happened?” I tried not to gasp at the sight. She looked like she had been to hell and back.

  “Oh, stop, it looks worse than it is. I’m fine.” Her shoulders slumped.

  “Man, what the fuck? You said you’d protect her. Where the fuck were you?” Turning to Jaxon, I let loose. Drew jumped between us.

  “I was in jail, you fuckin’ prick. You think I need you fuckin’ remindin’ me I didn’t protect her?” Jaxon jumped out of his chair, dropping Leila’s hand, leaving her scrambling to grab his arm.

  “Jail? Jesus, Leila, don’t you see the life you’re going to have with him? He’s going to be sitting in jail, while you’re assaulted.”

  “Stop, both of you,” she yelled. “I’m done with this, Jaxon, I’m telling him. I refuse to have him thinking of you as some lowlife piece of shit.”

  He shrugged out of her grip. “Fine, but I’m not fuckin’ sittin’ here listening. I’m gonna go see what’s takin’ so long with the ultrasound.”

  “I’ll give you two some privacy.” Drew ducked out.

  “Sit, let me explain. Jax isn’t some bad guy, Brody, and what I am about to tell you I’m telling you in the strictest of confidence.” She stopped and looked at me. I knew that she was waiting for me to agree to not say anything about whatever she was going to tell me.

  “Fine.”

  “Brody.” She sighed and slumped back in the gurney. “Jaxon is undercover in the motorcycle club for Homeland Security. He’s not a bad guy, so when he says he was in jail, it’s because they raided the compound where the club hangs out. They had to arrest him to keep his cover intact. The guy he’s after wasn’t there.” She looked down at her hands and started picking at what looked like red nail polish. “Anyway, he’s not this person you think he is.”

  It dawned on me that it’s not nail polish, it’s dried blood. Once she noticed it she scratched at her fingers, furiously trying to get rid of it. “Sorry, I thought I got it all off my hands and arms. They won’t let me shower yet and they cut all my clothes off me when I got here. Evidence or so they said.”

  Sitting down next to her on the bed, I pulled her into my arms. “I’m so sorry this happened to you, honey.”

  Sniffling, she pulled out of my embrace. “Thanks, B. I am too, but I’m thankful that this little girl is okay. God, I was so scared.”

  “What happened?” I asked hesitantly, almost not wanting to know. Just as she started to explain Jaxon and a nurse came into the room.

  “They are ready for you down in ultrasound,” the young male nurse said.

  “’Kay, I’m ready.” She smiled her perfect, sweet smile that lit up her whole face. Every time we got to see the little monkey growing inside of her, she beamed for hours.

  “I’ll follow you.” I nod as the nurse pulled the bed out into the hall. Knowing I should say something to Jaxon, I cleared my throat and prepared to be the bigger man. Even though I’d rather throw him off the top of the fucked-up parking garage across the street.

  “I owe you an apology for my comment earlier, obviously I wasn’t aware of the situation. I apologize.” Surprising myself and Jaxon, I sounded completely genuine. Then the unthinkable happened, I offered my hand in a show of sincerity. And as if the earth hadn’t tilted off its axis enough, he actually returned the gesture and shook my hand.

  I still fucking hated the guy. He damn near got Leila killed. I’d deal with that later, but right now I had to be the bigger man and suck it up for her sake.

  All hell would break loose any
second, I was sure of it.

  *****

  Leila

  I could hear Brody and Jaxon as the tech attempted to get the bed out the door through the men guarding my room.

  “Can you stop for a minute?” I asked the kid who looked like he was barely out of high school, let alone old enough to be working here at MUSC as a patient care technician. I turned just in time to see the two men in my life call a cease-fire and shake hands. In shock and disbelief I asked, “Hey, uhhh, I think I’m hallucinating. Are those two shaking hands?”

  Ken, the PCT, leaned forward looking around the bed to where the guts are standing. “Yep, they are. You’re not hallucinating, well, at least not that.”

  They both turned to follow and caught me gawking, mouth open and all.

  “What?” Jaxon asked first.

  “Uhh, nothing, just making sure y’all are still back there and no one is bleeding yet,” I said, wide-eyed, and I turned back around, putting my head down, looking up to the ceiling, and quietly thanking my mom. Surely she was watching down over me and knew I needed a break.

  We made our way to ultrasound and back without further incident. Our daughter was healthy, happy, and safe and measuring right about five pounds. The men were still behaving and the chest thumping had ceased.

  For now.

  The doctor decided to admit me for observation. Gah. I couldn’t get the fuck away from this place. Jaxon refused to leave and all but threw a tantrum when the nurses told him that once I was in a room he had to leave. Drew insisted on having a cop standing vigil outside my room.

  No one would tell me what was going on and it was beyond frustrating. I just wanted someone to be honest with me. If they thought that psycho Drill was going to come after me again, I had the right to know. Bobby came by for a little while when Drew and Jax went to deal with Gorden. It was nice to sit with Bobby and talk about something other than the unfortunate demise of my beautiful mirror. Plus he was always good for department gossip.

  Drew and Bobby got pulled away as their cells went off at the same time, leaving a hovering Jax alone with me.

  “Jaxon, I’ll be fine, why don’t you go home and get some sleep. Drew has that cop out there, I don’t think Drill’s stupid enough to try anything in here,” I attempted to reason with him. “Attempt” being the operative word.

  “Just go to sleep,” he ordered.

  “Fine,” I huffed as I rolled over to my side. My face hurt, but it reminded me I was alive and I thanked God for that. It could have been so much worse.

  That was the last thing I thought as I fell asleep.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Leila

  I woke to a rough hand covering my mouth, and I felt his hot breath on my ear. “If you make a sound I’ll wait for him to wake up then I will cut that bastard child out of you while he watches and can’t do a fuckin’ thing about it. He’ll get to watch all of the blood drain out of your lifeless body.”

  Opening my eyes, I realized I wasn’t in the hospital. I was lying in our bed at home. Jaxon was tied to one of our dining room table chairs in the middle of the master bedroom, his chin resting on his chest while his golden locks hung over his face.

  Leaning down, Drill’s stringy shoulder-length brown hair brushed my arm as he whispered, “I wanna make sure he has a front row seat. He’ll be awake soon enough, but you need to be good and ready first.”

  He smiled wickedly, giving me an eyeful of his yellowed, crooked teeth. Then without warning he grabbed my jaw tightly with the hand not occupied by a large serrated knife and dragged his pierced tongue up one side of my cheek. The putrid smell of his breath and the warm feeling of the saliva he left in his wake was enough to make me retch.

  Holding the knife in one hand, he grabbed the hem of his shirt and pulled it over his head, exposing his tattoo-covered chest. He was much thinner than Jaxon, but just as cut. Each nipple was pierced and his chest was dusted with dark hair. He sauntered around the room, waving the knife, and climbed into bed next to me.

  Terror ripped through every cell in my body and froze me in place. I kept staring at Jaxon, willing him to wake up and save me. How could he let this happen to me again? How did Drill get the drop on Jax?

  My mind swam with dread at the thought of what Drill had planned. With the tip of the nine-inch-long blade, he traced a line up my arm, around my left breast, down my stomach, and stopped with the point just above my pubic bone. As he trained it over my collarbone I could read the engraved word “Buck 184.” I could also see the 4x4 gauze bandage taped to his neck where I had sank the scissor to the joint.

  “Maybe now that we’re more comfortable we should wake up your fiancé the pig,” he said almost gleefully.

  “No, please. Please don’t do this. I’ll do anything you want,” I begged but did not let myself cry. He wouldn’t get a fucking tear from me. Fuck him. “I swear, I’ll even walk out of here with you and not make a sound. Just don’t do this.”

  My heart started to race as he threw his head back and laughed loudly. He climbed over me, straddling my legs, grabbed the hem of my gray v-neck shirt, slipped the blade between my skin and the thin material until he reached my breast. With a quick, flawless slash my shirt fell on either side of my chest, baring my lace-covered breast.

  “Even fuckin’ knocked up, your tits are fuckin’ perfect. Beggin’ to be sucked on.” His grease-stained hand gripped my right breast and squeezed it. He squeezed it so hard I swear if it weren’t real, it would have fucking popped.

  Closing my eyes, I tried to imagine myself in another place. A place where the sun was shining on my face, and I could hear waves in the background. I could feel the sand under my feet and taste the salt in the air. While I was trying to escape my pained reality I heard the chair legs start scraping on the hardwood floor. Jaxon must have woken up.

  Drill was hovering over me as I opened my eyes, he watched my reaction to Jaxon’s awareness of the situation. An evil grin spread across Drill’s face as my eyes widened in terror. It was what he wanted. He was getting off on Jaxon’s agony. The fact that Jax was helpless delighted Drill.

  Looking over, Jaxon’s furrowed eyes met mine and he tensed his jaw. Through clenched teeth he gritted out, “Drill, you motherfucker, get away from her or I swear to Christ—”

  Drill raised his left hand so the black Buck knife slipped under my chin and settled at my throat. “Or what? You’ll watch her die right in front of your very eyes? Or better yet, maybe you can watch her face as I fuck her tight little pussy?”

  I thought for sure that would have sent Jaxon over the edge and he would have tried to leap up from the chair, but I was wrong. Jaxon knew what I knew. Drill reveled in the terror and chaos he inflicted. If Jaxon lost his shit, he’d be playing right into Drill’s hand. Instead, he closed his eyes, just before he looked to me and said, “Leila, baby, I love you. So much. I’m so sorry.”

  A single tear escaped my eye and ran down my temple to the pillowcase. Drill leaned down so we were close enough I could feel his breath on my face. Quickly, I closed my eyes as tightly as I could, turned my head, and screamed, “Nooooo.”

  “Leila, baby, it’s okay. Wake up, Lei, you’re dreamin’, babe.” Jaxon’s voice was calm and smooth.

  My head shot up off the pillow as my gaze whipped around the room in disbelief. The hospital. I was in the hospital. Oh God, I wasn’t home. My chest heaved as I looked to Jaxon standing on my left. Relief didn’t cover what I felt. It had only been a dream, but it had felt so real. As real as last night’s horror show.

  “Jaxon,” I huffed out. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to freak you out.”

  “You all right? Nightmare?” He sat on the edge of the bed, running his hand up and down my arm as I settled back against the pillows.

  Nightmare didn’t even begin to cover what that just was. But I didn’t want him to know I was reliving Drill’s near abduction and torture.

  “Babe?” He stuck his head out, getting my attention.

>   Shaking my head to clear the thoughts of Drill, I answered, “Huh, oh, no, I’m fine. It wasn’t a nightmare. Well, I guess it depends on who you ask. It was a dream about the baby. I fell asleep and when I went to see her in the nursery you and Brody had named her Bernice Geraldine. It was on her birth certificate and all. I shit you not, y’all were calling her Bernie, like that crappy eighties movie Weekend at Bernie’s.” I even managed to smile and fake a laugh.

  “Really, babe?” He cocked his head and just looked at me. For a split second I thought he could see through my well-worn façade. “Two things wrong with that story.” Fuck, he knew I was lying straight to his face. “One, I fuckin’ hated the name Bernice Geraldine when you and Barb had that crackpot idea to fuck with me so why would I ever name her that? And two, the fact that Brody and I agreed on anything should’ve been clue number one it was in a land of make-believe.”

  Whew. Bought it hook, line, and sinker. Thank God. The last thing I needed right now was Jax blaming anything else on himself. He was already in hell with what had already happened. If I told him I was having nightmares about it and that the nightmares were worse, he’d definitely shit a baby goat or two. No, he didn’t need to know that in the depths of my soul I was terrified not only for the life of my daughter and myself, but that I was petrified that if Drill had gotten his way he would have raped me too.

  “How are ya feelin’ this mornin’?” Jaxon leaned forward and kissed my forehead. It took everything in my power not to pull away. He leaned in the same way Drill had right before I woke up.

  “Okay, head hurts, but better than last night,” I happily reported. Please God, don’t let him start in on eating right now. The nightmare had stirred up my nausea and food wouldn’t help that.

  “I’m gonna buzz the nurse. I made them leave you alone last night so you could sleep.”

  Gee, thanks for that buddy. I slept like a champ. Gah.

  “You didn’t have to do that. They probably needed to get vitals and stuff, Jax. They have a job to do,” I huffed in frustration. There was nothing worse than a pain in the ass patient or patient’s family member. It wasn’t as if you could tell them to stop being an asshole. No, HR frowned upon that.