Mended-Hearts

by Gordon, M. E.

  Natasha didn’t answer him but motioned her hand at T’s limp body. One of the men pulled out a knife. I screamed when he slashed it behind T. I thought he was going to finish him, kill him before our very eyes, but T’s arms fell to his sides with a lifeless thud. Natasha took a hand full of T’s hair and yanked his head back. T hissed in pain as his head was moved about like a child’s toy. She peered into his eyes and blew him a kiss. I watched in horror as he squeezed his eyes shut and tried to move his head from her grasp.

  “You know your friend squealed like a little girl,” Natasha said, shoving T’s head away from her. He slumped back over in the chair but I saw him glance up at Spencer and shoot him a curt nod before his face fell out of sight.

  “You’re one fucked up lady,” I called to Natasha.

  “Maybe--but he’s more fucked up that I am,” she said, pointing to Spencer. “Just ask him--oh, wait, he refuses to tell you anything. I guess I’ll have to.” Natasha stepped away from T and headed back in our direction with a determined look on her face.

  Before her pointy heels could click on the concrete floor anymore, T sat bolt upright. With blood still running down his face from all his cuts, he yelled, “Now!”

  In a rush, Spencer pushed me hard to the left before running at one of the men who were holding us hostage. I fell to the floor and watched in terror as T stood, grabbed the chair he was sitting on, and hit it over the head of the man standing next to him. A shot was fired, the bang echoed in the empty building. T had knocked it out of the man’s hand after a short struggle. I watched the gun slide across the floor as T beat the man who was holding it.

  A second shot was fired, and I turned, hoping that Spencer wasn’t in the line of it. He too had managed to get the gun away. I didn’t see how he did it, but there were no more shots fired. Spencer had the man by the shirt and was punching him in the face over and over. The man went limp, slipped through Spencer’s hands, and fell to the floor. It all had happened so fast, both T and Spencer were fine and standing over the men they had taken out. They were across the room from me now and the closest thing to me was Natasha.

  I scrambled to my feet, took in my surroundings, and saw that one of the guns had been tossed right at Natasha’s feet. I didn’t think she saw it until I glanced down. She did the same. Her brow rose and her lips curled as she knelt down ever so gracefully. She rose back up, gun in her hand, gleam in her eye, and a smile on her face. She immediately pointed it at Spencer.

  Spencer held his hands up and began to take a step in my direction, but he had to step over the unconscious body in front of him.

  “Don’t move!” Natasha threatened.

  Spencer froze and placed his lifted foot back on the ground. T placed a hand on his shoulder and the two friends exchanged looks, before T’s legs gave out. Spencer tried to catch his friend, he tried to hold him up, but it was clear that T was in bad shape and any adrenaline he’d had in the fighting had gone. He fell to his knees before falling over next to the man he’d disarmed.

  “T!” Spencer called as he fell to his knees with his friend. T’s eyes rolled to the back of his head and he passed out like the men around him. I could see the steam coming off of Spencer’s body. It was cold in the room and the heat that Spencer was putting off was escaping all around him. He laid his friend’s head down carefully before standing back up.

  His eyes bore a hole into Natasha, but she didn’t flinch. Me, I would have been scared shitless. “What the hell do you want with me, woman?” he roared.

  Natasha stood holding the gun at Spencer. “You killed him, you son of a bitch! And now I’m going to finish you the same way.”

  He went to take a step and I yelled out, “Spencer, please. Don’t move, she’s crazy.”

  Angry, scared tears made my vision blurry. Turning to me, Spencer nodded and kept still, but it only made me more nervous. I was terrified about what he was going to do. The look in his eyes told me he was sorry, sorry for bringing me into all of this, sorry for hurting me.

  I watched as he turned back to Natasha and began to walk closer to the loaded gun.

  “Stop!” I yelled, but he wasn’t listening to me anymore.

  “Take one more step, Salvatore, and I will end this right now,” Natasha threatened.

  I felt myself begin to fall. I was slipping. I lost feeling in my legs as they turned to rubber and I expected to hit the concrete floor. I never hit it, though. Something held me up right before I landed.

  “Elizabeth, you have to pull it together. We’re all going to get through this, trust me, okay.” Nick’s comforting voice sounded in my ear, like a beacon calling me back.

  Steadying my feet, I turned to him. “Nick! W--What are you--” My plea was cut short by a cackling laugh.

  “How typical, Nicky boy to the rescue. Don’t you get it, you fool? She’d rather be with an abusive, raging killer than with you. If you ask me, they deserve each other.” Natasha’s evil voice echoed within the empty building. “Don’t move!” she yelled at Spencer when he tried to advance. She shot a warning shot just to the left of him. He kept still and held his hands up higher. “Next time, I won’t miss,” she threatened.

  “Natasha, please stop this. You don’t want to do this,” Spencer said calmly, changing his tactics.

  “The hell I don’t.” she snapped back.

  “He’s your family, isn’t he?” Nick said from beside me.

  My head whipped around as this new information swirled in my ears, and, from the look of it, Spencer’s as well.

  “What are you talking about? She is not my family. I’ve never met her in my life.” Spencer’s jaw tightened. I could do nothing but look between the two men I cared for and the woman who was hell bent on destroying everything I loved.

  “So you figured it all out? And now you know that this excuse for a man, this pathetic boy killed my brother, his own father! He deserves exactly the same fate.”

  Spencer turned back, glaring at Natasha. “Your brother?” he repeated.

  “Yes, you sick fuck. Your father was my twin brother, and you put a bullet between his eyes. So now I’m going to do the same to you--or--maybe I should just let you see what it feels like to lose your other half.”

  I heard the cock of the gun and watched as Natasha turned it on me. My eyes moved to Spencer’s. Worry replaced anger as he stared back at me. Too far away from me to do anything about it, he stood there as helpless as I was.

  I glanced back at Natasha. Her eyes were wild with rage and revenge. She gripped the gun tighter and took two steps as she pointed it straight at me.

  I stood frozen in front of the gun. Spencer was across the room, and Nick was by my side as Natasha fired the silver gun. She barely moved from the kick back when it fired. She was strong and had clearly fired a gun before.

  The shot rang loudly in my ears. I prepared myself for the blow of the bullet. Drawing in a deep breath, I closed my eyes and came to the realization that this was it. I was going to die. It was like a nightmare I had once. I was being chased down an alley and had finally gotten caught at a dead end. I knew it was coming, the force of the bullet leaving the gun, the power of it pushing me back, making my body concave around it. The way it stung as it ripped through the different layers of skin, muscle, and bones. The agonizing burn that soon began to fade as I slowly woke up clutching at my chest, which was pounding a mile a minute. But then I realized that it was all a dream, and I was safe in bed.

  It was like that but a million times worse. My eyes flew open at the raging hot sensation that rippled through my arm. First thought that went through my mind as I looked down at my bleeding arm was that she missed. There was a pressure that squeezed just below where the bullet had entered my flesh. I could feel the hot blood running down my arm the moment the pressure was gone. I glanced down and saw that it was a hand that was once wrapped tightly around my arm.

  When I glanced up, I was staring into Nick’s warm brown eyes. We both watched as he adjusted his hol
d on me. He placed his hand tightly over my wound to help stop the bleeding. When our eyes met again, he smiled at me before grazing my cheek with the back of his knuckles. The serene look on his face comforted me. Maybe we were going to get through this. Natasha had missed and only got my arm, which throbbed beneath his tight grip.

  In some strange way, I knew there was more going on behind me. I could hear the shuffle of feet and muffled voices yelling, the flash of blue and red lights. We were going to be fine, all of us.

  A simple cough brought all that hope to a halt. Dark red blood spilled out of Nick’s mouth.

  “Nick--Nick!”

  I pressed my good hand over his chest before moving it to his face so I could get him to look at me, but his eye’s drifted closed. I tapped his face then placed my hand back over his chest. Heat radiated from it and spilled onto my hand. Blood seeped between my fingers and down the back of my hand. Blood was pouring from his chest and flowing down my forearm. I looked back up at him.

  His eyes were open. “Belle, I--I--”

  Cupping his face, I shook my head. “Shhh, Nick, don’t talk. It’s going to be fine. You’re going to be fine.” I was saying that more for my benefit than his.

  A chilling cough came from the depths of his chest, as more blood escaped his mouth. The color was draining fast from his face, and soon his legs gave way.

  Chapter 35

  Nickolas

  I’d made it, was my first thought when I saw Elizabeth, Natasha, and Spencer standing in the huge abandoned room. Three men were on the floor, and Natasha had a gun pointed at Spencer. I’d called the cops as I made my way over to the abandoned building, knowing that Natasha was going to hurt someone, if not everyone in her path. I’d snuck in without anyone seeing me and stood beside Elizabeth. I held her up and told her we were going to get through this, all of us.

  I still didn’t know what was going on and why Natasha was ready to blow Spencer’s head off, but I had to assume that the name on the file at the hospital and the name on the file in Natasha’s desk, had to have a connection. They were related, family. Hell, maybe they were the same person. I was right of course. When I called out to her and said that Spencer was her family, she let it all come flowing out.

  When Natasha turned the gun from Spencer to Elizabeth, my heart sank. I saw the crazy in her eyes, and I knew she would do it, if only to get back at Spencer for killing her brother. I turned my back to Natasha and tried to cover Elizabeth as best I could, but I wasn’t fast enough. She’d gotten both of us but only got Elizabeth’s arm.

  I sank to the ground with a thud. Elizabeth went with me and held my head in her lap. She stroked my face as hot tears slipped down her cheeks. She was beautiful--even crying, she was beautiful. Reaching up with what strength I had left, I covered her hand and stilled it on my face. “I still love you. You know I never stopped, right?” I asked. Tears ran down her face when she nodded, I sighed. “Maybe--maybe in another life.”

  I wasn’t sure if she heard me. It was so hard to get the words out. My chest burned with every word, but I had to let her know.

  “Nick, stop it, just--you’re going to be fine, okay? You’re going to be just fine.”

  Good, she heard me. I still had more to tell her. I coughed again and dug down deep for the strength to continue. “I’d choose you every time--even knowing it would come to this--I’d still choose you. I’d do it all over--as long as--as long as I knew you were happy.”

  I couldn’t take my eyes from her face as I gasped for the air that just wouldn’t fill my lungs anymore.

  “Stop! Stop it, Nick, don’t talk like this. You’re not dying! Not yet, not until you’re old and gray,” she said sternly.

  I knew she didn’t mean to be harsh--but it was comforting to hear her stubbornness, even as I lay there with the taste of copper on my lips and a searing pain in my chest.

  I smiled up at her. “I’ll--I’ll see you soon.”

  Peacefulness began to wash over me, I felt warm and comfortable. Suddenly the pain was nothing. It had vanished and all I could feel was calm.

  Chapter 36

  Elizabeth

  “No! Nick, don’t close your eyes, stay awake--please, don’t go to sleep, don’t die.”

  I shook his shoulders back and forth, giving up when his body went eerily still beneath my touch. His eyes were still open, but nothing was behind them. They weren’t warm anymore, they were cold. He was gone. The pain in my arm was gone, with all the adrenaline that was coursing through my veins. I folded my body over his and tried to hold him tighter.

  Sensing the presence of someone next to me, I pulled myself off of Nick’s motionless body. Through my tears, I saw Spencer hovering over us. Kneeling down, he looked over Nick’s body. I watched as his hand covered Nick’s eyes. I stared at him, before glancing around at my surroundings. Police were everywhere. Lights were flashing but there was no sign of Natasha.

  “Where is she?” I asked urgently.

  “She’s gone, the police fired on her. She’s dead, Elizabeth.”

  I didn’t know whether to be relieved or pissed. I wanted to be the one to kill her. There was no doubt in my mind, I was going to kill her after what she had done to all of us.

  “She tried to kill me, Spencer.” As everything rushed around in my head, the pain in my arm began to come back. I held on to it, putting pressure where I felt the blood trickling down my arm.

  “I know, baby, but she didn’t. You’re going to be fine. Nick saved you.”

  Nick saved me. My eyes flashed down to his bloodied body lying across my lap. A fresh wave of tears came to my eyes. Nick had taken a bullet for me, and there was nothing I could do for him now. There was no way for me to repay him for saving my life.

  “Excuse me, miss, were going to need you to step back. The medic would like to take a look at your arm, if that’s okay.”

  Turning to the voice behind me, I nodded up as two more men moved Nick from my lap. I sat on a stretcher, only a few steps from where he lay on the ground. One of the men checked my vitals while the other checked my arm. I didn’t dare take my eyes off of Nick as the men worked on my arm.

  Suddenly something became clear to me as I took in the scene. No one was helping Nick. They just left him there on the cold, concrete floor. I stood up from the stretcher and tried to break away from the two men. “What about Nick? Why isn’t anyone helping Nick?” I called out in hysterics.

  The men fought against me as I tried to get to Nick. But they were stronger and I was placed back on the stretcher and strapped down. The monitors they put on me were making an awful racket as I struggled to get back to Nick.

  “Elizabeth, he’s gone. There’s nothing they can do,” Spencer said as he did his best to hold me and keep me calm. When I was properly strapped down on the stretcher, the two men left me and made their way over to Nick. Then I watched as they covered him with a sheet and left him there on the ground.

  “Don’t leave him there alone,” I shouted. I fought against the restraints on the stretcher, I kicked my feet and thrashed my arms best I could. A nearby EMT and Spencer had to hold the stretcher so that it wouldn’t topple over. “You can’t just leave him there. He’s all alone. I’ll stay with him--let me just go over there with him.” I begged, changing my approach. “Please just let me stay with him until...until...” Until what, Beth? He’s not coming back. I was so mad at myself for letting this happen. I reached out for Spencer’s arm, gripping it tightly, I made him listen to me. “Please, Spencer, can you stay with him?”

  “Elizabeth, please try to calm down. I’ll stay with him, but you need to get your arm looked at. I need you to be strong and let them fix you up. Please, lie down and let them look at you. I’ll stay with Nick.”

  A wave of relief rushed through me as I fell back on the stretcher. I kept a tight hold on his arm, but pain shot through my own. It spread toward my shoulder as I released my grip on Spencer. The medics came back over and put something into the IV they had p
laced in my arm. My head swirled and I saw spots all around me.

  “I’m going to lie the stretcher all the way down,” the man over top of me said. “You’ve lost a lot of blood, and you’re getting lightheaded. The bullet didn’t go all the way through so we need you to lay still. You’re going to have to have surgery.”

  The last thing I remembered seeing was Spencer kneeling over Nick’s body, his hands in a praying position as his head rested on them.

  Chapter 37

  Elizabeth

  Had Spencer really killed his father? That was what Natasha was accusing him of.

  When I awoke in the hospital, the room was dark. My brothers sat close by, and, even though I couldn’t see her, I could smell Gran’s perfume. Gia was huddled close to Charles, their hands intertwined with one another’s. Teddy was on his phone, no doubt making plans to get me home where they could coddle me to death. The only person missing was Spencer.

  Shifting as quietly as I could to adjust my body in the strange bed, I glanced down at my bandaged arm. Shit--not quiet enough.

  Everyone in the room turned to look over at me.

  “Beth, you’re awake, are you in any pain?” Teddy asked, rushing over to my bedside.

  “I’m fine, just really sore,” I said to ease the concern on my brother’s face.

  “I’ll go get a nurse. I’m sure they’re going to want to know you’re awake.”

  I nodded at him, as he leaned over and kissed my forehead. Once he was out of the door, I turned to Charles and Gia who had gotten up from their seats to be by my side.

  Charles took my good hand in his, rubbing the back of it softly. When I looked up at my brother, he smiled back and gave me a wink. But as I stared at him, his smile faded because he had to have known what I was going to ask. “Where is he, Charles? Where’s Spencer?”