by Walsh, Chloe
Voices were roaring in my ears. I could make out one voice. It was her.
She had come to save me.
She is always saving me.
“You crazy bitch,” Cam screamed and I swung my gaze up to see Cam slam Rachel’s head into the door.
Rachel’s head cracked against the heavy oak door and her body crumbled to the floor.
Cam rushed towards me. “Lee, hang on, I’m going to get help.”
I tried to grab her to warn her. But I couldn’t get up.
Everything was getting dark, I was going blind.
“Cam…” I spluttered, blood rising in my throat, spilling from my lips. “Get out of here. Run.”
She ignored my protests.
Pulling her phone from her pocket, she dialed and held it to her ear.
Her hands were shaking.
“I need an ambulance and the police, and a straitjacket. Thirteenth Street, University Hill. Hurry, my friend has been shot.”
She looked down at me and nodded her head. “Yeah, in the stomach, I think. Okay.”
Cam hung up and tugged off her jacket.
“Lee, I have to put pressure on the wound. I need to slow the bleeding,” she said, pressing her jacket to my stomach.
“You need to get out of here,” I coughed. “She could…Wake up.”
“Stop talking stupid,” she replied, holding me to her. “God, I’m so glad I forgot to pack my swim suit when I moved out. That’s what I came over for, me and Mike, we’re taking a trip…”
“Cam, I’m scared,” I confessed, struggling to get air, as Cam wrapped her arm around my shoulders.
“Am I dying?”
“You better not be,” she warned. “You have a beautiful baby, who is depending on you. Do you hear me? Focus on Hope, put her picture in your head and keep it there. Do NOT lose focus.”
I nodded, and pulled Hope’s face into focus.
I concentrated on her dark curls, her huge blue eyes, the cute dimples in her cheeks…
“Get up.”
Oh god, no…
Through bleary eyes, I watched as a very angry Rachel stood over us, aiming the gun once again.
“Get out of the way, Camryn. She has to die.”
I feebly tried to shove Cam away from me, but I was weak and growing weaker by the second.
“You don’t want to do this, Rachel,” Cam said quietly, shielding my body with hers.
“Cam, run…please, move,” I begged, pushing at her hand. “Do it, do it, or she’ll…kill us…both.”
Cam shook her head.
“And what kind of person would I be, if I did that? Who would I be, if I stepped aside and watched you die?” She shook her head again and kneeled up.
“Rachel, if you go now, if you run, you’ll have time. Think of your family, you’re twenty-two years old and you’re going to ruin your life…And for what, a man? Don’t be an idiot. The cops will be here any minute. You’re never going to get away with this.”
I watched in a cocktail of horror and relief, as Rachel grabbed Cam by the ponytail and dragged her away from my body.
“Do you think I care anymore?” She screamed. “I have nothing left to lose. She stole everything from me.”
I was grateful.
Cam would be okay.
She would live, and would be there for Hope and Kyle…Oh, god, I didn’t want to die.
I wanted to hold my baby in my arms again, and smell her soft skin, kiss her chubby cheeks.
And I wanted to see Kyle…
Oh, I wanted to look into those blue eyes right this instant, and feel the infallible safety and protection that poured from him into me.
But the knowledge that I was Rachel’s only intended victim, in a sick way, eased my mind.
I watched as Rachel shoved Cam, hard, causing her to hit the refrigerator.
Rachel turned to face me and I closed my eyes, unable to watch. I didn’t want to see her pull the trigger that would end my life.
“It didn’t have to come to this. If you had just left when I told you,” she growled. “Goodbye Delia.”
I heard Cam scream before Rachel pulled the trigger.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Kyle
Yellow plastic tape surrounded the building.
“Holy shit,” Derek cursed, rushing for the house.
I couldn’t speak; I was too busy pushing past paramedics and cops.
“Sir, you can’t go in there,” a police officer told me, holding his hand out in front of my chest. “This is an official crime scene, please step back.”
“Fuck you, this is my house. My girlfriend and baby are inside that house.”
I slammed against him, but two more officers came over to hold me back.
I listened as the officer spoke into his walkie-talkie. “The owner of the house claims there is an infant inside the building.” He paused as he listened to the person on the other side, then huffed loudly. “Move fast, leave nothing unturned.”
“What the hell is going on?” Derek demanded. “Will someone fucking tell us something?”
“Young man, step back and let us do our job,” the officer said, focusing on Derek.
I shrugged free.
“Step back?” I shouted, pushing the cop in the chest. “That’s our house. Goddammit, my family is inside that house and you’re not telling us shit. How the fuck, do you expect us to calm down and stand back?”
A hand grabbed my arm and tugged.
“Mr. Carter, can you tell us who may have a grudge on you and your family?” a female reporter asked, shoving a microphone in my face.
I pushed the microphone roughly away. “What are you talking about?” I demanded, pushing forward.
“Sir, if you don’t step back and let us do our job, we will restrain you,” another officer said, as he dragged me back.
“Fuck you,” I snarled shoving him out of my way.
My arms were jerked behind my back, and I was cuffed, and forced to my knees.
“Calm down, sir,” the officer said sympathetically.
I was just about to tell him to kiss my ass, when a thunderous noise erupted from inside the house.
My chest heaved as my brain registered the sound.
It could only come from one thing; a gun.
*****
Lee
The gun went off, and I collapsed...But I was still breathing, still conscious.
My ears were ringing from the sharp bellowing sound, and for a brief moment, I thought that surely someone would come.
Two loud gunshots on a busy street; someone was bound to have heard.
I thought I could hear people outside, but I wasn’t sure if it was wishful thinking...
The kitchen tiles were cool against my back.
Everything hurt, even my fingernails, but that was good.
It meant I could feel my body.
I was still in my body.
I tried to move, but there was weight, a suffocating heaviness on top of me, that hadn’t been there before.
Struggling to breathe, I opened my eyes and screamed.
Cam.
Cam’s bloodshot eyes were open, and staring lifelessly into mine.
The weight of her body on top of my chest was crushing my airways.
Fear escalated through me, as I managed to drag myself out from underneath her.
Laying Cam on her back, I hovered over her anxiously. Her body was still, she was too still.
“What did you do?” I cried, while running my bloody hands over her chest, her arms and her stomach. “What’s wrong with her? What did you do?” I screamed, as I checked her pulse.
I couldn’t feel anything; my hands were shaking so badly.
I couldn’t see anything wrong with her.
She looked fine. She must have passed out, that was it. The shock must have caused her to faint.
Cam is fine. She is okay. She isn’t bleeding.
My eyes roamed over her, and that’s when I noticed it; t
he steady flow of blood coming from the back of her head, staining her golden hair, pooling on the kitchen floor.
“NO.”
I covered her mouth with mine and tried to breathe air into her lifeless lungs, but…I could barely breathe, blood gurgled in my mouth.
“She shouldn’t have bothered to try and protect you.” Rachel laughed, and it was an, evil, toxic, bone-chilling sound. “You’re not worth saving. You’re not worth anything.”
I didn’t look up at Rachel.
I didn’t need to.
I already knew what was about to happen.
I curled my body over Cam’s and waited for the sound of a gunshot.
And when it came, everything went black.
*****
Kyle
There was silence, and then another shot went off. I stared wide eyed at Derek.
“Jesus Christ, somebody do something.” I roared as I struggled against my restraints and the officers’ who were holding me back.
Somewhere from behind me, I heard a voice shout, “They’re going in.”
I watched in slow motion, as the cops kicked in my front door, and at least a dozen armed officers’ rushed inside.
My phone sounded in my pants and Derek came and knelt beside me.
Sliding the phone out of my pocket, he put it to his ear. “Linda, its Derek Porter.”
He paused for a moment, and then sighed. “Oh, thank god.”
He turned to look at me. “Linda said our house is all over the news. She’s at the hotel, she has Hope. Lee dropped her off a couple of hours ago.”
I sagged in relief.
Thank god.
I had no fucking clue what was happening inside my house, but the fact that my daughter was safe with Linda, gave me hope that Lee wasn’t inside that house.
He turned his attention back to the front door, and his face paled.
Dropping the phone, Derek clasped his chest as he staggered backwards, landing on the ground next to me.
A silence fell over the crowd, and camera lights flashed wildly, as the front door opened.
Two officers marched out; their hands clamped around the arms of a woman in handcuffs, as several paramedics’ rushed past them to get into the house.
“Oh, god.”
I collapsed to the ground at the sight of Rachel.
Any hope I had of Lee not being inside in the house, diminished when Rachel caught my eye and smiled.
“I did this for us,” she mouthed. “I love you, Kyle.”
My worst fears were confirmed.
I knew, I knew this was bad.
I knelt, frozen on the ground, eyes locked on Rachel’s, as the officers’ bundled her into a police car and sped off.
Two male paramedics stepped out of the house next.
My eyes trailed down to the person lying on the trolley they were pushing, and my heart stopped, my entire body trembled.
My body buckled, but I forced myself to move.
“Lee,” I roared, trying to stand up, pushing past the fear of seeing her underneath that white sheet.
I needed to know it wasn’t her.
I had to check.
I fucking had to…
The officer clamped his hands on shoulders, forcing me down.
“Get the hell off me,” I shouted, struggling to break free and get to the ambulance.
Another gurney was pushed out the door and rushed quickly to the ambulance.
Five paramedics surrounded that one and I couldn’t see who it was.
“Please,” I begged. “My girlfriend…I think that’s my girlfriend.”
The officer seemed to waver for a moment, before nodding.
Helping me to my feet, he unlocked my handcuffs and walked with me as I staggered towards the ambulance. The officer explained to the paramedics who I was.
And then my entire world came crashing down on me, as I was faced with the hardest decision of my life
“They are both female’s, in their early twenties, which one, son?” the officer asked me, and I didn’t know.
Two ambulances, with two females… I didn’t know which one she was inside of, or who the other girl was.
I didn’t know, and apparently, neither did the paramedics.
“We have to go, sir,” the female paramedic said as she began to close the doors. “Are you coming in this one?”
I looked at one ambulance, and then the one next to it, willing my gut instinct to kick in.
Thankfully, Derek came to my side, taking the choice away from me.
“Kyle, I’ll go in this one, you go in the other,” he said, striding toward the paramedic.
I didn’t stop to think about it, I ran to the back of the other ambulance and climbed inside.
The engine of the ambulance roared to life, taking off, siring’s blaring.
“You need to sit down, and buckle up,” someone informed me, but I wasn’t listening.
My heart had stopped dead at the sight before me, and I couldn’t think past anything but the sight of the sheet covered body, lying on the stretcher in front of me.
Ignoring the paramedic’s protests, I stepped closer to the stretcher.
With trembling hands and a grief-stricken heart, I pulled the sheet back.
“No,” I whispered, as my eyes took in what my brain refused to register.
My body quavered and my legs gave out.
I crumbled to the floor as the cruel and torturous agony of grief washed over me.
*****
Kyle
As Derek and I sat silently, side by side, in the corridor of the hospital’s I.C.U unit, I was hit by the overpowering stench of hospital disinfectant.
I welcomed the smell, prayed it could somehow clear my airways of the smell of blood…Of death. I wished for it to clear my mind…
It couldn’t. It wouldn’t, and I deserved no less punishment.
This was my fault. I knew it was.
I may not have been the one to pull the trigger, but those bullets had been entrenched in their bodies because of my ignorance, because of my inability to protect them… This was all on me.
I was the one who’d brought Rachel into our lives. I was the one who chose to ignore the signs. I was to blame.
And now, all I was left with, was a deep seeded feeling of guilt, remorse and unbearable pain.
“How long have they been in there with her?” Derek asked, and I cringed.
“Forty five minutes,” I whispered.
Seven hours of surgery, and forty-five minutes of waiting, since they’d pushed her body through that door, and told us nothing.
Leaning forward, I rested my elbows on my knees and pressed my thumbs into my eyes.
I couldn’t look at Derek.
“Did you call her father?” I croaked out. “Did you…”
I stopped to catch my breath. “Did you tell him she’s dead?”
“I contacted both of them,” he said in a hoarse voice, and I felt his body shudder. “I called Linda, too, told her what happened…She said Hope is fine and she’ll keep her, for as long as you need her to.”
I exhaled heavily. “Thank you.”
“Why did she do it, Kyle?” Derek asked, his voice cracking as his emotions spilled out. “How the fuck could she do that to them?”
“I don’t know.”
“I want to know, I need to know, Kyle. I need to fucking know. She fucking butchered them. Look at me, will you?”
I lifted my head and looked into the tear-stained face of my best friend.
“I’m sorry.”
Derek shook his head. “Why are you sorry? This isn’t your fault, Kyle.”
The door of the hospital room swung open and we both stood quickly.
“Is she okay?” I demanded.
My legs shook with every step I took towards that door.
“There were complications,” the doctor said, gesturing for one of us to come in.
“Which one of you, is her next of kin?”
Derek nodded at me to go ahead, and I stepped forward.
“I am.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Kyle
I couldn’t remember the last time I blinked, let alone slept.
I knew it had to have been more than a few days since I slept, less than a week? I wasn’t sure.
Time meant nothing to me anymore.
There was a fear inside of me, a deep rooted, panic stricken fear, that if I closed my eyes for too long, she would disappear.
I kept my eyes focused on the machine next her bed that was monitoring her heart rate, and comforted myself with the knowledge, that in spite of the oxygen machine that was pumping air into her lungs, her heart was still beating.
My beautiful princess…
Lee’s pale, withdrawn face, her lifeless body, lay in a hospital bed, rigged up to more wires and machines than I’d ever seen.
And Cam…Oh, god, she was lying on a slab in the morgue, with a hole in the back of her head.
I had to sit here; I needed to be with Lee. There was no other place I could contemplate going.
I hadn’t eaten, I didn’t care.
I had no doubt that if Lee didn’t pull through this, then I would want to be with her.
I didn’t think I could live with the guilt, or live without her.
I wasn’t going to live without her. It was that simple.
“Mr. Carter, you should go home and get some rest,” one of the nurses said.
I didn’t know which one; my eyes were glued to that machine.
“I’m not leaving,” I said, or at least, I think I said it.
I didn’t know if I spoke the words or thought them.
She didn’t understand, none of them understood.
How they expected me to walk out of this room, and eat, sleep and live like the world was still turning, was beyond me.
Because my world wasn’t turning, my world was dying in that hospital bed.
How the fuck did they not understand that?
Tightening my hold on Lee’s lifeless hand, I turned my gaze on her.
“Baby, it’s me. I’m here, I haven’t left, and I’ll never leave you again.”
