“Stop,” I cried as he bent down and grabbed hold of my ankle. He yanked until I landed on my back then dragged me across the floor as I kicked and screamed. “Let me go! Don’t touch me!” I fought as hard as I could as he came down to the ground, pinning my body with his weight.
“That’s right, beautiful. Keep fighting.”
I threw my head back and screamed at the top of my lungs as I clawed at him. He grabbed my wrists and pinned them to the ground with one hand so I bucked my hips and kicked my legs, trying to dislodge him, screaming and fighting with every single bit of strength I had as his other hand moved down between us to the waistband of my pants.
“Get off her!” I heard just before the chair Greg had been sitting in came down over his back, breaking into a million pieces.
“You cunt!” I wasn’t sure when Charlie had gotten up, or how she’d found the strength, but as Greg let out a shouted curse and turned on her, I rolled away. I managed to stumble to my feet in time to see him land a powerful backhand across her face, sending her flying across the room and crashing to the floor.
I lurched forward, tripping on my unsteady legs as he reached around to the back of his jeans. I caught a glint of something shiny just before he pulled a gun from his waistband at the small of his back.
I rushed forward, but it was too late. The bang of the gun going off was deafening. “No!” I screamed, throwing myself at Greg’s back.
He lost his balance and went down, losing purchase of the gun as his hands shot out to break his fall. Once we hit the ground, I shoved off of him as fast as I could, Army-crawling toward the weapon.
His fingers clamped around my ankle, pulling me back a foot, and I clawed at the dirty floor, kicking back with all my might. As soon as my foot connected with his face with a sickening crunch, he let out a bellow and released his hold just long enough for me to throw myself the remaining distance. There was no way I was dying here today. Not at the hands of this asshole. And I wasn’t going to let Charlie, either.
My fingers wrapped around the cold, steel handle of the gun at the same time he got hold of me and flipped me to my back. I didn’t hesitate to squeeze the trigger as he lunged. I fired over and over until the deafening boom turned into rapid clicks.
Shock filled his eyes and his body jerked unnaturally before he slowly fell to his knees. I rolled quickly when he started coming down, getting out of the way as he collapsed face first on the floor.
I braced on my hands and knees, sucking in ragged breaths as blood started to pool out from beneath him, slowly crawling across the dingy floor.
I wanted to burst into tears, but that wasn’t an option. Adrenaline carried me back across the room to where Charlie was.
“No, no, no, no, no,” I chanted as I pressed my hands over hers on her belly. She let out an agonizing cry as I increased the pressure. Fear radiated from my chest as blood seeped through our fingers.
“Hey, look at me,” I pleaded. That one good eye came to me, and I offered a wobbly smile. “You’re gonna be okay, all right? I’m gonna get you out of here.”
Her voice was small and thin as she asked, “You’re Hayden, aren’t you?”
“I am. And you’re Charlie. I need you to stay with me, okay?”
She pulled in a breath that rattled unnaturally in her chest. That wasn’t good. “He told me about you,” she said with a small, weak grin. “You and your little girl. Talked about you a lot.”
I let out a watery laugh as tears spilled from my eyes. “He told me about you too, sweetheart. So I know how tough you are. Stop talking and save your strength, okay? I’m gonna get us out of here. But I need you to hold on for me.”
As much as I didn’t want to leave her, I wasn’t going to get us out of there if I didn’t move. Scrambling back to Greg’s body, I felt around in his pockets and hit pay dirt when I heard the jingle of keys.
“I got it!” I cried when I yanked the keyring from the dead man’s pocket. “I have his keys, we’re gonna get you in the car, and I’m gonna drive us out of here. Deal?”
“You know, I really like you for him.” There was more rattling as she laughed, followed by a cough that made blood splatter past her lips. “You’re feisty.”
“That I am. I’m also determined. So what I need you to do is put your arms around my neck and try your best to hold on, okay? I’m getting us the fuck out of here.”
I was sitting in one of the hard waiting room chairs, curled into a tight, shaky ball. I rocked back and forth as I thought back to that drive. What had only taken ten or so minutes had felt like an eternity, especially when the rattling sound coming from Charlie’s chest had stopped.
Tears welling in my eyes and I gave my head a shake. I couldn’t let myself go there. I couldn’t. I kept repeating over and over that she was going to be okay. But I didn’t know that for sure, and it was killing me. Worry over a girl I didn’t even know, over a girl who’d saved my life, eclipsed everything else. I didn’t even feel the pain in my own body.
I sniffled and batted away the freshest stream of tears when I heard his voice.
“Where is she? Hayden!”
Shooting to my feet, I bolted for the door, slipping on the tile as I ran. I jerked to a stop just outside the waiting room doorway when I saw Micah barreling down the hall. Leo was at his back, as were a few other men I recognized from Sylvia’s cookout. There were also faces I hadn’t seen before.
His name came out as a garbled sob. He started running as soon as he spotted me. “Christ, baby. Jesus Christ,” he rasped as his hands skated all over my body. I couldn’t blame him for the reaction, after all, I was covered in blood. “Fuck, where are you hurt? We need to get a doctor in here.” He turned, prepared to shout the place down, when I finally managed to get the words out.
“It’s not mine,” I told him, my voice raw and thready. “It’s not mine, Micah.”
His eyes returned to me, and I gave him the hardest part, losing hold of my tears as I said, “It’s Charlie’s. She was there. He was—” I squeezed my eyes closed and gave my head a vicious shake. “She saved me. B-but h-he shot her.”
His voice came out in an agonized whisper that tore me apart as he asked, “What?”
“I took his keys and got her to the car and drove her here. S-she’s in surgery.”
“Jesus Christ,” he repeated, yanking me against him and holding so tight it was a struggle to breathe.
“Micah.” My whisper was almost impossible to hear. Burying my nose in his chest I inhaled his scent, letting it soothe me as I admitted, “I killed him.”
Then I broke down.
Micah
Between Dalton and Hayden both refusing to leave her bedside and demanding answers every time they came in, it was a wonder the whole nursing staff hadn’t quit.
Charlie had pulled through her surgery, but she wasn’t out of the woods. She’d been in ICU for two days before she started showing enough signs of improvement and they were confident enough to bring her out of the medically induced coma.
She’d been moved to a regular room just yesterday. She’d been in and out of it since then, only coming to for a minute before the medication kicked in and she passed out again.