Page 15 of Her Protector Daddies

I threw myself forward and collided with her attacker, sending us both crashing into the hospital bed. The attacker yelled out in surprise and I grunted, immediately grabbing the man’s arm and wrenching it backward. The resulting shock of pain caused the attacker to yell and the gun slipped from his hand. I quickly kicked the gun away from them but it made me vulnerable and unable to avoid the elbow that came crashing into my jaw.

The blow sent me backward into the wall with a grunt, but I pushed myself up and threw myself forward again. We collided with a cry, and I slammed my fist into the man’s face, then thrust my knee hard into his gut. As the attacker doubled over with a pained gasp, I drove my elbow down hard between the man’s shoulder blades, and he crumpled.

He didn’t stay down, though.

A solid fist collided with my gut and I hit the floor with a pained gasp, completely winded for a moment as all my muscles complained. This gave the attacker time to scramble to his feet. Selena cowered back against the wall, one hand covering her mouth and as the man advanced, I whipped my gun from my belt and aimed it.

“Don’t!” I yelled.

The attacker paused, glanced at me, and then made a desperate scramble for his own gun. My finger brushed the trigger but I didn’t fire – not a great move in a hospital. The attacker fled from the room as I scrambled to my feet and Tyler sprinted in a second later.

“Tyler, watch her!” I yelled. I ran past Tyler and skidded to a stop in the hall, scanning through the crowds. Spotting the man’s bald head, I sprinted after him with a cry.

“Stop! LAPD! Stop right there!”

The attacker didn’t listen and I groaned internally. Just once, it would be nice for those words to actually cause a criminal to give themselves up. Darting down the corridor, I had to dodge around staff and patients alike, made all the harder by the fact that my target was crashing into and shoving nearly every person he ran past.

“I’m sorry, so sorry!” I called as I leaped over a fallen patient and doctor, continuing the chase through the hospital floor. Around two corners, the attacker skidded to a stop near an elevator and from where I was, it looked like he was trying to get on but couldn’t due to a hospital gurney being lodged in the door.

“Hey!” I yelled, skidding to a stop next to a security guard. “Call 911, tell them there’s an active shooter in the hospital, and get this place on lockdown!”

Not stopping to hear the guard’s response, I pushed myself further and raced down the hallway just as the attacker threw himself into the stairwell. With sweat seeping into my clothes and a pounding heart, I charged through the same door two seconds later and immediately threw myself over the railing.

I landed on the attacker and we crumpled together, rolling down the rest of the stairs and landing in a heap at the bottom. Every limb and muscle in my body screamed in protest and I slowly shook his head.

“Ow,” I groaned.

The attacker was nimbler and on his feet in seconds. He slammed his boot into my chest, and I grunted as hot pain exploded through my body. Then the attacker turned and began running back up the stairs.

“Holy shit,” I gasped, hauling myself to my feet. “Why’s it gotta be upstairs?”

Taking the steps two at a time, I grabbed my radio.

“This is Detective Grant, in pursuit of the Armed Suspect at Hawthorn Memorial. The suspect is heading up the rear stairwell,” I gasped painfully and holstered my radio.

I fucking hate stairs.

I chased the attacker up countless flights of stairs until finally, we reached the roof. The man charged through the door and I, utterly exhausted, crashed through a few moments later. There was no time to take a breath however. As soon as I showed my face, the man opened fire and I threw myself behind a ventilation duct.

“Really?” I called out with a gasp. “You wanna do this after all those fucking stairs?!”

“Fuck you!” the man yelled, and a few more potshots landed in the gravel near my cover.

“Come on, man. You’ve got nowhere to go and I saw your gun. You don’t have many bullets left either.”

Another few shots thunked into the metal ventilation vent and I winced.

“You really want to go out like this?” I called out. “What’s so important about this girl anyway, huh?”

“Fuck you!” the man screamed. A pause in the gunfire gave me a window of time and I peered around the edge of my hiding spot. The suspect wasn’t too far away and I returned fire, having to duck when the suspect opened fire again quickly.

“It’s just me and you,” I called, slowly getting my breath back. “We can talk about this!”

The suspect opened fire, shooting continuously until the telltale click of an empty gun rang out in the night air.

“Bingo.” I stood, gun raised, and approached the suspect. The man’s face twisted in rage as he threw his gun away and his eyes darted about, clearly seeking an opening but I wasn’t giving him one. My gun was unwavering.

“Hands up,” I ordered. “You’re under arrest. What the fuck man, why’d you run up? Down is so much easier.”

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