Page 98 of Tear Me Down
Hugo groans in pain from the floor, and as I tear my gaze to him, I watch as he grasps the new bullet wound on his shoulder. Blood spills between his fingers, but the scared look in his eyes only grows the moment my men storm the room. Pattered footsteps flood the area and surround us, detaining Hugo with surprising speed. I snap my head around to look up at the opposite side of the warehouse, seeing Zeke lower a sniper rifle through one of the small, now cracked, office windows.
“Damien…” Her angelic voice makes its way through the darkness, bringing me back to her. I begin to untie her, frantically pulling and unlooping the ropes that sear her arms.
“I got you baby. I got you, just stay with me. Okay? Just stay with me. I'm taking you home,” I choke through sobs, the dam on my control finally shattering.
“I'm so tired…” She sobs dejectedly, and my chest aches.
“I know baby girl, but you got to stay with me.” I finally tear the last knot apart and she falls, sucking in a deep painful gasp as I catch her. “I know… I know, I know it hurts, baby. Fuck, just hold on...” I lift her into my arms, just to feel her body go limp. Her head is hangs back lazily, and her sweaty, blood-crusted hair drapes over my arm—swaying like dead weight with our movements. While one arm lays over her stomach, the other is dangling by her side. “Ashia...?” I plead for her to respond, but she doesn’t, and that kicks me into gear.
Zeke runs across the walkway and meets us just as we turn to the stairs. My legs threaten to fail with every step, and even though she’s as light as ever, my muscles scream out in pain. The body that’s held strong for fifteen hours is starting to break down, and I fight with every ounce of resolve I have left to get her the hell out here.
As we run through the main doors, the emergence from the dark space and into a flash of natural light is almost divine, so bright that it’s hard to make sense out of anything. Suddenly my surroundings are hazy, and there’s two of everything, flooding the space in holograms and ghosts. The screams and yells around me appear echoed, even though the voices I recognize as Serena and Danielle move closer, when they sound further away.
They’re pushing a stretcher in front to greet us as Carter and Zander follow behind with guns drawn, cautious of other enemies. The moment I lay her on the bed, I buckle, falling to the ground and barely catching myself on the pavement. This fear, this desperation, is crippling, and even as my body fails me, I pull myself forward, crawling across the blistering asphalt to keep up with her.
Carter runs to me, and helps Zeke lift me up, one under each arm. My body tenses and burns, screaming along with me as we push forward. The whole time I can't take my eyes off of her, and as Zander and my dad load her onto the makeshift ambulance, I practically throw myself inside, ensuring that I don’t lose sight of her for even a moment. Danielle yanks me over and tries to force me down, but I grip the edge of the bench and pull myself back up.
Zander jumps out of the ambulance, and I meet Zeke’s horrified, wide-eyed stare. He’s locked onto Ashia’s lifeless body, and as much as I can tell it pains him, he slams the door shut and steps back, staring blankly at us as we drive away.
“D, you need to lie down,” Dani demands as she pushes me back by my shoulders. I try to press back, determined to have some fucking answers, but the space around me turns, making me unsteady.
“Is she alive?” I choke out.
“She’s alive,” Serena confirms as she packs gauze into the wounds on her shoulder.
“What are we looking at?” I feel my eyes starting to get heavy…
I can’t fucking do this yet… Stay awake, you pathetic piece of shit…
“Three stab wounds, two to the left shoulder, and one to the right. There’s at least thirty lacerations total, and she’s lost a lot of blood, but some were shallow enough to stop on their own. Plus… the other obvious injury, but I’m not going to assess that here,” she spits through tears, but continues working, moving her hands expertly across Ashia’s body.
“What about the baby?” I ask desperately, fighting through the fog and Danielle’s attempts to subdue me as I grab Ashia’s hand. As I turn too much, I fall off the bench, landing on my knees again and gripping the side of the stretcher for support.
“D, you’re shot and have a stab wound to your stomach. Lay the fuck down! Please!” Danielle screams at me, but I shake my head and lean over the bed, gluing my forehead to hers and raking the dried hair away from her face.
“I don’t know yet, Damien,” Serena admits. “They may have to check at the hospital. There’s a lot to take into consideration, and we don’t know how far along she is. This portable ultrasound may not pick anything up, and I don’t want to scare you. There’s a lot of blood coming from everywhere, I just can’t tell anything yet.” I grip her hand tighter, feeling myself slipping away, but not willing to let go. I have to know that she’s going to be okay. I have to know how to serve her best when we wake back up. The next time I hold her hand will it be in grief and loss, or hope?
“Serena, please…” I look up at her and plead, barely recognizing her through my vision, blurred with tears. She hesitates, battling with herself on whether or not to hold out until I collapse or give in to my needs. She mutters the words ‘fuck it’ under her breath and reaches up into one of the cabinets before pulling down a small, thick-looking tablet with an attached, corded wand. She turns the device on and shoves it outward towards Danielle.
“Hold this,” she demands. Dani takes it and holds it facing Serena and I, so we both can see. She moves the wand around her lower stomach for a moment, desperately looking for our child, and then the image pops up, stealing my breath. “Okay, I see it. From what I can tell, she’s about seven or eight weeks. I don’t think this machine has sound but let me see if it can pick up its heartbeat.”
Serena concentrates on the screen, leaning over Ashia cautiously to get a closer look. I can’t fucking breathe… The entire world comes to a stop as I wait for an answer and fixate on the screen, praying for some type of movement or sign that it’s alive. She huffs a sob of relief and points to the screen, immediately making my heart race.
“Okay, look. It won’t pick up the sound, but look.” She points to the bigger of two blobs, the one that actually looks like it has a head. “This area here in the middle is the baby’s chest. You see that little flutter in the center there?” I nod at her. “That’s its heart beating. It’s okay, for now.” I suck in a desperate breath, feeling woozy as the relief floods my lungs… “They’ll be able to see more at…”
Anything that follows that falls on deaf ears as my resolve finally crumbles, and I collapse onto the ambulance floor.
Chapter thirty-seven
Ashia
A faint beep awakens me, and while I've come to recognize it as a heart monitor, it sounds far away. Like for a change it isn't mine. I open my eyes as best as I can, and am greeted by gentle white walls. At least some light filters in through the large windows, and I can tell it's either early morning or late evening. That horrid room is now nothing but a not-so-distant memory, a nightmare I've only just awoken from, but at least the immediate image of a different surrounding was the first thing I saw.
I clear my dry throat before I look down at my arms, not missing the way my head throbs or how my body aches. The first thing I instantly notice is the bandages that poke through my hospital gown. Flashes from my experience play through my mind, and I don't have to look under the fabric to know what was done to me. Every slice and slash, every harsh grip and slap comes to the forefront of my mind, and I have no trouble recalling the horrors of the past several hours.
Two IVs are taped to my skin, one on each arm, and what appears to be blood and antibiotics are coursing through the lines. Three rings of bruises are etched into each arm from the ropes…
“Hey, you're awake,” Serena whispers to me, drawing my attention away as she grabs my hand.
