Page 76 of Coming Home to You
“Fucking hell,” I say, my voice hoarse and rough as I try to sit up.
“Shhh, baby,” she says, gently pushing me back onto the bed.“I’m okay.”
I shake my head at her, my eyes unexpectedly filling with tears as memories of what I saw when we stormed the farmhouse, flash through my head.The second I heard her scream, I’d legged it to the front door, my shoulder slamming into it with enough force to open it and knock the wind out of me at the same time.
I’d had to stop for a breath, and as the door hit the wall, I heard a second scream.It was enough to have me raise my gun and go running into the house.The front rooms had turned up empty, the sound of a running shower, drawing me to the back of the house.I looked in a bedroom that had a single bed, the imprint of a body that once slept in it, left behind.
“Fuck Kels, where are you?”I’d said, just as another scream rang out, followed by a loud thump and a frustrated, “Fuck!”
I’d immediately left the room, turning and walking down the hall in the opposite direction to what appeared to be the master bedroom.When I’d stepped into the doorway however, I felt like everything came crashing down around me.
Lying on the ground was a half dressed Kelsey, her pants around her ankles, as a naked Jason hovered over her, holding her down as he tried to rape her.I thought I was going to throw up, but when Kelsey turned and saw me, all of the pain and fear on her face strengthened my resolve.In that second, I knew I wasn’t going to throw up, I was going to kill this motherfucker.
Lifting my gun so it was aimed straight at his head, I’d called out, “Get the fuck off my girl,” just as Jason had turned to me.
It was then that I noticed the gun in his hand, the gun that was now pointing directly at my chest.I wasn’t wearing a vest; Gloucester and Rockport police not issuing vests because they didn’t fit the mandate for small towns.
I’d had guns pulled on me before, but never like this.I’d forced myself to lock onto his eyes, swallowing down my nerves as I readied myself to pull the trigger.The only thought running through my brain was,you are not taking her away from me.
I heard the noise before I felt the pain, the shock not setting in until I found myself falling on my ass, my gun still leveled on Jason.Without thinking anymore, I pulled the trigger, once, twice, three times, smiling as each round landed solidly in his chest.
Then I’d blacked out, only coming to when I must have been in the ambulance.I’d had no idea where Kelsey was, or what had happened to her.I’d seen the bullets hit Jason, watched as his body had collapsed, but had I killed him?And had he had a chance to hurt her first?
Now, looking at her face, I was certain he had.
“Beck, Beck are you okay?”she asks, her voice worried as she brings me back to the present.“Do you want me to get the nurse?”
I shake my head, tears falling down my face as I implore her to come closer.She must understand, because the next thing I know, Kelsey has wrapped her arms around me and her face buried in my neck as she starts to cry.
“Oh god, I thought I’d lost you, Beck,” she says.“I thought I wasn’t ever going to see you again and then you showed up and saved me, but he shot you and fuck, I thought I’d lost you all over again.”
Her words are all said in a rush, caught up on her sobs as she cries into my shoulder.I force my arms to move and wrap around her as I hold her against me.
Eventually she stops crying, her body no longer shaking as she lifts herself off me.Sitting back to look at me, I watch as her hands brush away the tears.
“You…” I try, my voice still hoarse.“You…”
“Here,” she says, handing me a cup.“Drink this first.”
I take it and drink the water in one go.Handing it back to her, I push my body off the bed, wincing as a sharp pain shoots through my right shoulder.Kelsey leans over me and adjusts the bed using a button on the side and I smile as it starts to rise behind me.
“Thank you,” I say, my voice finally strong enough to talk.
“Thank you, Beck,” she says, grabbing my hand in both of hers and lifting it to her mouth for a kiss.“Thank you for saving me.”
My stomach lurches again as I think about what happened.“I’m so sorry, baby,” I say, my voice catching on the words.“I’m so sorry I let this happen to you.”
“What?!No, no, you didn’t do anything, Beck.You saved me, you rescued me from him.”
I frown up at her, freeing one of my hands as I gently stroke her unbruised cheek.“I let him take you,” I whisper.“I wasn’t there to protect you, like I promised and he…” I have to stop and swallow hard before I can continue.“Look what he did to you, baby.What he was doing to you when I walked in.”
“Beck,” Kelsey says, her voice firm as she looks me right in the eye.“This isn’t your fault, okay?None of what happened is your fault.You can’t be held responsible for Jason’s actions, the guy was a straight up psychopath.”
I’m shaking my head before she’s even finished.“But if I hadn’t gone back to Boston,” I say.“Hell, if I’d never moved to Boston in the first place, none of this would have happened.”
“No, Beck, I don’t want you thinking that,” she says, her hand reaching out and cupping my cheek now.“We have no idea what could or would have happened, okay?And there’s nothing we can do to change it now.Just know that I am forever grateful for what you did for me today.For not giving up the search and for being such a protective, macho ass,” she says, smiling as she teases me and tries to lighten the mood.
But I can’t smile back at her; I’m still too heartbroken over what happened.
