Getting out of the SUV and hearing Sadie’s scream traveling from a quarter-mile away took ten years off my life.
But when the screaming stopped, I died a thousand painful deaths.
Sprinting the last three hundred yards was the most excruciating forty seconds of my life.
And as it would turn out, the fifteen extra seconds it took to kick down the door and enter the house would be fifteen seconds Sadie didn’t have.
I hit the bedroom, saw Sam straddling Sadie, and saw red. Accompanying that sight was one of Sadie not screaming or kicking her legs. My vision hazed over.
Humanity left my soul as I yanked Sam off Sadie. The thud of him hitting the wall did not satisfy me. The blood that flew from his nose and mouth each time my fist connected with his face did not slake my thirst.
My ears roared with indecent and ruthless intent.
The only thing that penetrated my savagery was Davis calling out, “No pulse.”
Instead of allowing those crippling words to take me to my knees, I continued to pummel Sam’s face and torso. Every punch landed with accuracy and precision. I didn’t want to knock this motherfucker out, I wanted him awake and in pain. I wanted him conscious while I broke his bones and smashed his organs. I wanted his breath and his blood and his suffering.
I heard voices shouting in the background. I felt my team moving around me. I smelled the coppery tang of blood.
But I didn’t feel Sadie’s presence.
I couldn’t feel her heart beating.
I couldn’t feel her love.
I was numb.
I felt someone jump on my back and just as I was dipping my shoulder, I heard Rhode.
“Enough!”
I hesitated and that was all Rhode needed to take me down.
“Enough, goddammit!” he shouted and rolled to the side, leaving me on my back staring up at the ceiling.
The fog began to lift and the agonizing noises of someone administering CPR filled the room. I looked in the direction of the sound and saw Davis performing mouth-to-mouth on Sadie as she lay on the floor. He pulled away and started chest compressions.
I had nothing to give. I was close enough I reached out and grabbed her hand.
Mine cut and bloody.
Hers limp.
Feeling that, I rolled to my side, got onto my knees, and scooted as close as I could without getting in Davis’s way.
Rhode stood at Sadie’s feet staring down at her, phone at his ear talking to police dispatch.
Jack was on his knees doing the same only he was talking to Wilson.
Davis worked.
Fifty-five seconds to end a life.
“Goddamn, breathe!” Davis roared.
I brought Sadie’s hand up to my mouth and pressed my lips against the back of it.
“I need you, baby,” I whispered there. “I need you to come back to me.”
I wish I could say that was all she needed to open her eyes.
But it took longer. Long enough for the air in the room to thicken with grief. Long enough for Rhode to rest his hand on my shoulder. Long enough for Jack to pick up Sadie’s hand and kiss it. Long enough for sweat to drip down Davis’s chin.
And when the reality of losing Sadie had washed over me, in a twist of fortune, she coughed. Then she choked and sputtered and breathed. That was until her brain came back on station. Then she cried out in the most horrendous wail I’d ever heard.
Davis sat back on his haunches. His head dropped forward and his eyes closed.
I moved in and braced my hands on the floor next to her shoulders.
“You’re safe, Sadie. Relax. Open your eyes.”
Her mouth opened, a sound came out, but it wasn’t legible.
“Don’t talk. I wanna hold you so bad, baby, but I can’t move you. Not until you’re checked.”
Sadie moved her head and yelped in pain.
“Baby, please don’t move.”
I felt a rush of air leave her lips and I closed my eyes.
Thank fuck for the twist.