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Madeline isn’t happy.
It’s written all over her face.
She’s staring at Tanner and me, with this look that says she’s about to combust. I can’t say I blame her. I mean, I’d be pretty uncomfortable if someone just told me my boyfriend was in love with the girl we’re staying with. That’s not a nice feeling for anyone, and I’m not cold enough to think she shouldn’t have feelings about it.
Still, she’s glaring at me like she wants to gouge my eyes out, and that’s starting to get on my nerves. I haven’t done anything to her, not really. They came to my apartment, insisted on staying, if she’s angry at anyone, it should be Tanner for putting her in this position. Not me.
She’s made a few moves toward him, as if over-compensating to make me realize they’re together, as if I didn’t know that already, insert eye roll here. She climbed on his lap and made out with him and has been practically hanging off him for the last hour, which, by the looks of things, isn’t going down well with him.
He snapped at her to fucking stop, and now she’s sitting on the sofa, acting like she’s going to claw my eyes out if I even swing them in his general direction.
Still, I’m having a great night, so she can glare away.
We’ve laughed, all of us. We actually sat back, drank, and laughed. We told stories, we spoke of memories, and we chuckled until our bellies hurt. That has to be the nicest feeling I’ve felt in such a long time. It feels like we’re all meant to be here, like maybe this is how we’re going to find our freedom.
Maybe we’ll all get past this and just fix the issues and go back to being happy.
Also, I’m drunk, so that’s probably not the case and I’m just fantasizing about the impossible.
Whatever, it sounds nice.
Tatum and Jo walk in from outside, and one look at her flushed cheeks and I know damn well what she just did out there. My mouth drops open as she meets my eyes and gives me a look that tells me if I call her out, she’s probably going to punch me in the face, and yet I can’t wipe the grin. I wiggle my brows at her, and she shakes her head with a laugh and goes into the kitchen to get another drink.
I stand and rush in after her.
No way she’s getting away with not tell me all about this.
The moment I’m in there, I whisper-hiss, “Did you just fuck Tatum, you animal?”
She laughs and puts a finger to her lips, “Shhh.”
“Oh my god, you did, on my patio!!”
She comes closer, and leans in, “I was just standing out there, and he came out and told me how much he’s missed me and then his mouth was on my ...”
“Nope!” I say, shaking my head. “God nope. You’re not telling me about your oral sex when I haven’t had any for so many fucking years. God, I miss that so bad. Was it good? It was good right?”
She nods. “It was even better when he fucked me after it.”
“Man,” I squeal happily, and she nudges me to remind me to shut up. “I’m so jealous.”
“It was so worth the wait, my god, I can’t stop thinking about it.”
“Was his tongue game on point?” I ask, nodding enthusiastically.
“Oh. Yes. Yes, it was.”
“Dang it,” I punch the air. “I’m so jelly, girl! I want some tongue in my pussy, like, yesterday.”
A throat clears and I spin around to see Tanner standing in the kitchen, a smirk on his face.
“Oh god,” I say. “Tell me you didn’t hear any of that.”
Jo giggles. “I’ll leave you to it.”
She rushes out with a drink and my cheeks burn.
I dare to look at Tanner, and he’s still grinning. “What?” I say, throwing my hands up, “So a girl tells the world she is missing a bit of tongue, what’s wrong with that?”
He chuckles, “Nothing at all. Thought your boyfriend would be filling that gap for you.”
I snort. “He’s not my boyfriend, I called him and told him we can’t see each other anymore, for your information. Also, we never had sex.”
“Hmmm,” he murmurs, grabbing the bottle of vodka and pouring a glass. “Unlucky for him. You taste fuckin’ amazing.”
My mouth drops open just as he turns and walks out.
Oh my word.
My. Word.
Ethan pops his head in, takes one look at my face and rolls his eyes. “I don’t even want to know. The pizza is here, I’m going out to grab it.”
“Yay!” I clap.
He chuckles and turns, walking out. I take my drink and step out into the living room just as I hear it.
The worst sound I could possibly hear.
A sound that will forever echo through my mind.
Tormenting me for the rest of my days.
Two gunshots, loud, roaring, feeling like they come straight through the apartment.
My head whips around at the open front door, where Ethan just went to collect the pizza from out front.
My mouth opens, and the only thing that comes out is his name. “Ethan!”
Ethan!
No.
Oh god. No.
~*~*~*~
MY LEGS CAN’T CARRY me fast enough as I charge toward the front door. An arm wraps around my waist and hauls me backward, and Tanner hisses in my ear, “No. It could be dangerous.”
“I don’t care,” I scream, thrashing in his arms. “Ethan is out there. Tanner, let me go.”
“No,” he barks, holding me tightly as Tatum rushes out the front door, gun in hand.
I watch him go and for those few moments he’s gone, I can’t breathe, I can’t think, I can’t do anything but stare at the door and wait, wait to hear the words I’m praying I’ll hear. Maybe it was a drive by. Maybe it’s not Ethan and Tatum will walk through the door with him. Maybe ...
“Call 911!” Tatum screams, and my legs give out from beneath me.
Tanner holds me up, I hear Jo make a pained sound as she dials 911.
“Let me go, Tanner, let me go.”
He lets me go, and I run as fast as my legs can carry me out the front door and over to where Tatum is on his knees, shirt off, pressing it against Ethan’s chest. I skid down on my knees, stumbling forward, my hands landing beside Ethan who isn’t awake. His face is pale. And there is so much blood.
Blood everywhere.
“Ethan,” I croak. “No. Ethan!”
“He’s losing a lot of blood. We need towels or he won’t make it until the paramedics arrive.”
I run, I push up to my feet and run inside the house, not noticing a damn person as I reach my linen cupboard and grab a handful of towels, rushing back out and handing them to Tatum. He places them over Ethan’s chest, and says to me, “Put pressure on this with me, as much as you can.”
I press my hands over as well, then lean down onto my forearms and put as much pressure on as I can, tears streaming down my face. Tanner is walking around the perimeter, Madeline hasn’t dared to come outside, scared, and Jo is on her knees the other side of us, tears rolling down her cheeks too.
“Ethan,” I cry. “Please wake up. You’re okay. Wake up.”
He’s not moving. I’m too afraid to check if he’s even breathing. Tatum does the hard task of checking and presses his fingers to Ethan’s neck, checking for a pulse. I hold my breath, terrified of what he’s going to say next, terrified of the words I never want to hear in my life.
“He’s got a pulse, weak but there.”
Oh.
Thank god.
I keep the pressure on his chest, even though is blood is now soaking my hands. Tears keep flowing down my cheeks, there’s not a single thing I can do to stop them. Not a single thing. I wouldn’t want them to stop, even if I they could. I hear the sirens coming, and then the flashing lights turn into our apartment complex.
A minute later we’re being asked to step back as two paramedics assess the scene. They check the wounds, and then load Ethan up onto a stretcher and tell us which hospital he’s getting rushed to.
“Can I come?” I plead.
“Clean up, love, and then come in,” the female paramedic says, and I look down at my clothes and see blood all over them.
Oh god.
I’m covered in Ethan’s blood.
“I’ll go,” Jo says, following them into the ambulance.
Within a minute, they’re gone.
I turn and walk numbly into the apartment and into my shower, my mind dead. Not working. Completely frozen. I stare at myself in the bathroom mirror, covered in blood, and I pray. I pray that whoever is listening, whoever is up there, will make sure my friend lives, they’ll make sure he is okay.
Tears are still flowing down my cheeks; I want to scream but my voice is broken. Not working. Empty. I can’t even make my hands move to take my clothes off, to get in that shower, to clean up and drive myself to the hospital. Is this what shock feels like? Is that what I’m experiencing right now?
I don’t know.
The door behind me opens and Tanner steps in, his eyes meeting mine in the mirror. He closes the door and walks over to me, without a word, and carefully lifts my arms into the air. I allow him to take control, holding them up as he takes the blood-soaked shirt from my body and lifts it over my head.
I don’t move as he slides my shorts down and has me standing there in my bra and panties. I look at him with tear-filled eyes and whisper, “Why Ethan?”
“It’s goin’ to be okay.”
He doesn’t know that, though. He doesn’t.
Nobody does.
He turns the shower on and then takes my chin in his hands, forcing me to look at him. “You’re strong, Callie. You’re goin’ to get in this shower, and then I’m takin’ you to that hospital because he needs you. Do you hear me? He needs you.”
I nod, and he swipes the tears from my cheeks.
“I’ve got you,” he whispers, stroking my bottom lip. “I have got you.”
I nod again, hiccupping with a sob.
“Get into that shower, I’ll be ready when you come out.”
He lets me go and walks to the door, but I call his name before he can leave. He turns and looks over his shoulder at me.
“Make this stop,” I plead. “It’s time to end this.”
He nods.
He’ll end this.
I know he will.