I quietly shift out of the cabinet, checking for Billy first. Not seeing or hearing him, but hearing the front door open up has me sliding out and on the floor.
Forgetting all about the need for silence, I yell, "GUN!"
As soon as my warning was shouted, the gun went off, and I heard a groan and a thud.
"NOOO!!" The blood curdling scream the leaves my body, fuels me, even though my heart stops before adrenaline kicks in.
I run out of the kitchen and slam headlong into Billy's stomach, taking him down to the floor knocking the wind from him, to sit on top of his chest, as the gun goes flying away. I use the pole still in my hands and start to beat the bloody mess out of his face. I feel him fumble to try and get me off of his chest, but I use the pole and force it against his wind pipe with all my might. He struggles even harder, now desperate to get me off. Pushing with his legs since my knees hold his arms to his side as I center my weight on him. He's tries to push and twist me off, but all he does it put more pressure on his neck.
"You bitch!" He chokes out around the pole and blood covering his face from me beating him.
Fury erupts from me like I've never known and I let it out.
"NO! YOU'RE THE BITCH!
DIE YOU FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT!
JUST FUCKING DIE!
YOU CAN'T HURT ME ANYMORE!
YOU DO NOT GET TO CONTROL MY LIFE EVER AGAIN!
DO YOU HEAR ME?!"
I scream hysterically in his face, as he struggles against the pole. He flops his mouth open for breath, choking and gurgling, eyes bulging, until he goes limp.
I lift up on the pole, and breathe heavily, sobbing, before rolling off of his body. I stand on shaky legs and prepare my self to turn around.
On the floor, lies Brian, cradling a bleeding arm. I scram over to him and press my hand to his wound. "Oh my god, Brian!"
He groans, "I'll be alright. Dear god, Lirael, what did he do to you?" He asks, looking me over.
"Lirael!?" A panicked Lance stands in the doorway, eyes wide.
He rushes to me, "Oh my god, Lirael, are you alright?"
I start to explain as he wraps me in his arms.
"He shot Brian! I thought it was you! I thought he killed you! Lance, I love you. I thought I was never going to see you again!" I know I'm going into shock, as I start shivering, hearing the sound of sirens off in the distance as I cry and sob hysterically, trying to explain how much I love him.
Lance holds me, looking to Brian, who keeps applying pressure to his wound before nodding to me as I grow dizzy, trying to breathe even in Lance's arms. Then my world goes black.
*Beep* *Beep*
I wake up to an annoying beeping, try to open my eyes, but it's difficult. I'm sore and stiff all over. I try to move and groan in pain.
"Whoa.. Whoa.. Lirael, try not to move, baby. You're okay, you're in the hospital baby." Lances voice is right next to me, and I turn in his direction and try to open my eyes again. I get the narrowest field of vision and see the blurry out line of him.
"Lance?" I croak, barely audible.
"That's right baby, I'm here. It's okay, you're going to be okay." He caresses my face as I start to cry. "Shh. Shhh.. No don't cry, Lirael, you're safe, you got through it. He can't hurt you anymore, my love. I promise you, he's never going to hurt anyone ever again." He comforts me as I cry myself to sleep.
It takes a day or two, I think, before I am able to open my eyes fully, and another day before my back and sides are not screaming at me every time I move.
When I finally was allowed to get out of bed to use the bathroom, my first glimpse in the mirror almost brought me to my knees.
I'm just a giant bruise. My face swollen, my eyes purple and green with purple, ink spot, shaped bruises all over my cheek and my arms. I tried to look at my back, seeing my bandages that cover the deeper gashes that him flogging me had caused.
The nurse helped clean me off, changed my bandages and helped me back into bed. The police came by and took my statement from me, Billy survived, but they had him in custody, locked up in a cell with a busted face and swollen, damaged, vocal chords.
They had the audio and video recordings from the surveillance system already, so they mainly just wished to know what happened before the recordings had started. Since he broke into my house with multiple intentions from assault with a deadly weapon, to attempted rape and attempted murder, he was going to never see the outside of a prison cell again.
Even though I almost killed him, they wrote everything down as me acting in self defense and defending Brian who had already been shot by him.
Brian came by soon after they left, arm in a sling, but with only a flesh wound as the bullet had exited his body. He sat with me for a while, reassuring me that I would be fine.
"I haven't seen Lance since I woke up the first time, right after I got here." I mention to Brian fiddling with my IV tube.
Brian sighs heavily, "This situation really scared the shit out of him too, you know. The company called the police first when you said the pass phrase and they saw what was going on. Then they called Lance who was with me, just about to hop out of the car, wanting to talk about his mother's health and what happened between you two. He ripped out after hanging up and I hopped in my car and followed."
Tears slip down my face and I wipe them roughly off with the palm of my hand, "Yeah, he has every right to be upset with me. I didn't want to keep it from him, but Mom made me promise, she didn't want him sad while she was still around and to interfere with Lance's plans."
"He understands now, Lirael. He's talked to his mother. Trust me when I say, mom regrets asking you to keep that promise too. She feels like this is her fault, that if Lance and you had not fought, that you would have been safe." Brian rubs my ankle as he tells me this, one of the few spots that I'm not bruised.
I shake my head, "She shouldn't think that, because what if he had gone into the house with me and Billy had shot him..." I start to bawl, "My worst nightmares almost came true that day. I thought it was Lance who had walked into the house. If he had killed you though, Brian. I would not be able to handle the guilt. I'm so sorry."
Brian huffs, "I'm not sorry, Lirael. AT ALL. I just drive faster then Lance and caught the yellow instead of the red light, like he did." He stresses to me. "I love you, Lirael. You are not just my patient, you are my friend, and we're pretty darn close if you remember correctly." He winks at me, pulling a smile to my lips at the memory.
"I love you too, Brian. Thank you. For everything." I tell him, reaching for his hand, wincing as the wounds on my back stretched with the movement.
Brian kisses the back of my hand, "Don't worry about it, Lirael. I'm always here for you, you know that."
We share a warm smile, before he let's out a heavy breath, "Well, I do have patients I need to go see, so I better have an Uber to come get me. Rest well, I'll see you later." He leans over and places a kiss on my cheek, before taking off.
I do as he says, falling asleep not long after he left.