I didn’t need to.
I already knew what was about to happen.
I curled my body over Cam’s and waited for the sound of a gunshot.
And when it came, everything went black.
*****
Kyle
There was silence, and then another shot went off. I stared wide eyed at Derek.
“Jesus Christ, somebody do something.” I roared as I struggled against my restraints and the officers’ who were holding me back.
Somewhere from behind me, I heard a voice shout, “They’re going in.”
I watched in slow motion, as the cops kicked in my front door, and at least a dozen armed officers’ rushed inside.
My phone sounded in my pants and Derek came and knelt beside me.
Sliding the phone out of my pocket, he put it to his ear. “Linda, its Derek Porter.”
He paused for a moment, and then sighed. “Oh, thank god.”
He turned to look at me. “Linda said our house is all over the news. She’s at the hotel, she has Hope. Lee dropped her off a couple of hours ago.”
I sagged in relief.
Thank god.
I had no fucking clue what was happening inside my house, but the fact that my daughter was safe with Linda, gave me hope that Lee wasn’t inside that house.
He turned his attention back to the front door, and his face paled.
Dropping the phone, Derek clasped his chest as he staggered backwards, landing on the ground next to me.
A silence fell over the crowd, and camera lights flashed wildly, as the front door opened.
Two officers marched out; their hands clamped around the arms of a woman in handcuffs, as several paramedics’ rushed past them to get into the house.
“Oh, god.”
I collapsed to the ground at the sight of Rachel.
Any hope I had of Lee not being inside in the house, diminished when Rachel caught my eye and smiled.
“I did this for us,” she mouthed. “I love you, Kyle.”
My worst fears were confirmed.
I knew, I knew this was bad.
I knelt, frozen on the ground, eyes locked on Rachel’s, as the officers’ bundled her into a police car and sped off.
Two male paramedics stepped out of the house next.
My eyes trailed down to the person lying on the trolley they were pushing, and my heart stopped, my entire body trembled.
My body buckled, but I forced myself to move.
“Lee,” I roared, trying to stand up, pushing past the fear of seeing her underneath that white sheet.
I needed to know it wasn’t her.
I had to check.
I fucking had to…
The officer clamped his hands on shoulders, forcing me down.
“Get the hell off me,” I shouted, struggling to break free and get to the ambulance.
Another gurney was pushed out the door and rushed quickly to the ambulance.
Five paramedics surrounded that one and I couldn’t see who it was.
“Please,” I begged. “My girlfriend…I think that’s my girlfriend.”
The officer seemed to waver for a moment, before nodding.
Helping me to my feet, he unlocked my handcuffs and walked with me as I staggered towards the ambulance. The officer explained to the paramedics who I was.
And then my entire world came crashing down on me, as I was faced with the hardest decision of my life
“They are both female’s, in their early twenties, which one, son?” the officer asked me, and I didn’t know.
Two ambulances, with two females… I didn’t know which one she was inside of, or who the other girl was.
I didn’t know, and apparently, neither did the paramedics.
“We have to go, sir,” the female paramedic said as she began to close the doors. “Are you coming in this one?”
I looked at one ambulance, and then the one next to it, willing my gut instinct to kick in.
Thankfully, Derek came to my side, taking the choice away from me.
“Kyle, I’ll go in this one, you go in the other,” he said, striding toward the paramedic.
I didn’t stop to think about it, I ran to the back of the other ambulance and climbed inside.
The engine of the ambulance roared to life, taking off, siring’s blaring.
“You need to sit down, and buckle up,” someone informed me, but I wasn’t listening.
My heart had stopped dead at the sight before me, and I couldn’t think past anything but the sight of the sheet covered body, lying on the stretcher in front of me.
Ignoring the paramedic’s protests, I stepped closer to the stretcher.
With trembling hands and a grief-stricken heart, I pulled the sheet back.
“No,” I whispered, as my eyes took in what my brain refused to register.
My body quavered and my legs gave out.
I crumbled to the floor as the cruel and torturous agony of grief washed over me.
*****
Kyle
As Derek and I sat silently, side by side, in the corridor of the hospital’s I.C.U unit, I was hit by the overpowering stench of hospital disinfectant.