It feels like I’m putting more distance between Lola and me the farther into the woods I run. Her screams still echo, but it feels like the trees and wind are mocking me, not wanting me to find her. I feel like I’m close, yet so far away and it’s killing me, eating me up inside.
I yell in frustration and turn to a broken trail, seeing footprints squelched into the mud. Another scream has me picking up speed. Her scream…. It’s filled with pain and fear, and I feel useless, like I’m running round in circles with no hope of ever reaching her in time.
The air is suddenly silent and my heart pounds, a new scary feeling taking route. I pause for a second, trying to hear something, anything, but there’s nothing but silence. I groan, running my hands through my hair as I look around. A broken trail not far from where I’m standing catches my attention, and I move towards it, my eyes widening when I see a large amount of dirt disturbed near a bank.
I stop at the top, my eyes widening in horror when I see Lola’s motionless body lying there on the floor. I wait, watching her chest for any signs of life, but I don’t see any.
My heart rate spikes and movement from the corner of my eye gains my attention. Turning my head in the direction of her feet, I find Rick. He’s kneeling there, pulling her jeans down. They’re by her ankles now, and I see red. My eyes cloud over and my mind goes blank. The only thing that registers is revenge, and I fly down the bank, my feet barely touching the ground on the way down.
Rick doesn’t hear me come down, too occupied with what he’s doing. But when I get to the bottom, rage burns through me and I growl. He hears me, his eyes widening when he sees the look on my face. Slowly he gets up, a small smirk on his lips.
“She loved it,” he taunts, and I charge. Bending at the waist, I shove my shoulder in his chest and rush forward, keeping him in my grip until I see the tree. I move back at the last second so only Rick slams into it. He grunts, his face scrunching in pain as he struggles to breathe. I don’t give him time to recover, landing blows to the face one after another until he catches his bearings and starts hitting me back.
He pushes me, and I fall back a few steps before standing strong and going at him again.
“She’s fucking mine!” he roars, punching me in the stomach.
“She’s her own fucking person, but she’s my woman. And you’ve hurt her,” I growl, kneeing him in the stomach. He coughs, falling back on his ass.
I step forward, standing over him. He smirks, his mouth full of blood. “Yeah, but can you fuck her like I can and make her love it?”
Without thinking of the consequences, I lift my booted foot and stamp down on the side of his head. He’s instantly out cold, but I don’t care, kicking him in the ribs over and over until I see Lola’s motionless body.
I stumble backwards, my eyes widening as I struggle to get to her. My legs shake, a strangled sob breaking from my chest as I kneel on the floor next to her.
“I’m so sorry,” I choke out, wiping her wet hair from her face. The intake of breath I hear when I touch her is visible and I start shaking.
My fingers find her neck, searching for her pulse at the same time I grab my phone, dialling Cage. Her pulse is weak, and I scramble for ideas of what to do.
Her body is bruised and torn up; I don’t want to move her and cause further injury.
“I’m in the fucking woods, where are you?” Cage shouts.
“You need to get here quick. She’s in bad condition. Tell them to drive down the lane and take the first dirt road on the left. I can see it from here,” I shout.
“On it,” he says before whispering to someone.
“Who’s that?”
“I’ve got a paramedic with me. Where’s Rick?” he asks, his tone hesitant.
“Knocked the fuck out,” I growl, not wanting to think about that sick fuck. If I do, I can’t promise I won’t go back there and finish what I started.
“Shout so I can hear you. I need to know where you are,” he says, sounding out of breath.
I mute my phone, set it on loudspeaker and start shouting.
“Over here!” I roar, shining my phone and waving it around.
“I’m close. I can hear, so keep shouting,” he tells me and I yell louder before bending down. I quickly take off my jacket and jumper and place them over Lola, keeping her warm as I cradle her head in my lap.
I kiss her forehead, soothing her hair when I hear Cage nearby.
“I’m over here,” I shout to Cage and wave my phone around. When he comes into view, I sigh with relief.
“Fuck! Oh, fuck,” Cage growls, ripping the jacket off his body and covering Lola with it too. The paramedic moves quickly, kneeling down next to Lola and working on her. He grabs his handheld radio and calls it in.
“We’re here,” a voice says over the radio, and sure enough, a light from the ambulance shines on us.
“Where’s Rick?” Cage rushes out. In a daze, I look at him.
“Over there,” I growl, looking at his motionless body.
A foiled blanket is taken out of the bag the paramedic has. He takes the coats off Lola, replacing them with the blanket. Another medic rushes out, and the one kneeling next to Lola speaks up.
“There’s another unconscious over there,” he tells her, and my head snaps up.
“You move to even check on that sorry piece of shit and I will have you fired. She needs to go to hospital, now. The police can deal with him,” I snap, giving them a deadly look.
They both startle and nod. The woman bends down, sliding a yellow board under Lola. She still hasn’t moved, and the ache in my chest only intensifies.
“The police are coming down here in a few minutes. They’re gonna wait until the ambulance pulls out so they don’t block us in,” Cage says as he walks back. I look over my shoulder and growl when I see Rick is awake. Barely but still, the urge to go over there and knock him out again is undeniably strong. The fucker doesn’t deserve to live.
I don’t leave Lola as they carry her over to the ambulance, sliding her in on a bed. I sit at the back, watching helplessly as they set her up to machines, checking her vitals and whatnot. The second her heartbeat, although faint, comes through the speakers, I break. A sob tears from my throat and I drop my head, my hands cupping her feet as I cry.
“I love you so much,” I sob, not caring if the paramedics think I’m crazy.
I nearly lost my woman tonight.
I could have lost her.
But from here on out, I plan to do everything I can to protect her. Starting with getting that piece of filth to prison.