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“Fuck, baby.” Cyrus’s eyes were wide. “You were stabbed. That bastard stabbed you.”
That was the last thing I heard before everything went dark.
Cyrus
When my dad hadlost my mom, I never understood his anguish. Even now, I still didn’t completely understand. Our father had fallen within himself. He took care of us as best he could, but it wasn’t enough. It wasn’t his fault. He was stuck in his head, probably wishing he could have burnt the world down to bring our mom back again.
As Ainsley bled out in my arms, I hadn’t felt fear like that until now. The fear of losing someone. The fear of not knowing if you’ll ever survive it. I had only just found her. There was no way I could move on if she didn’t make it through this.
I didn’t know who had stabbed her as I never got a good look at their face, but it was someone who must have known Ainsley, or at least knew who she was. Maybe they were paid off. Or it was random. No, I had learned rather quickly in life that nothing happened at random. Not with the people we knew.
I was in a trance as I dialed 9-1-1. I couldn’t even recall the conversation I had with the dispatcher as I tried to stop the bleeding. I couldn’t figure out if there were any other injuries but the one in her side.
Brushing her hair off her head, I kissed her over and over. “Please don’t leave me,” I whispered, my voice thick. “I can’t handle it. I’m not strong enough. I’ve already lost so much. I can’t lose you too.”
Sirens sounded off in the distance. They got closer and closer but all I could focus on was how Ainsley had her eyes closed. How her breathing became shallow and uneven. How her skin became ashen and clammy.
“Please, God. Take me instead.” I kissed her lips, my tears falling onto her beautiful face.
Movement sounded behind me, deep voices followed but I couldn’t make out who was who and what was what. All I could see was Ainsley, dying in front of me.
“Please save her,” I begged to no one.
“Son.” An older man dressed in a police uniform placed a gentle hand on my shoulder. The touch was a contradiction. He looked to be around in his mid to late forties, with wrinkles at the corners of his eyes and pain in the deep black depths. He had seen shit. I knew because I had seen it in the eyes of the men who had raised my brother and me.
“I’m Officer Jaxon but you can call me Andy.”
“Where are they taking her?” I demanded, when I realized that the EMTs were putting Ainsley onto a stretcher. I went to rush after them when Officer Jaxon stepped in front of me, blocking my path.
“I don’t suggest doing that right now.” He nodded toward the ambulance. “They’ll take good care of her.”
“Yeah, and I’m going to go with them.” I sidestepped around him when he followed. Narrowing my eyes at him, it took everything in me not to charge past him. “Problem?”
“Yes. You see, I get a call that a woman has been stabbed and I find a man crouching over her covered in blood. There are no other witnesses around, so it’s just your word against hers. And I know we won’t be getting any information from her anytime soon.”
“I was the one who fucking called in the first place. If I wanted my girlfriend dead, the police would be the last people I’d contact.” I took a step toward him, going to toe with him. “I also don’t give a shit that you’re a cop. You’re probably paid off by Price Davies anyway.”
The cop chuckled. “Listen, kid. You’re funny. But no one pays me off. If I want to do shady shit, I will. If I don’t want to do it, I won’t. I’ve been around long enough and have been a cop for over fifteen years—”
“I’m done. I need to go—” The ambulance drove off with Ainsley inside of it, leaving me with Officer Jaxon. “You think I had something do with this, don’t you?” I asked, my voice flat.
“Don’t know. That’s what I need to find out.”
“We were leaving her apartment.” I nodded to the bag on the ground. “She’s moving in with me and we were going to come collect the rest of her stuff over the next few days.” I continued explaining about the guy who bumped into her and how seconds later, she wasn’t feeling well. “If she dies, I won’t stop, and I will burn this fucking world down trying to figure out who the hell stabbed her.”
“I don’t doubt it.” Officer Jaxon met my gaze then. “So let’s get this shit on the road then.”
As much as I didn’t want to, I complied and answered his questions.
How was our relationship?
Did I have any reason to stab her myself?
Did I see anyone else?
Where did the fucker go who hurt my girl? I only stared at the cop when he asked this question using those exact words. He shrugged, pulling a pack of smokes from his pocket.
I took one from him, lit it up, and inhaled the substance I had depended on to make me feel better ever since I was a teenager.
