AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He put a hand to his chest. “June, honey, you should have said something. You’ve needed me this whole time?” Archer backed away toward the bag. “I’m so glad I came.”
“Me, too,” I rasped.
As he moved toward the bag in the corner, I took my opening. I darted from the kitchen to my bedroom, slammed the door shut, and locked it. Darkness swallowed me for a moment, but I shook my head, clearing my vision to grab the corners of my dresser so I could tip it over in front of the door.
“June?” Archer called. “What are you doing? Don’t you need this?”
I did, but I’d rather take my chances with my asthma than Freddy Krueger out there. I sat on the edge of my bed and closed my eyes, trying to force my lungs to calm down. It wasn’t working. How had Amos done it in the woods? Fill the balloon. Let it out slowly. Relax my jaw and throat. I tried, but then my bedroom door shook so hard, it splintered around the hinges.
White had joined the black dots, and I felt my body teeter to the side as unconsciousness grabbed for me with spindly fingers. Gritting my teeth, I stumbled off the bed to my closet. Suddenly, I was grateful I had the world’s smallest bedroom, and I fell more than lunged for the floor where I kept my paint supplies. I wasn’t sure what I was looking for, but I didn’t have any useful hobbies like archery or knife-making. Or baton twirling. A baton would have been nice.
The door shuddered again, this time moving the dresser aside easily. So much for that movie trick, too. I scrabbled with my hands, searching for something, anything I could use. My hands found a familiar object.
Archer finally blasted through the door, and panting, he stumbled inside with a “What the hell, June?”
Wheeze, wheeze, wheeze,Come on June, one big breath. You got this.I forced as much air into my lungs as I could, pulling hard and forcing my ribs to expand.
Archer put his hand on my shoulder. “Come here, you little—”
I turned and aimed a can of black spray paint at his face. I pressed the nozzle hard, aiming for his eyes, and I ended up coating his entire face, his open mouth, and his eyes, which he screwed shut. He batted the spray can out of my hand, but then he fell to his knees behind me, screaming, spitting, and clawing at his face.
My greatest masterpiece yet.
I struggled to escape again, but he reached out with a growl and grabbed my ankle. I kicked blindly, and to my surprise, I connected with something. It caused him to grunt, and I pushed my hands on the ground to stand, but I fell.
Air refused to get past my swollen airways. I lay on my side, gasping futilely like a dying fish, and I wondered dimly if I had at least broken his nose. I hoped I had. My world swirled like a palette under a running faucet, blending together and muddying until the colors converged into darkness.
I wasn’t sure what miracle had happened, but Archer didn’t reach for me. In fact, other than the desperate, rasping pull of my tortured breaths, I didn’t hear anything at all. If I could just get to my bag…
But no. There would be no moving. My limbs didn’t have enough oxygen to do anything. I was surprised my consciousness was holding on the way it was.
Thump, thump, thump.My front door pounded. “Police! Open the door!”
An inkling of gratitude shot through my dimming awareness. They’d made it here. Amos must have called 911 when he’d realized I was in trouble. I didn’t hear them break my door down, but I had to assume they did because suddenly someone shouted, “Over here!”
Hands moved me onto my back. I tried to lift my hand to point to my bag, but I had nothing in the tank. How unfair was that? I knew what I needed, but I couldn’t even tell them. “I’ve got a pulse,” a female officer said.
So glad you do,I thought dimly.
“We’re clear!” a man called. “Let him through.”
Feet pounded, and then a familiar voice said, “Move.”
Amos? Fuck, did you join the PD? I like you as a doctor. Oh wait, I said “fuck.” Sorry.
My last thought was that Amos wouldn’t look bad in uniform, actually.
Twenty Four
Amos
Dating June was going to give me high blood pressure. I had just scrubbed in when my pocket had given off a June-specificding. I’d already been on edge about leaving her alone, so I had my nurse check the message, and never in my life had I wanted to throw something in my OR more than I had after she’d read that text out loud to me. I had very nearly grabbed the nearest instrument and broken it against the wall. What kind of woman, after being assaulted, took a damn taxi across the city to go back to her apartment alone? She couldn’t have waited, what, two hours?
Fortunately, Bennett had been there, and whether or not he had felt he was ready to take over a surgery on his own, I knew he was. So, I’d given him my surgery as I’d called 911 and sprinted out of the hospital with my heart in my throat. I disobeyed a lot of traffic rules getting there, and the entire ride, I went through her call in my head. She’d sounded like she’d been in bad shape, and she was obviously being threatened by someone in the background.
I didn’t ever want to hear the word “syrup” again.
I got there at the same time as SLCPD and before EMS. I prayed hard. I prayed June had her inhaler in there. I prayed she hadn’t been hurt. I prayed, above all, that I would have the chance to give her a piece of my mind. Not a nice piece. The furious, vampire overlord piece.
