"What the fuck was that?" my uncle yells.
That’s the moment Bennett rounds the corner at a full on run and tackles my uncle to the ground. Using the distraction, I lunge and grab the shotgun, but I can't get a clear shot without the possibility of hurting Bennett.
I'm so focused on the fight in front of me between my uncle and Bennett that I don't notice my aunt coming at me until she tries to take the shotgun.
Now she’s got a grip on it, and I fight her for it. When she's pushes the barrel up into the air, I’m hoping to pull it down and fire a shot at her. Hopefully, that should distract my uncle enough to give Bennett the advantage.
But my aunt is stronger than someone her size should be. Or maybe we're just running on adrenaline. With all my might, I try pushing her back, getting her off balance, and stumbling off the porch, but I'm not able to move her. While I desperately want to look over at Bennett and make sure he's okay, I don't dare take my eyes off of my own fight.
"Just give up little girl," my aunt growls.
For some odd reason, her words trigger me to start laughing, which catches her off guard. It’s enough for me to push her back a few inches.
"I will never stop talking and telling my story. Now that it's out and public, if I go missing that will make you look guilty. Who do you think will be the first suspects? And if you think my husband or my friends will allow it, you need to think again. You’re not getting out of this, and the fact that you support your husband after all this, well, you're just as guilty as he is." I laugh again, mostly because I love how irritated she gets when I do. Hell, maybe it's not the right thing to do, but I’m out of options at the moment.
I guess my laughter enrages her because she builds up enough steam to slam me back against the wall of the house. The logs hit me at an odd angle and a piercing pain shoot down my back. I'm definitely going to have a bruise there tomorrow.
She uses that moment to try to get an advantage. Remembering something my dad always said about using momentum against someone, I'm able to flip her to the side and get my back from against the wall.
Everything seems to be happening in slow motion, but at the same time my brain is not registering every movement. Suddenly, she's twisting and turning the gun causing me to lose my grip. Once again, I try to use some of that momentum to get her off balance.
When she slams me back against the porch railing, I'm able to put her off before she smashes me back again. Only this time, I lose my balance and no matter how hard I try to grip the railing or anything around me, it's as if it all vanishes into thin air as I fall backward, my feet go over my head and I hit the ground.
The air is knocked out of me, and for a moment I feel weightless before the world around me turns blurry and then goes black.
Chapter 23
Bennett
Ihatehospitals.Ihate doctors. I hate the smell of whatever they use to clean this place. I hate the nurses who keep looking at me like I'm going to attack them.
Actually, the last one might happen as I'm up and pacing in the waiting room. After Willow fell, her aunt and uncle got a little too cocky. I was able to knock her uncle out and get the shotgun away from her aunt and restrain her.
When Willow wouldn't wake up, I knew I had to get her to a doctor. My first call was to the guys, and then Detective Greer. Axel and Emelie stayed with the aunt and uncle, while I brought her to the hospital. All our friends met me here, along with Greer, who is now questioning me on what happened.
"Bennett, I know there's a lot going on, but I need you to start from the beginning and tell me what happened," he says.
Then Greer and the guy standing next to him get their pen and paper out to take notes.
I look over at Jack, who Phoenix thankfully thought to call, and he beat the police here to the hospital.
"Just tell them the truth," Jack says.
Nodding, I begin. "I was out back chopping wood, so I didn't hear or see anyone pull up the driveway. When I heard Willow scream, I came running and that's when I saw her uncle had his hands on her. She was gripping the doorway, presumably trying to prevent him from dragging her off to his car.
After I yelled to get their attention, I threw my axe at his driver's side door. The distraction gave Willow enough time to grab the shotgun while I got her uncle away from her.
Then her aunt then started struggling for the shotgun. Though I'm not a hundred percent sure how that happened because her uncle started fighting me. When her aunt pushed her back against the porch rail, Willow lost her balance and fell backward and landing on the ground.
That was enough of a distraction that I was able to knock the uncle out, detain the aunt and get the gun away from her."
Finishing up, I tell them what's the uncle was saying about her needing to shut up about the lies, how Willow had told them that she wasn't going to stop telling the truth, and how her uncle had told me that he had planned to kill us both.
Detective Greer asks more questions and his partner ask me to repeat some things. This irritates me because all I want to do is see my wife. She’s back behind the emergency room doors and I have no idea if she's okay, if she's awake, or if she's scared, and it's killing me.
By the time we got to the hospital, she was just starting to wake up, and then she passed out again. They rushed her back through the emergency room doors and that was the last I saw of her, and I haven't heard anything either. All the guys and their wives are here in the emergency room with me when a man I've never seen before walks in with several bags of food.
When Cole jumps up and greets him, the man hesitantly walks over to our group, his eyes constantly scanning the room. He’s tall and buff, but his arms are covered in scars.