Chapter Twelve #2
“I won’t stop you from going, Tana. I promise to keep them safe.
” She looked over to where Matt was holding Sarah against his body; her screams were like a siren to Tana.
She ran across the playground to where Matt held her twins, praying that he would release them once she agreed to go with him.
He wanted to hurt her. Tana knew that, and if that was what had to happen to keep her daughters safe, she was willing to give him what he wanted.
She slowly walked up to Matt, almost as if approaching a trapped animal.
“Please, Matt, I’ll go with you. Just let the girls go.
I’ll do whatever you want, just don’t hurt them.
They are your daughters, too.” Matt’s smile was mean, and she knew that she played right into his hands.
He released Sarah, and she ran to Tana and wrapped her arms around her waist. Tana kissed Sarah’s little head.
“I love you so much, honey. I need you to run to Torren. Can you do that for Mommy?” Sarah nodded and looked back to where Beth was standing, Matt’s gun still trained at her head.
“I want sissy to come with me.” Sarah held out her hand, and Tana sobbed.
“Please let them both go,” Tana begged. Matt looked at Torren as if trying to decide his next move. Then he looked back at Tana, taking her in from head to toe.
“You’re wearing his ring?” he spat. Tana looked down at her engagement ring.
“Matt, please. The girls are innocent in all of this.”
“You love him—is that it? Did you tell him that you are married to me? We aren’t even legally divorced yet, and you’ve already agreed to marry that clown?” Matt shouted.
“What do you mean, we aren’t legally divorced?” Matt laughed at Tana’s question.
“What I mean, Sweetheart, is I haven’t signed those fucking papers, so we are still married. Which means you cheated on me with that asshole.” Matt was waving the gun around, and Tana worried that it was going to go off. She shoved Sarah behind her and told her to run to Torren.
“Stop,” Matt shouted. But Sarah kept running towards Torren.
She just about reached him when Matt pointed the gun in her direction, and before Tana could stop him, he pulled the trigger.
She wasn’t sure what was louder—the gunshot or her scream.
She turned, knowing that she was going to see her little girl lying on the ground, but instead found Torren clutching his side and falling to the grass.
He must have pushed Sarah out of the way, and the bullet hit him instead.
“Torren,” she shouted, running to him, falling to her knees. There was so much blood soaking his T-shirt that she wasn’t sure just where the bullet hit him. “Torren, stay with me.”
“Fuck, that hurts.” Torren cursed. Tana tried to cover his hand with hers, but she needed to call for help.
She fumbled with her phone, trying to dial 911, but stopped when she heard Beth cry out.
“He’s taking Beth,” Sarah cried. Tana looked up to see Matt pull Elizabeth into his arms and back out of the park, keeping an eye on the officer who was still watching him.
He pulled his gun, but Tana was thankful that he didn’t take a shot with Beth being caught in the middle.
Tana didn’t know what to do. She wanted to run after Matt to get to Beth, but she couldn’t leave Torren to bleed to death with Sarah looking on.
“Hold on, Torren, I’m going to get help.
” Tana pulled her phone up to her ear and told the emergency operator where to find them.
Torren was losing so much blood; she was worried that he wouldn’t be able to hold on for the ambulance to get there.
Luckily, they were only two blocks from the hospital, and help arrived quickly.
“I’m so sorry, honey.” Torren winced in pain. “He got Beth,” he grunted.
Sarah wrapped her arms around Tana’s neck and cried.
Tana knew that she had to get to Beth, but first, she would need to make sure Torren and Sarah were safe.
Then, she would get Elizabeth from Matt because there was no way she was going to let him lay a finger on her daughter.
It was time to show her ex that she was stronger than he gave her credit for.
Torren’s side felt like it was on fire, and he was having trouble staying awake.
He knew that the trip to the emergency room didn’t take long, but it felt like an eternity had passed.
He worried that Tana was going to go off and do something stupid, and there would be nothing he could do to stop her.
She looked so lost when they loaded him up into the ambulance.
Tana promised to be right behind him with Sarah, but he worried that she was going to go after Matt to get Beth back.
He saw her determination and knew that there would be no stopping her.
She chose her daughters, and he couldn’t blame her.
He’d want her to choose them every time, but it still hurt like hell watching her walk away from him.
And all that pain was for nothing because that asshole still got Beth.
The EMTs rolled him through the emergency room doors, and there was a flurry of activity around him.
Honestly, he was having trouble keeping up with what everyone was saying.
The pain in his side was almost unbearable—it felt like his skin was on fire.
He was wheeled into a private room, and the doctor came in to talk to him, only to be just about bulldozed over by Tag.
“Fuck, Tor! What the hell happened?” The doctor cleared his throat and pushed past Tag, which was no easy feat.
“How about you let me do my job and ask the questions?” The doctor pointed at Tag. “I’m guessing you’re his brother, so you can stay—for now. No one else gets back here.” He nodded to the nurse, who scurried out of the room.
“Tag, where are Tana and Sarah?” Torren looked at Tag, hoping that his brother would have seen them on his way in. “Tag, her ex got Beth.” Torren groaned. Tag’s face went pale, and Torren knew that his brother understood the gravity of the situation.
“Fuck! Were Tana and Sarah with you in the ambulance?” Torren shook his head and groaned at the pain that little movement caused him.
“All right, enough!” the doctor barked. “Can you tell me your name?” He looked at Torren, shining a light into his eyes to check his pupils.
“Torren Harrison.” He looked around the doctor to where Tag was pacing, running his fingers through his already unruly hair.
“You have to find them. Get Sawyer on this and make sure that they are safe. She’s my fucking world, Tag. They all are.” Tag stopped pacing and stood off to the side as two more nurses entered the small room.
“Is he going to be all right, Doc?” Tag watched as they checked Torren out, wincing at every groan or painful yelp they elicited from him every time they moved him.
“It looks like the bullet missed any major organs, but it’s too close to his appendix to be sure.” The doctor was typing something onto his tablet as he spoke. Tag smiled at the doctor.
“He doesn’t have an appendix. Torren had to have that out when we were nine. He got to lie around for two weeks while I had to bring him home all his schoolwork and wait on him hand and foot.” Tag shook his head as if still disgusted by the whole thing.
Torren laughed and groaned, holding his side. “Yep, best two weeks of my life.”
“Well, if that’s the case, then this should be a pretty simple procedure.” The doctor signed a form that one of the nurses handed him and pulled up the guard rail on Torren’s bed.
“Wait, what procedure are you talking about?” Tag asked, looking a little worried again.
“Your brother has a bullet lodged in his side. It’s not life-threatening, but they are going to have to dig it out of him, and he’s lost a lot of blood.
” The doctor turned to Torren. “Do you have any questions before they move you upstairs to pre-op?” Torren looked around the doctor again, trying to find Tag.
“Yep, I have one fucking question—why are you still here?” Tag laughed and held up his hands.
“Okay, okay, Tor. I’ll go and find Tana and Sarah.
Sawyer and I will find that asshole and get Beth back.
You just concentrate on behaving yourself and letting them dig that bullet out of your side.
” Torren nodded and lay back, confident that Sawyer and Tag could handle Tana’s ex-husband.
He just hoped like hell that she and Sarah were safe.
He couldn’t think about losing them, not now that he had finally found them all.