61. Four
Four
Iopened my eyes to find Robert standing near the foot of my bed. Leaning against the wall, arms crossed. His eyes locked on me, and for a split second I saw the relief in them before they narrowed, and he mugged me.
"Ten days," Robert said. "Ten fucking days of watching you sleep.
" He pushed off the wall, approached the bed, then grabbed the foot railing.
His grip was so tight that his knuckles turned white.
"My pet will be back home. The fight she once had is still there.
I love it." He smiled. "My son will be there too.
He will be easy to break the mold into the perfect son.
" He nodded. "You were too weak to do what needs to be done. But don’t worry, I'll do it. "
I tried to say something, but there was something over my mouth. I lifted my arm. Only to realize that I was chained to the bed.
Robert laughed and hit the end of the bed with his fist.
I fought against my restraints with everything I had. Robert continued to laugh, then eventually walked out of the room.
"Stop!" I heard Cori yell in the distance. Her voice echoed as if she was being pulled away. "Stop, Uri, please!"
"Four!" Nine said.
I continued to fight. The restraints wouldn't give. Whatever was over my mouth was still there. I felt like I was suffocating even though I could breathe.
"Baby, please!" Cori cried. "Let me go! I can get him to stop! I can calm him down."
"Shock him!" Uncle Bradon yelled. I couldn't see anything; the room had gone dark. But I could hear them. I could hear Cori crying, and damn, I hated for her to cry. Whatever was holding me back had to let me go so I could get to her. "Do it, Hood. Shock him!"
"No!" Cori yelled. "Please, Bradon not that. Don’t do that to him!"
"He tried to kill-"
"I don’t care!" Cori yelled. "Not that. Anything but that!"
"He told me if he ever got like this to do it," Uncle Bradon replied. He was right. I had. When I blacked out and needed to be calmed down. Shocking me was the only thing that worked.
"And I'm begging you not to," Cori argued back. "Please!"
I continued to fight. The only thought was to get to Cori to protect her and Judah. Robert couldn't get them. He couldn't have Cori; he couldn't mold Judah into his perfect child. I wouldn't let him.
"Corinthians," Uncle Bradon sighed. "He asked me to."
I kept fighting, trying to get whatever was holding me back off so that I could tell them I was okay.
I needed for whatever was on my face to move so I could see Cori.
I needed to see her, to tell her I was okay and I was here.
The fear in her voice was evident. As strong of a woman as Cori was, she was also delicate.
I would never call her weak because she wasn't. She'd survived the worst of the worst. There was nothing about that that could be considered weak.
I felt the first jolt of electricity shoot through my body and then the second. Three seconds of a jolt, pause for ten, and then three more. I felt my body spasm, then relax. I braced for another shock, but instead I felt myself move; my head lifted, then lay back down.
"Open your eyes," Cori said. Her voice was soft but demanding. "I know you can hear me. Open your damn eyes."
"He needs to rest," Uncle Bradon told her.
"Uri Strong, open your damn eyes!"
I wanted to. I really did, but I couldn't. Something was stopping me.
"Please, Uri," Cori softly said into my ear. "Just open your eyes."