Page 71 of Fight or Flight
The man snorts and makes a move to get his gun. He stops half-motion when an earsplitting bang echoes through the basement and then glances at the red, growing stain on his stomach. He puts both hands to stop the bleeding before swaying on his feet and falling to the ground.
The acidic taste of vomit hits my throat, but all I can focus on is Brody, who’s now lifting Claire from the floor. She’s so small that she looks like a child in his embrace. One of her arms swings down, and I notice the little syringe still stuck in there.
My heart breaks even more. I gently grab her arm and remove the needle before I move my hand to grab her cold palm and kiss it.
“You’re going to be okay,” I whisper, though now those words feel painfully empty.
The sounds of sirens reach us from outside, causing Brody and I to snap our heads up.
“Okay. You did great, kid. Now take her, and I’ll handle those fuckers.”
I take Claire from him and tuck her to my chest after Brody retrieves the gun from my hand.
“I think I killed the guy,” I whisper shakily.
“Don’t worry about it,” Brody says, though I can see the deep lines of worry stretch on his forehead. “All that matters is getting us out of here and taking Claire to a hospital.”
I nod my head and follow him out. We’re not even two steps into the corridor when three uniformed men appear, weapons in hand.
“Chicago PD! Drop the weapon. Let go of the girl!”
Brody lifts his hands before slowly lowering the one that holds his gun. His posture is composed, even though he wobbles slightly on his injured leg as he moves to kneel. He allows the cops to cuff him up and blinks at me calmly.
I see one of the cops attending to the guard bleeding out on the floor and speaking to the radio attached to his shoulder for medics to send another gurney downstairs.
“Sir, I need you to let off the girl and get on the ground,” a cop closest to me barks, but all I can do is squeeze Claire’s body to me, scared out of my mind. What if this is the last time that I get to hold her?
“Do as the man says, Aidan. We’re going to straighten it all out while the medics help her, okay?” Brody’s voice is soft.
“Okay,” I whisper and drop a quick kiss to Claire’s temple before I lie her down.
As the cop presses me down and cuffs me, a group of paramedics arrives, one pair going straight for Claire.
“What happened?” The young doctor asks, looking around to find someone who will answer him, already opening his medical bag.
“She...” my voice is gruff, so I clear my throat. “I think she overdosed.”
“What did she take?”
“I, uh... No idea. The syringe is still in the room. I don’t know what was in it.”
“Alright. We’re going to take care of her,” I’m informed as the man waves for the other paramedic to bring the gurney before they strap her in.
I know there are more things happening around me like the cops telling me my rights. Brody says something to me about staying quiet until he can make some calls and everything straightens out. I know the bodyguard I shot is being attended to, and the doctors keep yelling something at each other.
But it feels miles away from me. All I see is Claire being wheeled away, a mask put on her beautiful face before she disappears from my life once again.
I want to weep and pray to God that she’ll be fine. I don’t even care that after breaking the parole and shooting a man, I will probably never see the daylight outside of bars ever again. I don’t care as long as she makes it.
I know how insufferable my world was without her in it. I can’t go through it.
I’m being dragged up violently before the cop pushes me further through the house until we come to the big, open, two-story living room. There’s more police just coming in, arresting people left and right. I notice a young FBI agent walk in and nod at Brody in a way so subtle that I wonder if I didn’t imagine it. A forensics crew comes in after him, and they start to tear the place down right away.
I’m being lined up next to the other men, and I see the one named Six throwing me a murderous glare. But I’m numb. Observing the things happening in front of me as if I were watching a movie play out.
One of the forensics comes out from the room to my left with a bag of white powder and waves the others to join him.
The brothers are not here, but I imagine that this will be the beginning of their downfall. I’m sure I have Brody to thank for that. And it doesn’t matter what they go down for; I will go down along with them as long as Claire is free and safe.