Blind Side Of Love (36 page)

I let out a loud gasp when I heard a knock on my door. He covered my mouth with his hand just as I was about to scream for help.

“Becca, it’s Mason. Open up. I need to talk to you and I’m not leaving until I do!” he shouted from the other side of the door.

A golf ball sized lump formed in my throat just from hearing his voice and not knowing what Ashton was going to do. He bent down and whispered in my ear, now pointing the gun into my back. “I’m going to walk you to that door. Answer it and get rid of him. I will deal with him
after
we are done having our fun.”

The tears were now streaming down my face. I was useless to do anything. All I kept thinking about was my baby. I had to keep him, or her, safe and if doing exactly what Ashton said to do was the only way, then so be it.

Mason

My head was pressed against Becca’s doorframe, waiting for her to answer. I was in shock when I heard the door knob finally turning and the door slowly opening. She didn’t look herself; her eyes were filled with tears and her hands were trembling. “Mason, I’m really tired. Can….can it wait?” Her eyes widened. Something was definitely wrong. Lilly didn’t bark like she normally would when she heard me knocking.

“Becca, what’s going on?”

She let out a loud gasp and shook her head. I immediately pushed my way in. I was speechless as I stared into Ashton Barrett’s glassy eyes. “Nice to see you again,
Drew
. I wondered what had happened to you and now I know.” He pressed the gun that he was holding further into Becca’s back while gripping tightly to her neck. “Now, if you are as smart as you think you are, you will hand over that gun that I know you have in your holster and put it right there on that table.”

“Ashton, let her go. This has nothing to do with her!”

“Put the fuckin’ gun on the table!” he shouted. I carefully reached for my gun and placed it on the table, never taking my eyes off Becca.

“There. Now let her go. This is between me and you.”

His eyes were dilated and his foot was nervously tapping up and down. I knew he was totally amped up on something, which was going to make reasoning with him even harder.

“No, Drew, Mason, or whatever the fuck your name is today. This does have to do with her. Because I happen to know that
she
is something you care about and what better way to get back at you for fucking up my life than to fuck up something in your life?”

“Ashton, you’re really going to sink that low? Taking your frustrations out on a blind, innocent girl?”

“If it will get back at what you took away from me, then I have no problem with that.”

“I didn’t take anything away from you, Ashton.”

“You stupid mother fucker! I have to work my ass off now just to afford the one bedroom condo that I’m living in. My parents were loaded and I was set for life and then
you
had to go and fuck everything up.”

I looked at Becca, trembling as he gripped her tighter. I needed to do something. I could see in his eyes that he was desperate and not caring about the repercussions of his actions. “Mason, is Lilly okay?” Becca cried.

“Shut the fuck up about that fuckin’ dog already! Do you want me to shoot it and put it out of its misery?” Ashton shouted.

“No!” Becca sobbed.

I looked over at Lilly lying on the floor. Her breathing was labored and I could tell she was in pain. “Don’t even fuckin’ think about it!” Ashton said through clenched teeth as I took a step forward to check on Lilly. I wished that Becca could see me so I could send her some kind of signal. She looked so helpless standing there. He lifted her hair up and moved his mouth to her ear. “Tell Drew how you begged me to fuck you that night.” I watched as she cringed at his words, feeling my own stomach churning in the process. She bit her bottom lip and held back a cry. “Tell him, Becca!” He gripped her tighter.

“No! I won’t!” she shouted.

I could see the fury building in his eyes and I knew that I had no choice but to make my move now as he moved the gun up to her head. He looked down at her for one brief second and I knew that was my chance. I lunged at him, knocking the gun out of his hand as Becca broke free from his grip. “Becca, find the door and get out of here!” I shouted. As I went to grab the gun from the floor I felt the weight of him on top of me, tackling me down to the ground. His fist met the side of my face but not before I gave him a good right hook. I looked up at Becca, who was standing there frozen in fear. “Becca, go!” I shouted again as Ashton struggled to get the gun from my hand. I gave him another swift punch in the face with my free hand, still keeping my eye on Becca who was still in the same spot, looking terrified. I just wanted her out of there in case the gun went off, but I could tell she was paralyzed in fear. I held tightly to the gun, getting in jabs, trying to get him off me. He got in one good punch, knocking the gun from my hand as he quickly scooped it off the floor. I looked up at the barrel of his gun and his piercing eyes, which were showing no mercy, immediately feeling the burn of the bullet ripping into my flesh.

“No!” Becca screamed. “Mason! Mason!” she shouted.

I wanted to answer her, but I couldn’t. It hurt to breathe and all I wanted to do was close my eyes, but I couldn’t yet. I couldn’t leave her again until I knew that both she and my baby were safe. I was going in and out of consciousness as I watched Ashton inching toward her. I willed myself to find the strength to grab my gun. I painfully reached up on the table just as he cocked the trigger and aimed it at Becca. The last ounce of strength that I had was exhausted as I shot off two rounds, and watched Ashton fall to the ground. She was safe now….. I could finally close my eyes.

“Mason! Mason!” I could hear Becca’s faint screams.

She looked so beautiful as we danced under the star filled sky.

“That moon is beautiful tonight.”

“Yeah, it is.”

“I prefer half-moons, though.”

“And why is that?”

“There’s just something about it, you know… kind of like it’s looking for its other half to make it whole, but still beautiful just the same.”

Her beautiful eyes flashed in front of me. You’re safe, Becca; that’s all that matters. That’s all that ever mattered.

“Mason!” Becca cried.

I was just too tired. I couldn’t fight it anymore. Becca was safe and this time I was able to make sure of it before I left her. “I love you, Becca,” I whispered, not knowing if my words were even audible, but hoping that this time she heard them loud and clear. A sense of calmness overtook me as I finally gave in to the darkness.

Becca

“Mason! Please answer me!” I crawled around on the floor and followed his labored breathing. “No, no, no!” I cried as I moved my hand down his body, feeling the warm liquid seeping from his shoulder. “Somebody help me!” I screamed. “Mason, hang on, Baby. Please hang on! I’m going to get you help.”

I was so turned around that I didn’t know where to begin to look for the door. I moved over to the wall and felt around until I finally located the door knob and ran out into the hallway. “Somebody please!” I shouted at the top of my lungs just as I heard footsteps and Linda and Steve’s voices coming up the stairs. “Help me!” I screamed once again.

“Oh my God, Becca!” Linda exclaimed. I could hear the panic in her voice.

“Becca! What’s going on? You’re covered in blood,” Steve said.

I shook my head, trying my hardest to get the words out. “Call nine one one. Mason….” I broke down in tears and felt Linda’s arms around me while Steve rattled off the address to the person on the other end of the phone. 

I was sobbing uncontrollably as Linda did her best to calm me down. “It’s okay, Sweetie. The ambulance is on their way. Steve has EMT experience. He’s with him now.” I could feel my entire body trembling. I moved my shaking hands down to my belly and all I could think about was our baby. Mason couldn’t leave me again. He couldn’t. I needed him too much and so did our baby.

“Becca, what happened?” Linda asked.

I tried my best to speak, but my sobs wouldn’t allow it. I took a deep breath, hoping that the sounds that I heard coming off the elevator were the paramedics.

“Right in there!” Linda shouted. I stood there, feeling so helpless. I wanted to go to him. I wanted to tell him that he had to pull through this. Linda grabbed my hand and led me into her apartment, guiding me over to the couch. “Just sit down and try and calm down. The ambulance is here and so are the police.”

“He can’t die on me, Linda. He can’t.” I broke down completely.

She pushed my hair from my face and I rested my head on her shoulder. “Just calm down and breathe, Becca.”

I jumped when I heard a knock on the door. “Come in,” Linda shouted.

“Hi, I’m Detective Reynolds. Are you Miss Keeton?”  I tried my best to focus on the gruff male voice that was coming closer to me.

“My dog? Where’s my dog?”

“She’s fine. I’ll give you the information of the vet that they took her to. The EMT that tended to her seems to think she may have a broken rib, but that’s it,” Detective Reynolds said. I nodded and swallowed hard. “Miss Keeton, I’m going to need you to tell me exactly what happened. Do you think you can do that right now?”

I nodded. Linda placed a tissue in my hand and I wiped away my tears. “Detective Reynolds, she’s blind,” Linda interjected.

“Okay. Just please explain to me what happened.” The sound of police radios and voices filled the hallway as I took a deep breath and pulled it together, recounting every last detail as well as giving him the history that Mason had with Ashton Barrett. “Is Mason going to be okay?” I asked.

“I’m not aware of his medical condition. He’s at the hospital now, so he’s at the best possible place he could be,” Detective Reynolds said, trying to put my mind at ease but failing miserably. 

“This can’t be happening. It just can’t!” I cried.

“Shh…” Linda consoled me, rubbing gentle circles on my back.

“Becca!” I lifted my head at the sound of Liz’s voice and began to cry even harder.

She took a seat on the other side of me and wrapped her arms around me. “Liz, don’t let him leave me again. Please tell him that he can’t. I love him. I love him so much and I never got to tell him.”

“Mason won’t go down without a fight; especially when he knows he’s got you and the baby to wake up to.” I moved my head from her shoulder and looked up in confusion. “I saw the prenatal vitamins on your table yesterday and all of your paperwork from your doctor and I kind of told Mason today. I’m sorry, but he had to make a decision about that promotion and I thought that maybe that was the push that he needed. That’s why he came to see you. He was so happy, Becca.”

I buried my face in my hands and began to sob uncontrollably. I had lost him once and lost my sight. I knew if I lost him this time so much more was at stake. I closed my eyes, hoping that this baby was enough to give him the will to pull through this.