The news of Victoria’s death hit me like a punch to the gut, but there was no time to process it. Rachel had been found, half-dead on a dark road, barely clinging to life. Now, she was here in the hospital, and I could hardly breathe as I waited for the doctors to tell me if she’d pull through.
When I arrived, they were already working on her. I paced outside the emergency room, my heart racing, helpless as I imagined Rachel alone, bleeding, struggling. I couldn’t shake the image of her, staggering along some empty road, searching desperately for someone to help her. And then, thank God, that man had seen her.
He must have been horrified Rachel, dragging herself along the road, her hand bleeding, her body slumped from exhaustion and pain. I imagined him pulling over in shock, getting out of his car, reaching for her as she collapsed in his arms. He’d managed to get her here in time, but it was too close. I couldn’t stop wondering how she’d survived how she’d made it that far with everything she’d been through.
Finally, the doctor came out, his expression serious but not without a trace of relief. “She’s stable for now,” he told me, and I felt my knees go weak. I held onto the wall, letting the words sink in.
“She lost a lot of blood, and the wound to her arm was severe, but it missed the major arteries,” he explained, and I nodded, barely able to comprehend. “She’s going to need time to heal, both physically and mentally.”
When I finally walked into Rachel’s room, the sight of her made my heart ache. She lay there, pale, her face turned to one side, bandages covering her arm. She looked so small, so fragile, like someone I barely recognized.
As I sat beside her, her eyes fluttered open, and she looked at me with a weak, hollow gaze. I tried to muster a reassuring smile, but the pain in her eyes was unbearable.
“Emma…” Her voice was a faint whisper. “He… he killed her. Victoria… she… she tried to save me.”
I felt a chill run through me. “Rachel, what happened?” I asked, leaning closer, feeling my heart break with each word.
She swallowed, her eyes filling with tears. “Victoria… she stood in front of me. She wouldn’t let him do it. She tried to protect me… but he shot her, Emma. He shot her, and she fell… and I… I had to get away.”
I reached out and took her hand, feeling her fingers tremble. My mind raced with the shock of it all. Victoria had sacrificed herself for Rachel? I couldn’t comprehend it.
“I tried to… make it to the road,” she continued, her voice breaking. “I thought I was going to die out there, Emma. I thought I’d bleed to death. I don’t even know how I got there… I just kept crawling… hoping someone would see me.”
My heart twisted at the thought of her alone, dragging herself inch by inch toward the road. I squeezed her hand tighter, feeling a surge of anger and sorrow. Mr. Blackwood-he was the one behind this, and he was still out there.
“You’re safe now, Rachel,” I said, my voice filled with emotion. “He’s not going to hurt you again.”