Page 72 of Michael's Awakening
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Michael
“Baby? Gabriel? Fuck!” I floored the gas pedal as I drove down the busy street, trying to get to him as fast as I could.
Right before the phone went dead, I’d heard him scream.
Panic gripped my chest as I tossed my phone to the side and drove like a mad man to the shopping pavilion.Please let me get to him in time,I pleaded in my head. I couldn’t lose him.
Life without him would be meaningless, an empty and cold existence.
He was my everything.
Tears stung my eyes as I raced to him, my chest constricting and twisting as I thought of what was being done to him at that exact moment. Honking my horn, I drove through a red light and almost collided with a truck, not caring about anything except for getting to Gabriel. Sirens sounded from behind me as I drove, but I didn’t stop.
Good, let the police follow me there.
Turning sharply into the parking lot behind the beauty salon, I gunned the engine before skidding to a halt, and opened my car door to get out. Three men stood over a huddled body on the ground.
Fuck.
Two of them ran off upon seeing me—and probably the blaring police cruiser not far behind me whose siren could be heard—but the largest of them stayed. Running at full speed, I ran up behind him and tackled him to the ground before he could lower the bat again to Gabriel. Rearing my arm back, I punched him in the face, and then grabbed his head, bashing it into the concrete, seeing red. My vision blurred as I repeatedly punched the worthless piece of shit that harmed my angel.
Sirens blared as the police cruiser finally pulled into the parking lot, and I stopped hitting the man. Tossing him away from me, I went to Gabriel and what I saw made me fall to my knees.
“Baby?” I sobbed as I pulled him against me. Blood poured from his head, staining his short blond hair, and coated the pink jacket he was wearing. His face was already black and blue and his lip was busted and bleeding. “Baby? Please open your eyes.”
I held him against me as tears streamed down my cheeks.
It was the first time I’d really cried since the last beating my mother had given me all those years ago. And this was worse than that… so much worse. It was a pain like I had never felt. Seeing Gabriel broken and bloodied shattered me.
A car door slammed, but I didn’t give a damn. The officer could just kiss my ass. Pulling back from my angel, I looked down at him and gently caressed his swollen face.
He whimpered and his eyes slowly opened to gaze up at me. One of them was almost swollen shut, but the other one didn’t look to have been damaged that badly.
“Angel, I’m going to pick you up now, okay?” I warned him, knowing it would hurt for him to move.
The officer approached me, but instead of being a dick and trying to arrest me for the countless laws I had just broken, he knelt down and examined Gabriel.
“I’ll help you lift him and put him in the car. It’ll be faster than trying to call an ambulance since the hospital is only a few blocks away.” He nodded at me and then we both put our arms under Gabriel to lift him.
Gabriel shuddered and whined against me and I died a little on the inside.
“I can carry him,” I said as I cradled Gabriel against my chest. “Just deal with that piece of shit over there.” I motioned to the unconscious man on the ground. “The other two fled when I pulled up.”
The officer nodded and walked over to the man. I averted my attention from them and focused on getting Gabriel the help he needed.
Laying him in the back seat, he seemed so fragile in my arms; his delicate frame shuddering as small whimpers escaped his slightly parted lips.
“Just hang on, baby.” I slid into the driver’s seat and drove to the hospital.
***
My leg bounced erratically as I sat in the waiting room of the hospital. Gabriel had been there for a while and I still hadn’t been able to see him. Putting my face in my hands, I rubbed my eyes and took a deep, calming breath.
He’d be okay; I had to believe that.
Hearing heavy footsteps, I anxiously looked up and shifted in my seat, hoping it was the doctor or a nurse. It was Zack, and Jackson was with him. I’d called him after I arrived at the hospital to let him know what happened to Gabriel.
