Page 133 of Committed to You

“I do!”

“You need to trust me, then. You don’t trust me. Maybe I should go until you do?” I turn to leave.

She grabs my arm. “No. I trust you.”

I pause.

“Please, Chase,” she whispers.

I loathe myself so much right now. She’s sick and obsessed with me, and I’m lying and playing her.

I need to get the gun.

“Okay, baby. Give me the gun so you can strip for me the way I like it.” I hold my hand out to her, and she is pressing the gun into it when the door flies open.

“Drop your weapon and get on the ground.”

My back is to the door, so I can’t see what’s happening, but Meredith’s eyes widen, and she and I both try to grasp the gun.

I’m trying to wrestle it out of her hand when it goes off. Pain shoots through my arm, and I let go and step back.

More gunshots are fired. Meredith drops the gun, and her hand is bleeding. When the weapon hits the floor, it fires, and another blast rings through the air.

I drop to the floor and see Meredith screaming, men in black jackets, and Royce, all rushing toward me. Things start to spin, and I’m quickly covered in a river of crimson blood.

Chaos follows. Meredith is being dragged away. People are talking to me, but I can’t comprehend what they are saying. Vivian’s face is battered and full of tears that are dripping on me. Noah is pressing his hands against my flesh and yelling.

Suddenly, I’m floating past Vivian and Noah’s faces. Color starts to fades and blinding light takes over my vision. A calm yet radiant energy fills me, and I no longer feel any pain.

I must be dying. “I love you, Vivian,” I whisper as everything turns completely white.

31

Vivian

There is so much chaos.Noah grabs a towel and holds Chase’s stomach. Blood is seeping out of him everywhere. Noah yells at Royce to hold his arm tighter, and I realize Royce is doing the same thing as Noah but to Chase’s arm.

“Chase, don’t leave me,” I tell him, stroking his face.

His eyes glaze over.

“Chase!” I cry out and slap his face gently.

“I love you, Vivian,” he whispers and shuts his eyes.

“No!” I scream, slapping his face harder.

An officer pulls me off him, and the paramedics arrive. He is quickly loaded into the ambulance, and Noah and I pile in with him.

The hospital is a good twenty minutes away, and I cry into Noah’s arms the entire ride.

When we arrive at the hospital, they take him directly back to surgery.

“Vivian, you need to get your face looked at,” Noah gently insists.

“Not until Chase is out of surgery.”

Noah places his hands on my shoulders. “It’s going to be a while. Come with me. They will come get us if needed.”

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