Page 70 of Rival Desires

The gun went off again, but I didn’t worry about where the bullet went. As long as it wasn’t heading in Cory’s direction.

“You bitch!” Becky snarled, reaching for me. But I was ready for her. I grabbed her wrist, holding her at bay.

We struggled for a minute before I twisted her arm behind her back, tightening my grip until the gun fell to the floor. Ignoring the litany of filth pouring from her mouth, I used the leverage to force her to the floor and jammed my knee in her back.

“Let me go, you bitch! He’s mine! You can’t have him!”

When she turned her head and tried to bite me, I reacted on instinct and slammed her head into the floor. Her body went limp, and I might’ve felt guilty about it if I hadn’t realized that Cory was still lying on the floor, not moving, not making a sound.

“Cory!” I hurried over to him, fear turning my blood to ice.

The floor beneath Cory was turning a gruesome shade of crimson, and I felt the wetness seeping through my pants as I crouched down beside him. My eyes started to sting as I gently rolled him onto his back. His shirt was drenched in blood - way too much for my liking. I could feel my chest tightening as I frantically tried to locate the source of the bleeding. And when I finally spotted the gaping hole in his shoulder, I quickly pressed my hands against it, leaning in closer to his face.

“Hey, buddy, getting shot doesn’t give you a free pass to skip out on our chat,” I whispered, putting on a brave face. “We’ve got some serious unfinished business to settle, and this is not how this story ends.”

Before I could continue my one-sided conversation, a loud shout echoed from the hallway.

“Police!”

“Come in!” I hollered, tears streaming down my face. “Please, just get in here!”

“Is anyone armed?”

“No, the gun is on the floor, and someone’s shot, so hurry up and get in here.”

The door burst open before I could finish my sentence. Cops rushed in, guns drawn, and the room erupted into chaos. One of them had to physically pull me away from Cory, promising that medics were there and they’d get him to a hospital. My hands trembled as the officer knelt before me, his eyes filled with concern.

“Ma’am, are you okay? Are you hurt?” He squeezed my hands, trying to get my attention. “Ma’am?” The voice jolted me back to reality.

“I’m okay,” I told the cop, my gaze fixed on Cory. “But is he gonna be okay?”

“We’ll take care of him,” the cop replied, gesturing towards the door. “You need to get checked out, too.”

“No, I’m fine,” I said, waving him off. “This blood isn’t mine. Well, except for maybe a few drops on my knuckles from when I decked Becky and some scratches from our scuffle, but I’m not the one who got shot.”

The cop raised an eyebrow. “I’m gonna need you to slow down a bit.”

My eyes followed Cory as they wheeled him out on a stretcher, an oxygen mask over his face.

“Alright, let’s take a seat,” the cop suggested, guiding me to a table nearby.

I trailed after the cop, doing my best to avoid the splotches on the floor. There was the massive puddle where Cory had gone down and the scattered droplets from Becky’s bloody nose. I secretly hoped I’d broken her schnoz. The thought was harsh, but she’d been acting like a complete lunatic, and it was obvious she was dealing with some heavy-duty mental health stuff. Still, it wasn’t her crazy rants or her unhealthy fixation on Cory that pushed me over the edge. No, it was the fact she’d hurt him. Badly.

“Let’s kick this off with the simple stuff,” the officer said, pulling out a notepad from his pocket. “Name, please?”

Spilling the beans about what went down came naturally, mostly thanks to the cop’s no-nonsense questions. It still hurt to go over the whole mess again, especially that god-awful moment when Cory took a bullet on my behalf. But somehow, Officer Truham’s unflappable cool helped me keep my shit together.

And before I knew it, we were wrapping up.

“It looks like that’s it for now,” Officer Truham said, tucking away his notepad. “We’ll give you a call if we need anything else.”

I nodded, my hands pressing into the table as I pushed myself up. But then I saw the dried blood caked on my skin, and my heart started racing. It was like I couldn’t catch my breath.

“You can use the bathroom to clean up,” Officer Truham offered.

“Right. Thanks.” I nodded again, but I couldn’t seem to move.

“You still need to get checked out, so I’ll take you to the hospital when you’re ready to go.”

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