“You sick son of a bitch,” Isabella growled, her eyes never leaving Cindy. One by one Jakob was taking everyone she cared about. “Are you mentally deficient? Does that make you feel like a big man? Shooting an innocent woman?”
“Innocent,” Jakob snorted. “She was trying to keep us apart, baby. The bitch had to die.” He pointed the gun at Randy now. Isabella saw this and stepped in front of Randy.
“Don’t you even think about it,” she said.
“Get out of the way, baby,” he demanded.
“Or what Jakob,” Isabella demanded. “You gonna shoot me?”
“GET OUT OF THE WAY,” Jakob yelled.
“Go on Jakob,” Isabella said calmly. “Shoot me.”
“Isabella,” Randy said, his head still foggy. “What are you doing?”
“I SAID GET THE FUCK OUT OF THE WAY,” Jakob screamed.
“AND I SAID SHOOT ME,” Isabella screeched. “What’s the matter, Jakob? Don’t have the balls? You can shoot total strangers, but not the woman you claim to love? SHOOT ME!”
“SHUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTH,” Jakob yelled. “YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN THE FUCK TO SHUT UP!” As he spoke he gestured with the gun. “YOU’RE MORE TROUBLE THAN YOU’RE WORTH!” With the gesture for those words he squeezed the trigger involuntarily.
“Isabella,” Randy yelled, eyes going wide. He lunged, shoving her out of the way. She fell to the ground next to Cindy. The bullet hit Randy in the shoulder, the arm going numb nearly instantly.
“She’s mine motherfucker,” Jakob said inching forward to tower over Randy. “You can’t have her!”
“She doesn’t want you,” Randy spat, groaning at the pain in his shoulder. “You’re a crazy son of a bitch.”
Jakob pressed the gun into Randy’s temple. “Say that to me again, boy,” he growled. “Go on. Be a big man.”
“Jakob,” Isabella yelled getting to her feet. She grabbed his hand pulling the gun away from Randy. “If I agree to go with you will you stop this craziness?”
His jade green eyes lit up when she asked the question. “All I need is you, baby,” he said, reaching out to caress her face with his free hand.
It turned her stomach to do it, but she leaned into his touch. “I’ve been lost, Jakob,” she said, hating herself for saying these words. “I should have never left you. You’re the only man I need.” She reached out and pulled his arm around her waist.
“Isabella,” Randy said. “What are you doing?”
She turned her gaze on him, her hazel eyes full of sadness. “Saving your life,” she said softly. “Cindy is still alive, but just barely. Make sure she gets help.” She turned back to Jakob. “I’m ready to go with you.”
Jakob smiled. “I knew you’d see things my way,” he said.
“First, I need you to do something for me,” Isabella said softly.
“Anything,” he replied.
“I need you to give me the gun,” she said, hoping he’d do as she asked. He looked down at the revolver in his hand. “It’s the only way I’ll come with you.” Reluctantly he handed over the revolver. “Thank you, Jakob,” she said taking the gun.
“Now we can be happy like we used to be, baby,” he said, pulling her close to him and crushing his lips to hers.
Tears streamed down her cheeks as she allowed him to deepen the kiss. She broke the kiss before things could go any further and before Jakob could do anything squeezed the trigger twice. Jakob’s eyes grew wide as the bullets penetrated his stomach, tearing through his organs. He stumbled back, looking down at the large hole in his gut. The blood poured from the wound.
She dropped to her knees, sobbing. For a moment Randy thought that Jakob had shot her. He then saw the wounded man fall flat on his back, sputtering. Getting to his feet he went to Isabella’s side, taking the gun from her and tossing it aside.
“Isabella,” he said softly. “Are you all right?”
“It’s over,” she sobbed. “It’s finally over.”
The shrill sound of sirens could be heard in the distance. Randy looked in the direction the sound came from. The sound was getting closer to them and he hoped that there was an ambulance in that parade of sirens. Cindy wasn’t looking good.
“Izzy,” they heard as car doors slammed.
Isabella turned her eyes toward the owner of the voice and was relieved to see Kennedy running toward them. His arm was bandaged, but she could see the blood seeping through the gauze. Cena was close behind him.
Kennedy stopped when he saw Jakob’s lifeless body. His eyes then trailed to Cindy. “Cindy,” he exclaimed going to his fallen girlfriend. “Oh God no.” He pulled her limp body into his arms. “Baby. Baby, no.”
Moments later the police cars pulled into the parking lot. An ambulance was indeed with them and the EMTs went to work on Cindy. Cena managed to get Kennedy away from her so that they could do their jobs.
Randy was looked over before being questioned by the police. Isabella, though she was still in shock, was questioned as well. Jakob’s body was taken away, but the death had to be investigated.
“Mr. Kennedy,” one of the EMTs said as Cindy was being loaded into the ambulance. “Miss Hardy is being taken to the hospital. She needs surgery.”
“Can I ride with her,” Kennedy asked. The EMT nodded. Kennedy turned his attention to where Randy sat with Isabella, his shoulder heavily packed with gauze. He too needed to go to the hospital, but he refused to go anywhere until he knew that Isabella was all right. “Izzy,” Kennedy said softly. “I’m going to the hospital with Cindy.” She stared at him blankly.
“We’ll make sure she gets there,” Cena said. Randy nodded. With a sad sigh Kennedy followed the EMT to the ambulance, climbing in the back to be with Cindy.
He sat down next to her and took her hand. “Cinder, you gotta hold on,” he said softly. “I need you, baby.” He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. He didn’t want to openly cry in front of the EMT. “You gotta hold on, baby, because…because I'm gonna ask you to be my wife.” He brought her limp hand up to his lips and kissed the back of it softly.
~*~
“Come on, Randy,” Cena said helping the younger man up. “You need to get that shoulder looked at.”
“What about…”
“I’ll keep an eye on Izzy,” Cena said. He helped her up as well. “Come on, honey. We’re going to meet Ken at the hospital.”
“Cindy,” she said softly. “Is she..”
“We don’t know yet,” Randy said slipping his uninjured arm around her. “She needs surgery.”
She turned her gaze to him, her eyes blank of any emotion. “You’re hurt,” she said looking at the blood seeping through the gauze on his shoulder.
“I’ll be all right,” Randy said, though his shoulder hurt like a bitch.
“You took a bullet for me,” she said softly.
“Yeah, I did,” he replied.
“I took one too,” Cena said showing her his arm. A large gash went across his bicep. “Well…it just grazed me, but hurt like a motherfucker.”
Isabella didn’t say a word. She didn’t even chuckle at his words. She was still in shock. She was nearly catatonic from the whole ordeal. The three made it the car and Randy slid in the backseat with Isabella.
As Cena drove he glanced in the rear view mirror and saw Isabella lay her head on Randy’s good shoulder. Randy wrapped his arm around her, pulling her closer to him. Cena could see the silent tears streaming down her cheeks as Randy stroked her hair. Though he hated to admit it, Cena could see that Randy cared for Isabella.
It hurt to come to this decision, but he made a mental note to speak to Isabella about giving Randy a second chance. He had after all taken a bullet for her. He was satisfied that was proof enough that Randy had changed.
The three made their way into the hospital meeting up with Kennedy. “No word on Cindy,” he said pacing when he saw Cena, Randy and Isabella get off the elevator. “She’s been in there forever.” He sighed and slumped into a seat in the waiting area. “I hate hospitals.”
Randy took a seat and Isabella sat down next to him, leaning on him. This didn’t go unnoticed by Kennedy. He looked to Cena questioningly. Cena pointed to his shoulder signing that Randy had taken a bullet for Isabella. Kennedy nodded that he understood and sighed waiting for any word on Cindy.
“Ken,” Jeff called exited the elevator a few minutes later. “How’s Cindy?”
“No word yet,” Kennedy replied. “How’s Matt?”
“Concussion,” Jeff replied. “He’s being kept for observation.” He took a seat with the rest of them.
An eternity passed before a doctor came to the waiting area. Kennedy was up and practically pounced on the doctor for news. “Miss Hardy has been stabilized,” the doctor said. “She’s going to be fine. The bullet caused some damage to bones, but they’ve been repaired with pins and plates. She’s very lucky that no major organs were hit.”
“Can I see her,” Kennedy asked.
“She’ll be out from the anesthesia, but you can sit with her,” the doctor said.
“Go be with your girl,” Cena said to Kennedy. “We’ll get Izzy back to the hotel.” Kennedy nodded and headed toward Cindy’s room.
“Jeff, you take Izzy back to the hotel. I’m taking Randy to get his shoulder checked out.” Nodding Jeff took Isabella’s hand and led her away.
