Second Chances (25 page)

The paramedics arrived soon after. Karina had been checked over, her feet bandaged. They suggested she be taken to Emergency for further treatment but she refused. Brian had been checked over but was fine. The officers and Brian wanted her to go the station and wait. She refused. She wanted to see Ian caught with her own eyes. She
needed
to know that their ordeal was over. Without that, she couldn't imagine moving forward with her life

Two officers had gone back into Brian's house. Another had gone over to the Sorenson's house. The older couple had been on their way to their daughter's house for dinner and once they heard the news, they decided to make it an overnight stay.

Officer Markham had kindly shared his thermos of coffee with Karina while she rested inside the cruiser. She continued to turn down offers of a return to the station, even when they included the promise of food.

The mention of dinner had sent her into a depressed slump. Dinner should have been fresh barbequed steaks followed by luscious, chocolate-dipped strawberries for dessert. God, she didn't think she'd be able to ever look at a strawberry again without hearing Ian's voice criticizing the 'wussy' fruit.

She'd had such big plans for tonight.

Another yawn escaped. Karina realized she was going to have to move and soon. She sat up and peered out into the night. Flashlights flickered in the distance, like a group of large fireflies, and the sound of barking dogs filled her ears, but there were no people nearby.

"Brian, I'm really going to have to find a bathroom soon." She considered the bushes close to the car. The police had thrashed them thoroughly, so they should be safe. She really didn't want to go back into the house and no one was around to drive her anywhere where there might be a washroom.

Brian opened the door and helped her out.

"What about the bushes here? Do you think they'd be okay?" By now, she was getting desperate. She wouldn't be able to hold on much longer.

Brian nodded and walked around the car with her.

"I'll stand right here. Just be quick or I'll come looking."

"I'll be quick. Please, stay here.
Right
here." She waited for his promise before hobbling around behind the bushes. She was done in a matter of minutes, and she stood up, ready to head back to the car, when she heard a noise. Fear spun her around, and she frantically searched the dark. She couldn't see anything, but the hairs on the back on her neck stood up.

"Brian?"

There was answer. She hurried back to the car. Brian was slumped unmoving on the ground.

"Brian!" Panicked, Karina ran her hands over him. His chest rose and fell, which meant he was still alive.
Thank God.
It was too dark to see much else, so she couldn't be sure of the extent of his injuries. He let out a horrible groan.

"Shh. It's okay, just lie there quietly for a minute." She stood up, looking for flashlight beacons in the dark. There were several small groups of lights, but they were all off in the distance.

"Hello! Officer Markham! Can you hear me?" She yelled. "Anyone? Help!"

There was no response—at least not from him, or any of the other officers.

"I can hear you, Karina."

Karina spun around and froze in shock and horror. Ian stood behind her.

In the moonlight, he looked positively horrifying. His battered face was swollen from the repeated blows. Blood had dripped down his face from a cut on his forehead. Scratches covered one cheek. His eyes were the worst. Cold, empty pits, echoing the madness within, glared at her.

She trembled. Dear God, this couldn't be happening.

"What did you do to Brian?" she demanded.

He gave her something that she supposed was some sort of twisted smile. He'd obviously been scrambling through the brush at some point, because leaves and dirt clung to him and his hair was matted and filthy. Karina's heart thumped in her chest. Only moments ago, she'd been content knowing that soon Ian would be caught and her nightmare would be over. Instead, she now stood protectively over Brian and faced her biggest nightmare.

The police were close but not close enough.

Summoning her wits and every remaining ounce of strength she possessed, she tried for reason. "Ian. Let me get help for Brian, please?"

"If I wanted him well, I wouldn't have hit him in the first place." He snorted in disgust. "Besides, that was just a start. I still owe him a few." He gave a mocking laugh that chilled her.

Karina couldn't leave Brian, and neither could she fight Ian off. Why were there never any good choices when you needed them?

Had the police heard her yell? Not likely, as they would have investigated by now. Dogs! The police might not have heard her but what about the dogs? Should she shriek for them? She could probably get one good scream out before he was on her. Alternatively, she could whistle, not too well, but enough to get the dogs' attention. It was a skill the twins had delighted in teaching her.

Turns out, she didn't get the chance.

While she stood there trying to come up with a plan, Ian jumped her. He wrenched her arm backward painfully, twisting her facedown over the front hood of the car.

"Stupid bitch!" he spat in her face. "The cops are too far away to help you. So shut the hell up."

Broken whimpers escaped her throat as he twisted her arm higher, pressing her face against the cold metal.

The hold loosened slightly as he leaned around her.

Karina knew it was now or never. While he was still bent down, she lashed out with her right foot, catching him in the temple. Panicked, she barely registered the pain. The barefoot kick wasn't hard enough to knock him down, but it was enough to loosen his grip.

Instantly she bolted, racing toward the men searching the night, screaming as loudly as she could. She ran on, deaf to the men yelling and the dogs barking, and unaware of the night sky brightening with moonlight. She ran, blind, until her world exploded in a flash of pain. The ground raced up to meet her just as something heavy plowed into her back. Blows rained down on her head.

Her body writhed in agony as pain overtook her world. She screamed once, a sound full of fury and disbelief.

Barely aware of her surroundings, the loud crack of gunfire echoed in her ears, followed by men's shouts and then Brian's voice.

Then she couldn't hear anything.

***

Brian stood by, watching helplessly as the paramedics loaded Karina into the ambulance. She'd roused briefly, confused by the cacophony of sounds, sirens. He'd tried to calm her down, tried to explain what was happening to her, but she merely stared at him briefly, her eyes full of confusion, before blacking out once again. He needed to be with her, to make sure he was by her side when she woke again.

But first, he had to walk through his house with Officer Markham. His head was pounding but that did nothing to dull the anger and helplessness ripping through him.

After the ambulance pulled away, he led the way back to the house. The house told its own story, one that the men walking through could only attempt to repeat, not knowing for certain which parts involved Karina. Half-finished sandwiches sat haphazardly on the table with cold, half-full cups of tea. Puddles of yet more tea pooled on the tabletop. Dishes, food, cutlery and many other broken and smashed items littered the floor. In stark contrast, a full gleaming tray of chocolate-dipped strawberries sat untouched on the counter.

"Wasn't Karina crying something about strawberries?" Brian asked Markham.

"Something about strawberries and letters, I think. It was hard to make any sense out of it. You can ask her about it when she wakes up."

Brian's face turned stony at the stark reminder that Karina was unconscious and headed for surgery. Ian had stabbed her twice, but thankfully only one stab wound was serious.

Officer Markham left the room to search the grounds, looking for clues as to what had happened. How had Ian returned, and where had he hidden while waiting to pounce on him and Karina? They still didn't have a clear understanding of what had happened. But somehow that wasn't important to Brian. The longer he stared at the chaos in his kitchen, the more he was reminded that Karina had been caught in the middle of this nightmare.

His fist slammed into the table. Frustration and anger rolled off his shoulders. Dear God, why hadn't he been there? She'd been in danger and he hadn't been there to save her. The need to smash something vied with the need to hold her close. But neither was a reasonable option right now.

Even outside, when they thought they were safe tonight, he hadn't been any use to her. She'd had to fight off Ian a second time. All he remembered was standing guard near the bushes, waiting for her to relieve herself. After that, there was only pain and bright lights that were quickly followed by blackness. Her screams had snapped him back to consciousness.

Fear and horror had consumed him as he'd watched the knife fall, the moonlight gleaming on the long blade. Only he'd been too far away to stop it. Just close enough to watch, terrified and helpless, as the woman he loved collapsed.

Gunshots had finally dropped Ian right beside Karina, but not fast enough to save her from harm. And they hadn't killed him. They'd only wounded him in the shoulder and the leg. Not enough to even cripple the man.

As Brian stared around his kitchen at the damage that Ian had inflicted, he was damn sorry the police hadn't finished the job. Maybe in a few years when the pain and the memory dimmed, he'd find the grace to be grateful that Ian's life was spared. But right now, he wanted to kill the man himself.

It was late, he was tired and his kitchen could remain the way it was until tomorrow. He needed to get back to the hospital to see for himself that Karina was going to be okay.

He left the police to do what they needed to do. His arrival at the hospital coincided with an orderly wheeling Karina into surgery.

Brian was horrified to see her beautiful face lying slack, leached of all color. This was not the sleep of a normal person—this was something else again.

Panicked, he looked around for someone to ask. "Nurse? Nurse!" he called out blindly. He spotted a woman in pale-green scrubs walking down the hall towards him and raced over to her. "What's wrong with Karina? What's happened to her? She doesn't look normal."

Gently, the nurse laid a hand on his arm. "Karina is fine. They're taking her into surgery. She did regain consciousness, at least long enough to answer a few questions."

The nurse led him quietly down the hall. Before he realized it, he was sitting down in the emergency room.

"She's going to be fine, but I want someone to take a look at your head. Can you tell me your name?"

"My head's fine. Ouch!" He turned to glare at the nurse as she poked and prodded close to his injury. "And it's Brian. Brian Saunders."

"Well, Brian, you need stitches. Wait here and I'll bring the doctor in."

Brian scowled furiously.

The nurse ignored him, not even attempting to hide her wide smile.

There was no way Brian was going to sit here in the ER. He hopped off the bed determined to go find Karina but he wasn't fast enough.

"Just where do you think you're going, sir? Just sit back down and let's take care of your head."

"It's Karina that needs looking after—not me," Brian answered, exasperated.

The young male doctor grinned at him cheerfully. "Then think about her. How's she going to feel when she wakes up and sees you covered in blood like this?"

Hell, he was right. Brian sat back down.

The same nurse came back over to clean up his head. She smiled, giving him a pat on the cheek. "I knew if he mentioned your girlfriend we'd get your cooperation."

His frown held no heat; she was right after all. He would do anything to avoid upsetting Karina.

"Your face is going to upset her already without adding any more shocks."

Startled, he looked up at her. "What do you mean?"

She picked up a small mirror and held it up in front of him. "That's what I mean."

Surely that wasn't him? Dear God, he was the stuff nightmares were made of, with puffy, swollen cheeks and black eyes all liberally dotted with flecks of dried blood.

"Just think, I've already washed most of it off. Let's finish this then go see how Karina is doing."

Unfortunately, by the time they were done, Karina still wasn't out of surgery so the nurse had to take him down to the waiting room instead.

She said, "Now, get a cup of coffee and let the doctors do their job." The nurse returned to her station.

With a fresh cup of coffee warming his stomach, he finally called Mark, who promised to be at the hospital in moments, and then Susan. Susan burst into tears on hearing the news and handed the phone over to Paul. Brian quickly sketched out the evening's events and Paul promised he'd bring Susan to see Karina in the morning.