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.While me and Reid were good for fighting, Ben only knew how to work with words.If anybody wanted to get to Ben, that was the way to do it.“Where’s the boys at?”“Yuri and Polo are moving the knocker from the basement.”It hit me then, and suddenly I was reminded of the first time I went on a rollercoaster.It was one of those old wooden coasters, and I threw up all over myself and everything else before the cart even launched down the first track.The operator didn’t stop the ride, though, and when it went faster my stomach bottomed out, making me get sick again and again when the spirals came.’Til now, I thought that was pretty much the worst feeling of my life: hurtin’ and hurtin’ worse with every second and not being able to do nothing about it.This was kinda the same thing but worse.My stomach tried to leave my body, and just like the rollercoaster, this was a ride I had signed up for—this mess was my own fault.At least, though, I wouldn’t be helpless.I glanced at Reid, who was under one of the hoods of the SUVs, and Ben, who’d gone back to his electronic paperwork.In my head, I was relieved what Yuri said in the hall and how Ben felt about loose ends, how—everybody was accounted for but Wallace.I ran inside before they could stop me, but I didn’t see nothing; all I heard were these little gasping noises, like wet rasping sounds, and I knew how bad it must be.But it still didn’t work out in my mind for what I did see when I got to the kitchen, how Wallace had his ’roid rage hands around her neck, and her eyes were shut tight.Maybe it was ’cause of my own anger, or maybe it was from the surprise, but it was real easy to grab him from behind and throw him to the ground.And then I was just punching and punching and punching…Chapter 6I told her I wasn’t gonna let nobody hurt her.I told her it was gonna be okay.I hadn’t meant to lie so bad.There was all kinds of blood between my knuckles and on that punk’s face, but I still didn’t stop.I think Reid came to the archway but left again and came back with the rest of ’em, but I only knew that ’cause Yuri and Big Mouth each took one of my arms to get me off of him.The Red wasn’t letting me be done yet, though.My legs were stomping in the air, and though we wasn’t moving, I hit ’em as hard as I could a couple of times in the shins before they got me outta there.On the way out, though, I got a glimpse of Addie.Her eyes were still closed, but her head was cocked off to the side at a weird angle.She was paler than I had ever seen her, and I couldn’t figure out why until I saw the red stuff in her hair.If there wasn’t so much blood, then I mighta thought she was just asleep.***When the fellas saw what I was looking at, they let me go, both of them with their mouths open like they were just coming to terms with the crap we were knee-deep in.I didn’t think ’bout any of that, though.All I knew right then was that she was so still and quiet, even though I was crouched down next to her tapping her hand with mine, beggin’ her to wake up, that I panicked immediately.“Come on, beautiful, wake up,” I tried.“You gotta wake up for me, okay?”Ben came in then, but I only knew that ’cause I could hear his voice.“Oh dear…”I still wouldn’t take my eyes off her, feeling superstitious that if I did, I’d miss her waking up.I untied her again.This time, it was real hard ’cause my hands were shaking so bad.It felt like it took forever to do, but once I did, I held her in my arms, hating the fact that she wasn’t moving and that her head was bleeding so bad, hating myself for leaving her alone… hating the guys… hating everything but her…“Is she dead?” It was Yuri’s voice this time, and I wanted to answer him, but my throat was too swelled up to let me.I didn’t have the words.Of course Captain Oblivious had to come bouncing in then, as retarded as ever, but at least Reid was smart enough to hold out his arm and keep him back.“Oh man! I missed it again?”Ignoring all of ’em, I picked her up like she was a fragile package and left the fellas behind to whisper amongst themselves.There wasn’t a whole lot left to the downstairs, but there was a sofa kinda thing that looked like it had been cut in half with a chainsaw.I laid her on there as gentle as I could, kneeling beside her, so that I didn’t have to go so far.“Damn it!” Reid yelled.“Son of a bitch!” I heard the sound of things getting kicked over.“What in the hell are we going to do now?”Ben shushed him, but I could still hear ’em all whispering and had to cover my ears to keep them out.I hadn’t meant for her to get all hurt like that, but now that she had, it was all that I could think ’bout if there was a God, I prayed for her to be okay, for nothin’ to be wrong with her that couldn’t be fixed.I knew it was too much to ask that she might forgive me someday.“Charlie Boy.”I knew Ben was in the room when I felt his hand on my shoulder.But then I realized that Yuri and Polo were with him and from the way they were standing that they had some kinda plan.“She alive, Charlie?” Yuri lit up a smoke and handed it to Reid.I was too afraid touch her neck, too yellow-bellied to look for a pulse, so instead I made myself look at her stomach, at the way it was rising and falling… but just barely.“Yeah,” I croaked out.“She’s alive.”“Damn it!” The second Reid said it, though, I heard Yuri smack him upside the head.“Charlie,” Ben started, “why don’t you go ahead and get cleaned up before we go? I think we can handle the rest of this—”“I ain’t gonna leave her again.”And it was true.I wasn’t.“Charlie,” Yuri said, “she probably won’t make it.”“M—maybe we should take her to a hospital.”Ben sighed, and I guess maybe I couldn’t blame him.Even I knew a hospital or one of those urgent care places was out of the question.Hell, even animal doctors were covered with cameras and swarmed with security alarms.“You know we can’t do that, Polo.We can’t take her anywhere
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