VALERIE

Fifty Six

Nick threw his body over Valerie's when the bullets pierced the air, he heard the small gasps escape her parted lips before he succumbed onto the floor on his knees with Valerie resting breathlessly on his chest with her face nuzzled deeply into his torso, she was holding onto his shirt so tightly that her knuckles began to turn white.

"It's okay." He whispered stroking the back of her hair with his hands, his fingers delicately running through the tangled yet silky strands.

Valerie's body violently jerked back and forth until he heard another desperate gasp. She was shaking.

"Now." He heard someone say, Nick looked around and squinted at the bright strobe of lights coming his way, almost like periscope vision.

Valerie coughed and before he knew it he was being torn away from her and tossed onto the damp concrete, his skin rubbed against it roughly especially when his face was being held down with a strong hand while another hand was putting his own in handcuffs. Nick's face was probably scratched up by now from the scratchy cement floor.

No one was shot. The incompetent rookie who shot missed severely.

Nick turned his head from the floor in an attempt to catch a glimpse of Valerie who was surrounded by two police officers, he couldn't even see her but his heart immediately broke when he heard her shriek. She was panicking and that was never good because it can potentially lead her into a catatonic state. He couldn't see anything but her long brown hair sprawled everywhere on the cement she was laying on.

The officer read Nick his rights, but he didn't even notice when the cop found the gun and extracted it from the front of his jeans, he was too fixated on Valerie's desperate screaming. She kept calling his name for help and he couldn't do anything but hear. He himself felt insane.

They were torturing her mentally.

Valerie had never been able to handle such confusing and excitable situations without losing her mind in the process, she was too frightened to the point where she needed someone, in this case Nick to be with her and calm her down.

And knowing that Nick felt helpless knowing he couldn't walk her through it. Even though Valerie needed him, Nick needed Valerie way more.

Before her, he believed his life had no meaning, he wasn't suicidal but death never scared him and it still didn't. What scared him was Valerie.

"Nick!" She cried out when paramedics were stabilizing her.

Still not being able to hear a thing, he shut his eyes when he stopped hearing her screams. He shut his eyes.

"I'm here." He whispered.

//

"Nick, someone managed to get you out."

The teenager looked at a detention officer who was opening the cell door.

Nick had been in there for almost 10 days after what had happened, he'd just been sitting around in his cell for those 10 days, unable to sleep or eat right.

He was just rotting away with his thoughts fixated on Valerie who was being charged with aggravated assault and battery managed to get out of it when they found out she was mentally ill.

Nick was being charged with an unauthorized possesion of a firearm, resistance and kidnapping since earlier that day Valerie's father reported her missing and since he was 18 and she was 17 he was being tried for a minimum of 10 years without parole.

But now someone managed to get him out?

After collecting all of his things an officer led Nick out into the court yard and out of the prison gates where a white Aston Martin DB5 was waiting.