Saving The Robin [The Avis Venators: Book 1]

VI

-Riley P.O.V-
"How's your arm?" I asked Maddie, as she came downstairs.
"It's fine, I didn't cut very deep," she replied.
"You shouldn't have cut at all, idiot," I muttered under my breath. "Hey, I thought of a pretty good solution."
"Oh yeah?" She said, sitting down next to me. She had a bandage wrapped around her arm, which had bled through slightly. I tried not to look at it.
"Watch this," I bragged, getting out Maddie's phone from my pocket. I clicked on the options for the stalker's number, then simply pressed the delete button.
"D-Did you just..." Maddie muttered, looking at me, the phone, then back again. I nodded, grinning.
"Simple, right?" I asked. Maddie's jaw was wide open, which made me laugh.
"I can't believe you just did that!"'she cried, laughing as well.
"Seriously, you're so stupid," I replied, locking her phone. Maddie rested her head on my shoulder, as her laughter died down.
"You realise he's gonna get another number, right?" She muttered. I hesitated slightly, then nodded.
"Yeah. But it felt good while it lasted, huh?" I said, sighing.
"We can just...stop reading them though, right?" Maddie questioned. I shook my head in return.
"No, I don't think we should. I mean, obviously this guy is crazy. And he sees us when we open his texts. If we stop looking at them, he'll get angry because we're not playing his game. Then I think he'll make us read them, in whatever way possible. That includes force," I explained.
"That's a smart way of thinking," Maddie replied. "Also, it would drive me insane if those texts were just there and I couldn't read them," she added.
"Well, reading the texts is making you crazy anyway, so it doesn't really matter."
I felt Maddie's phone vibrate in my hand. I looked at the message, which was from an unsaved number.

Don't pull that bullshit with me. Delete this number and I'll be at your doorstep with a knife and a hell of a lot of anger.
You better save this to your contacts RIGHT NOW.
Also, keep your damn mouths shut. If either of you tell anyone, I will kill you both.

"S-Shit..." I muttered. That was the first threat we'd received from him. And it was a death threat.
"Let me read it," Maddie replied, taking the phone out of my hand. She quickly read it, then almost dropped the phone.
"Do as he says Maddie," I muttered. She looked at me, surprised.
"We can't just give in-"
"Save it to your god damn phone." My voice was sharp as I interrupted her. Maddie nodded slowly, and saved the number into her contacts. "We have to be smart about these things," I continued. "Our pride doesn't matter if we're dead."
She was silence for a moment, then she got out of her chair.
"I'm not doing this today," she said, sighing. "I'll be in the office if you need me." She threw her phone down onto the sofa. "You can have some have fun with him," she added, smiling.
"Oh, thanks," I replied. "But seriously, this is a fucking death threat..." I added quietly, staring at the phone screen. But when I looked up, Maddie was already out of the room.

I went into the kitchen to prepare some lunch.
Examining the fridge and freezer for possible options, I decided to make some pasta with random shit in it. I got out some chicken, then measured out the pasta and got it cooking. After that I began cutting the chicken into small strips. As I did so, I found myself drifting off into my thoughts. I thought about the future, like always. Scenarios. Us, thirty years later if we got through this, and thirty years later if we didn't. But then, unexpectedly, I thought of today. Tomorrow. Maddie, being taken from her room, pulled into a car, dragged into an alleyway. His dirty hands all over her, her scream... 
I started shaking with anger.
Fuck him.
But her scream lingered in my mind. Painful, long screeches.
"Fuck you!" I shouted, raising the knife high to cut into the chicken. However, as I pulled the knife back down to slice, Maddie's phone rang amidst the silence. My hand jolted from the sudden noise-
And cut right into my fingers.
I cried out, as the pain coursed through my veins. I dropped the now bloody knife, and watched my own thick blood splatter across Maddie's perfectly white floor.
I sunk down onto my knees, holding my hand which was completely red with from the blood that was oozing out of the wound like a fountain. I was pretty sure I hadn't severed any fingers, but the cut could most likely prevent me from moving them again. I wasn't a doctor- I couldn't tell. Hell, it could stop me from moving my whole hand.
I heard rapid footsteps which I guessed to be Maddie. A few seconds later she was in front of me, her eyes wide with shock and fear.
"Jesus fucking Christ!..." She cried, already scrambling for her phone to call an ambulance.
"S-Shit..." I muttered, laughing nervously. "I stained that perfect fucking floor of yours."
My blood was now on my clothes. I sunk lower, and Maddie put her spare hand over my shoulders to help me stay up.
"H-Hello? Yeah, my friend's cut into her hand...a knife...12, Westward Drive...please hurry." She dropped her phone so she could have both hands on me. I also noticed that she was crying.
"You fucking pussy," I said, grinning. She couldn't believe I was smiling amongst this. Her shocked face made me laugh even more.
"It's just a paper cut, relax..." I muttered. I pushed her hands away with my spare hand, leaving bloody fingerprints on her skin. "I'll be fine, Maddie." She shook her head slightly, trembling. "Hey, look at me," I added. I grabbed her chin, and made her face me. Then I looked directly into her eyes, and she did the same. "We are going to survive this," I said slowly. Her breathing was quick, and she was in a panic. I wasn't even fussed about my hand anymore, I only concentrated on her.
"Say it with me," I whispered. She began to cry even more, which made me smile. She was such a baby. "We are going to survive this," I repeated. "We are going to survive this." By the third time, she whispered it very quietly. But it was good enough for me. I hugged her tightly, then kissed her on the cheek. "I'm always looking after you, aren't I?" I felt her laugh a little. And that was all I needed.

A few minutes later an ambulance arrived. I'd lost a majority of blood at that time, so my vision wasn't up to its best and I couldn't really function properly. They tried to walk with me, but in the end they just decided to put me on a stretcher because I could barely stand up straight. On the way to the hospital I either fell asleep or simply lost consciousness. Maddie was by my side the whole time, holding my other hand. Or, more accurately, I was holding hers.
I couldn't really remember much after that. I woke up in hospital robes, and my hand was in a mini cast. And I was alone.
I sat up, my head pulsing. The harsh white of the room was blinding, as I swung my legs of the bed.
I waited silently for a few minutes. Roaming the hospital halls would make me look like an insane patient (I guessed I was in a hospital, anyway), so I simply sat still until someone came. And someone did, eventually. A doctor came quietly through the only door in the room, then smiled after seeing me awake. I refinished him from his dark hair and sharply cut beard. It was Dr. West.
"Good to see you're up," he greeted. "As you're national doctor, I've been assigned to your case. Now, can you tell me about what happened?" He took a seat next to the bed.
"Maddie was with me...didn't she tell you? And do you know where she is?" I asked.
"Riley, I am aware that your friend was with you...but surely there is no need to avoid the question. Can you please tell me what happened?" He repeated. I swallowed, anxious.
"I was making lunch for myself. When I was cutting the chicken, Maddie's phone went off, and it made me jump. Then...I cut into my hand."
"Riley, this looks like a clear case of self injury," he replied. "You severed several arteries causing major blood loss."
"Self injury? It was an accident!" I argued back.
"But Riley, why would a mobile phone ringing cause you to cut into your hand?" The doctor continued.
"It was quiet, and I wasn't really concentrating..." I muttered. He went to place his hand on my shoulder, but I flinched away.
To be honest, I was surprised at myself.
Had I really become this...scared? God, my uncle would kill me if he saw me like this...
"Riley," he began again, obviously picking up on my flinch at human contact. "You do realise that we found injuries on your friend's arm as well, don't you? Please, it's better to tell us now so we can help-"
"You can't help us," I whispered, so quiet that he didn't hear.
"Pardon?" He replied. I shook my head, refusing to repeat myself.
"Please," I answered, after a quick pause. "I want to go home now."
"We have called your uncle, but he has still not arrived to collect you. I'm afraid we cannot let you go without his consent."
My mind already began to make an escape plan, by looking for different ways I could exit without getting noticed.
"That's fine," I told the doctor. "I'll wait here till then."
"Good girl," he said, smiling. "A social worker will be up to speak with you shortly." Then he got out of his chair, and left me in silence once.
I breathed deeply, and cursed under my breath. Then I stretch my legs and stood up. I took a peek at a clipboard next to my bed, and at my medical case. It stated my injury and the fatality. Underneath the description of the injury it read
'Injury fully supported'
'Estimated recovery: 2-3 weeks.'
So I'll take about three weeks to heal at the most. That's not so bad.
My next action was to find my own clothes. I spent the next couple of minutes searching the drawer labelled 'patient possessions'. It didn't take me long to grab what I needed. Using only one hand was extremely annoying, but I soon got used to it. I hurriedly slipped on my washed tank top and jeans (I also didn't realise how hard it was to put a top on over a cast) and stuffed my belongings in my pockets. Then I was out of the room, like I was never even there. Acting as naturally as I could, I strolled down the hallway towards the exit. In doing this, however, I walked right into Maddie. She was staring down at the screen of her phone, her expression dull. I stopped right in my tracks, causing her to glance up. Our eyes met, and we both stared silently at each other for what felt like an eternity.
"Riley," she muttered, letting out a sigh of relief.
"Hey," I replied, giving her a sad smile. "It's good to see you."
"You're okay!" She said happily. However, her grin quickly faded after she picked up on my tone. "What's with the sudden...sadness?" She asked. I shrugged, biting my top lip.
"I don't know...it's just..." I turned away and kept on blinking, to try and stop myself crying.
"This is horrible," I finally managed to mutter.
Despite my efforts, my tears began to fall. "They said they wouldn't let me leave until my uncle got here," I explained. "I just had to sneak out of a fucking hospital-"
I stopped mid sentence as Maddie threw her arms around me. Suddenly everything went still, like she's trapped me in this moment with her.
"We are going to survive this," she whispered. "That's what you told me, right?"
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