Falling Apart

Chapter 33

David's POV

I've been sitting here for the past few hours, wondering where Katherine went. I know where she is, I'm just trying to deny the possibilities of what could happen while she's there. I already thought I'd never see her again when I was shot, and now she's back in that house where all of this began, and I'm sitting here praying to something I've never believed in hoping that she's okay.

The soft mumbles coming from the tv above me isn't drowning out the endless worries flowing through my mind. I'm not even there to protect her like I was last time. Even as bad as that turned out, I was still there. Now it's exactly like the first time Ian took her and I'm in no condition to save her. The only thing close to protection is Will who is of course probably with her. I'm still debating if she'd be better off without the scumbag even there. My anxiety is cut short when her and Will enter through the door, holding hands.

My first thought is thank god she's alive. The second is filled staring at their hands, connected and gripped tightly. Katherine must notice my gaze because she pulls away quickly. "I'm sorry David..." she edges near me, taking my hand in hers. I try to forget where it was two seconds ago but I can't shake it away. The speech that I'd spent two hours preparing for her about how dangerous it was for her to go to Ian's house seems to vanish from my mind and all I can say is, "It's fine."

She looks from me to Will and back to me again. Somehow I know they saw something that they shouldn't have. "What?"

"Jenna has been with Ian this entire time." she lets it out and guilt rushes in as soon as she speaks. "She looks...mentally ill! I don't know why she's there, but we need to go back and get her. It's just so weird that the last time I saw her she looked fine and now she's...not." she breathes. I watch the sadness in her eyes creep back in and I'd give anything to not allow that to happen. She's fought so hard and I'm not going to let Ian or anybody else chip away at the progress that she's made. But the red puffiness around her eyes tell me it's already happened.

"Katherine, what happened when you were there?" I sit up.

She doesn't answer. Instead she sits on the chair next to me and looks away. I notice her sharp gulp manage to go down her throat and Will speaks for her. "She brought a gun."

I look at her instantly and try to imagine this crying girl in front of me with a gun between her hands. "What? How? What happened?" And why is Jenna not with you?" I'm unable to stop my consistent questions.

"She tried to...shoot Ian but she couldn't." Will speaks for her again. "Jenna is still there and lets just say I dealt with the problem."

"And what the hell does that mean?" I hear my heart race on the machine next to me and I remember that we're still in a hospital.

"I shot him. Twice. Arm and leg." he describes. "Payback's a bitch, eh?"

I nod and smile for the first time in months. I'm still interested in why he was holding Katherine's hand a few minutes ago, but the news that Ian was shot sends relief through me. No amount of medicine or drugs that the doctors could inject in me could give me this feeling. Even if he isn't dead, he won't be around for a while, which will give us more time for another plan to get Jenna.

Jenna's POV

I scream as I see the man who shot Ian run out the door. He drives off and pulls away, leaving me here and feeling even more hopeless. I look down to Ian, whose blood is pooling into a line and it slides towards my feet. I step away and smile for the first time in two months. My kidnapper, my best friend's rapist, is lying here on the floor in his own blood. I'm finally free.