Holding Back (Lesbian Story)

The Aftermath

~Leila~

The instant in which the gun was pointed at Leila did not fill her with fear, or hatred, or even self-pity.  Instead, Leila felt a sense of euphoria at the thought that right at that moment, all of her problems would literally be blown away, and so she closed her eyes to greet the darkness that was soon to come over her.  

She heard the blast of the gun, and took what was she presumed to be her last breath.  She waited for impact with her eyes still closed, only to hear a terrifyingly familiar gasp not a foot in front of her.  Her eyes flew open in horror and she saw Maya  there, clutching her chest with a wide-eyed expression on her face.  The next thing Leila knew, Maya had fallen in her arms, causing Leila to collapse to the ground, and was looking up at her, gasping for breath as blood spilled all over the cafeteria's linoleum floor.  She was trying to say something, but everytime she opened her mouth to speak, she was overwhelmed with a wave of pain, and instead of speaking, she gasped weakly and clutched at her chest even harder.

Jerry smirked at Maya before turning his eyes to Leila.  "Now it's your turn bitch.  Any last words?"  He had his head cocked sideways in a way that clearly screamed psychopath.  How did no one see this coming?? Leila thought to herself as she cleared her throat to speak.

She looked between Zack and Maya, and opened her mouth to reply, but before she could utter a single syllable, the doors to the cafeteria banged open.  Police from the SWAT team came pouring in and started surrounding the room.  Jerry didn't flinch, and kept his gaze on Leila.

"Rosetown Police!  Drop your weapon and lift your hands up where we can see them! I'll shoot!" shouted an officer running toward them.  He was the closest to the group out of all the SWAT team members, and he was dead serious.  

Jerry merely laughed, and for the third time that day, he cocked his gun.  

Then he aimed, fired, and killed himself.

Suddenly, Leila started crying as she held Maya, who was unconscious in her arms.  She held her close as she struggled to ingrain every detail of Maya's face into her mind forever, just in case this was the last time she ever saw her.

The officer rushed over to him and checked to see if he was dead, and then rushed over to where Leila had Maya were with a concerned, fatherly expression on his face.  He noticed Maya first, and when he saw how bad her gunshot wound was he radioed some EMTs that were apparently waiting outside the cafeteria.  "We have one dead and one-"

Leila interrupted him, moving her head in Zack's direction.  He was kind of blocked from the officer's view. "Two, sir."

The man looked where she was pointing and nodded his head.  "--we have two shot, both unconscious.  Come in now.  The room is secure."  He looked up from his radio and waved over some officers.  "I'm Under-sheriff Michaels and these two," he waved to two tall officers behind him, "are Officers Grant and Willsey.  They are going to take care of you now, don't you worry."  He got up and walked over to where Zack was and checked his pulse.  By this point, the EMTs had gotten in the room and had bagged Jerry and had placed Maya on a stretcher, and Carmen, Melanie, and the others crawled out from their hiding spaces and hugged each other in relief and terror that such a thing happened..  "He's conscious!  Get a stretcher over here!" Deputy Chief Michaels shouted, waving over two of the six EMTs there.  Leila gasped in relief and watched as Carmen rushed over to Zack and grabbed his hand.  She hurried as well over as soon as she reluctantly made sure Maya was in safe hands with the two burly EMTs who had placed her on a stretcher.  She didn't want to leave Maya, but since she needed to get medical treatment as soon as possible, it was the most Leila could do.

Zack was indeed awake and aware as the EMTs carted him out to the ambulance, but Leila could tell he was fighting the urge to pass out.  "Lei-Leila!" he gasped weakly, looking at her with loving eyes filled with concern.  "Are you-" He was overcome by a wave of pain before he was able to say more.  "Are you okay?" He reached for her hand, and she held it tight.  Her heart welled up and she broke down.  She couldn't believe she had lied to him, and he had almost died.  She was an awful person for lying to him.