Red Sweater Tom

By Your Side

Suddenly you feel hands grasping each of your arms. Your ears are still ringing a little, but you can hear Tom's voice breaking through the ringing noise. "Y/n, you're fine now, everything's okay. Okay? Y/n? You're alright," he says then grabs your hand again. You hear him cutting through the ropes wrapped around your arms and legs.

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"Tom, what'd you do? What happened?" You ask him now that the ringing is almost gone. He cuts your second arm free and moves to your legs.

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"He was going to kill you, y/n, he was going to use the knife and...kill you," he says, pausing momentarily. "He had a gun on that table. I didn't know what else to do!"

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"You shot him?!" You ask, shocked.

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"I had to! I only hit his shoulder! When I ran over here, I punched him and knocked him out... I didn't want him trying anything," Tom explains. "The police are on their way. I heard you calling for help and dialed them right away, then I came in here to try to help."

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As if on cue, you hear sirens approaching in the distance.

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"Tom, thank you, thank you so much... I thought I was...I thought that was gonna be the end," you say, tears building in your eyes.

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Tom stops cutting the rope and sits up so he is face to face with you. He takes your face in one of his hands and looks at you. "I wouldn't have let that happen, I needed to try." He leans in and kisses your check, "as soon as I saw his face when he took you, I knew who he was. I knew where I could find you. I came as soon as---" he is cut off by your screaming.

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All you feel is pain and you can already feel blood running down your legs to your ankle. You look down and see a knife through your leg.

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Tom kicked the man, making him grunt in pain. He then punched him two or three more times, then came to break your last leg free from the rope.

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He finishes cutting, then scoops you up from the chair and carries you off the stage and towards the nearest exit. "It's okay, the police are here with an ambulance, it'll be okay, I promise," Tom kisses your forehead once more, then sets you down on a stretcher. The paramedics start looking at your leg right away, while one is checking your pulse.

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Tom is right there beside you holding your hand through the entire thing.

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~end part 23~