Runaway ✔

155 • Dana

The world was spinning around. She couldn't breath. As in slow motion, she saw Juice fall and hit the ground. Then she felt so numb she could barely see anything at all. As if a bullet had hit her own head as well. 

It was over. 

He was gone. 

And why the hell would she commit herself to a life with Maddox if she couldn't save Juice with it? She'd rather die with him. 

A hand squeezed her upper arm, so roughly a whimper escaped her lips. 

"He'll live," Maddox's impatient voice sounded. "It's just a shot in his leg."

Dazed, Dana turned to the side. What did he say? Had he shot Juice only in the leg? 

"But... why..." she stammered.

Maddox stretched his hand towards her face, stroking her cheek. "I always keep my promises. He would only get that body bag if you chose him. But you didn't. You chose me. I however don't want him to come after us."

Dana turned around and wanted to run back to Juice, but Maddox grabbed her arm. "No. You're coming with me now."

"But he will bleed to death!" she yelled. "We're in the middle of nowhere here! How will he ever get to a hospital?!" She looked over her shoulder.

Juice tried to get up, but again and again he collapsed. Seeing him so helpless, without moving forward while he wanted nothing more than saving her, ripped her heart to pieces. But there was nothing he could do. Fuck, he couldn't even save himself!

Again Maddox pulled her out of her thoughts. "I'm not alone. Our Judas will take him to the hospital."

With eyes glazing over, Dana stared at him. What the hell was he talking about? He pulled her arm and Dana let him drag her away. Right now Juice's health was the only thing that mattered. 

Behind the church was a parking lot. It was partly overgrown, but a car had managed to get here anyway. Dana recognized the vehicle immediately; it was their own rental car. 

Overwhelmed, she stared at it. How exactly had Juice ended up here? 

Still Dana stood there in a daze. Blankly, she watched how Maddox opened the trunk of the car and helped Cherry out of it. 

Dana tried to connect the dots, but her head felt empty. She just didn't care about anything anymore. She just wanted a medevac helicopter to come that would take Juice to a hospital.

"Where is he?!" When Maddox tore off the tape from Cherry's mouth, she started to yell. "Where is Kip?!"

"Take Juan Carlos to a hospital before he dies," Maddox answered coldly. 

"I'm not going to do anything for you anymore!" Cherry shrieked. "Where is Kip? You promised me to free him as I would do what you told me!"

"The only thing I promised you, is that I wouldn't cut that blondie in pieces and drop them at your doormat," Maddox answered calmly. "And I kept that promise. Take care, Cherry. Working together with you was really pleasant."

Slowly, it dawned on Dana what Cherry had done. 

Had she betrayed them? Handed them over to Maddox? 

She should cry, should scream because of her betrayal, but she just felt hollow. 

"Save Juice," she whispered to Cherry. "He didn't deserve this."

Part of her wanted to hug her friend because she knew they wouldn't see each other again, but another part of her didn't want anything at all. She just wanted to sink into nothing. She wished she could just cut away the memories, that would make the fate awaiting her less tormenting. 

"Come." Maddox grabbed her hand again and pulled her towards the limousine that was still waiting for them. 

Dana aimed her eyes at the ground and shuffled after him. The sooner they had left the place, the bigger the change Juice would survive. She had never expected she wanted to leave him so badly and so soon. 

She sat down on the backseat. Maddox wrapped an arm around her, but Dana kept her head bent. She stared at her engagement ring on her left hand and thought of the wedding they had talked about so many times, but which would never take place. 

New tears slipped her eyes, gliding down her cheeks. Closing her eyes, she thought about Juice, about how his warm fingers would have felt as he wiped them away. His touch would have made her feel better immediately. 

But he would never touch her again. 

"I need to know if he survives this, Maddox," she whispered. "If not..."

She swallowed. 

The hand he laid down on her thigh, seemed to be made of ice. "He will be alright, baby. Everything will be all right. I'll make sure you'll forget about that boy."

Dana couldn't help herself; she snorted mockingly. There were so many angry words she wanted to yell at him, but she kept them inside, afraid he would get mad and return to kill off Juice. 

I will never forget you, Juice. You are the best thing that happened to me. 

Pressing her lips together, she wished she could send him that thought. It was so true. She was grateful for every moment they had spent together – and at the same time she knew those memories would make her life harder than it had ever been.