There could be no mistaking the screams he heard. They were the strangled screams of a woman in danger but this was not just any woman. These were the screams of his beautiful fiancée, so much more chilling now that he was close to her, without the phone line between them as there had previously been. Hurrying past the hotel's entrance Nick reached the alleyway where another man held his terrified fiancée against the wall by her throat while he violated her. 'Get your hands off her.' Nick shouted, grabbing the man by the scruff of the neck and pulling him away from Carla. Quickly the man turned upon him, allowing Carla to stumble free as a fight broke out between the two men. With the man now pinned back against the wall it was there that Nick found himself face to face with his chef. 'You?' He yelled before landing a punch against Robert's chin. 'Nick.' Robert groaned, attempting to free himself from Carla's fiancé but Nick would not let up. This was a man who he'd trusted within his business, one who had often made idle small talk with his fiancée over the bar, who he'd just this second caught in the act of tormenting her.
Within an instant everything around Nick changed, his priorities shifting dramatically. There was a screech of brakes behind them quickly followed by a sudden scream that was mixed with a loud thud which pulled the two men apart. 'Carla?' Nick shouted, pushing Robert away from him as he ran to his beautiful fiancée who lay in a heap just in front of the car which had hit her. As Nick left the alleyway, however, a man grabbed him, believing him to be the attacker. 'She's my fiancée.' Nick said, pushing himself away from the man who despite having had the best of intentions had misjudged the situation spectacularly. 'It's him who wants locking up.' Nick shouted behind him, vaguely indicating towards Robert who was trying to escape from the scene without a second thought for Carla's wellbeing. Quickly the man who'd attempted to stop Nick gave chase on Robert but with Carla laying in the road the chef had become the least of Nick's priorities.
Removing his jacket Nick approached his fiancée where the driver of the car was already knelt beside her, calling for an ambulance. 'Carla?' Nick softly said as he knelt down beside them, noticing for the first time the ruined state of his fiancée's clothing. 'Baby?' He whispered, having had no response from his beautiful fiancée. 'Don't touch her.' A woman stood nearby said as Nick began to lay his jacket over Carla to cover her torn clothing which revealed far more of her naked body than Nick could bear being seen by strangers. 'She's covered in evidence.' The woman attempted to explain but Nick ignored her, needing to preserve Carla's dignity as best he could as well as keeping her warm. 'Evidence.' Nick repeated with an inaudible whisper, the word echoing around his mind as though Robert's intentions were only just sinking in. 'What the hell has he done to you.' Nick whispered to himself, shaking his head as he gently took Carla's hand. Lightly sighing to himself Nick simply watched Carla who remained unconscious. 'You're gonna be okay, sweetheart.' He softly whispered to her.
Above Nick the passers-by who'd stopped to help spoke amongst themselves but he barely noticed them. 'I'm so sorry. I didn't see her, she just came out of nowhere.' The driver of the car began to ramble. 'It's not your fault.' Nick said, glancing across at man knelt the other side of Carla's lifeless body. There was only one man to blame for Carla's current state and Nick knew that it was not the man knelt opposite him, despite him having been the one driving the car which had hit her. Carefully the other man stood, gently placing his hand upon Nick's shoulder. 'Ambulance will be here soon.' He said before moving away to give the couple some space. Nodding appreciatively as the other man stepped away Nick returned his gaze to Carla, a light sigh escaping his lips. 'You're safe now, Carla.' He softly reassured his fiancée. 'I'm gonna keep you safe.' He promised her. 'So you better fight for me, because I am not losing you, okay.' He told her. 'Not like this.' He said, briefly glancing back to where Robert was now being held by a security guard, presumably from the hotel or casino. 'Not because of him.' Nick said, looking back to his unconscious fiancée.
In the distance the sound of sirens eventually drew closer before an ambulance pulled up beside them. Within seconds two paramedics approached them, introducing themselves as they ran towards them. 'My name's Jess, I'm a paramedic, and this is my colleague Sam. Can you tell me her name?' The first paramedic asked as she knelt beside Nick. 'Carla, Carla Connor.' Nick replied, keeping a gentle hold of Carla's hand. 'Okay, Carla, let's take a look at you.' Jess said, gently placing her hands around Carla's neck. 'How long's she been out for, do you know?' Jess asked Nick without taking her eyes away from the unresponsive patient before her. 'Ten, fifteen minutes, I don't know.' Nick tried to reply but ever since Carla had called him the passing of time had become irrelevant. 'Okay, love.' Jess said as she turned to her colleague before requesting a collar and board. 'Any chance she might be pregnant?' Jess asked, turning back to Nick, her question, despite being nothing more than a routine check, catching him a little off guard. 'No. No, she would've told me.' He replied as the police arrived and began to cordon off the area.
With the police taking statements from the gathered crowd Nick stayed by Carla's side while the paramedic continued to assess her. 'Can you tell me what happened?' Jess asked, gently pulling Nick's coat away from Carla's body to assess her properly. 'She was running away, she must've tripped, I don't know, she was hit by the car.' Nick rambled uncertainly, having been too preoccupied with knocking the life out of Robert to notice his fiancée falling into the path of a car until it was too late to stop her. 'Running away from someone who was hurting her?' Jess asked, having noticed the state of Carla's clothing which had previously been covered by Nick's coat. 'Yeah. Yeah, I pulled him off her.' Nick admitted, noticing for the first time the marks across his own knuckles following his fight with Robert. 'That guy over there?' Jess asked Nick as her colleague returned, noticing the guy who was being held by a security guard while talking to the police. 'Yeah.' Nick confirmed. 'Okay, we'll let the police deal with him and we'll take care of this one.' Jess told Nick as she carefully secured the collar around Carla's neck.
Beside Nick the two paramedics spoke between themselves in medical jargon which was far beyond his understanding. 'You're gonna be okay, Carla.' He whispered to her, staying close by her side while the paramedics worked. She looked so peaceful, as though she was simply asleep, but Nick knew that the internal damage her body now harboured was sure to be far greater than the minor cuts across her face suggested. 'I can take a look at your hand, if you like?' Sam asked, interrupting Nick's thoughts as he noticed the state of Nick's hand which held Carla's, but Nick simply shook his head. 'It's nothing.' He replied. 'Just make sure she's okay.' Nick added despite knowing that they were already doing everything they could for her. 'Don't worry, we'll look after her.' Sam reassured Nick as he assisted his colleague with securing Carla's lifeless body onto the board. Between them they lifted Carla from the ground before carrying her towards the ambulance with Nick, who'd picked up Carla's handbag along with his jacket, climbing in behind them. Before the doors slammed shut Nick noticed Robert being led away by the police, clearly under arrest.
With Carla remaining unconscious Robert's arrest proved little consolation to Nick. Whilst it was true that he wanted some kind of justice for what Robert had intended to do to Carla there was nothing which could compensate for how close he felt to losing her. The images of Robert forcing himself upon Carla were ones which Nick knew would stay with him a long time and he could only hope that when Carla regained consciousness she herself couldn't recall the full extent of Robert's actions. 'You two been together long?' Jess asked Nick, interrupting his thoughts as she tried to make small talk with him whilst keeping an eye on Carla's statistics. 'Few months.' Nick replied, glancing across at the paramedic before returning his gaze to Carla. 'That's quite some rock you gave her.' Jess pointed out, admiring Carla's engagement ring. A light smile briefly flickered across Nick's lips. 'She's worth it.' He said, reaching out to gently take Carla's hand in his. Smiling to herself Jess watched over the couple before her. 'We'll be there soon.' She reassured Nick, lightly placing her hand against his shoulder before moving away.
It didn't seem possible that barely an hour ago Nick had happily wandered from shop to shop searching for the perfect birthday present for Carla. So much had happened since then, so many revelations had come to light and so many things had changed. When he'd first taken her call he'd felt so sure that she'd cheated on him. Now, as he watched her lifeless body before him, he couldn't believe that he'd ever thought her capable of it. The only sense he could make of this was that Robert had been pursuing her, that he'd followed her and made his move upon her. But, that didn't explain how Carla had come to be outside the hotel when she'd called him, which had been before Robert's attack had begun. There was also the small matter of the almost guilty tone which had been present within Carla's voice that had stuck with Nick, telling him there was something he was missing here. Silently Nick watched Carla's lifeless body for answers he knew she couldn't yet give, the back of his fingers trailing gently against her cheek. Whatever had happened the one thing which remained clear was that she needed him, now more than ever.
At that moment, as though the touch of Nick's hand had stirred something within her, Carla's eyes began to flicker. 'Carla?' Nick softly asked as he watched her, his voice catching the attention of the paramedic who watched them closely. 'Nick.' Carla mumbled, slowly bringing her eyes to focus upon him before closing them again. 'I'm here, baby.' He reassured her, gently taking her hand within his. Briefly Carla opened her eyes once more, again finding Nick's eyes looking down at her. 'I love you.' She whispered slowly before slipping away from him, her eyes falling closed. 'Carla?' Nick shouted above the machines which had begun beeping rapidly, signalling that something was wrong. Quickly Nick found himself torn away from Carla's side as the paramedic pushed him aside, shouting words which made no sense as far as Nick was concerned to her colleague. It was all he could do to place his hand in front of his mouth as he watched the paramedic working on Carla, attempting to bring her back to him.
