It took him a good while to make it back to the house. He hobbled over to his phone and dialed with shaking hands. His arms felt like lead from carrying her. He threw a nervous glance in her direction as the phone kept ringing.
"Dave, it's Bill, my wife got herself hurt pretty bad, could you come over?" Bill huffed into the phone.
"How bad? What happened? Take her to a hospital if-"
"She totaled my car and you know why I can't do that!" Bill growled, sapped from the adrenaline.
"How bad is she?"
"She crashed the car and...got shot..." Bill trailed off.
"What do you mean she got shot? How the hell did she get shot?" Dave demanded.
"We got into a nasty fight. I'll explain more when you get here. She's lost a lot of blood." Bill said in a panic. He grunted as he kneeled beside her.
"Put pressure on the wound and hang tight, I'm on my way." Dave said tersely before hanging up.
Bill wrapped his hands around her upper arm and applied a lot of pressure. Blood had soaked threw the cloth and now coated his hands, streaming between his fingers. "Hang on, baby. Help is on the way. You're going to be okay." He tried to reassure her, tearfully. "Why did you have to do that? Why'd you make me do that? I love you, why'd you make me hurt you?" He cried, the seconds crawling by. He pleaded at Emily's unconscious body. "Don't you fucking die on me!" He commanded fearfully.
There was a knock on the door before a man barged in with a large bag. He dropped the bag on the floor and was already putting gloves on. He pushed Bill out of the way and got to work applying fresh bandages to her arm. "Why didn't you call 911?" Dave demanded. Bill stuttered angrily as he tried to think of a good excuse. "You know why I can't!" He said lamely, glaring down at the two. His hands were caked with her dried blood. Dave held his tongue and undid the bandage since he knew Bill wouldn't get her to a hospital. Fresh blood flowed out of the hole, he cursed under his breath.
"It went right through, she should be okay with time." Dave said irritably. Bill shifted his weight from foot to foot, wincing when he put more weight on the foot that got ran over, trying to calm himself and appear reasonable.
"What the hell happened between you two?" Dave angrily asked as he sewed her gunshot wound closed.
"We got in a fight and she went crazy, attacked me and crashed the car." He said, bristling.
Dave gave him a disbelieving look. "You're not telling me everything, Bill." He said as he moved on to work extracting a shard of glass from her cheek after he finished with her arm.
Bill sighed, his shoulders slumped forward. "She ran off and we have been having problems so I went to look for her when I noticed she was gone. I got out of the car when I saw tracks in the road. She comes out of nowhere and jumps into the car, practically running me over, and crashing the car, not once, but twice. I...I shot out one of the tires..." Bill trailed off when Dave's blazing glare met his face.
"You shot at her in the car? You could have fucking killed her!" Dave snarled.
"Well I didn't shoot her when she was in the car!" Bill shot back. "I mean I went to check on her when after she crashed the second time and I could actually catch up to her." Bill back pedaled. Dave clenched his jaw and continued his work. "So you shot her after you pulled her out of the car?" He asked, barely able to contain anger.
"She got out and ran. I love her so much, I couldn't lose her. I only meant to scare her, not hurt her." Bill said, fighting back tears again.
Dave shook his head. "Is that why you didn't want to take her to the hospital?" He demanded. Bill nodded his head.
"You treat her right, Bill! You're supposed to take care of her!" Dave shouted. "You make it right! I know you two have a rocky relationship, but you don't shoot your goddamn wife." He stood and threw off his gloves.
"I couldn't let her leave me!" Bill admitted in defeat.
"Then make her want to stay." Dave spat, glaring daggers at Bill. The two stared each other down. Dave clenched his fists and took a step closer to Bill. "Don't you ever lay an untoward hand on your woman again or God have mercy on you." He spat before taking a step back. Dave went into the kitchen to clean himself up and to let the tension die down some before returning.
"Let's put her in bed. She should be okay, but she should really go to the hospital. She could get a bad infection." Dave warned as he helped Bill lift Emily. They carefully carried her to the master bedroom and set her down gently in bed. "I'd rather avoid all that if I can." Bill said uncomfortably. Dave gave him a stern look. "I'll pray for you two." He said, shaking his head.
"Thanks, Dave...keep this between us please." Bill said with a tight smile.
"Of course." Dave said tensely and gave him a rundown of what to look for if an infection started and how to care for her wounds.
Dave gave a curt nod and left.
Bill sat beside Emily and stroked her hair with a blood soaked hand. "You'll be okay, Darlin'." She didn't stir. He watched the rise and fall of her chest, listening to Dave's car retreat down the road. Bill leaned down and kissed her bruised forehead. Things would definitely be changing.