"Hello, Brooke."

Jo froze at the sound of his icy voice. It was Paul. He was standing there in her doorway looking as terrifying as he always did, with that horrible smirk on his face. It was then that Jo realized what she had done by trying to divorce him. She had given him her address in the voicemail, and she didn't know why, she thought he wouldn't come straight there.

Paul took a step forward and Jo took a step back. He looked around the loft. It was empty, there was no one there and Stephanie would never hear them as she kept sleeping.

"You know I always wondered where you were. Whether you had gone to another state or even another country and here you are. Then you call me the weekend that I'm in Seattle too. How funny is that?"

Paul walked forward, and Jo stepped back until she ran into the shelves, but Paul continued to walk towards her until he was pressed up against her and towering over her.

"I told everyone back in Orlando that you had run off with some guy you were cheating on me with. I told everyone that you were probably dead in a ditch somewhere, and now you finally will be."

Before Jo could even scream, he wrapped his hands around her neck and squeezed. He pushed her down until she fell on the floor. He fell on top of her and pressed his knee into her chest. Jo gripped his arms, desperately trying to force his hands off of her throat as she gasped for breath.

Jo scratched at his forearms trying to get away, but he was dressed in one of his expensive suits, and her nails just caught fabric. She reached for his face and scratched his cheek enough to draw blood. Paul didn't even react, he just squeezed harder and harder, pushing his thumbs into her throat.

She kicked her legs as she tried desperately to get Stephanie's attention. She looked around frantically and saw the crates with the plants on them. Jo moved her leg and kicked the boxes, it tipped over as the plant crashed to the floor. She prayed that Stephanie heard it. Jo kept kicking and pulling at his hands, desperate to try anything, but he just kept squeezing harder, and she couldn't breathe.

Suddenly someone's fist collided with Paul's cheek, and he fell back, letting go of her neck and falling off of her. Alex picked up Paul by his lapel and stood over him as he punched him again and again. Jo tried to turn to watch them, but despite how his hand had left her neck, she still couldn't breathe. Jo scratched at her neck, desperate to try and do anything, but all she could do was keep kicking.

"Jo, Jo, oh my god," Stephanie said, as she appeared above her frantically looking between Jo and Alex and Paul. "What the hell?"

xxxx

Stephanie was still in shock at the sight before her. Alex was hitting some guy in a suit who up until two seconds ago was on top of her best friend choking her. Jo laid on the floor, her neck was black and blue as she gasped and grabbed at her throat, trying to breathe.

Suddenly Stephanie went from friend to doctor and quickly assessed Jo's injuries. Jo's breathing was most urgent, and Stephanie ran her fingers along her neck to feel where her trachea was dipped and caved in.

"Alex! Alex!" Stephanie screamed, looking up to see that he was still hitting the man. As much as she wanted to let him keep hitting him, she needed his help. Alex looked up for a brief second looking back at her and Jo. "Get the med bag now!"

"Yeah," Alex just nodded and ran over to the cabinet where they kept their supplies.

Stephanie tipped Jo's head back and looked down her throat. Jo was still gasping for air and she had stopped kicking as her lips turned blue. Stephanie knew that if she didn't do something fast, Jo would asphyxiate. Alex came sliding in next to her on his knees with the bag next to him, and Stephanie opened it up, rifling through it until she found an intubation tube and the laryngoscope.

Alex took over holding her chin, and Stephanie inserted the laryngoscope and looked down Jo's throat. She could barely see anything with how swollen it was, but she managed to pass the tube down her throat and inflate the cuff. As soon as she pulled the laryngoscope back, leaving just the tube, Jo took a deep breath. Stephanie let out a breath of relief as Jo started breathing again and began to pink up.

"Oh God, Jo," Alex cried out, petting her hair as he leaned down he pressed his forehead against hers. Jo looked up at Alex as tears streamed down the corners of her eyes.

Alex had his phone up to his ear and Stephanie took it from him as he dropped it. She put it up to her ear and listened as the 911 dispatcher. Alex hadn't been able to tell them much of anything, so Stephanie explained what had happened and gave them the address as a dispatcher told her that the cops and two ambulances were on their way.

Stephanie looked over at Jo again, she looked at the dark bruising around her neck and prayed her carotid arteries were still intact and delivering blood to her brain. She moved her hands to feel for her pulse on each side, it was slow on the left side, but the right side was strong, and she reached in the bags for the collar and put it around Jo's neck. Although she was kicking and turning her head earlier, Stephanie didn't want to take any chances. Jo laid as still as she could, but Stephanie knew she was in a great deal of pain and wished she could put Jo under.

Alex started an IV and held up the bag before Stephanie rifled through it to see what other kinds of drugs they had. There was ibuprofen and acetaminophen, but nothing liquid. Stephanie then looked down at Jo's chest where he was sitting on her and undid her shirt to reveal a dark bruise in the middle of her chest. Stephanie ran her fingers over it, assessing the injury, but the dark bruises were all she found, and she sighed in relief that Jo's sternum and ribs weren't broken. She grabbed the stethoscope and listened to Jo's heart and lungs. Her breathing and heart sounded good and Stephanie sat back on her heels.

With Jo not dying in her arms, Stephanie took a moment to look around the loft. The door was open and the stack of crates was tipped over as the potted plant was a mess on the floor. The man that had attacked her was lying unconscious by the door.

"Who the hell is he?" Stephanie asked, looking over at him.

Jo moaned, but the tube in her throat made it impossible for her to talk. Alex picked up his head and Stephanie turned to look at her.

"Sh, Jo, don't try and talk," Alex said, running his fingers over her forehead.

Jo moaned again, her eyes darting over to the man.

"Jo, do you know him?" Stephanie asked, looking down at her before she gleaned back at the man.

Jo squeezed her eyes shut and then opened them again.

"Yes, you know him?" Stephanie asked, putting one hand on Jo's cheek and brushing away her tears that hadn't stopped falling.

"Who is he?" Alex asked, glancing over at him again.

"Oh my God," Stephanie said, looking over at him. Everything that Jo had told her earlier about her divorce and her abusive husband suddenly clicked. "Jo, is he the guy, is he the guy you left?"

Jo squeezed her eyes shut before she opened them, telling Stephanie yes. Black tears fell from the corner of her eyes as her mascara darkened her tears.

"What's going on?" Alex asked, looking between the two of them. "Who is he?"

Stephanie paused, staring at him, she didn't want to reveal Jo's secret, but she knew it would all come out eventually. Jo reached out and grabbed her wrist, squeezing it tightly. Stephanie looked down to see Jo squeeze her eyes shut once in a yes. Unfortunately, Stephanie didn't get the chance to tell Alex anything as the paramedics arrived.