Calm after the storm

A/N: Sorry about the cliffhanger from the last chapter, but I'm updating now asap.

Thanks to everyone whose reviewed and kept reading!

Their eyes locked, it was almost now as if time was standing still. Fear radiating from her eyes, and rage emanating from his. It was almost as if they each knew how this was going to end with out the other saying anything. Anna almost thought that she could see a hint of regret in his eyes, but she had to have been imagining that. There was nothing left between them now; she had locked away everything that she might have once felt for him when he had tried to kill her and Abby. That was not something that a man who loved you did.

She reacted now breaking their cold stares at each other as she pushed her body now away from the wet edge of the windowsill that she had been clinging to and curled herself into a ball waiting now as she fell. It seemed as if an eternity had passed for her before she felt the wet grass below making contact with her skin. The hard, wet sponginess of the grass cushioned her fall a little, as she rolled when she hit the ground below.

She could hear the shots; feel the bullets from his gun wiz to close for comfort to her head. She was filled with fear, as she pulled herself the best that she could to her feet, clinging close to the ground as she scrambled to run. She had no idea where she was trying to run to, but she knew that she needed to find some form of cover, darting into the darkness of the night now. Lightening flashed again lighting up the dark Seattle sky giving off an eerie feeling as she moved swiftly now, her fear pushing her to run. She darted behind some cars now as she neared the parking lot. His voice screaming obscenities as she ran, hearing him, how upset he was, deepened the fear in her, the fear that was pulling at the very depths of her inner soul now.

Time taking its own time in passing for her; no matter how fast she tried to go, it seemed as if she was not getting anywhere. She was frozen in space, frozen in a fear that's grip would never lessen its terrifying hold on her. She felt as if she was going to be running for the rest of her life. There was no safe place to be away from him. No one who could end this, end his reign of terror on her, set her free to live the life that she now desperately wanted to keep living.

Bolting now thru the darkness, not looking back, knowing if she slowed down even just a bit that he would find the way to catch her, she could feel him behind her now, as she glanced over her shoulder behind her quickly. He had followed her exact path, the relentless firing of shots. Her constant ducking, dodging, fleeing. She ran right into something, she felt strong arms around her pulling her down and behind a car. She felt her entire body freeze up now. Tension was flowing freely thru her as she started to struggle against the arms that were holding her tightly.

"Shh," Anna heard the voice say, as she then heard police officers yelling at Max to stop and drop his weapon. "It's okay I've got you. You're going to be safe now Anna, I've got you."

She stopped struggling long enough to realize it was Doug holding onto her now. That she had a friend there, and that he had come to help her, to be there to rescue her, yet now he was there to comfort her. She could hear them arguing Max and the police. This was not going to end well she knew that and even though she was scared to death of dying by his hands, she did not want him to die. She silently prayed that he would put the gun down, but she knew that this way the way that he wanted it to end.

Time seemed to stand still yet again for her, the yelling between Max and the officers getting louder. She pulled free of Doug to look over the top of the cruiser that he had pulled her behind.

She could see him there now, waving the gun that he was holding in his hands, she could see that he was looking for her, trying desperately to find her as if he had one more thing that he wanted to say to her before it all ended. She felt Doug pull her back down holding onto her as the gun shots went off again, and then there was silence, no more yelling in the Seattle night, there was just the calm after the storm. Nothing but the silence of the night filling her ears, and the hurt of knowing that he was dead, she felt some relief knowing that the terror would be no more, but there was the heartache of knowing that in the terror ending, his life had ended too.

Doug held her tight now not wanting her to look over that cruiser again, afraid of what she might see. "It's over now Anna, it's all over now and you are going to be safe." He was trying to comfort her now as he could feel her tears spilling. "It's all going to be okay."

She sat there now clinging to him in the night, not wanting to move or look. This chapter of her life ending, moving on was going to be hard to do once again, but she could do it with out fear, fear of being hunted, and fear of being hurt. She had the chance now to start her life over become the woman that she had once been. She was determined to regain her strength, her independence, and stand on her own to feet again.

Five years later.......

She had stayed in Seattle but had gone back and forth between there and Philadelphia on during her time off. Rekindling the broken ties with her family and regaining her life. Things were calm and peaceful again. She had managed with a few bumps to rebuild her life, moving from the apartment, into another one more inside the city. She was still working at the hospital with Doug and spending time with Tess and Kate.

A year after all of this had happened, Keith floated into her life. He was a graphics designer for a web company. They had started seeing each other taking their time getting to know each other. They had dated for over a month before Anna worked up the courage to introduce him to Doug, but those two seemed to hit it off and soon it was Doug, Carol, Anna and Keith going out with out the girls. Summer barbeques by the lake, boating out to watch the sunset from Lake Washington, and baseball games, she knew this was how life was supposed to be. They were married the spring of 2007, outdoors in with the sun setting over Lake Washington. Anna was finally happy.

Now here five years after she thought that she would never get her life back together, surrounded by her friends and family, in the hospital where she had restarted her life again, Anna and Keith brought their son, Jonathan into the world, surrounded by a love that she never thought that she would ever feel.