Chapter Six: Getting away
The next day while Evy was working, she knew that Rick would show up tonight. And the little fight with Jack last night left a mark on her cheekbone. She knew that Rick would probably see it and freak out. 8:00pm rolled around and not many people had showed up. Only 3. However, Evy never found herself bored. She kept looking off into space thinking about what was going on. She didn't know what to do. 9:00 came and Evy was just about to leave, when she heard the front door open. She knew that it was Rick because she had already put the closed sign on. She continued messing with the things on her desk and made sure that she wasn't facing him and that her hair covered up most of her face. This was the first time that she wore her hair down while she was at work. Rick saw this, and wondered if it was even her.
"Evy?" he asked, coming around her desk to see her face. He noticed that it was indeed her, but didn't know why her hair was down. "How come you don't have your hair up?" She continued to work, never looking up at him.
"It wasn't cooperating this morning so I decided to leave it down." she quickly lied.
"Ok. But why is it in your face. I've seen your hair down before and it doesn't do that." He had the strange feeling that something wasn't right.
"I just combed it and left this morning. And I've been working over my desk all day and it tends to fall across my face when I do that." Rick came over to her and stopped her from working. She was now facing him, but she wouldn't uncover her face. So Rick did that for her. He gently took his hand and tucked her hair behind her ear. When he saw the mark and the bruise, he went wide-eyed. She wouldn't look him in the eyes because she was too afraid to, yet she could still see that he was shocked, and angry at whoever did this. And he had a pretty good idea of who it was.
"It was your fiancé wasn't it?" he asked in a matter of fact tone. She still hadn't looked him in the eyes yet. She wasn't afraid anymore, just ashamed. She slightly nodded her head in agreement to his question. "Why?"
"He found out about us." she said quietly.
"How? I didn't tell him…did you?"
"No. He put a camera in my office. He's been watching us the entire time." He could tell that she was angry with Jack for doing that, but she was mostly ashamed. Ashamed for ever being with Jack. Ashamed for doing that to Rick. He didn't think anything of it though because it wasn't her fault, and he knew that one way or another, Jack would pay for what he'd done.
"Evy, you have to get away from him. Before something even worse happens." He was trying to hint them running off together but didn't want to come out and say it. He wanted her to come up with the idea.
"Look, I know that—that I should run. But if I do, he'll just be even more upset. It may sound crazy but I have to go back. For the safety of us both. I'm sorry. But if it gets to the point to where I can't take it anymore, then I'll leave him." She now had tears in her eyes, but she wasn't crying…yet.
"I'm not going to try to change your mind. I was just hoping that I could talk you out of getting hurt. But, it's not my decision." He was hurt that she wouldn't come with him, but he understood.
Time passed, and Rick and Evy continued seeing each other, but they were a lot more careful. Things with her and Jack weren't getting any better though. Jack had moved up the time of the wedding and of course Evy had no say in it. She was forced to marry him. And they were now husband, and wife. However, that didn't affect her and Rick's relationship.
About a week after the wedding, Evy went home one night to find Jonathan on the couch and that was it. Jack was out drinking again. She hoped that he had been gone all day so he wouldn't have seen her and Rick talking in her office, since she admitted that she would run away from him. "Uh, Jonathan? Where's Jack?" she asked as she sat next to him.
"He's at the bar. He's been there all day. Haven't seen him since 7:30 this morning." He replied as he kept watching TV.
"You mean he's been at the bar ALL day?"
"Evy, it's not my job to keep track of your husband!"
"You're not. I was just asking!" Evy walked back out the front door and headed to the bar she figured Jack would be at: The Bottom Of The Hill, the bar he usually we to when he and Evy were having problems.
When she got there, she saw him immediately. When she walked up to him, he grabbed another woman and started dancing with her. Evy finally got him to talk to her. After a few seconds of talking, she knew it was useless because he was drunk out of his mind. She got him into the car, with some help. By the time they got home, he was making a little more sense, but he wasn't being very nice.
Jonathan was still watching TV. When Evy and Jack came in, it startled him because they came bursting through the door, yelling at each other.
Jack yelled, "Evy! For God's sake, STOP LYING TO ME!"
She yelled back, "I'm NOT! And if you think that I am, then we have a dishonest relationship. And that's not going to work!"
"YOU'RE the one that's lying, and you're talking to ME about a dishonest relationship! I think you need to turn that finger around and take a look at yourself!"
"You are unbelievable!" And with that she turned and started to walk away. But before she could get away, Jack grabbed her arm and turned her towards him.
"When you decide to tell me the truth, then you come talk to me. Until then, I'm not gonna have ANYTHING to do with you!" And with that, Jack shoved her away, and walked upstairs to their bedroom, and slammed the door.
Evy just stood there, tears forming in her eyes. Jonathan, who had just sat and listened to the whole thing, came up and have her a brotherly hug.
"You really should get rid of that bloke, you know?" he said quietly, just in case Jack could've possible heard them.
"I've tried." She said, quite sad.
"What? When?" he asked, never knowing she'd already tried to leave him once.
"After the first week that he started acting like this."
"Acting like what? The fighting?"
"Yeah."
"But, everyone does that, Evy. I mean, all couples argue."
"I didn't say 'argue', Jonathan. I said, 'fighting'. There's a BIG difference."
"What? He's – He's physically fighting you!"
"Yes! That's why I'm always at the library. I'm always away from him as much as possible."
"Oh. What happened? You know, when you tried to leave?"
She just looked at him. A single tear rolled down her cheek. Jonathan wiped it away. "Oh sis. I'm so sorry." He gave her another hug. And she buried herself in his shoulder, letting it all out.
Jonathan walked her over to the couch and sat down with her, holding her, allowing her to unload on him.
About an hour later, Evy had stopped crying and was sleeping on Jonathan's lap. Jonathan heard the bedroom door open and close again upstairs. Then he heard footsteps getting louder. He knew Jack probably was coming to either go back to the bar, or take something up with Evy, which he wasn't about to allow.
Jack was at the bottom of the stairs when Jonathan got up carefully, as not to wake up Evy. He had a stern look on his face as he quickly walked towards Jack. "You! You get the hell out of here and don't EVER come within 50 miles of my sister!" Jonathan growled. He would be yelling up a storm but decided to let Evy sleep as long as possible.
"Jonathan, stay the hell out of my and my wife's business." said Jack, a little too calmly. He went right past Jonathan and straight towards Evy. But Jonathan jumped in front of him before he could reach her.
"Look, I'm here for one reason, and that's my sister."
"This isn't your business! Stay out of it! I'm warning you!"
"I'm her brother! It's my job to make it my business!" By now, they were shouting, but Evy managed to stay asleep through it.
"Just because you're a stubborn pain in the ass! I don't think so. Now MOVE!" And with that, Jack punched Jonathan square in the jaw when he didn't move. Jonathan fell to the ground, unconscious. Jack went straight for Evy. "Wake up!" he yelled as he leaned over her, and hand on the couch at both sides of her head. She continued in a deep sleep. But was abruptly awoken by a hand in contact wither cheek. She squealed, raising a hand to comfort her cheek. She turned to look at Jack, with a horrified look on her face.
"What is the matter with you!" she yelled.
"YOU are! You and that, man!" Evy was now up on her elbows but Jack was still leaning over her.
"Look, Jack. I already told you. And I've told you a million times. He's gone. I have nothing to do with him now!" She was leaning into the back of the couch as much as she could, trying to stay as far away from him as possible. Jack was fire red in the face. Evy could almost see the steam coming out of his ears. He was too angry to say anything. He just stood up and back-handed her so hard, she flew off the couch, screaming. She was now on her stomach. She saw Jonathan laying across the room and crawled over to him, making sure Jack hadn't killed him. She lay beside him, seeing he was still breathing. Before she could crawl to the phone, Jack grabbed her hair, and pulled her up to where she was in front of him, but not facing him. She could feel his hot, sticky breath on her ear as he whispered, "You know, Evy, you are a really bad liar!" With that he threw her to the ground and kicked her in the ribs. She curled up to try to keep from getting hurt. But it didn't work as well as she'd hoped. Jack wrapped his arm around her torso and picker her up, making her stand. As soon as she was on her feet, he put one hand around her throat. He then backed her against a wall, still choking her. She put her hands on his wrist and hand, trying to pry it off her throat. She started becoming weak from the loss of air, but had enough strength to knee him in the stomach. He doubled over, then fell to the ground, crying out in pain. She quickly caught her breath and took her chance. She ran to the phone and dialed Rick's number. One ring…two rings…three rings…four rings.
'Oh no. He's not gonna answer!' she thought, getting quite worried. She almost hung up, but was stopped.
"Ye-llo." answered Rick.
"Oh Rick, thank God you answered." she breathed, relieved.
"Evy, is everything ok? You sound a little freaked out." he asked, concerned by the fear in her voice.
"'Freaked' is only the beginning. Look, you have to get over here, Rick. Jacks—"
"Evy? Evy, you there? Hello!" No one answered. Nothing but a dial tone. "Shit!" He threw the phone down and ran out the door to his car.
Back to Evy
"'Freaked' is only the beginning. Look, you have to get over here, Rick. Jacks—" Jack came up behind her and grabbed the phone and hung it up.
"Calling for your boyfriend, are you?"
"He's not my boyfriend! But he's the closest thing to a friend that I've got!" Not a smart move on her part. Jack shoved her against the wall, holding her hands against it, above her head, and pinning her legs still so she couldn't hurt him again. Their noses were practically touching.
Jack whispered, "Well, I've got news for you, Evy. I'm not supposed to be your friend. I'm your husband!"
"Husbands don't treat their wives like this, Jack!"
"And why's that?" he asked, as he put the pressure on her arms and legs.
"It's still legal to beat your wife."
"Maybe in your world, but not the real world!" Jack was getting tired of this. He took her by her hair and threw her across the room and she hit her head on the corner of the coffee table. She was now bleeding down the side of her face. She wasn't unconscious, but she lay on the floor a little disoriented. He walked to her and stood over her. A foot on each side of her. He slowly reached behind him and pulled out a gun. He aimed it at the back of her head. She sensed this and slowly turned her head. "Jack, what are you doing?" she asked, weakly.
"I'm making sure you never hurt another man again."
"What are you talking about? I don't see how you can say that considering the way you've treated me."
"I'm treating you like anyone in my position would!"
"No, Jack! I'm not talking about now!" She slowly, carefully started to get up. He kept the gun on her the whole time. "I'm talking about the past 3 months! I've tried to give you everything! And you treated me like dirt! And I'm tired of it. That's why I've done what I have. I needed something more! I needed to feel alive. And Rick allows me to do that. He loves me, and he treats me the way a loving husband should treat his wife. I don't know what your problem is, but I'm tired of being a part of it. I'm not going to put up with it anymore." There was a long pause. "So…now you know. You drove me to do what I did!" Jack didn't know what to say. He continued to stand there. He slowly lowered the gun. Evy started to feel a little better and started to move towards Jonathan, seeing if she could wake him up. And in less than a second, it all turned bad.
Back to Rick
He knew it would take a bit to get to her house, but this was crazy. 'Of course. I hit all he construction zones, and I get every single red light possible!' he thought. "Finally!" he said to himself. He was now at Evelyn's house. He got out of the car and rushed to the front door. But right before he reached it, he heard a horrible sound.
Back to Evy
She took her eyes off Jack to go to Jonathan and right before she leaned down to him, she heard a loud crashing sound and felt the most terrible pain in her side. She fell to the ground, clutching her side. She looked at her hand and it was covered in blood. Then she looked and Jack and the gun was till pointed at her. Now aimed at her face. "Jack…please. Think about…what you're doing." She could barely speak. And her sight was going fast. She was trying hard to hold on, but felt herself slipping away very quickly. The last thing she saw was Jack walking towards her.
Back to Rick
When he heard the shot, he froze. All thoughts of Evelyn rushed through his mind. He raced to the door and opened it. He ran in and saw jack moving towards Evy with a gun at her head. Luckily, he was behind him. He quietly went up behind him and tackled him from behind. The gun went flying under the couch and Rick started throwing punches. He had Jack pinned to the ground and wasn't letting up. Jack got a couple of good hits it, but Rick didn't seem affected by them. Jack finally got a chance, and took it. He kicked Rick hard in the chest, causing Rick to fall off of him and onto the floor. Jack got up and ran out the front door, got in Rick's car and peeled out of the driveway. Rick quickly got up and glanced out the window to make sure that he was gone. He didn't care that he took his car. What was important was that he was away from Evelyn….Evelyn! He rushed to her and took her hand. Her breathing was very shallow and her pulse practically non-existent. He looked around for a phone that was close and noticed Jonathan. Still unconscious but still in better condition than Evy. He spotted a phone and sprinted to it. Dialed 911 and got an ambulance on the way. Then went back to Evelyn's side. He took her hand and felt her slipping further away every second. "Evy, please hold on, help's almost here." Next to them, Jonathan started to stir. When he finally came to, he noticed Rick. "I say, who are you and what are you doing here!"
"Don't worry, I'm a friend of Evelyn's. And I'm waiting for the ambulance to get here." Jonathan finally took notice of the condition of his sister.
"Oh my God! Did – did Jack do this?"
"Yes."
"Where is he?"
"He left, after I beat him to a pulp of course."
"Oh." Rick noticed Evy's wound was still bleeding pretty bad and put his hand over the wound.
"They better get here soon. She's lost a lot of blood. Any more and…" He didn't have to finish. Jonathan knew it wouldn't be good. Just then, they heard the sirens of the ambulance. They paramedics came in and quickly got Evelyn in the ambulance. They tried to get Jonathan but he assured them he was fine and wanted to stay with his sister. Rick went in the ambulance with Evy to the emergency room and Jonathan drove Evy's car. But once they arrived, they were forced to wait in the waiting room.
An hour went by and still no word. Jonathan stared at Rick as he paced the room. "Honestly, chap you're making me dizzy."
"How can you not be worried?"
"I am. I just try not to make other people sick because of it." Rick just kept pacing.
The doctor can in about 15 minutes later. "Richard and Jonathan?"
"Yes?" they both answered, Jonathan now standing next to Rick.
"Well, she's stable for now but it still doesn't look good. She's lost so much blood. She's very weak.
"Will she be ok?" Rick asked.
"With time, it's possible she'll make it. But the chance is slim. I'm sorry. You may go one at a time to see her." Rick looked at Jonathan and Jonathan could tell he needed to see her.
"Go ahead." Rick rushed to her room. When he went in, what he saw made him hurt. She was laying on the bed with her eyes closed and bandages from her belly button to just above her chest. Blood already showing through where she was shot. He went to the chair at the side of her bed and took her hand, causing her to open her eyes.
"Rick." she said weakly. "Oh, Rick. I'm so sorry. Are you alright?"
"I'm fine. The question is are you alright?"
"Yeah," she said, wanting to comfort him, "just tired, that's all. What happened to Jack?"
"He's gone. I ran him out of the house and he took my car and left."
"Oh. I'm sorry he took your car."
"It's ok. The important thing is that he left."
"Where's Jonathan? She asked, suddenly remembering he was on the floor knocked out last time she saw him.
"He's in the waiting room. They only let one of us in at a time. But he's fine. A nurse bandaged him up when we got here."
"Rick?" she got a serious look on her face. Then passed out.
"Evy? Evy!" The machines next to her bed all started beeping and the heart monitor went to one continuous beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep. "Oh no. Somebody help!" He yelled out the door. Doctors and nurses came rushing n and the forced Rick out and closed the curtain. A nurse escorted him back to the waiting room.
"How is she?" Jonathan asked, concerned for his baby sister.
"She was fine…and then her heart stopped." Rick was started to choke up at the thought of losing her.
"What!" Jonathan was getting very worried and wanted to see his sister. Now he was pacing along with Rick. They finally got tired and took a seat.
When the doctor came in about 10 minutes later, they both jumped up to meet him at the doorway.
"She's ok. For now. She seems to be holding on with everything she's got."
"Can we go see her?" Jonathan asked, reading Rick's mind.
"She's sleeping now. And doesn't need to be disturbed." He saw the worry and hurt in their eyes. "But, your welcome to stay the night with her as long as you don't wake her."
"Oh thank you doc." Rick said, as he and Jonathan went to her room and entered quietly. They took a chair on each side of her bed and sat next to her. Jonathan went to sleep quickly. But Rick stayed up for about 3 hours, before getting tired. He took her hand and drifted into sleep.