CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Corey stood at the window, peeking out the curtain. "Look at the idiots out there. They don't even know what to do next," he said.
"I don't know why you're getting excited. They know it's you, so you're a goner. Just let us go," Martha glared at him.
Corey swung around to face her. "Aww. You're not in a bad mood because I wouldn't let you talk to your sweetie pie for longer, are you?" he asked sarcastically.
"Shut up," she spat out, and looked away from him in disgust.
Corey laughed. "Or maybe it's because you tried to tell him that you loved him, but I snatched the phone away before you got the chance," he said.
Martha hated him. She couldn't believe that she had once thought he was a good guy. God, how wrong she was.
She'd tried to tell Jack that she loved him, because honestly she didn't know if she'd ever get another chance too. But Corey had heard her start to say it, and he had taken the phone from her. Now Jack would probably never know how she really felt.
"You okay?" Irene asked her.
Martha smiled at her; once again thanking god that she wasn't alone. "Yeah. Still got a bit of a headache, but my face is starting to feel a bit numb. So I can't really feel anything at the moment," she told Irene. "Are you okay?" she asked back.
Irene nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just worried about your injury. It's still bleeding quite heavily. I wish he would just let us go so you could get to the hospital," she replied.
"Me too," Martha exclaimed. "I'm actually starting to feel a bit faint and light headed. I guess it's because I'm losing blood," she continued.
"We will get out of here. I know we will, and it's going to be soon," Irene reassured her.
Jack was in a state of panic. He had to hide it though; if his boss thought that he was losing control, he'd remove him. But Jack needed to be there, he needed to be there for Martha. So he had to keep his feelings in check.
"Are you sure that Martha's okay?" Alf asked again.
Jack nodded, trying his hardest to reassure him that everything was okay. "She sounded okay. Just a bit upset," he told Alf, Ric and Barry. He knew he had to tell them about Corey hitting Martha. He knew it would upset them, but it had to be done.
"But, Martha did say that Corey had hit her a couple times," he confessed. He saw the look on both Alf and Ric's faces. They weren't happy and Alf looked like he was about to explode.
"What! I'm going to ring that flaming mongrel's neck," Alf roared.
"I'll be in on that," Ric added.
"I want my granddaughter out of there this instance. Do you hear me?" he yelled across the road to McGrath. "I'll go in there my bloody self if I have too," he kept on yelling, as he moved to walk across the street to the house.
"Alf, you need to calm down. I'm worried aswell, but there's nothing we can do right now," Jack said, holding Alf back.
"Yeah, come on Grandad. We need to let them do their job," Ric begged. He hated seeing his grandad so upset.
Jack looked up and noticed Flynn walking across the road towards them. He'd managed to convince Colleen to go back to the diner, but he had returned himself after he had dropped her off.
"Any news?" Flynn asked when he reached them.
"He's hurt Martha," Alf told him.
"What? Is she okay?" Flynn asked shocked.
"Corey let me speak to Martha on the phone. She told me that he had hit her a couple times," Jack began to tell him. "We're not sure if there are any injuries yet," he continued. Jack was praying that there wasn't, although Corey had mentioned something about blood. But he wasn't about to tell them that. Alf would completely flip.
"Well it's a good thing I came back then. I've got my bag in the car, so if they need a Doctor, I'll be on hand straight away," Flynn told them.
"Thanks Doc," Alf said, patting him on the back.
"Here comes Kim and Hayely," Ric interrupted. Jack watched as Kim's car screeched to halt. They both jumped out and ran towards them. Hayley quickly made a path towards Jack.
"What's going on? Is Irene okay? What about Martha? Do they know who's doing this?" she blabbered, trying to hold in her tears.
"Whoa, slow down. One question at a time," Jack tried to calm her down.
"I'm sorry. I'm just really worried," she apologised.
"It's okay. Irene and Martha are fine. But we're still working on a way to get them out," Jack said honestly.
Hayley let out a sigh of relief. "Well as long as their okay. Wait, what about Corey? Is he okay?" she questioned.
Jack realised that Kim and Hayley hadn't been told that Corey was the one behind this.
"He's the flaming Mongrel who's holding them in there," Alf spat out. Hayley gasped. "Oh my god," she said, holding her hand up to her mouth.
"Why on earth would he do something like this?" Kim asked.
"Don't ask mate. It's a long story," Jack told him.
"Well, I'm up for a long story," Kim said back. Jack sighed. He really didn't want to explain it again.
"If Jack doesn't want to tell all, I will," Ric jumped in. "Let's just say that Corey wasn't to impressed when he found out that Jack and Martha were still going at it behind his back," Ric said, trying not laugh.
"Hey. What?" Kim asked, clearly confused.
"Jack and Martha are back together," Ric replied in a more simple sentence.
"You mean to say that he's doing this because Martha wants to be with Jack and not him? What a loony," Kim stated.
"You're telling me," Ric scoffed.
Jack could feel his anger rising. He needed to be alone. He didn't want to break down in front of everyone. So he slowly walked across the road and sat down on a small patch of grass.
He thought about Martha and how scared she sounded on the phone. He wanted to see her so bad. Just to make sure that she was okay. It wasn't fair. He should have been the one in there, not her. Jack could feel his eyes welling up with tears. If anything happened to Martha it would be his fault, and he'd never be able to forgive himself.
"Jack," he heard a voice say. He looked up and saw his dad running across the road towards him. "I came as soon as I heard what was going on," Tony said to his son.
"Hey dad," Jack said, wiping away the stray tear that was sliding down his cheek.
Tony sat down next to him. "I can't believe that this is all Corey's doing," he said. "Ric filled me in on why Corey was doing this. How come you never told me that you and Martha were working things out?" Tony asked.
Jack shrugged. "We wanted to wait until Martha had broken up with Corey," he replied.
"So the last two nights when you didn't come home; you were with Martha?" Tony questioned. It was really more of a statement than a question.
"Yep. Stupid idea that was. I should have stayed away until her and Corey was over," Jack began. "If I had of, Martha and Irene wouldn't be in this position. This is all my fault dad," he finished.
"Jack this is not your fault, so stop blaming yourself," Tony ordered.
"How can this not be my fault? I should have kept my hands to myself," Jack said.
"Mate, you're a Holden. And Holden's can never keep their hands to themselves. It's just the way we are, and who could resist that Holden charm anyway?" Tony teased his son.
Jack laughed at his dad. "Of course you would say that," he said. "Just trying to cheer you up mate," Tony said.
"Dad, if anything happens to her I'll never be able to forgive my self," he told his father.
Tony looked at his son. He could see the pain and sadness in his eyes. "You really care about her a lot, don't you?" he questioned him.
Jack nodded. "Yeah, I do," he replied. "I love her," he said honestly.
Tony wrapped his arm around Jack. He was surprised by how honest his son was being. He never really spoke about his feelings, and this was the first time that Jack had ever told him that he loved a girl. Maybe it was because Jack had never really been in love before. Martha was probably the first girl he'd ever really let himself get close too. Close enough to fall in love that is.
"Martha's going to be fine. I know she will," Tony comforted him.
"I need her," Jack said.
"I know mate," Tony sighed. "I know."
