Chapter 24
Bang!
The pain was welcomed. Taylor let herself fall without attempting to throw her hands out to break her fall. Kenneth was a terrible shot and she touched her stomach and shook her head, hoping he would deliver another shot, hopefully lethal.
Kenneth wore the same snarl of hatred as he towered over her and again he pulled back the hammer. Taylor closed her eyes and waited.
Bang!
The shot echoed, but why could she hear it? Kenneth stood so close; she could not imagine he had missed. But she felt no new pain.
"Taylor? Oh no."
Chyna dropped to her side and pulled off her button down shirt, exposing her white tank beneath and held it against Taylor's wound.
"Let me die." Taylor begged, her voice soft, containing no fear. She smiled even though the pain was bringing her tears. "Please."
"There's no way." Chyna told her. "This isn't that bad of a wound, you're going to be just fine."
"But I don't want to be fine."
"You don't know what you're saying."
"Yes, I do. Besides, if I live, it'll just be worse."
"I told you, I am going to find a lawyer who can help you."
"Oh, Chyna. No decent lawyer is going to help me for free."
"I'm not giving up hope, don't you do it." She said as she spoke on her cell phone ordering an ambulance.
"Kenneth set this up so well." Taylor laughed. "I'll look guilty and no judge will believe me, not now."
Chyna stared, confused. Taylor wasn't making sense to her, but she knew. Chyna left her side and Taylor tried not to care if she left her or not, but she couldn't stop herself from looking for her friend.
Chyna found the knife, Kenneth had meant to plant on Taylor's dead body. She stared at it a moment, then wiped the handle off with her shirt. She then placed it in Kenneth's hand and he dropped it immediately.
"You're plan won't work this time, you sorry son of a bitch."
Kenneth moaned and Taylor believed his wounds were far worse than hers. She felt jealous because she wanted to die.
The paramedics arrived and went to work on both her and Kenneth. She had hoped to pass out but she remained wide awake as they hoisted her on a gurney and wheeled her out of the mill.
She didn't see Randy as she was rolled past her department and she still wondered what Kenneth had told him that had crippled him. If he truly had feelings for her she imagined he would have twice as much to grieve over. Another good reason for her life to end. He would get over her if she was dead. She wasn't so sure he would if she lived.
Finally, her body let her fall into a pit of darkness and she didn't have to think about her life anymore. Too bad it was only a dream because she woke up, handcuffed to a bed hours later. It was dark out and she sighed, sad that no one had taken her wish to die seriously.
She was alone. The quiet was welcomed. She stared out of a window that had no bars. It was the most beautiful site she could remember even though the rain fell down heavily and water cascaded in thick sheets down the glass panes. The sky was darker than she had ever remembered. Black clouds with a greenish tint.
"You look much better than you did last night." Chyna walked into the room.
"Hi." But her heart wasn't in it. "How's Randy?"
"I had a feeling you were going to ask about him. Oh … he's really well, he's not doing very well right now. There was a shooting… in his neighborhood."
Taylor stopped looking out the window and gave all her attention to Chyna.
"They're all gone, Taylor. His mom, his sister … and … and his little boy."
"That can't be…"
"The lady who took Aiden in took him to see his grandma and aunt at a restaurant and they were caught in the middle of a drive by while they all ate outside in the play area. I can't imagine what this will do to him."
"This will destroy him." Taylor began to cry. Randy only had a month to go and now he had nothing to go home to. All the plans he had were destroyed."
"I know. He's downstairs. I haven't been able to get him to leave the morgue. He's so tore up. He won't let me talk to him."
"Why are the best people always the ones who have the hardest life?" Taylor whispered.
"I don't think you need this. The doors are locked. You can rest better without them I'm sure." Chyna removed her handcuffs.
Chyna soon left her and Taylor sobbed for Randy, knowing how heartbroken he was. The most important people in his life were gone and she worried that he would do something horrible to himself or worse, he would track down the people who killed his family and end up in prison for murder. She wanted to be by his side. She wanted to console him or just be there to hold him. He needed her so much at that moment, more than he ever needed her and she couldn't go to him.
The nurse came in with a tray of food and set it in front of her. The woman wouldn't look at her and she was sure the young lady thought the worst of her.
When she left, the door failed to close behind her, staying open a small gap and Taylor could hear the people outside talking. There was a cop sitting outside her door.
It hurt every time she moved, but she refused to use the bedpan. She cried softly as her wound pulled and tugged sending sharp pains through her body. But she forced herself to go on until she had made it to the bathroom.
When she returned she stood by the door and listened. The cop told someone that he was going outside to smoke, thinking Taylor was handcuffed and wouldn't be going anywhere. Taylor peaked out and didn't think about the consequences before slipping out and going as fast as her tired body would allow her to go to the elevators. No one at the nurse's desk noticed that she had left, all busy with their work.
She had no intentions of escaping. She just had to see Randy. What could they do? Give her more time when she was already serving a life sentence?
