Chapter 32

Unnecessary Force

I felt a tremendous pain in my head. I was also being dragged into a small room, a pantry. I heard the unforgettable click of a gun and the cold barrel of my own Glock under my breast.

"So you've come to join the party?" A male voice hissed in my ear.

I couldn't respond; I was still disoriented.

"You have nice breasts." He said.

When I opened one of my eyes, I was unable to lift my head. I wasn't sure, but I could feel air on my breasts and knew that they must be uncovered. My pants caught on my hips, causing him to curse. He was having a hard time getting them off using only his free hand. They finally slip past my hips and down to my knees. He put his hand between my legs.

"Sweet. Come on Auri, don't I make you wet? You make me wet. The great Auri Ferrell, now that's going to be the ride of a lifetime. You just lay back and I'll do the work." He pushed my legs apart and I felt his hairy thighs push between mine. His mediocre erection was stabbing at my unparted labia while he sucked and kneaded my breasts. I tried to raise my head, but I felt him push the gun back under my breast. "You don't want to do that. You don't want them to find you with your left breast missing do you? Strangulation is so much more erotic."

I could smell his pungent sweat and feel his breath on my breasts and face. It left me sick to my stomach. I opened one eye and tried to focus on his face, but instead I was distracted by what was behind him, above his head. The swift moving object caused me to clench my eyes shut in expectation of contact. There was a thud and I felt the full weight of Jerad's body fall onto me. His head was resting on my chest, face turned to the wall.

I opened both eyes and saw Greg. He still had his cane in his hands like a bat. His aim had been perfect, Jared was knocked out cold. I didn't think; I just reacted. I grabbed the gun out of Jared's soft, manicured hands and took aim, the barrel directly against the back of his head.

Greg screamed, "No!"

But I didn't really hear him; all I could think of was that this bastard had been inside of Furey's head, You'll never leave Furey alone, will you? You'll always be playing with him, living through him! I knew this parasite would feed off of my Fury. It took so little effort to eliminate the problem. I felt my finger pull back, the bullet discharging, piercing his skull and boring into the wall. I had brains and blood all over my breasts and face.

Greg screamed out, "Auri! Jesus!"

I wanted to pull the trigger again, just to make sure he was dead, but Greg was pulling the Glock out of my hand. I let him have the gun and then I pushed the body off of me. We both heard the door open and people rushing in. Greg took his blazer off and handed it to me with a look that said he wasn't happy that I was going to get brains and blood on it. But I took it and covered my breasts as I pulled up my pants.

"Auri?" I turned and heard John. He came to the door of the pantry and grimaced at the site of a dead perp and me covered in body parts.

Greg stepped out into the kitchen area to make sure Furey didn't come inside. I could hear Furey screaming, "I want to see her!" Greg was assuring him that I was okay, but Fury was out of control, "I want to see her!"

I opened the gate and tried to talk to him, I heard his scream out. "Owwwww. Ahhhhhhhhhh."

I realized he was feeling the pain in my head. I shut the gate and yelled instead, "Furey, I'm alive." It hurt like hell to yell.

He yelled back, "Your head hurts!"

"Yeah, go get me a doctor."

Greg came hobbling back in, "I resent that! I am a doctor."

Freddie came running in, took one look and shook his head, "What the hell happened?"

"He knocked me out from behind and then—"

Greg jumped between me and Freddie, "I came in and found him trying to rape Auri who was wrestling with him for the gun. I hit him with my cane just as Auri had gained the upper hand. When I connected, his body movement must have caused Auri to pull the trigger at the same time."

Freddie frowned as if he wasn't buying the story. "Auri, what's your version?"

I opened my mouth, but Greg jumped in again, "She's just suffered a traumatic blow to her head and the emotional aftermath of almost being raped. You can talk to her later."

I was surprised that Freddie shut his mouth and nodded.

Greg waited with me until they brought a gurney. I was taken directly to an MRI, escorted by Greg who gave me a blow by blow account of what had happened before he found me. The MRI revealed a skull fracture, but no swelling, just bruising of my brain. I was very lucky in many ways. After being cleaned up, I was put to bed for overnight observation. My first visitor pounded across the room, arms outstretched and hugged me. Furey looked down at me and smiled.

"Auri, I love you."

"I love you too pumpkin. Thanks for rescuing me, I heard what you did."

"Dad saved you, not me. You killed the bad man Auri."

"Yes he can't hurt you anymore, honey. Now, you need to get home and get some sleep."

Lisa took Furey home and spent the night at Greg's. Greg stayed with me.

Finally alone, Greg looked down at me, searching my face for answers to unspoken questions. He shook his head, "Why? Why did you do it?"

I clenched my teeth and sat up on my elbows, "Why? Why? He would still be alive! He'd still be able to get into Furey's head and make his life miserable. Is that you want for Furey? Some asshole in prison having access to your son's life? Always living through him?"

Greg lowered his voice, "But what do we do? You're going to have to go along with my story."

"I killed a man Greg."

"You killed a monster who was terrorizing my son. I'll say or do anything it takes to get you off the hook. If you want me to say that I did it—"

"No! I don't want you to do or say anything. I have to face it."

"Auri," He choked up, "I can't let you do this. I love you. I want you to be with Furey and me for the rest of our lives--although, judging from the last few months, it sure looks like yours is going to be a short one." He paused and we both laughed, "Honestly, it's time we got married."

My heart rate monitor shot up along with my blood pressure.

He looked over at it and then back at me, "Does that mean yes?"

"They're going to do an investigation; I may be going to jail, prison."

"If we get married, then I can't give testimony against you."

"Is that why you want to marry me?"

He smirked, "Yeah, right. You know me; do you really think I'm the guy who'll sacrifice my freedom for yours?"

I started chuckling, feeling giddy under the influence of morphine, "So isn't getting married losing your freedom?"

He grabbed my hand and grinned, "You better believe it, but admittedly, it would be my own satin lined prison."

"I'd love to marry you, but only if I don't go to prison."

His whole body slumped, "Please don't be a martyr for this guy. He wins if he manages to take you away from Furey and me. We love you. Furey needs you. Ah hell, I need you too. Look, you weren't thinking clearly, you had a brain injury and were temporarily insane. It wasn't your fault."

I chuckled and shook my head.

Greg was pulled out of the room by another doctor. They talked and I saw Greg jerk his head back in shock. He watched the doctor walk away and then looked down at the floor for a good minute before coming back into the room.

"Auri?"

"Yes?"

"They just discovered that the dead guy had HIV and gonorrhea."

"He didn't have penetration."

"Did his dick come into contact with the mouth of your vagina?"

I was pretty sure it had, just before Greg swung his cane, "Probably, I don't remember a lot."

"We're going to have to test you for the next six months."

I nodded, just as Freddie walked through the door.

He motioned to Greg, "Dr. House, Auri. How are you?"

Greg grabbed my hand, "She's got a brain injury, on morphine and observation. She's having some trouble with her memory."

Freddie looked back at me, "You're suspended with pay until the investigation is done, but I don't see any reason for you to worry." He burned his eyes into mine as a warning to shut up, "Your story sounds solid."

I blinked several times in disbelief, "It does?" I think I sounded a little too startled.

"Auri, you were almost raped and murdered. You suffered a huge blow to your head. Even if you were a tad late with the shot, there isn't a jury out there or an FBI agent who would convict or blame you. So, like I said, your story sounds solid. It appears that when Dr. House gave him the blow, the gun went off accidentally." He smiled at me.

"What about Rouche?"

"He's sees it the same way."

I looked over at Greg, who was smiling down at the floor.

Freddie patted my foot, "So, when are you two getting married?"

My mouth dropped open, "Where did you hear that?"

"You mean, how did I know besides the fact that this idiot here went into a room with a murderer who had control over a gun to save you? Furey told me you were getting married."

Greg and I looked at each other and rolled our eyes, "He's been trying to marry us off for a long time."

"So this isn't some psychic vision of his?"

I shrugged, "Greg just asked me to marry him."

Freddie laughed, "Congratulations!"

"How do you know that I said yes?"

Freddie shook his head, "Give me a break. You two deserve each other. I suspect you're the only one who can tolerate him." Freddie nodded towards Greg.

Greg nodded, "He's got us pegged."

I snickered, "Yeah, Fred's pretty intuitive."

We all laughed, Fred read back Greg's statement (I assume so that I could get my facts straight) and then Freddie left.

Greg plopped down into the chair in my room. Before falling off to sleep he asked, "So, now that you have some time off with pay, what are you going to do?"

I rolled onto my side and gave him a sexy look, "Plan a wedding I guess."

He yawned, "About time you came to your senses. Now go to sleep."

"Why don't you close those blinds and crawl in with me. I'd just like for you to hold me."

"What? Am I your security blanket now?"

"Is that a problem?"

He narrowed his eyes, "I kinda like it…super hero House. I could pull chicks with that." He said all this as he closed the drapes then took off his shoes and socks. He crawled in on my right side and wrapped an arm around me. Kissing the back of my head, we both fell asleep within minutes. Once again, this idiot doctor made me feel safe.