There was something about her that terrified Finn although it was extremely allusive. Maybe it was her mannerisms; standoffish, cool, aloof. Maybe it was her beauty; her freckled cheeks that blush so easily, her smile or her gorgeous wavy red hair. No! It was her eyes that bore into his soul and were constantly saying, 'Stay away!'
None of that mattered now! None of it! He needed to focus on her and not his rejected or hurt feelings. He was not the type of man to leave someone in need because his ego had been bashed or bruised.
He let out a deep breath, that he didn't realize he was holding, as he assessed the situation.
Her black SUV was sideways in the middle of the road. She had been sideswiped out of nowhere and the force of the impact twisted the doorframe metal. By the look of the skid marks, whoever did this pushed her SUV for about 30 or 40 feet.
He saw the stunned look in her face as he came upon the scene. He pulled behind her vehicle and jumped out of his shiny new Chevy pickup leaving the door ajar and the keys in the ignition, ignoring the pinging sound going off incessantly.
He didn't hear any of the background noises as he ran to the driver's side focusing only on her. Reaching for the handle, he tried to open the door several times before it even budged. He braced his foot on the passenger door to increase his leverage and finally he stumbled backwards with the open door.
The air bag had released and she was trying to free herself and was in the middle of a panic attack as he opened the door. Once again he evaluated the situation, his heart stopped when he took in all of the blood but he quickly snapped out of his daze and said, "LiIi! Lili James! I need you to stop struggling and stay calm."
He continued to try to calm her down and took her hands in his. His instincts were in overdrive because he would later realize, he was so afraid of her, that he never would have had the courage to take her hands into his. Not in a bleeping million years.
Needing to get help on the way, he switched her hands into his left hand while grabbing his phone and called for an ambulance. He then immediately reached in his front flannel pocket for his pocket knife and sliced the airbag to deflate it.
Lili was stammering and was starting to go into shock while Finn was inspecting her to find where she was bleeding from. He found several open wounds that caused the bleeding and he let go of her hands to put pressure on them and waited with her until the rescue crew arrived.
"Lili, look at me. I need you to breathe. That's it. Keep breathing and stay with me." He kept whispering to her to stay with him and that he wasn't going anywhere.
Blood was streaming down her face and into her eyes then mixing with her tears, when Finn carefully wiped them away. She leaned into his hand and mumbled, "Hal. It was Hal." Closing her eyes she let out a small and desperate cry.
Finn tensed all over his body when she mentioned Hal's name as thoughts of teaching the bastard a lesson consumed him. In the moment he didn't even realize how irrational that thought was, especially since they had never spoken before today. Finn had been fighting his own demons and didn't need to bring anyone else down the rabbit hole with him.
She was so scared as she looked into his soft brown eyes and she was barely able to speak, but she managed to say, "Finn, he…". Closing her eyes she tried again, "Finn, he hurt me for years. Escaping." She squeezed his arm and leaned her head on his shoulder and stayed there crying with him as the EMTs were pulling up with their sirens blaring away.
He was still kneeling by her side trying to comfort her when Jude arrived with the EMT crew and Finn needed to step aside as they started to evaluate her.
Turning around he saw Billy getting out of his police cruiser making his way over to discuss the situation. Billy assessed him and saw blood all over Finn, before asking, "What happened? Are you hurt too?"
Finn shrugged his shoulders as he answered, "I found her car smashed in the middle of the road, sideswiped. This looks like a hit and run but I didn't have a chance to evaluate her car for all of the damage. She's pretty banged up so I focused on trying to stem her bleeding until the EMTs arrived."
Nodding Billy replied, "Head home and get cleaned up and stay at home until I come by for a statement. I don't want you calling around and spreading gossip."
Finn ignored Billy's last statement, replying with "Hey Billy, just as the EMT arrived she told me that it was Hal that hit her vehicle."
"What the bloody hell is going on with those two?" Billy said as he hit his beat up cowboy hat on his leg.
Finn shrugged and wasn't sure what more to say and just as he was heading to his car, Jude yelled out to him, "Hey Finn! Come here a moment."
He looked over and they had Lili out of the car and a team of medics were triaging her before heading to the hospital. He watched as they placed an oxygen mask over her face and noticed her eyes growing large with fright.
He wanted to run back over to her and hold her hand again but he restrained himself and walked slowly over to Jude asking, "What's up?"
Jude turned his head towards Lili and Finn's eyes followed and his heart felt like it was being strangled as he saw her blood mixed into her red hair and smudged across her face. True confusion washed over him as he processed the scene and the words that he just heard.
"She wants what?" he questioned. He eyes turned to Jude and then back to Lili's and he felt his heart skip several beats. Finally he replied, "Can you take my car to the hospital and I will go with her?"
Before Jude could even reply, he said, "The keys are in the ignition." Finn headed to the ambulance and jumped up asking the crew where he could sit then buckled in before turning his attention to Lili.
He couldn't hold her hand because of all of the wires and IVs now hooked up to her so he placed his hand on her shoulder and leaned in and whispered in her ear, "I will stay with you as long as they will let me and as long as you want me by your side."
Her eyes looked at him with frantic anxiety and just as the ambulance shut the door and started to drive away they heard a gun blast and watched in horror as the glass in the back door of the ambulance shattered into a thousand shards of projectiles.
Metal crushed into metal and the sound echoed through Hal's brain. He backed his truck away from her smashed vehicle and drove away as quickly as he could. His work was done here, certain that the crash killed Lili. He was elated as she would never again mess up his plans. There was no morality left in Hal's tortured soul as he briefly thought, 'I will miss the sex but not the bitch!' The bitch was dead! He was gloating in his own glory, never thinking that he was too far gone. He was unaware that he was the one that was broken and not Lili. His heart had been consumed by evil and he was lost to the world. As he raced down the road, the decided to listen to the police radio. He wanted to hear that Lili James Maloney was dead from injuries sustained in a hit and run accident. Oh, how he was waiting. It took about ten minutes for the cal
Finn felt the anger building inside of him. He wanted revenge and it didn't matter that Hal was dead. Someone else was going to have to pay for his sins. Who should he go after for killing Jude? and Lili! She was brutally violated and someone would pay! Oh someone would pay... Shaking his shoulder gently, Billy woke Finn saying, "Hey man! Wake up!" Finn looked around and was disoriented. Where was he? Rubbing his eyes he looked at Billy for a few seconds until the trauma of the day hit him like a ton of bricks. Billy continued, "Come on, man. You're being discharged so you can get up and get dressed. You're clothes are in your bag along with your keys to the apartment." Finn was still groggy from his nightmare sleep and he was still trying to register where he was and then looked at Billy again before he grunted. He swung his legs over the side of the
Let go Finn!—- Let go!Come!—- Follow me!Remember who you used to be! Come Finn!You know you want it!Just one more time! What's the harm?Finn tried to escape his nightmare, clawing and screaming. He was reduced to begging, "Please let me go! Release me. This is not my life anymore. I want to live!"The nightmare continued down a darker path. He could smell the alcohol and saw the lines of powder everywhere. Calling him. Pulling him in. It felt too real.He was drowning in his own tears and was sucked down another black hole and was slammed against a wall. A strong arm pinned him to the wall and he felt tremendous pain as glass shards attacked every inch of his exposed body. Screaming in pain and weak from the frenzy of the dream, he woke up curled in a ball on the floor in Lili's intensi
Elle just started her shift and was making her way around the floor to catch up on her patients when she saw Finn walk up to her with his duffel bag."Mr. Finnegan are you leaving?" Elle asked."No, but I was hoping you would let me into the family shower room so that I can shower and shave." he replied.Elle pulled out her keys and smiled at him saying, "Sure, right this way. While you are in there, I will make sure to keep two eyes on Lili for you."He let a small smile flicker across his face before saying, "Much appreciated." He closed the door and showered as quickly as humanly possible. He was thankful that Billy took him several outfits and he wondered when he would have to give in and go home to get more clothes. He dreaded that thought of leaving her for a few hours. Walking back to the room, he saw Billy standing outside waiting patiently for him."Billy, what's up?" Finn asked.Billy took off his h
Ten days later Finn was exhausted as he walked into Lili's room and took off his suit jacket and started to undo his tie. He cursed under his breath at Hal and his violent tirade. How could anyone impart such vindictiveness to a beautiful creature like Lili? And to kill Jude! What was his reason? He was in mourning for Jude. He was such a good friend, quiet, trustworthy and loyal. He was one of the first to connect with Finn when he stumbled across this small town, out of sorts, lost with the need to be found. Jude met him where he was; broken and lost. He was a faithful friend and never judged his past. He was the one that suggested that Finn stay for a few months and he would introduce him to Russel over at the ranch, recommending that he should work for the summer as a ranch hand. That job turned into his current security position and taught him the value of hard work and honesty.&n
Finn kept rubbing her hand and whispering encouragements to her as she started to stir. He looked at Dr. Berkeley for affirmation that things were moving in the right direction and he gave Finn a thumbs up. Elle walked in and stood in the doorway, monitoring her progress. The monitors were showing increased activity and her eye movements were increasing. Finally, Lili let out a groan and twisted a bit in bed. She was still sound asleep but Finn was ecstatic, smiling ear to ear. Leaning over Lili, Dr. Berkeley checked her heart and stepped back, pleased with her progress so far. More restlessness and another groan. Her eyelids fluttered and almost opened before she settled in again. Her covers had come undone so Finn straightened them out and pushed her unruly hair out of the way. Just as he was sitting back down he heard, "Finn, Finn, where am I?" "Lili, oh my Lili. You're in the hospital. D
You're safe now. You're safe now. His words swirled around her head as she continued to hold his hand. Lili thought, 'How could I be safe?' Even with Hal dead, she was traumatized by the abuse over the last three years. It could take a lifetime to overcome. Lili looked into Finn's eyes and politely smiled and patted his hand condescendingly and said, "I don't think that I'll ever feel safe with any man, even you, but I need to trust someone." She watched as Finn hung his head down and his forehead rested on her hands and she heard him whisper, "Please, Lili. Please give me a chance to take care of you. I will do my best to nurse you back to health." She remained silent and pulled her hand away from him. Truth be told… his touch terrified her because she trusted him. Why? There was no explanation, but she trusted him. She closed her eyes and started to cry. The tears flowed s
Several nurses rushed to Finn's side and one of them managed to revive him. After an initial screening he was whisked in a wheelchair down to the ER and they insisted on doing a full work up on him.He protested that he was fine and was just tired and hungry. Doctor Hill finally agreed that Finn was alright but insisted that he have a full meal and a few hours sleep before he would release Finn to care for Lili.When Doctor Hill left and he was alone, Finn mumbled, "It's okay doc! It's ok. I am checking out and going back to Philadelphia. I know when I am not wanted."He barely managed to speak the words as sleep took over his exhausted brain. Finn slept for seven hours and no one in the hospital dared interrupt his sleep. Finn was unaware of his newfound reputation; local hero. He had avoided the newspapers and the gossip stories that they wrote about Finn and his drug addicted past and his new life. &nbs