His Brother's Wife

by Michelle Love

  They spun around to see the old lantern cranked into life, flickering weakly in the pitch darkness. Without hesitation the three of them ran, cutting through the woods to the lighthouse. Steve helped Molly up the hill, while Isaac went ahead, desperate to reach Sarah. He got to the door. Locked. He scooted around the lighthouse and started up the stairs. At the foot of the stairs, Molly stopped a confused Steve.

  “If he finds her and she’s…” she couldn’t finish. Steve hugged her swiftly, understanding.

  “Come on. Best thing is to face whatever we’ll find together.”

  They followed Isaac up the staircase, seeing him reach the top and disappearing into the lantern room. Steve was helping Molly onto the balcony when Isaac, his expression one of utter despair, came out of the room and threw up. Molly covered her mouth, trying not to scream.

  “Oh no…no…please, not Sarah.”

  Acting quickly, Steve turned to her. “Stay out here.” He ordered, making her look at him. She nodded, going to Isaac and rubbing his back as he choked and gasped for air. Steve was back in seconds, his face an echo of Isaac’s. He shook his head at Molly.

  “Not Sarah.” He seemed to have trouble swallowing. “She’s gone. There are signs of a struggle, there’s blood, a lot of blood but I don’t know if any of it is hers.” He sucked in a breath, and he and Isaac exchanged a look.

  “Let’s head towards town, if he’s taken her somewhere or she’s running, it’ll be that way.” Isaac’s voice was steady now. He started down the stairs. Steve shepherded Molly down behind Isaac. At the bottom, Isaac took off, they heard him shouting Sarah’s name. Steve took Molly’s hand and they ran after Isaac. Molly glanced at Steve’s still stricken face.

  “Steve? What is it? What did you see in there?”

  Steve didn’t answer. Molly touched his arm, seeing the horror in his eyes.

  “Steve? Steve…who was it?”

  Steve swallowed, not meeting her eyes. “Caroline.”

  Molly recoiled. “The baby?”

  “Yes.”

  Molly turned and threw up as Steve looked out into the darkened woods and wondered how the hell much worse this night could get.

  Sarah ran around the lighthouse, heading straight for the woods below. Blood from her arm dropped onto the snow, a trail straight to her. She could hear his shouts, his rage - “You fucking bitch!” – as she stumbled her way into the wood. She saw light coming from the other end of wood – just a faint glimmer but it gave her hope. She was almost free.

  Isaac plunged into the wood and sped, his eyes searching, searching, and searching. The sound of a man’s voice, an angry man, a raging man, screaming her name. Dan. I’ll find you, you fucking bitch! A sudden lightness lifted Isaac’s heart. She was escaping him, she was running. She hadn’t given up.

  “SARAH!” Isaac screamed her name, praying that she heard him, that she knew he was coming for her, that he would save her. “Sarah, I love you, run!”

  He pelted off in the direction of Dan’s voice that was still cursing her still threatening her. Isaac hoped beyond hope that she heard his, Isaac’s voice, a voice of love as well as the vitriol Dan was spewing. Sarah, I love you, I love you.

  Then he heard it, her voice, and her wonderful beautiful voice. “Isaac!” His heart felt about to burst.

  Then a gunshot split the night air.

  She wasn’t sure she had heard right, the sound was still so far away. Her name, her name being shouted on the wind. “Sarah! Sarah, I love you, run!”

  Isaac…Isaac was coming for her. Her body flooded with warmth, she turned in the direction of his voice and began to run. Mistake.

  Dan tackled her from the side and they rolled together, Sarah desperately fighting him, his hands everywhere, grasping and hurting. She fought, fought like hell but Dan was too strong, grabbing her wounded arm and twisting it until she cried out in pain.

  Dan straddled her, grinning

  “It’s all over now, Sarah.”

  He took her t-shirt between his hands and ripped it open. She could feel the icy cold of the snow against her bare skin. Dan pulled the gun from his waistband and aimed it at her, running the muzzle of the gun from her throat down to her navel.

  “Shame we’re going to have to rush this. I was going to use my knife but we don’t have time so a bullet or two or three will have to suffice.” His voice was sing-song, the look in his eyes pure bloodlust. She curled her left hand into a fist and smashed it as hard as she could into his face. He laughed and grabbing her arm, stood and smashed it down over his knee. She heard the bone snap. The pain was excruciating and she whimpered, unable to keep it in. Nausea roiled through her, dark spots started to swim at the corners of her eyes.

  He rammed his face against hers. “Does it hurt? If you think you’re broken now, Sarah, you have no idea. You’ll beg me to kill you before the end.”

  All at once, Sarah was furious, beyond furious.

  “How fucking dare you?” she whispered. “How dare you play God with other people’s lives? Deciding who lives and who dies. Destroying other people’s lives on the whim of your fucking ego. You’re pathetic.”

  Her words shocked him; his face, uglier than she’d ever seen it, contorted with rage.

  “Don’t test me, baby girl.”

  “Or what? You’ll kill me? You’re going to kill me anyway. Is that the best you can do, you cowardly motherfucker? Because that’s what you are, Dan, a pathetic coward. You think just because you want something you should have it. I’m not a possession. You repulse me. Even if you weren’t the hateful psychopath you are, I could never love you. I never did...”

  She could hear Isaac crashing through the wood, shouting her name.

  Just keep him talking, she thought, just a few more minutes.

  Dan struck her hard across the face. She tasted blood in her mouth. Dan grabbed her face, pinching it hard between his fingers.

  “You little half-breed whore.” His voice was calm, dispassionate. “You think he’s going to save you? Really?”

  “Sarah!” Isaac’s voice was desperate, panicked.

  Dan smirked. “Nothing’s gonna save you, baby girl. This is what I do best, Sarah.”

  She felt the cold steel muzzle against her belly. Dan smiled. She pulled every last ounce of breath into her lungs and screamed.

  “Isaac!”

  Her scream cut off as Dan pulled the trigger.

  Isaac burst into the clearing just as Dan shot Sarah again, her body arching with the impact, blood gushing from the horrific wounds in her abdomen.

  “No!” Isaac threw himself at Dan and knocked him away from Sarah, who moaned in agony. Still alive, keep breathing baby. Dan and Isaac rolled away from her. Dan managed to keep hold of the gun and he jerked it up towards Isaac and pulled the trigger. Isaac punched him out just as a bullet buried itself deep into his bicep. Isaac barely registered the pain. His rage, his love for the dying girl in the snow overcame him and he managed to drive his fist up under Dan’s chin. Blood spurted from the other man’s mouth as he bit through his own tongue and he screamed, gurgling blood in his mouth. Isaac smiled. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Molly with Sarah; she was sobbing, begging her friend to live. He heard Sarah choke, cough. More blood. He turned his head to look at her. God, she so was broken, the sight of her blood on the snow seared itself into his brain. Sarah…Sarah, please breathe…

  Then Dan Bailey hit him with the butt of his gun.

  Sarah’s eyes opened and she saw his beautiful face fill with horror as he took in her broken body. Isaac. She saw him, the man she loved, fighting for her and she smiled. Hands were there then, pushing against her, keeping the blood in. Rolling her onto her side so she could clear her throat of blood. She choked, coughed and breathed in a blessed lungful of air. Blood on the snow. So much pain. A soothing voice, a familiar voice – Molly?

  “Honey, we’ve got you, just hang on in there please, please, please.” Molly’s voice broke and Sarah wanted to c
omfort her, but she couldn’t talk, she couldn’t remember how to talk. The darkness was coming. She tried to breathe and make sense of what was happening at the same time. Her world was shattering onto fragments of consciousness.

  Breathe…

  Shouting, the sound of skin hitting skin, of struggling, men grunting and cussing. She saw Isaac, his face bloodied, scramble to catch up with Dan.

  Breathe…

  “Sarah, please hold on, you can’t die, please please please…”

  Breathe…

  “Steve! Help Sarah!” Isaac’s voice was growing distant now. Steve’s voice. “Isaac, take my gun!” There were more hands on her, Steve’s voice. She’d never noticed before how kind it was and she wanted to tell him…

  Breathe…

  Gunshots. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she remembered Isaac had Steve’s gun – had Dan had time to reload? God, Isaac…

  He’s fighting for me.

  “That’s it, that’s it, come on, good girl, just breathe…”

  I am. I am. I…

  Her entire belly felt like it was on fire from the two bullets tearing through her tender flesh.

  God, this is it, I’m dying.

  Her breath was coming in little gasps now, her own body fighting against her will to live. She swallowed another mouthful of blood and looked away up into the trees above her, the rain had turned to snow now, covering her face, soothing cold. The little light there was left in the day made the sky a beautiful violet. Sarah closed her eyes.

  Isaac. Isaac. I’m sorry. I love you.

  Isaac broke through the trees and sprinted up the hill after Dan. He heard Molly scream “Steve! She’s not breathing!” and his heart faltered but he pushed the thought away as he darted into the clearing near the lighthouse…where Dan was waiting for him. Isaac raised the gun and Dan laughed, bowing extravagantly.

  “Do you think I care if I live or die now, Quinn? Really? I did what I came here to do. I shot her, I killed her. She’s dead, Quinn. Sarah’s dead.” He held up his blood-stained hands. “She bled for me. She bled for me. And God, it was beautiful...”

  Isaac shot Daniel Bailey between the eyes. Dan dropped immediately, the grinning rictus still on his face. Isaac shot him another couple of times, dispassionately firing into the dead man’s head. You can’t be too sure, he told himself. Something inside him had died too; he was now a killer.

  And Sarah was still dying…

  Isaac felt his world shift, and he was aware that the crushing grief he was holding back was starting to encroach. He heard Molly scream.

  Sarah.

  And he was up, off into the trees, racing to get to her, to his love.

  Please, please, don’t let me be too late…

  He stumbled into the clearing. When he saw Sarah’s body, he faltered.

  “Oh my God.”

  Molly looked up and went into his arms. He tightened his arms around her, not taking his eyes from Steve, still trying desperately to save the woman he loved. Molly sobbed.

  “She’s gone, Isaac. Sarah’s dead.”

  Isaac growled. “She is not dead.” He pushed Steve away and took over, stopping compressions to blow a lungful of air into her. He could taste her blood in his mouth. Sarah didn’t respond, blood still spilling from her wounds onto the melting snow. Her eyes were closed, her lips pale.

  “Please, please, please, sweetheart, breathe.” Isaac kept up compressions. Molly looked at Steve and nodded, tears still streaming down her face. Steve stepped forward and put his hand on Isaac’s shoulder.

  “Isaac…she’s gone. We did everything. She didn’t stand a chance. I’m sorry.”

  Isaac shook his hand off and continued his efforts. Molly put her arms around him, he struggled but she held him fast.

  “Isaac.” She whispered, grief making her voice crack, “She’s gone. Sarah’s gone. I’m so sorry, you have to stop. She’s dead, Isaac.”

  Isaac let her hold him then, his face disbelieving. He stared at his wife’s best friend, her sister. “No. This isn’t the way it ends. I don’t believe this. My darling girl…” His voice broke as he looked down at his love. So much blood. He gathered Sarah’s broken body into his arms, felt for a pulse at her throat. He bent his mouth to her ear and whispered, more in desperation than hope. “Please Sarah, please. Live. For me, please, please.”

  ***

  From the very edge of life, she was sure she heard his voice, could feel his hands holding her face. He was begging her to live, sobbing now.

  She felt his kiss and sighed. Oh, my love, she thought and drifted into night.

  ***

  The helicopter landed on the football field and the medics stretchered Sarah onto it, Isaac and Molly scrambling aboard. Steve would follow them later, he said. Molly grabbed him just before they took off.

  “Thank you.” She whispered, looking into his eyes. Steve got choked, nodded.

  “Tell Sarah to keep fighting. Tell Isaac.”

  She nodded and then they were in the air.

  Now in the air ambulance, Isaac and Molly huddled together as the medics fought to keep Sarah alive. She was so still, so pale. The medic at her head suddenly bent his head, listening.

  “No breath sounds. Sarah? Sarah, honey? Can you hear me?”

  He pressed his fingers to her throat and shook his head. Isaac moaned.

  “Crash.” The other medic swirled the paddles together while they were charging. “Clear.”

  He placed the paddles on Sarah’s chest and clicked. One. Nothing. Again. Nothing. The medics looked at each other. The first medic looked at Isaac who shook his head.

  “Please.” He whispered. The medic nodded.

  “Try again.” They shocked her again and Sarah drew in an enormous breath, hyperventilating, suddenly conscious. She collapsed back onto the stretcher. Isaac leaned forward and kissed her.

  “Hey, darling. Hold on, please, we’re nearly there. They’re gonna fix you right up…” His voice cracked. “God, Sarah, I love you, please don’t leave me.”

  Sarah gazed at him then her eyes closed again. The medic checked her and grimaced.

  “Charge up again. She’s not responding.” They shocked her again and again. Finally, he leaned over her, listening. Isaac and Molly couldn’t breathe.

  The medic looked up at them and smiled. “She’s back. She’s a fighter, this one. A warrior.”

  Isaac nodded, tears falling down his face. “Yes, she is.”

  She understood now that pain wasn’t a symptom but a way of being. Every nerve in her body screeched with the agony and Sarah Quinn begged whatever higher power there was to release her from it. Only the thought of him was keeping her from letting go. The bullets ripping through her; the bloodlust in Dan’s eyes as he shot her; they were nothing to the brief glimpse she got of the unimaginable grief on Isaac’s face before she passed out. She drifted between conscious states, little snapshots coming back to her. Hands pushing on her body, trying to stem the blood. Molly’s sobs. Then his voice, broken but devastatingly beautiful, saying her name over and over. Isaac, I love you, she thought, I love you. She had let the darkness take her.

  Isaac sat by her bed, his fingers laced with hers as he watched her breathing in and out, the tube down her throat helping her to live.

  “Please don’t go. I know that’s monumentally selfish of me, I can’t imagine the pain you must be in. But, Sarah….please. You are my love. For all time. All time. You are in every beat of my heart, every moment with you I realize why I’m here on Earth. Don’t go. Stay with me and I promise I’ll never let anyone hurt you ever again. Please don’t leave me.” His voice, so steady and sure, cracked at the last and he choked back his emotion, tears dropping down his pale face. Her hand in his felt tiny, so still, too still. He squeezed her fingers gently, willing her to return the gesture, his senses heightened, waiting and waiting. Nothing.

  Isaac let out a long, shaky breath and laid his head down on the bed. Silence broken just by the bee
p of the machinery. Eventually, the steady rhythm invaded his exhausted mind and he slept and when he slept he dreamed of Dan pumping bullets into Sarah over and over and over, vicious, merciless and Sarah falling, bloodied and broken, drifting further away from him. He reached for her but she slipped further and further away…

  There was a strange feeling on his head, a pressure. Fingers stroking his hair tenderly. He knew that touch, would know it anywhere. He opened his eyes and raised his head.

  Sarah smiled down at him, her face pale, dark shadows under her eyes but still…alive and smiling and so, so, so fucking beautiful…

  “Oh god, thank you, thank you…” he choked out as he took her face in his hands and kissed her.

  A year later…

  Sarah Quinn swept her hair up into a loose ponytail and went out of the back door to find her husband. She soon found him in the large garden of their new home, running around and playing like a teenager with Scooter and Biggs – their two large and very silly rescue dogs. Sarah joined in with their game, passing a drool-soaked tennis ball back and forth to Isaac as the dogs barked and snapped at it. She started giggling as the dogs tackled Isaac to the ground and went crazy both trying to get the ball and licking their new master.

  “Yeah,” she said, “you look like…what was it… America’s Hottest Billionaire…right now.”

  Isaac grinned up at her and she pulled him up. He locked his arms around her and kissed her, nibbled on her ear to make her squirm. “Tickles,” she protested, chuckling. “Anyway, I came out to find you. Molly and the kids will be here soon.”

  Molly, who had always been a Seattle girl, had politely turned down Isaac’s offer to buy her and Mike a new home in Portland. Now that Isaac and Sarah had moved down there permanently, they didn’t see her as much and Sarah missed her.