“Austin!” Tyler shouted, leaping into action to take his wife out of the firing line. He pulled her down to the ground, safe and secure in his arms, but he didn’t know if he had been fast enough. He pulled her close, looking down the length of her spine for any blood. He finally breathed freely when he saw no gunshot wounds inflicted, and he held onto her for dear life.
Pushing him away, Austin sat in shock, looking down at herself. “I’m fine,” Austin told him, running her hands over her body in disbelief. Apart from the pain from her old wounds, she was perfectly alive. “I’m okay. It wasn’t me that was hit.”
As she finished telling him how okay she was, Tyler suddenly heard Natasha’s screams of agony pierce his hearing. Everything seemed to catch up then, he was aware of everything around him, he was able to see what had actually transcended. He caught sight of Natasha squirming on the floor, holding her injured arm and Tyler turned to see the shooter.
Steve stood with the gun out, still aimed at the spot where Natasha had stood. Tyler had been totally oblivious to his presence, hadn’t seen him quickly step outside to get police backup. He lowered the weapon, replaced it into the holster on his belt, and rushed in to disarm Natasha completely. He pushed his hand against her wound, not caring about hurting her more, and called for backup to come in with more medics. He then turned to look at Tyler, nodding his head to verify that it was all truly over.
“It’s over,” Tyler whispered to his wife. He put his hands to her face, bringing her to him so he could kiss her for added verification. “It’s all over, Sunny.” He then released her, stood up and pulled her up with him. “I think we need to go and see our baby girl.”
Looking to Michael, she saw him being led out of the building with Tom’s aid, and she looked to see Natasha fully immobilized. She looked to Tyler and released her first genuine smile in days and exhaled.
“Take me to our daughter,” she told him, her mind begging her to find the energy to run outside and take Grace in her arms and never let her go. “Then take us home.”
“Gladly,” Tyler retorted by pulling her to his side and walking out with her safe against him. For the first time in a few days he knew life suddenly felt easier. He was going to be able to sleep right, and function properly. His family was back, safe, and a few bullets later, their nightmare was officially over.
Walking out into the brightness of the street, he found himself squinting and adjusting to the sun shining down on them. He looked up at the clear blue skies and the heat of the day. The day was turning out to be faultless.
“Mommy! Daddy!” Grace’s shrill voice rang out and she broke away from her grandparents grasps and ran towards her parents.
Austin looked to Tyler who smiled and she looked back to their little girl, apparently unshaken by the events that had her stolen from them. The pair rushed forward before collapsing onto bent knees to catch her in their open arms. For a moment they sat there, holding onto one another, relinquishing the feeling of being united.
“I missed you!” Grace squealed happily as she nuzzled in closer. “Has Clara missed me?”
Laughing through her tears, Austin was the first to withdraw from the pair, Tyler following behind her lead. “She’s been really missing you baby. We’ll have to get you home to see her.”
“Okay good!” Grace chirped, happy at the thought of her doll missing her. She then looked to her mother, her face contorting in confusion. “Mommy, you have a boo-boo,” she commented, reaching out to Austin’s cut face. “Lots of them too! Is that what you did saving me?”
Nodding, Austin tried to reign in her emotions again. “Yeah, Gracie, but shall I let you in on a secret?”
Grace’s face immediately lit up. “What?”
“I’d get any boo-boo for you, baby,” Austin told her daughter honestly, meaning every word of the sentence.
“Any?!” Grace exclaimed disbelievingly.
“Anything for you,” Austin told her daughter, feeling Tyler’s hand run up her back to pause on her shoulder supportively. “And I had Clara looking after me while daddy searched for you,” she told her daughter with a gentle tone.
“Oh good!” she chimed in the same merry tone. “Can we go home so I can have Clara?”
“Sorry, Gracie-moo, but you need to come with me to the hospital,” Tom broke the news to them. “You can come in with mommy and daddy, but we need to get you looked at.”
Grace didn’t take much persuasion, but as they approached the cars again, Tyler quickly noticed how much of a fight Michael was putting up in order to not go to the hospital. Austin shot her best friend a stern look, but with Grace pulling her towards the car, she hadn’t the time to stand around to reap hell on Michael for his own stupidity.
“I’m not going to the hospital, for Christ sake, it’s a through and through!” Michael argued as Tom jumped into the ambulance. “Tom, tell them, I’m fine.”
“You’re not fine,” Tom deadpanned and shook his head. “You need to be checked over, Michael. You get no opinion in this.”
“I’m fine!” he sighed heavily, trying to find a loop hole to getting out of this. “Nothing that a bandage, some vicodin, and my woman can’t fix.”
“You’re going. You’re going to set a good example for Grace and go, but I’ll tell you now, I’ve seriously had enough of hospitals. You’re the final reason not to go near one for a while, but you’re going!” Tyler ordered Michael. He wasn’t risking his friend’s health, and knew that Grace needed to be checked over. He watched Michael flip his middle finger at him before smirking as the doors closed, then walked over to his car where Austin was strapping their daughter in.
He looked at his hands as he pulled his keys out and cringed. He hoped the redness of them wouldn’t scare Grace, and he hoped her happy exterior wasn’t hiding a darker, emotionally ruined psyche. He couldn’t bear to see his happy little girl ruined by the acts of Natasha. He knew he would do anything to make sure her emotional scars were nonexistent.
“Are you just going to stand there or can we get this show on the road?” Austin cried out to him, waking him from his thoughts. “I have a man that needs reprimanding and a daughter who wants Clara and her bed.” She loosened her expression, falling into a small smile, “Plus I have a husband who needs a good night’s sleep.”
“Much like said husband’s wife does,” Tyler commented, and began to approach the car. “I can finally look after you,” Tyler said as he got closer to her. “The pair of you.”
“You always look after us,” Austin admonished his claim quickly.
“Not over the past few days I haven’t,” he spoke apologetically to her. “I can now look after you, Aus, and I will.”
“You always look after me and Gracie,” she closed the door to her daughter’s side of the car, and walked to stand before him. “Now drive us to the hospital so we can get home and you can stop being a stupid man. You’ve looked after me every day of our married lives. You’ve never stopped.” She kissed him, leaving him standing by the driver’s side of the car while she walked away and climbed into the passenger seat.
Looking at his daughter, she shot him a bright smile and he realized that Austin was right - as she always was.
***
“She’s finally sleeping,” Austin commented as she stepped out of Grace’s room. “How’s Mike?”
“He’s fighting the doctors,” he joked and laughed at Michael’s resistance. “Sienna’s going fifty shades of ugly on him right now.” He watched Austin laugh at that comment, she said she would flip out; he just couldn’t wait to tell her how badly Sienna was scolding the man she loved. “How’s Gracie?”
“She’s happy to have Clara back. The doctor said she can go home in a few hours. They just want to monitor her. Apparently it’s nothing major, but she’s had very little to drink in the past few days, so she’s dehydrated. He said the drip will bring her electrolytes or something into balance.” She led him to a row of seats, keeping Grace in their view. “Th
e doctor said that from the examination, there were no injuries apart from a badly bruised arm. He said that it looks like she was dragged. I told her she was.” She sniffed, hating the thought of anyone man-handling her daughter. “Other than that, she’s perfectly fine, Ty.”
Tyler smiled in relief, and watched his wife wilt before his eyes. “What about you?” he asked, reaching up to push her fringe out of her face. “How are you holding up?”
“Me?” she asked, and at that moment, she collapsed into a wave of tears. Everything that had built up was now crashing down and she was left raw and able to feel everything. She felt Tyler take her in his arms like he had before and she let it all go. Every ounce of grief, terror, and regret washed from her body, dispersing from its hardened grip on her veins. Her mind had finally caught up, telling her that everything was over. Now she finally believed it.
“We survived it, Aus,” Tyler whispered to her emotionally. He began kissing into her hair rocking her in order to calm her down. “We have our baby back. I have you and her. I have another chance at life with both of you.” He felt his own emotions bubbling under the surface, but he kept a good grip on keeping them on lockdown. “We got our life back. We’re free.” He knew now was the time to give her the final nail to push into the proverbial coffin. “Natasha is going into a high security psychiatric facility,” he told her. “Steve called me after he had handed her over. The only way she’ll get out of there is to go straight to a maximum security prison. She added murder, three more counts of attempted murder, and abduction of a minor to her list of offences. She’s not getting any pleasantries anymore. She’s going to rot in a cell now.”
Pulling away, Austin looked at Tyler with skepticism. “She was locked away before, what if she gets out again?”
“Robert’s dead,” Tyler affirmed the fact to her. “He was her reason for getting out before. Diane refuses to see her. Hell, Diane has plans to move out of state already to be with her sister in Nebraska. Natasha has no contacts outside. She is never getting free again. I can truly promise you that now.”
“I’ll believe it when you get me and your daughter home for good,” Austin snapped playfully at him, and the moment she laid a light-hearted smile on him, she knew everything was going to be back to normal soon.
“I better get you two home soon then,” Tyler murmured, pulling her closer to him to kiss her temple once more before he got up to search for a nurse or doctor who could give them a time-frame on when Grace would be discharged. Stilling, his pushed a hand around the back of his neck, turning coyly, he looked to his wife who was staring at him. “I love you, Sunny. Forever and always.”
Austin smiled brightly at the sentiment. “I love you too, Tyler Armstrong.” Sitting back, Austin felt pleased with herself. Whatever happened in life, whatever they had to deal with, they came out the other side loving one another more than ever.
Not even Natasha could take that away from them.
Chapter Thirty-three
WAKING with a jolt, Austin felt pain ripple through her shoulder and tired to breathe through the intensity of it. She looked at the clock and groaned seeing it barely reaching four AM. She was more than due for another pain pill. She knew Tyler had told her when he put her to bed, that if she needed anything he would get it for her. However, she wasn’t going to wake him up for a pill which she could get herself. Pulling herself up, she pushed the covers up and watched Tyler for any signs of arousal. She noticed him shift a little, but he wasn’t awake and she was pleased for that.
Heading into the bathroom, she stood before the mirror and just surveyed her own appearance. She looked so gaunt and exhausted as a result of the past week. She had dark marks under her eyes, ones that rivaled the bruises still on her face. She looked like she hadn’t slept in over a year and even she couldn’t deny the pain that sat heavily in her eyes.
Reaching for the pills on the side of the sink, she popped the lid and threw two tablets into her palm and grabbed the faucet. Turning the cold water on, she leaned down, taking a large gulp of the icy cold water. Pushing the pills into her mouth, she swallowed them and proceeded to push her palm to her chest in the hope that the warmth would mediate the pain a little.
“Mommy,” Grace spoke as she stood in the doorway rubbing her eyes tiredly. She dropped her hand to her side, her other hand clasped firmly onto Clara.
Austin spun around on the spot, looking directly at her daughter. “Baby, you should be sleeping.”
“I couldn’t sweep,” Grace mumbled unhappily.
“Well sleep with daddy and I for tonight,” Austin offered, stepping in and put her hand out to Grace. She knew Grace would be prone to night terrors; if she was at her age, a three year old was sure going to be!
“No,” Grace disagreed, shaking her head. “I want to sweep in the cubby.” She waited a moment before looking up at her mother with doleful eyes. “With you.”
“What about daddy?” Austin asked, knowing Grace loved sleeping in the cubby with them both.
“Daddy sweeping,” Grace retorted, having seen her father sleeping. “He’s snorwing too.”
Austin’s heart melted at her daughter’s innocence, and nodded. “Okay,” she relented quickly. “How about you take my pillow and go and wait for me. We’ll leave the door open a little so daddy can see where we’ve gotten to okay?”
“Okay!” Grace exclaimed, exuding too much excitement for four o’clock in the morning.
“Shh!” Austin quickly reprimanded her, placing a finger to her lips. “We don’t want to wake daddy up.” She kissed her daughter’s forehead before gingerly standing up and pushing her daughter out into the bedroom. She stood, leaning against the doorway, her hand on her chest in a bid to forget her pain, watching Grace pull her pillow from the bed and hug it tightly. Smiling wistfully, Austin felt her heartbeat harden, thrumming against her chest as she realized her life was back together. It wasn’t destroyed, in ruins, or almost gone. It was complete once again. Now was their time to recuperate and rebuild what Natasha had so forcefully tried to take from them all.
“Mommy,” Grace whispered as she made her way to the door to the cubbyhole.
“I’m following,” Austin replied with an encouraging smile. “Go and get comfortable. I’m right behind you.” She waited until Grace was gone before she turned on the spot, heading to the mirror once more to gaze at her reflection. She steadied herself, willing the bruises to lessen their colorful power. She knew she had to let them die out and live like they were nonexistent.
Going into the bedroom, she spied on Tyler who was still sleeping soundly. Drawing the sheets up to cover him, she headed to where Grace had disappeared to. As she opened the door, she saw Grace sitting in the wall space, the duvets and sheets already pulled up around her as she pat her pillow into the perfect shape. She threw herself down against it seeing her mother crawling in beside her; she reached out and patted her mother’s pillow encouragingly.
“C’mon, mommy, we need to get to sweep before the sun comes up!” Grace exclaimed in a heightened whisper, trying to keep a lid on her excitement.
“I’m here,” Austin calmed her, falling down onto the padded flooring that Tyler had implemented into the room. There was a moment of silence as the pair got comfortable, Grace naturally falling into her mother’s embrace to sleep, and the pair even remained silent as they waited for sleep to take them.
“She said mean things about you, Mommy,” Grace admitted sadly, abruptly tearing into the silence, rolling onto her stomach to look at her mother better. “She even told me how you got those,” she said softly, before pointing to the burns on her mother’s arm. “She told me she did them. Did she?”
“Yeah, baby, she did,” Austin whispered, not willing to let her insecurity over her burns win right now. She pulled her daughter into her side, making her curl up. “But I’m here to tell the tale, like you are too, so I guess we won eh, baby girl?”
“Yeah, mommy, we did.” Grace yawned heavily before snugg
ling in furthermore to her mother’s side. “I’m gwad you saved me, mommy. Both you and daddy are my hewos.”
Austin’s eyes watered heavily at that statement, and she could only kiss her daughter’s head and beg herself to not cry. She bit her lip hard to stop herself, but she was failing. She didn’t feel like a hero, she was a mother who would go to hell and back for her child.
“I love you, Grace,” Austin murmured. It was all she knew to say in the moment. She was too choked up for anything more, but her heart was bleeding undying amounts of gratitude for having her daughter back, and having seen her husband cheat death twice.
Settling, Austin laid still, listening to Grace breathing heavily in her sleep, Tyler snoring quietly in the background, and waited for the drugs to drag her into a peaceful slumber.
***
When Tyler woke up, he rolled over, putting his hand out to touch his wife, but when he found her side stone cold, he bolted upright and panicked. He listened for noises in house - a radio on, Austin singing, Grace giggling, food cooking - nothing. When he noticed his and Austin’s side to the cubbyhole open, he knew exactly where his wife had disappeared to.
Crawling across the bed to climb out, he trod lightly across the floor, mindful of each step he took. Slipping down the wall, he copied his actions of the other night, but this time it wasn’t to dwell. This time, he was watching his wife and daughter sleeping peacefully in one another’s arms through the opened doorway.
Tyler’s heart blossomed at the sight, unable to comprehend properly the sight of his daughter once again sleeping in her rightful place. He knew it would take some getting used to, but he could sit and stare forever at her sleeping peacefully.
He found himself unwilling to move, his body exhausted by the backlash of events. He knew he should get up, make breakfast, and rouse the women in his life with the smell of cooking bacon and pancakes. However, he just sat and watched them, drinking in the blissful sight. For the first time in days, Tyler found himself relaxing and remained where he was.
Watch What Burns Page 27