Chapter 88 Don't Look Away

Chapter 88 Don't Look Away
EILEEN POV:

My eyes widened in terror. “No!” I yelled immediately. 

Lucy, too, shook her head. “Please don’t,” she begged. 

This was the first time she had said anything.

I had no answer for him either. 

“Tell him that Lucy will bring the child out.”

But what about Bethany? She would be left inside the car all alone with Arthur. I wanted to scream. I wanted to throw myself forward. I would rather exchange myself for Lucy and Harry. That way, I could take care of my baby.

“Let Lucy bring him out,” I choked out. 

Lucy whipped around and stared at me. 

‘Trust the professionals, Eileen. They have done this thousands of times.’

Yet they didn’t know how my heart hammered against my chest. They didn’t know that I was unable to speak the words convincingly enough.

Arthur snorted. “In your dreams.”

I squeezed my eyes shut. 

“Tell him that Lucy is the only one who can care for the infant.” Pause. “That his initial target was Bethany.”

I bit my lip. It was easier said than done. I sucked in a deep breath before opening my eyes. 

“Bethany is your daughter, I trust you with her,” I lied through my teeth. “But Lucy and Harry… please understand.”

“Tell him you are on his team,” the voice in my ear prompted. 

“I am also trying to help us,” I added immediately. 

Lucy shook her head, but I stared at her, asking her to cooperate. She was barely nineteen. On a normal day, she was more mature than her peers, so I often forget she was young. But the youthful fear on her face finally put a crack on the mask she put on for me. 

I heard grumbling from the inside. The door clicked and Lucy jerked. She looked at the door in disbelief. 

“Don’t do any funny business!” Arthur warned. He reached to the back seat and I heard a startled cry come from Bethany. 

“Stop!” I cried out. 

Lucy, too, struggled inside. 

“Ask her to come out quickly.” The voice said. “And keep looking at the car and your sister. Don’t look anywhere else.”

I furrowed my brows but tried to keep a straight face. 

“Alright, alright!”

Lucy shuddered and finally opened the back door. She slipped out carefully, but her knees wobbled as she made her way forward. I extended my arm for her to take. Tears poured down her eyes as she moved in my direction. Finally, a sob ripped out of her throat when she got nearer. 

Officers and doctors flocked to her, taking Harry from her before rushing them away. My hands trembled in the air, the emptiness pressing. And then, I was able to see inside the car again.

I could see the top of her head. While her sobs were soft, I could hear Arthur grunting at her to shut up. 

“What should I do next?” I asked no one in particular. No one answered. 

I heard commotion everywhere, but no one seemed to notice me. So, I kept my eyes on the car. A single movement from Arthur and I would throw myself at him. Fuck the cops. If they couldn’t protect my Bethany, I would do it myself. 

From the corner of my eyes, I noticed some unusual movement. 

‘Don’t look away,’ the warning came back to me. Before I could process the meaning behind it, I heard a sharp cry from the car. I lurched forward, my instinct taking over. Suddenly, arms wrapped around my waist, holding me back. 

A scream of surprise and panic ripped through my throat, but the unfamiliar arms held on tightly, dragging me back. 

The car was pried open and Arthur was dragged out of it. His knife must have been taken away because he was barehanded as he was pinned to the ground. He threatened harm to everyone. He called me every name in the book, but I didn’t care. 

I saw a female officer wrapping Bethany up in a blanket and picking her up. She was rushed to my side and then handed to me. The arms wrapped around my waist finally loosened and I heard the female officer instruct me to follow her.

“She is safe, but we need to take her to the ambulance.”

The ambulance. Right. I turned choppily, holding Bethany too tightly to my chest as I followed the officer blindly out of the circle. 

“Mama,” I heard her soft cry and looked down. Her eyes were swollen and her nose red from all the sniffling. The glassy look in her eyes was a far cry from the usual mischief that resided in them. 

When I reached the ambulance, I noticed Lucy leaning against the back of one, her arms clad in a pressuring measuring band. A distance from her, Dominic stood, waiting for one of the EMT’s to finish looking at Harry’s vitals. One of them spoke to him in hushed tones. 

But his eyes were on me. I didn’t have the energy to comprehend the look in his eyes. 

I was led to another ambulance and made to sit inside. A bottle of water was handed to me as Bethany was checked over by an EMT. She sat on my lap, her face pressed against my chest. Her little body shivered against mine, her hands too cold. 

“Is she alright?” I asked instinctively.

“Her vitals look fine, but we have to take her to the hospital just in case.” She explained further and insisted on checking me too. I allowed it. As expected, my vitals were terrible as well. Out of stress, I was sure. 

“Can you check her again?” I asked. “And what about Harry? And Lucy?” I blurted out.

“I’m not sure about them…” she said with a shake of her head. 

I sighed. 

“Eileen?” I heard a timid but familiar voice. I whipped around, my eyes looking for her exhausted face. 

“How are you?” I asked Lucy. 

She shrugged as she held up her arm. There was a slash on her arm but it wasn’t deep. “He tried to take the kids away and I protested…”