37-Apocalyptic-3

Avenge me? What the hell did that mean? What was he implying? "Liam, you don't know what you're talking about okay? You don't know what he did!" I cried out but he simply shook his head at me like he was mad at me for some reason. "I know you think he hates you, that's what he wanted okay? He wanted to get you away from your sister and that nut job boyfriend of yours. That's why he pushed you away, that's why he said those things, just listen to me." I froze. It was so quiet that I could make out the loud thudding of my heart, the air seemed to leave my body and I felt my stomach lurch. He was lying, he had to be, this wasn't what it was supposed to be like. I was supposed to hate Zach; I was supposed to live my life hating him and wanting to do nothing with him. That was the plan but this...what was this? Could Liam be telling the truth, did Zach make me leave just so that I could be safe? But even then that didn't explain... "The baby...he killed my baby," I said, mumbling the words as the loss of self-control settled in. "He killed my BABY! How could you say that he's been trying to protect me when he just about hurt me the most," I yelled, not caring who was listening. Liam was lying and I was done with people stabbing me in the back. His mouth dropped to the floor and he mirrored the reaction I had when I first saw him. He took a deep breath and gripped his chair tightly like he needed the support. "What're you saying, Ari? Who told you that?" he asked in a breathy voice. "It doesn't matter who told me! The truth is that Zach scheduled an abortion for me and when that failed he hired someone to hit me with their car! Does that seem like he wanted to protect me? He's a murderer, that's all he is and that's all he ever will be!" "You don't know what you're saying, whose been feeding you this rubbish? Zach would never...he loves you; he loves you more than anything. I've known the guy my entire life and he's never cared about someone as much as he cares about you, don't you know that?" He sounded exasperated, stunned and angry as he scowled at me. I stood there like an idiot just watching him, opening and closing my mouth like a fish. I had no answer for him because those questions had hounded me too; if I had believed so strongly that he loved me, then why did I so easily believe that he could hurt me...hurt his own child? "He didn't know about the pregnancy until after your accident, that's how he found out. That's how he found out that he was going to be a father; did you know what he went through after that?" I was beginning to hyperventilate; it was all too much to take, nothing made sense anymore, anything and everything I'd believed to be true was being torn apart at the seams and there was nothing I could do to stop him. "But R-Randy...he said...he said he..." I was at a loss for words but Liam seemed to understand what I was saying and he shook his head, closing the distance between us and placing his hand on my shoulder. "If you're talking about Randy Dixon then you should know that he took money and fled the city. I don't know what he told you but it's obvious that he was working with your sister and could be the one behind the hit-and-run." My brain had only started to form this possibility when the door burst open, making me jump but the person who came inside caused an even bigger reaction, sending my head into overdrive. Bruce Kayun, my bodyguard, the one who had become like family with me stood there just a few inches away from me, his face the picture of agony. "Bruce..." I began to say in a bewildered voice but before I could get another word out he said something that literally snatched the ground from beneath my very feet. "We need to get to New York right now, Zach's been shot." -Present Day- I stood outside the ICU where they were keeping him and placed my hand against the glass, tears trickling down my cheek as I saw him looking like I'd never seen him before. Weak, vulnerable, broken...I hated it, hated each and every second that he had to be dependant on the stupid machines for his life because that wasn't the Zach I knew, the Zach I knew was headstrong, stubborn, brilliant and undefeatable. Hesitantly I turned the knob and headed in; the doctors had finally allowed him a visitor and given that I was his wife I had been let in. My feet barely made a sound as I walked towards him; the beeping from the monitors was the only thing I concentrated on because the thoughts that were running through my head were anything but optimistic. I sat by the stool next to his bed and hung my head in shame. Why had I let myself be played like a fool? Why hadn't I fought for him? Why hadn't I insisted that he was wrong about us, that I knew he was lying? Why hadn't I asked him about Randy's accusation? Why was I so quick to run away? Lightly I reached out for his hand and entwined our fingers; I leaned over and kissed his forehead. Any moment now he would open his eyes and know that I was with him...any moment. I sat there waiting and waiting but the doctors had said that recovery would take time, his injuries were serious but at least he was alive. I didn't know what had happened and I didn't know what had been going on in the six weeks I was away but one thing I was sure of was that there was only one person who could've done this, one person who lived to make my life hell and I'd let her do it. She'd killed my baby, she'd taken so much away from me but if she thought she would get away with hurting Zach then she had another thought coming. Sister or not, Olivia, this was the last time you'd get away with hurting me.