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Scuse the mistakes ma peeps

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"No!"

Sawyer staggered backwards, and I took her in my arms. I fell to my knees and cradled her in my arms. Her eyes fluttered around wildly and her chest rose and fell sporadically. The bullet had lodged into her right shoulder, and blood seeped from the wound.

Sawyer, why? I screamed in my mind, and tears started to blur my vision.

"She must love you."

My head snapped up, and my eyes narrowed into slits at Marcus. He looked surprised at what Sawyer had done, but his gun was still raised. "She's going to die if you don't let me get her out of here," I spat, a tear slipping from the corner of my eye.

Marcus shrugged. "That's not my problem," he said, "Anyways, you'll see her in a little bit." Then, he cocked his gun and smirked.

My eyes widened, and I tried to prepare myself for my inevitable death. The problem is: how is anyone supposed to prepare for dying? Suddenly, a gunshot rang out and I squeezed my eyes shut and waited for the fatal bullet.

But it never came.

My eyes snapped open to find Marcus crumpled on the ground and Danny standing behind him, a gun gripped tightly in his hand. Then, Danny hurried over to where Sawyer and I were on the floor, and handed me a phone. "Call 911," he said, and he started to rummage in Marcus's pockets.

My fingers fumbled over the keypad, and I was frustrated with how long it took me to punch in those simple three numbers. I pressed it to my ear and could feel my heart beat faster and faster with every ring. Finally, someone answered.

"911, what's your emergency?"

"My girlfriend," I shouted, glancing down at Sawyer, "She's been shot!"

"Where are you, Sir?" the woman asked, her voice deadly serious.

"I, I don't know exactly," I answered honestly, "It's a warehouse, and I think it's near-" Suddenly, the phone went dead, and I swore loudly. I looked at the screen to see that there was no service, and I yelled loudly.

"What happened?" Danny asked, coming back over to Sawyer and me.

"There's no phone service," I croaked, and I dropped the phone onto the floor next to me. "What do we do now?"

"They trace every call, so the ambulance is on its way," Danny stated, and he started to take Sawyer out of my lap. I fought to keep her, but Danny held up a key. "I'm just trying to unlock her handcuffs."

I nodded and reluctantly let him take her in his arms. As he pulled the handcuffs off her wrists, Sawyer whimpered and her eyes opened slightly. "Ow," she whispered.

"Stay awake," Danny ordered as he laid her down gently. "Talk to us."

"I'm tired," Sawyer declared, and her eyes started to close again. I leaned over her and cupped her cheek. I couldn't let her fall asleep because I had no idea if she'd ever wake up again.

"Don't go to sleep, Sawyer," I said, trying to keep my voice from sounding too panicked. "If you fall asleep, I won't be able to tell you something."

"What?" she asked and she coughed for a moment, and a small bit of blood dribble from the side of her mouth.

"I love you," I said, smiling down at her. Sawyer's bloody lips curled up into a small grin, and I watched as she fought to keep her eyes open.

"I love you, too," Sawyer replied hoarsely. Despite the situation, I felt my heart leap. The girl I love loved me back. It was an amazing feeling. Now, I had more reason than ever to keep her alive at all costs.

I leaned down and gently kissed her on the lips, and I tried hard to ignore the metallic taste of blood. Sawyer barely moved, and when I pulled away and looked at her, I saw her eyes roll back into her head before they closed.

"C'mon," Danny said, regaining my attention, "Let's get her outside to wait for the ambulance."

"Okay," I said, brushing the tears from my eyes.

"Do you want to carry her, or do you want me to?" Danny asked.

"I'll do it," I replied, and as carefully as I could, I put one hand under her back and one hand under her shoulder blades and one hand under her thighs. Then, I lifted her up and nodded at Danny. "Let's go."

Danny walked to the door and held it open as I carried Sawyer out of the room. Her head flopped back, and I found it hard to look at her limp body. I hurried down the hallway, past the two unconscious bodies, and down the stairs.

At the bottom of the stairs, I found Brigg standing with his men, and when he saw Sawyer in my arms, his eyes narrowed. "Is she dead?" he asked hesitantly.

"No," Danny replied, "But she's in critical condition."

"That son of a bitch!" Brigg roared, "I'm going to-"

"He's already dead," Danny said, "and there is an ambulance on the way so we better clear out." Brigg clenched his jaw, but he nodded and shoved his way out of the door that we'd come in. I followed him outside and waited for Danny as Brigg and his men hurried back to their cars, and I could hear the sound of sirens in the distance.

"When the ambulance gets here, you tell them that you got a text from Sawyer to meet her here, and when you got here, you found all of the dead bodies and Sawyer inside, and you carried her out," Danny said, sending me a serious look.

"What about you?" I asked, "If they see you leaving, they're going to blame you!"

"Just another thing to add to my tab," Danny replied with a smirk. "I need to go, but just know that I'm going to keep my eye on you guys."

I nodded, and Danny took one last look at Sawyer's unconscious body before sprinting off into the darkness. A few minutes later, the sirens got louder as the ambulance pulled into the clearing in front of the warehouse. Before the ambulance had even stopped, the paramedics were jumping out of the back.

They pulled the small bed out of the back and rolled it over to me. "Lay her down," one of the paramedics ordered, and I did as he said as gently as I could. I ran after them as they hurried back to the ambulance. One of the paramedics tried to keep me from climbing inside, but I just shoved past him and he let me go.

"Do you know about any of her injuries?" a paramedic asked as he strapped an oxygen mask to her head.

"I know she got shot in the shoulder, and I think her wrist is broken," I answered. I didn't want to give too much away because I didn't want them to question my fake story. However, I didn't want them to overlook her ribs. "When I carried her out of the warehouse, she cried when I touched her side," I added, and the

paramedics nodded.

Then, I was forced to stay back and watched as they tended to her wounds. I couldn't stand to watch, but I couldn't tear my eyes away from Sawyer. She was deathly pale, and I couldn't tell if she was breathing or not.

I was so tuned out to my surroundings that they had to practically shove me out of the ambulance when it reached the hospital. I rushed after them as they rolled Sawyer into the hospital on the gurney, and I tried to follow them as they went through some swinging double doors.

However, a male nurse stopped me and said, "I'm sorry, but you can't go in there."

"No!" I cried, "You can't keep me from her! She could die, and I need to be with her!" I started to fight against the nurse, but he grabbed me around the middle and tried to physically pull me away from the door.

That's when I snapped.

I'd gone too far to let Sawyer leave my sight. I couldn't be away from her when at any moment, she could die. I wasn't going to let anyone stand in the way.

"Let... me... Go!" I elbowed the nurse in the gut and he grunted and released me. I sprinted past the double doors as people bellowed for someone to get me, and I could hear the sound of people chasing me. "Sawyer!" I yelled, searching the passing rooms for her, "Sawyer!"

Finally, I found her just in time to see the doctors digging the bullet out of her shoulder. "Oh my God," I croaked, leaning against the door frame. She looked frail and broken... and dead. Her stomach was black and blue, like someone had kicked it in.

A wave of nausea came over me, and I doubled over and retched onto the floor. The stomach acid stung my throat, and as I stood up, the room swirled around me. I gripped the doorframe, but one of the nurses came over to me and touched me gently on the shoulder.

"You shouldn't be in here," she said, her warm brown eyes locking with mine.

"But I love her," I replied weakly, gesturing towards her body.

"I know, honey," the nurse said softly, "but we need to work if you want to save her, which means you need to wait in the waiting room." I didn't want to leave Sawyer, but I didn't want her to die, so I nodded reluctantly. "C'mon," she said, and I let her lead me from the room.

We walked out to the waiting room and I plopped down in one of the stiff chairs. The nurse sat down across from me and smiled. "What's your name?" she asked.

"Griffin," I replied, running a hand through my hair. "Can you tell me anything about Sawyer's condition?" I asked desperately.

The nurse hesitated before nodding. "She's really hurt. Her wrist and ribs are broken pretty badly, and she has some internal bleeding. We don't know yet how bad her bullet wound is, but judging from the placement, it's not looking good."

I dropped my head to my hands and groaned. "Is she going to die," I whispered, even though part of me didn't want to know the answer.

"I don't know," the nurse admitted. "We're going to try and get her stable. I promise to personally keep you posted. Are you going to be alright by yourself, Griffin?"

I nodded wordlessly, and then I heard her sigh and get up out of her chair. When I looked up, and I found that the kind nurse was gone. Now alone, I didn't know what to do with myself. I had no idea how long I would be kept from Sawyer, but I wasn't leaving the hospital until I did. I guess now was as good a time as to call Sawyer's grandmother and my mom.

I had no idea how I was going to explain what had happened.

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There you go everybody.

Some of you might've figured out that we are nearing the close of this story. I don't know how many chapters are left, but we're almost done... Sniffle.

9 more comments and there's 100 for this story... just sayin'

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