My fists are balled so tightly it's a miracle I can't hear my bones cracking... maybe a bonus of the whole being dead thing. I know I need to let her handle this, but if he keeps this up I'm going to end up throwing him out of here whether he can see me or not.

"Austin," May rasped, "I... I don't feel... so good..."

She doesn't sound right... I know they've been drinking, but this seems like more than that. Her voice sounds... off...

"I know, baby," Austin's reply is soft, almost sad, "I know."

What did he just say?

"I need you to remember, May," he continued, "I've just bought us a little time, that's all. This weekend, I'm going to help you remember why we belong together. Then, I'm going to propose to you properly so we can be together the way we should have been all along."

The fuck is he talking about?

I hear them shuffling around, and am about to barrel out of this door when May groans - plan be damned - until I hear the bedroom door jingle.  I make a split second decision to hold my horses - maybe I'm jumping to conclusions. After all, I wasn't out there with them. I could only hear things, not see things.  Maybe there's more to this? I move to the closet quickly, but keep the door cracked so I can figure out what the fuck is going on.

Out of an instinct I can't name, I grab a trophy off the floor of the closet that has a solid marble base, and hold it in my hand like a club.

I shouldn't need this, right? This is me acting like a cave man... that's all. I just need to watch May turn his ass down, kick him out, then I'll rush out and...

My breath catches in my throat as Austin walks into the bedroom with an unconscious May in his arms and a plastic bag hanging from one wrist. He flops her down on the bed, clearly not used to carrying a person's whole weight, and starts adjusting her on the bed as he talks to her.

"You'll see, baby," he coos, sliding her onto the bed even as she groans and scrunches up her face like she's got a headache, "you just need to remember, that's all."

Holy shit, this motherfucker's lost his mind.

When he reaches down into the plastic bag and grabs out the rope, I lose mine.

I rush out of the closet, and before he can even spin to look me full in the face I bring the trophy base down on the back of his head. Hard.

He slumps to the side instantly, blood seeping from the wound onto the carpet. Dropping the trophy, I scoop May up and run to the bathroom with her - a plan forming in my mind as I go. After leaning her against the wall as best I can, I rush back out and grab her phone and dial 911. Then I leave it near her hand and on my way out of the bathroom I lock the door so she's in there alone and safe.

I glare at the son of a bitch bleeding on her floor with a sudden, overwhelming urge to curb stomp his fucking head that I barely manage to suppress... then I walk past him and hide in the closet to wait.

It's the longest almost 10 minutes of my life and death as I wait for the sounds of the sirens, every second ticking by afraid he's going to wake up and start trying to get to her in the bathroom.

When they knock at the door, I want to scream at them to just knock the fucker down... it takes them far too long to decide to do just that.

I was worried they were going to miss the locked bathroom door when they found Austin bleeding on the ground, fussing over him like he deserved to be helped. It was the woman officer that asked where the phone was if he called it in, and then noticed the bathroom door was closed. Thank God for her, that woman deserves a medal.

When they kicked that door in I was terrified they'd hurt May by accident, but thankfully I'd placed her far enough away that they didn't. That's when the woman officer started putting the pieces together. She told them to check the man for drugs, and to grab the glasses and utensils on the coffee table for evidence, just in case.

I should probably be nervous about fingerprints on the trophy... but honestly, my worries are so far away from that it's not really on my mind. All that's on my mind is May.

What if I hadn't been here? What if she'd been alone when Austin finally had his breakdown? What if he'd done it even a week ago, when I was still passing through things and not able to hold or move anything?

The 'what ifs' are choking me, lodged in my throat like all the horrible images that flashed through my mind when he pulled the rope out of that fucking bag.

I don't believe in God. I don't believe in fate. I have never really believed in anything, especially after walking around as a ghost for decades and watching the world sink further and further into despair.

But right now? Right now I'm thanking whatever the fuck powers made sure I was here, in this moment, in this time, and in this form to be exactly what May needed.

I stayed quiet as they filed out of the house, taking both the unconscious people with them and the evidence they gathered before leaving. I stayed quiet even after I was pretty sure they were all gone, because I couldn't make myself move - the reality of everything that happened crashing into me over and over again.

The fear of what could have been sat on my chest like a physical weight, and after who knows how long I choked out several ragged breaths that sounded an awful lot like sobs. I think they came out a mixture of relief and horror, but I'm really not sure. I slumped on my side, choking through the breaths and wishing I could be with her in the ambulance right now... I want to rush to the hospital, tell them I'm her boyfriend and demand they take me to her so I can watch over her.

But I don't, because I'm a fucking ghost. Instead, I wait in the closet until I'm calm. Then, I move to the bed, sitting on it and staring at the clock until it's late enough to risk what I'm planning. Only then do I finally start the long walk toward the hospital.

I've been walking this town for decades with nothing to occupy my mind but my own thoughts. I know every street, every path, every entrance... this is my town, and tonight I use every single moment I've walked this town as its phantom to sneak into the hospital without being detected. Whether they could see me or not is irrelevant, but I'm assuming they can and decide not to tempt that very fate I don't believe in.

I know how hospitals work - they won't tell me anything if I'm not family. Not to mention, I don't exactly have an ID or anything I can give if the police ask for it. If I were a smarter man, I probably wouldn't come at all... but I can't stay away. I won't abandon her, even if it's a risk.

Instead, I slip in and head to the ER where I'm sure they were rushed. I peak through curtain after curtain, dodging nurses and security, frustration mounting the longer it takes... until I finally find her.

She's asleep on the bed, an IV giving her fluids and a BP cuff on her arm. She looks oddly peaceful for what she just went through, and I feel my shoulders sag the moment I see she's okay.

She's okay.

Slumping into the chair beside her, I lean forward and take her hand gently - rubbing small circles with my thumb on the top of her hand. I don't speak to her, I just watch over her like I've done for months and beg her silently to wake up. I'm pretty familiar with the rounds here, so I'm able to duck out and hide in the bathroom each time the nurse comes to check on her.

It's a long night, but thankfully I don't need to sleep.

The second time I dodged the nurses and sat back down beside her, she stirred at my touch... and my heart leaped into my throat.

"May?" I whispered, jumping up and leaning over her.

I brushed the hair away from her forehead, and her eyes fluttered open.

"May," I breathed, relief flooding me instantly.

Her pupils are too wide, but she's awake, and right now that's enough.

"Liam," she rasps, and I quickly grab a cup of water from the tray they brought in a couple of hours ago and hold it to her lips so she can take a few sips.

"I'm right here, May," I murmur softly, "I'm right here."

"What happened?" I'm not sure if it's because she's matching my tone or if her throat is bothering her, but she whispers quietly furrowing her brows.

"Austin drugged you, May," I explain quietly, "when he pulled out the rope to tie you up, I hit him over the head with the trophy from your closet. Then I locked you in the bathroom and called 911. They brought you both in to be seen, and are waiting for you to wake up so you can tell them what happened."

"What?" she stared at me, clearly not processing what I just said, "No, Austin... Austin would never do that."

"I'm so sorry, May," I breathed, cupping her cheek and giving her time to let everything sink in.

What else can I say after what he did?

"Did... did they see you?" she questioned, clearly confused and not sure what part of the story to focus on.

I shook my head slowly, "no, I made it look like you locked yourself in the bathroom with your phone and called 911 before you passed out. Didn't seem like a good time to test our little theory."

"But you're here?" she whispered, almost in awe - like I wouldn't follow her to the ends of the Earth.

"Of course I am," I scoffed quietly, "I've been hiding from the nurses, just in case but... I'll always be with you, May."

"I... I love you, Liam," she choked, squeezing my hand tightly and fighting the tears I see swimming in her eyes.

Tears I know she won't let fall. She says she can't cry, even when she wants to, and I'm pretty sure if it weren't for whatever drugs he gave her she wouldn't even be able to manage the tears she's fighting now.

"I love you, May," I whisper fiercely, cupping her cheek and bending over her to shield her from the rest of the world, "I love you so much."

And I do. I love her more than I knew it was possible to love another person.

I'm going to kill that sonofabitch.

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