Harv's POV

We have been waiting outside this condemned looking house for what feels like an eternity, hoping and wishing they will get Crys back to us safe and sound.

It feels like the more anxious I get about the whole situation, the slower time seemingly goes for me. All of our friends are near the house where the deranged uncle has her held captive, waiting further down the street for our safety. The street has now been blocked off, though most of the places here look like no one lives in them anyway. 

Our eyes remain fixated on the run down building that's holding the most precious person in our lives. We are all struggling to cope with doing practically nothing in our own way, though the thought of having her back sometime soon is keeping us in check. 

Relatively.

"Can you please let us get closer, sir?" Jeremy whined to one of the three officers in charge of crowd control.

"I have already told you that it isn't safe for you to get closer." He said, his voice laced with authority and a hint of sympathy. 

"But that's our sister in there, our uncle too." He spat out the last part. "Maybe we could help draw him out, maybe he'd let her go if we talk to him?" Jeremy pleaded, knowing his requests were a stretch. 

The man just sighed, shaking his head 'no' at the crumbling twins. You could see that he didn't like the situation anymore than we did, but his task right now was to keep us safe.

Jeremy just kind of huffed a response at the officer as Evan put his arm around his shoulder, trying to soothe the clearly distressed man. Though it only worked ever so slightly, his focus went back to watching the house we're all waiting so desperately to see open up. 

James and Scarlet are holding hands tightly together, her face was covered with concern and worry for her captivated best friend. While James has always been the one to hold it together for the better of the group, even he is showing clear distress and worry. His tightly clenched fist and his constant biting of his bitten upper lip are the only obvious signs you can visibly see of his distress. 

Their baby sister is the last real family they have left, and I can't imagine the fear they must share in this moment. Had it been my sister, the door would have long been kicked in, despite it not being the wisest to do. 

Me on the other hand, I couldn't put a name on how I'm feeling if I tried.

Anxious?

Scared?

Worried?

Probably all of them, and many more.

I'm barely blinking as I watch the house near us intensely, my body slightly shaking with the adrenaline and uncertainty of it all. Every so often, I have to take in a deep breath, after only taking in slow shallow breaths for so long. 

I feel myself constantly scanning over every inch of the house that holds my girlfriend from me, looking for any sign of her getting out. Listening for any indication that the police have gotten in and saved her from the mad man that stole her from us.

They have assured us that they are going to get her out, that they have a strategy to what they're doing.

Apparently they are using the help of Lee and Dave's old boss to do so, but due to them using these methods, they won't tell us exactly what's going on. Lee explained that it is easier for all involved if they keep it strictly between those involved. 

I know it sounds bad, but honestly, if they get her out, I don't care. 

We wouldn't even know where she was without Lee giving her that bracelet, or without Dave doing his thing to activate it for us. She has woven herself into so many people's hearts, that I doubt there is anyone that wouldn't have done all they could to find her. The fact that they had the means to do so, just made the situation slightly easier to deal with for all of us.

They just can't guarantee that he won't hurt her... or kill her...

Seeing movement near the back door, I watch as a half dozen police officers quietly walk around the side of the building, towards the entryway. The rear door suddenly opens slightly, and they give each other a nod before slowly entering the house one at a time. We all stare at the internally unlocked door confused but remain silent regardless, knowing that everyone needs to focus at this point now that they've gotten inside the dreaded house. 

"We had some assistance on the inside." The police officer from earlier whispers to us, seeing our confusion on how they entered so easily.

We all stayed silent after being given such vague information, but gave a small nod of acknowledgement to the man who offered us some form of update. We return back to watching the house, listening for any signs that the officers inside have encountered anyone yet.

After another moment of anticipation, we hear a ruckus coming from inside the building, and I take a step closer to the taped off line. I'm not sure what they're doing in there, but all I can hope is that she isn't involved in it. It feels like the noise goes on forever, when it really couldn't have been more than a minute or two. 

But then it goes quiet again, and my nerves seems to skyrocket with the thoughts running rampant through my mind. 

Was she in there with them?

Have they found her?

Did she get hurt?

Is she hurt?

Is she... alive?

I need answers, and I need them soon!

Taking another step forward, I vaguely feel the officer that was near us put a hand lightly on my shoulder. I don't care, I just need to be closer to her. 

Even if it's only by a step.

Loud yelling can suddenly be heard from where the police had once been, I think it's the argument of a couple men. Perhaps they're trying to talk him down, but judging from the look of the man guarding us, I don't think it's to do with the law enforcers inside. 

That's when I hear it...

Something that rattles me to my very core. 

A female voice yelling before silence takes over the entire area around us. It seemed like even the birds and the wind had ceased, leaving us with nothing but an scarily quiet street.

"Crys..." I whisper, shoving past the unsuspecting officer after a moment more.

I can hear the others yelling at me as I run closer towards the house, listening to the sound of someone yelling inside. My heart begins to beat so loud in my ears that I can't even hear my own panting breaths. I just know that if we could hear her, it's wasn't good.

Just as my foot hits the front lawn and I think I've made it to her, I'm tackled to the floor with the force of a freight train. The air in my lungs knocked out of me, and I feel a bit disorientated from the impact I was hit. Looking over my shoulder, I see a very annoyed police man glaring down at me, making me skin crawl. 

"You really wouldn't be helpi-" He begins to say, only to be cut off by the deafening sound of a gunshot.

Time feels like it stops completely after hearing that shot go off. Snapping my head up in the direction that we heard to echoing bang, frozen with fear and uncertainty as the officer that tackled me down, covers me with his own body. 

I can hear shouting, but it feels like it's so far away from me. 

I can feel someone pulling me upright, but it all feels like a dream.

Arms wrap around the middle of me to hold me still, despite my lack of movement in that moment. My eyes remain fixated on the house in front of us, desperate to see something that shows me she's okay. That it wasn't her that was shot inside that house. 

My heart rate seems to spike impossibly high at the sight of the front door opening, and an officer ushering two people with a stretcher inside.

My mind wants to bolt inside and see her, but the fear of what I'll see, holds my body back. The desire to remain in denial for a moment, longer seeming to compel me. 

A couple of the police officers that went inside at the start, walk out with two bulky men, with their hands cuffed behind their backs. They're sporting a few bruised on their faces, but from what I can see, neither are the one that was shot. As they're taken to the police van and shoved inside roughly, more people enter the house with another stretcher. 

"It's all clear." A voice crackles through the forgotten officer's walkie talkie. 

"Copy that." He returns, seeming to relax slightly.

I keep watching the house as our group gets closer to where I am standing, staring at the house helplessly. 

A man walks out with one of the police officers, but this one isn't in handcuffs. He is talking with the officers next to him, seeming to be very stressed as he waves his hands around and grabs at his hair. I stay staring at him, confused about why he isn't joining the others in the back of a police van.

"Why's he free?" James asks my unsaid question.

"He was our man on the inside." The officer answers simply.

The next thing I see stops my breathing completely.

A stretcher.

With a sheet pulled all the way over it, covering who ever is under it entirely. Running over to the stretcher, the guarding officer does not bother to stop me. In that small moment between him and the stretcher, a million thoughts invaded my mind.

Did he let me go because he knew what I'd see?

Was it because we were no longer in danger?

Or was it because he knew I needed to see my girlfriend?

None of my reasons seemed to matter as I got closer to the stretcher though, as a different officer stopped my movements.

"Trust me son, you don't want to see that." He informed me, breaking me instantly.

"W-What?" I stutter out, looking back over at the stretcher being put into one of the ambulances.

"Are you alright kid?" He asks, seeing my reaction.

"I-Is she... was s-she..." I try to ask if it was Crys, but the words just won't leave my lips. The fear of it all being true, killing me inside.

"The woman?" He clarifies with me.

Nodding at him, he goes to answer me, but stops when the other stretcher is pulled out from the house. Talking and questions seem to follow it, making me look up and over to it. Hope blooming right up, until I see the beaten pale face of my girlfriend. 

Running to the side of her stretcher, I see her seeming to drift in and out of consciousness. Her skin is cold and coloured multiple shades of bruises across it, but she's alive. That's all that matters to me right now, that she's still alive.

Her eyes suddenly roll back into her head and the men in ambulance uniforms try telling me that she needs to go to the hospital. They tell us only one person can ride in with them, and the rest will be taken by the police officers. I start to walk towards where the police cars are sitting, when someone's hand wraps around my arm. Turning to see James and Jeremy looking at me puzzled.

"Mate, you get in that ambulance. We'll be right behind you." James says with a small smile.

"But she's your sister, one of you should go with her." I mutter, just wanting her to be looked after at the hospital.

"If she wakes up again, she'll want to see your face. Go, before they take off without you." Jeremy says, pushing me towards the ambulance that has Crys being hooked up to a few things in it. 

I say a quick thanks to the twins before running to the ambulance, being ushered in by one of the woman that was checking Crys' pulse. The other behind the wheel, telling me to buckle in. 

Soon we are speeding away towards the hospital she will be treated at. She wakes up once on the way there, looking at me drowsily before going back to sleep again.

"What's wrong with her?" I mumble to the woman next to me.

"We won't know for sure until we get to the hospital, but she appears to have taken multiple blows to her head. At a guess, she has a concussion. We don't know if any bones are fractured or broken yet though." She tells me with a sad look on her face.

As soon as we arrive at the hospital, her stretcher is wheeled inside with doctors flooding around it yelling different things at each other. I try to follow close behind, until they go through a door marked 'ICU'. 

"I'm sorry, but you can't go in there yet. Please wait until someone comes out with information for you." She instructs, smiling sadly at me.

I stare at the door for a moment longer before sighing in defeat, and walking to one of the chairs in the waiting room. 

As soon as my arse hits the seat, I bury my head in my hands and a few tears escape my exhausted eyes. 

She's alive.

That's all that matters now, as long as she's alive.

Now please let her stay that way.

"Please, she has to be okay." I quietly tell myself, waiting for everyone else to arrive.

Only time will tell now.

------------------------------

Sorry for the delay guys! 

I really wanted this chapter to have the rescue in it, but not much of the hospital. So that's why it took a little longer to release.

Also, 6.3k reads! my gosh!

Thank you so much!