Slipping Through My Fingers

Chapter Forty One

Chapter Forty One

Rosalie's POV -

I watched with a blurry vision as she opened one of the drawers and pulled out a knife from the kitchen draw. She held it like a killer from a horror movie and advanced towards me, crouching down near me.

"I may need you alive," She whispered in my ear, "but I don't need you in perfect condition."

I could hear a lot of noise and commotion and I think I may have seen panic overtake the features of all three people, I wasn't exactly sure. I felt like my hearing and vision was zoning in and out because one moment I had a knife hanging over my body and the next, there were three men carrying guns inside the kitchen and yelling.

And then in walked Nate.

I wasn't sure if what I was seeing was just wishful thinking or true reality. I felt like time had slowed down to the speed of one of those dramatic scenes in movies, and my eyes were stuck on Nate.

I shut my eyes tightly, completely oblivious to the knife hanging over me, and opened them again.

Nate was still standing there.

I shut my eyes again and this time, I pinched myself.

He was still there.

Maybe it was all a hallucination? I really hadn't eaten properly for the past twelve days and maybe it had started taken its toll.

You know in a movie how the scene is slow motion and everything is emphasised clearly, before the sound comes back on and you're faced with the real actions of that scene and everything seems to be moving fast again? That's exactly how I felt right now.

I watched in fright as the three men charged their guns up at my abductors, whilst keeping Nate back.

I wanted to speak, to say something to Nate because my goodness how I had missed him. But he wouldn't look in my direction.

At all.

"Nate-" My voice was croaky, mostly from malnutrition but probably from the shock at seeing other people here too.

"Nate I- Agh!" Before I could continue to say whatever my brain wanted to, a hand gripped my neck tightly and lifted me up.

And then I felt the cold blade of the knife pressed against my neck.

"Put the guns down." My mother spoke, her voice sharp.

The two men that had their guns towards my father and Porter turned around and saw the state that I was in. That I had a knife pressed against my neck.

And out of all three abductors, I knew that my mother would find it the easiest to take my life.

"Mrs Turner, put the knife down." One of the cops said, speaking calmly and soothingly.

I averted my gaze from the policeman towards Nate and I watched as he tried to not look at me. I knew my mother could kill me - heck, she wanted to kill me. So, if this was my last waking moment, I wanted to be looking at Nate.

But I wanted him to be looking at me.

"Nate?" My voice was short and breathy from the lack of oxygen.

His fists were clenched tightly by his side as he looked at my father and Porter, but never in my direction.

"Don't do anything stupid, Mrs Turner. We can help you, if you cooperate, we can make sure we get you the best deal when we speak with lawyers and judges. Just hand yourself over, don't make this worse." He seemed like the leader of the three, knowing exactly what to say.

"Don't listen to him Emilia. They're taking you down no matter what; do what you've wanted to do since you gave birth to that thing." My father spoke, turning his nose up when he talked about me.

"Shut the f*ck up." Nate's voice was sharp and full of rage.

"Mrs Turner, your husband does not know about how our system works. If you leave Rose to be, I can assure you, I give you my word that you'll receive a fair trial and the judge will take into consideration about your cooperation." The cop said again, shooting my father a glare.

"Emi, don't listen to him. He's lying. They don't care about you, they hate our kind. They don't know how it feels to have no food, no water, and no clothes. They have money, they don't care." My father continued, ignoring the glare.

The grip on my neck went increasingly tighter and the blade started to prick my skin. I let out a shriek of fear as my body was pulled back.

"Rose!" Nate yelled, trying to push passed the cops to help me.

He finally made eye contact with me and I could see exactly why he had avoided my gaze.

Guilt.

It was so freaking clear. He actually felt guilty about my abduction. The idiot.

Uncontrollable tears slid down at the fear of this being my last moment as the blade kept digging into my skin.

"Please help me." I cried.

"If you don't put the guns down now, I will kill her without blinking." My mother said maliciously.

"Mrs Turner, if you could just-"

"No!" My mother yelled, making me wince at how her grip went dangerously tight.

She was probably going to kill me through strangling me before she could even get the blade through me.

"Stay back, and put the guns down. You have ten seconds."

God, I felt so pathetic.

"Nine, eight..."

"Okay, okay, we're putting them down. Look, we're putting them down." The cop spoke slowly as he instructed his co-workers to put down their guns.

"Porter, go get the documents. Jace, get the drugs." My mother instructed. "If anyone follows them, she's dead."

The men nodded and went to separate bedrooms while I was stuck in a death grip with a knife against my neck.

"All of you, I want you to sit down." She demanded, removing the blade from my neck and pointing in the direction she wanted them to sit.

The three cops obliged, quickly sitting down on the table while Nate stubbornly stood up, shooting my mother a deathly scowl.

"Nate, sit down." One of the other cops said, frowning at him.

"I want to kill her." He muttered through gritted teeth.

The knife went back to my neck, this time even harder, and I yelped in panic.

"Sit down, Nate."

"You f*cking bitch! Let her go!" He yelled, trying to charge towards my mother but was stopped quickly by a cop.

"Sit down!" My mother yelled.

"Nate, please sit." I murmured softly, but he still heard.

He looked triple his age now, the stress clear on his face. I could see him fighting an internal battle before sitting down.

He was completely broken; I hadn't ever seen him look like this. The knife dug into my skin again, but this time harder than ever and I was sure this was my last waking moment.

"I love you, Nate. Please take care of my brothers. Don't let them get into trouble. Tell them I love them for me, please. I love you, so much. I'm so sorry." I spoke quickly, tears sliding down my cheeks at a fast pace.

"You are not leaving me! I love you, Rose." He actually sounded like he was going to cry.

I could feel the skin on my neck start to rip apart and I heard an agonised yell that I didn't recognise.

Until I realised it was me.

The knife was removed from my neck and pulled up high, as if it were going to charge at me on full speed and end me for good.

And then I heard gun shots. Loud, ear-splitting gun shots and I had no idea what was going on. My eyes were squeezed shut in anticipation for my life to be over.

When nothing happened for a few seconds, I opened my eyes and saw that I was actually lying on the floor.

I was lying on the floor, but what surprised me most was that I was on top of my mother and I could see a pool of blood forming.

She wasn't dead. But she had been shot in the arm where she was about to kill me.

I looked back to the cops and saw one of them talking into a speaker for a medic.

Nate rushed towards me, engulfing me in his arms and hugging me tightly, rocking back and forth.

"Thank God, you're alright, Oh God, thank you. I love you, Rose." He muttered quickly, kissing my forehead.

I felt like... well I couldn't form a coherent thought.

Had I just been rescued? Was this whole ordeal over?

"Nate, I love you." I murmured, not knowing what else to say.

"Arrest her." I heard one cop say and a few men began to walk towards mother.

And that's when I noticed that this whole room was full of policemen and detectives and medics. I also saw my father and Porter being escorted outside building.

Handcuffed.

There must have been cops surrounding this building and they probably arrested them when they went to the other rooms. My eyes connected with my father's and he shot me a look that I couldn't believe.

He seemed sorry.

But you know what the difference was this time? I didn't care.

I think I learnt my lesson and I didn't want anything to do with them anymore. My father left the building after Porter and I wished that that would be the last time I ever see him again.

But what I didn't realise is that I should be careful when I wish for something. Because after letting out an ear-splitting scream, I didn't know if I would ever actually see in general again.

I felt a sharp tool inside of me, inside my abdomen and I yelled loudly at the pain.

After all this, I actually had been stabbed.

I felt like my whole body was on fire, and there was excruciating pain coming from the side of my stomach and I yelled loudly, squeezing my eyes shut in pain.

"Arrest her now!" I heard someone yell and I realised that they hadn't actually arrested my mother yet, but rather she used her other hand to sneak a knife inside of me.

Nate, who had me in his arms, was yelling uncontrollably at me, at my mother, at the cops, and anyone else.

"I need a f*cking medic!" He screamed.

I watched as my mother had been grabbed roughly and put into handcuffs, despite the state her arm was in.

I shut my eyes tightly and tried to grip the side of my stomach, but my hands had been removed from my sides. I could feel blood oozing out of my body and my heart beat increased considerably.

And then what frightened me most was that I suddenly felt sleepy.

That was not a good sign.

I could feel my eyes begin to shut and then reopen, and then shut again.

"Rose, you stay awake. Don't you dare shut your eyes!" Nate yelled, gripping my shoulders tightly.

I blinked and allowed my eyes a little rest time before opening them.

"You shut up." I slurred. "If I want to sleep, I'll sleep."

"Rose-"

"Stop screaming when I try to sleep." The fire in my stomach became numb now, like I couldn't feel my body.

"Rose, please just keep your eyes open! Mike and Liam and Jace are coming. Even Adam. They're coming! Don't you want to see them?"

"After I take a nap."

"Rose!"

But it was too late. I shut my eyes and didn't open them again.

***

I was never really a fan of cliché's. It was everywhere, especially when it would occur in a movie or book and then in real life.

So even though I was glad to finally be awake, I wasn't glad to have the thought of 'white was everywhere' in my head. At least I wasn't an airhead like those girls in movies and ask where I was. Because even though I had just been stabbed, it was pretty damn clear that I was in a hospital.

It's not like my brain was stabbed.

"Rose?"

It was his voice. And yes, as cliché or cheesy as it sounded, it brought a smile to my face.

I looked up and saw Nate standing over me, his eyes had red rings around them and he looked like he hadn't really moved for hours.

"Hey," I smiled, trying to move and wincing when I felt pain in my abdomen.

Before I could say another word, I was wrapped in Nate, his arms around me tightly. I flinched at the pain but ignored it, knowing that the feel of being enveloped in his arms was the best medicine for me right now.

As cliché as it sounded...

Nate rested his shoulder on my head as he pulled me tighter to his chest, his hands caressing my back gently.

"I was so f*cking worried. God, you scared the hell out of me."

"It's okay, Nate. I'm fine." I tried to reassure him but I don't think my words were getting through.

He pulled back for a second, his face a mere sheet of paper away from mine, before he crushed his lips to mine, bringing heat to my body straight away. The kiss soon turned slow and sensual, our lips moving in synchronisation as he caressed my cheeks.

I could hear a fast beeping noise in the background and tried to ignore it, wanting to keep all my attention on Nate. He pulled back and placed a soft kiss on my lips.

His eyes turned and mine followed, and we both saw my heartbeat racing on the machine. Looks like they had wired me up or something. Nate chuckled at my eager heart rate and I blushed under his gaze, averting my eyes to the floor.

He kissed my forehead and leaned his head onto mine.

"You didn't listen to me when I told you not to sleep," He muttered, his brows raised like he was disciplining a child.

"After I was stabbed?"

"Yeah."

"I couldn't control it," I laughed. "But I do have to admit one thing about my time away."

His posture showed he was curious; he wanted to know what I had to admit.

"I kind of, sort of cussed while I was under shackles." I murmured, averting my gaze down to the white hospital sheets, feeling ashamed of myself.

I seriously praised myself for my strong willingness to never really cuss and I was proud at how I managed not to do so when pretty much everyone in my life dropped the 'f' bomb every second word. But then I had to go and blow away my awesome streak just because I was angry.

Shame on me.

I could hear hard chuckles coming from Nate and I looked up to see him clutching his stomach and laughing hard. He pressed his lips against my head and slid his fingers through my hair.

"You had reason, babe." He smirked, winking at me.

He stood up from my bed and sat back down on the chair beside my hospital bed and an unusual expression overcame his features.

I took the time to look at my surroundings and saw that I had a massive hospital room, all to myself. My arms had a bunch of Band-Aids and there were cords everywhere, and I didn't even bother to search for what they did. I could feel a burning pain in my abdomen but I ignored it, knowing it was probably on its way to healing.

When I turned back to Nate and he still had that same curious look, I sat up in my bed, ready to face all the answers that he would give me.

"Nate?"

"Yeah?" He replied, although he didn't really seem like he was paying attention.

"What's wrong?" I frowned.

This time he looked up, and he looked like he was ready to answer me.

"Are you... are you really okay? You were abducted. By your parents. And you were abused and held for semi-ransom. You had a f*cking knife in you. Yet you're smiling and laughing like it was nothing major."

"What's your point?"

"Are you... well are you really feeling the way you're showing it?" He asked.

"You mean am I secretly depressed and going to wallow in a pool of sorrows as soon as you leave this room?" I asked with a smile, frowning at his ridiculous insinuation.

He didn't answer but his slight nod affirmed my statement.

I laughed at the ludicrousness of all of this and wished I could get up and squeeze Nate into a comforting hug.

"Nate, I've said it before and I'm going to say it again. I have changed. I'm not that weak little girl that would cry at the room turning dark. I'm stronger now. I was abducted, yes, but it was nothing different to what I have suffered before. Yes, I did get a knife in me but you know, why should I dwell on that? If I do, then my parents have sucked away my happiness and they would have succeeded. I'm fine. I'm better than fine, I'm really happy, Nate."

He looked up from the floor and his eyes bore into mine like they were searching for verification in them.

"You're not going to cry on me?" He asked, his voice a little gruff.

"No." I shook my head, laughing at his childishness.

"I have to confess something to you, Rose." He spoke.

Now it was me who was curious.

"What is it?"

"While you were... away," I noticed the way his body tensed when he said that. "I might have said a bunch of really cheesy and loving things about you by accident. Just know that none of them are actually true."

My lips grew into a large smile as I laughed loudly.

"I'm so finding out what you said about me."

"Don't you dare," He warned with a pointing finger, before standing up from his chair and pressing his lips to mine in a quick kiss.

"Tease." I muttered under my breath when he pulled away too soon.

His chest rumbled as he laughed and he lightly picked me up and scooted me over so that he could make room for himself on the bed.

He put his arm around me and I rested my head against his chest, listening to the calm pace of his heartbeat.

"So um... what ended up happening?" I asked after much contemplation.

I really couldn't hold in my curiosity anymore so I finally asked.

"You really want to know now?"

"Yes, I need to know. Am I safe?"

"For sure. They had arrested Porter and your dad when they went to the room. They've been caught in the act so there is no way they can be innocent in all of this. The detectives I was working with said that they'd be serving a minimum amount of twenty years in prison. And then they arrested your mother as soon as she got you. She tried to kill herself but I saved her before she could do anything. I want her to suffer in prison."

Wow... At hearing this, I felt like a massive amount of weight on my shoulders had been lifted. Weight that I didn't even know existed.

It seemed like I was always scared about my parents ever coming back into my life. Like every day I waited for them to take claim of my boys and I would be destroyed. And then when they finally did make their grand appearance by kidnapping my brother, I couldn't even begin to describe how claustrophobic I felt all the time in anticipation for them to make that appearance again.

"So... they're gone?"

"May as well be dead." He nodded.

"Well they are pretty much dead to me anyway." I shrugged.

He mouth turned into a wide grin as his eyes lit up.

"I can finally sense some anger in you with them now." He chuckled.

I rolled my eyes and adjusted my position in the bed.

"Where are my brothers? And your parents? Are they all okay? Do you know how long I was gone for?" I felt the need to see everyone again, just so I could get back into routine.

"Relax, they're all fine. I forced Adam to take them to school and my parents are downstairs in the eatery. And you were gone for twelve days and unconscious for two days."

"Adam?" I asked in surprise.

"Yeah." He muttered lowly, feeling embarrassed. "We kind of get along now."

I grinned widely in happiness. It seemed like everything was falling into place together.

"So about that thing that I've wanted to tell you. Well-"

Before he could continue on, the door burst open and in flew two female nurses who quickly shot scolding looks at Nate.

"We told you to call us when she woke up!" They yelled.

"What?" He shrugged innocently. "She woke up like twenty seconds ago."

They glared at him and ordered him off of the bed while they began running some tests on me. They spoke a mile per second and their terminology wasn't really understandable. I nodded when needed and spoke very few words as they ran around the room and did what they had to do.

"Do you understand Ms Turner? You have to take very good care of yourself. Don't do any strenuous activities. Get someone to hold your books in school, try not to drive and sleep on your back."

I nodded, even though I missed half of what they were saying. They recorded some more notes and began to make their exit.

"Wait, when can I leave?" I asked.

"In three days, Ms Turner. For now, please stay in bed and have some assistance when you walk around."

I turned to Nate and grinned at him, my eyes saying 'you're so going to help me'.

"Don't look at me! You have other people to help you. I have to stand behind you and make sure nothing happens to that precious ass of yours." He smirked.

"Nate!" I blushed.

The nurses rolled their eyes and left the room.

Nate laughed and pulled out his cell.

"Who are you texting?"

"Calling," He corrected. "In the short time we were apart did you forget I hate texting?"

"Right." I muttered with a slight nod. "So who are you calling?"

"People. Let's just say you'll have a few visitors soon." He smiled smugly.

I nodded and rested my head against the pillow, feeling rather sleepy.

"Come on, don't sleep on me now! You just woke up!" Nate whined.

I laughed and used all my energy to roll my eyes.

"Deal with it." I muttered before I finally drifted off.

***

"...and I'm going to tell her how you wouldn't leave the hospital. And I'll tell her how you said you were dead without her. And that you cried. And you said you loved her. And you acted like a huge baby while she was gone. And you were rude to your mother. And-"

"I swear if any of those words come out of your mouth I'll kill you."

"It's your fault for loving her."

"Shut up, Chris."

"Yeah, shut up Chris."

"Dad, be quiet."

"You shut up, bitch."

"If you don't all shut up this baby is going to start yelling at you."

"Well tell him to stay inside because he still has a month to go."

"Do you think she'll wake up soon?"

"Maybe if you shut up, Brandon."

"Hey! I just spoke once."

"That's more than enough."

"You're so annoying, Adam."

"Is she ever going to wake up?"

"My sister isn't usually a deep sleeper. She's probably faking it."

"Don't be mean to her. My sister just got stabbed."

"Hey, she's my sister too!"

"Look! She's stirring!"

I felt like darkness was eliminated and light flooded back into my eyesight and I knew I was awake now. I began to stretch and yawn loudly, before opening my eyes.

I let out an unusual sound as I looked at all the people surrounding my hospital bed. My boys were there, the Sanders' parents and boys were there as well as Chris and Adam with the twins.

"What the hell?" I groaned, rubbing my eyes in exhaustion.

"Rosie!" I heard loud, childish shrieks and I turned and saw my boys standing closest to me, grins plastered all over their faces.

I could be stabbed and convince myself not to cry but after seeing these boys and their wide grins that were aimed at me, I couldn't help but let my eyes water a little.

"Hey," I smiled, engulfing Mike and Liam into a huge hug, despite nurse's orders.

"Nate told us that a shark bit you!" They yelled excitedly. "Can we see your mark?!"

I frowned and fought a laugh as I shot Nate a questioning look. He just shrugged at me with that same old smirk.

"After." I laughed. "How have you boys been?!"

And that's how I spent my afternoon.

Surrounded by the people I loved most.

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

Authors Note:

Cheesy last sentence, I know XD. But I'm as cheesy as a cheese pizza. Hahaha not really .-.

Anyway! An update! Horray! I seem to always be one or two days late. But it's a miracle this is even up from the amount of homework I have.

So last chapter I received a total of 52 comments. Fifty. Two. Like do you know how much that means to me? Thank you guys so much :D Without you, I probably would have given this up!

So today's dedication is to twilightfatcat because she's just so amazing and left me the nicest comment. If I ever see you, a hug is coming your way my friend!

Can you guys just take a moment to look at the amazing banner on the side? This was made my deqa4ever and she is absolutely amazing, she made me four covers which I will post up with chapters :) thanks so much!

So as we speak (or rather while you're reading) I'm watching Gangster Squad and my goodness. Ryan freaking Gosling is WOW!

So today's question is who would you choose to date from STMF? And you can't choose Nate! I think mine would be Chris or Ashton :D

I can't decide if I want one or two chapters left and then an epilogue. We'll see how it plays out.

Buuuuuut! Here is the blurb of the next sequel! *SQUEAL!*

Rosalie Sanders has been married to Nate Sanders for six years now. They've passed their honeymoon stage and now live as a normal married couple. However one day, Rose catches Nate with another woman. And what's worse is that he admits to cheating on his loving wife. Can Rose find it in her heart to forgive Nate or will a new romance blossom with a long time friend, Adam?

So, what do you guys think? I'm sure you're all hating on me now and I just want to say JOKES! Hahaha I just made that blurb up, that's not really the sequel LOL!

But I can confirm now that there will be a spin-off! But the details of that won't come out until the epilogue!

Anyway, please keep up your support like last chapter and COMMENT! And a vote would be cool too!

You know the drill!

Vote, comment, fan.

Farewell xx