The Wild

-19- Fork in the Road

Copyright © 2014. All Rights Reserved.

As John opened up the door, I pushed myself up from the toilet with a hand on the edge of the tub. "Brian!" I called out, expecting to race out of the bathroom to greet him, but that was instantly put to a halt.

A sharp pain bolted through my hand, and a scream was caught in my throat the second I felt it. It was such an intense agony, I fell backwards and slipped into the space between the tub and the toilet. I looked bleary-eyed to the fork in Brad's fist as he yanked it from the back of my hand and heaved at the rope to free it.

"Oh shit, dad!" Bennet's voice yelled from the entrance of the bathroom, and I was almost too blinded by the heat pulsing through my hand to comprehend it. Brad lunged from the tub, feet slipping over the edge and nearly tripping him as he dove for Bennet.

I lifted my hand shakily off the ledge of the tub, blinded by the red oozing between my fingers. I curled my uninjured hand around the wound, hissing in pain as I elbowed my way out of the nook I'd fallen in. There were people yelling all throughout the living area, and somehow, someway, Brian was the first to show up in the doorway.

"Lily! Oh crap, your hand," he cried out, rushing forward and sliding down to his knees in front of me. I was still nauseated by the sight of the four holes on the back of my hand, and I feared if I opened my mouth I'd spew my dinner all over his leather jacket.

He floundered for one of the towels by the sink and once he grabbed one, he cautiously removed my unwounded hand and wrapped the towel around all the blood on the fork holes. "I'm guessing you've never been stabbed by a fork before."

"First time," I stammered, my voice unbelievably shaky. He offered a small grin in response, and clasped both of his hands around my wounded hand, adding pressure to the towel to help stop the bleeding.

Gradually, I started hearing outside of the bathroom where Brad was being restrained by John, and Bennet was cradling yet another bloody nose by the kitchen sink. It really was just Brian here.

He helped me to my feet, and together we went to the sink where he unraveled the towel and helped erase the blood already staining my hand. I let him do the work while I just tried not to stare too hard at it. It looked like someone took a Sharpie and poked four dots onto my skin, but then they started to ooze red and that ruined that idea.

Mary arrived in the entrance of the bathroom, and gasped at the sight of the bloody towel and the dots on my hand. "Oh my God, Lily, are you all right?" she gawked, covering her hand over her mouth.

"I'm okay," I murmured, just to make her feel better because I was, in fact, not okay. I was just stabbed in the hand with a fork.

"Do you have any gauze?" Brian asked her, and she then called to Amaya, who abandoned Bennet to retrieve the gauze in the medicine cabinet. He used it to wrap up my hand before leading the way into the living area.

John had Brad's hands tied behind his back again, and heaved him off the ground as we entered the room. Brad was fighting frantically against his restraints, looking desperately at Brian, who stood stone-still beside me. His expression was deadly calm.

"Dude! What're ya doin'! Get me outta here!" he roared at Brian when he didn't make a move. "Brian-"

"You hurt Lily. That's not what we planned," Brian replied, his tone reminding me of Tyler when he was in charge of his men. "Tyler wouldn't approve."

"The fuck do you know! Why're you-"

"That's enough," John sneered, nudging Brad roughly in the back. I looked past them to Bennet and Amaya, who stood in the kitchen watching the exchange with wide eyes. "I'm assuming you know what we're planning, then," he commented, speaking to Brian.