She's His Everything (He's My Body Guard Sequel)

(30) Bullet Wounds

I clutched the back of Rayner's soaked t-shirt for dear life. My knees wobbled with each step toward the parking lot. We still were under the cover of the trees but I could make out the cars now. I felt the tension in the air despite the oddly quiet night considering what had just happened in my apartment building. I prayed my neighbors hadn't fallen victim to these bad men and were safe tucked away inside their beds. 

Rayner swiped his forehead on the shoulder of his shirt and I could tell he was more badly injured than he'd led me to believe. I didn't dare make a single sound despite my worry too afraid I'd get us both killed. It was so quiet I could hear my heart beat loudly in my ears. I knew this situation could go awry at any possible second but I found myself fearing not for my own life but Rayner's, and Jackson's, and even my dog Kato's. I was almost sure he'd met an ill fate for what he did to Riley. 

Rayner halted and I looked around in horror wondering what he was listening for. I could hear sirens in the distance now but I feared that was not what he'd heard. He turned to me slowly and inaudibly and I wasn't reassured by his face for the first time since I'd met him. He looked afraid and I realized something was very wrong. I waited for his direction, still trusting his expertise completely. He held a finger to his lips and then pointed to my right and I could only assume he was telling me someone was nearby. He took my hand in his and we tip toed quietly around one of the larger trees I'd seen. 

Rayner peered around before his lips whispered so softly I almost didn't hear his words. "They've found us." I immediately grew nauseous and started panicking. He unloaded his clip and I saw he only had four bullets left. He better make them fucking count. He mouthed the words 'get down' before snapping the magazine back into his gun firing a single shot around the tree into the darkness. I heard a man's disgruntled cursing and then more shots were fired. "Run." Rayner spoke normally and I didn't stick around to see why going with all my stamina into the opposite direction deeper into the woods which eventually would spit us out at the other end of the complex. Fuck the car.

Rayner strayed behind a bit before joining our hands back together and again pulling me even faster than I'd ever run. I was having a hard time believing I hadn't tripped or smacked straight into a tree at this point. As I suspected eventually the trees spit us out into the other side of the complex parking lot. Unfortunately for us the entire complex was gated making our escape that much more difficult. Rayner led me into another stair hall and toward the front office building. I saw the sparkle of the pool off the glass doors even in the dark. He stopped for a minute leaning heavily into the wall of the building obviously in a lot of pain despite his trying to hide it. "What can I do?" I whispered still to afraid to talk loudly. "I'll be okay, come here." He leaned against me grunting angrily and he limped toward the community mailboxes and I helped as he lowered himself to the ground. He unlooped his belt and made a tourniquet right above the wound on his thigh he'd told me was just a flesh wound. Even under the dim lighting on the pole I could see it was worse than that and blood started pouring out making me a bit queasy. 

I looked away trying not to get sick from the blood that had me feeling some type of way. "I promise it looks worse than it is." He assured me but I could tell by the paling of his skin he was minutes from collapsing. "We have to get out of here. It's too dangerous to stay here." He hopped back up inching along the wall finding his footing again. I didn't protest still trusting he knew better than me. "I only have two bullets left and I'm not going to lie I probably can't fight that bigger guy off Tori. Not like this. We need a car, we have to run. What I am about to do I wouldn't do unless I thought it were absolutely necessary." He told me as we inched closer to the front of the office. He helped me over the locked gate and then shakily pulled his own body over taking a second to recover before leading us toward a dinky little Honda.