Sienna woke up in the arms of the old man. She tried to keep her eyes shut and pretend she was still passed out. Oh my God. Where is Damien? Did the old man kill him? She tried to peek and look around. She reached for her sock and patted her knife there.
Inexplicably, the old man was murmuring words of encouragement and comfort to her. "It's ok, it's ok, Sweetie, you are going to be alright. Your baby's going to be alright. You're going to be ok, baby girl."
Baby girl? That's what her mama called her. Matthew laid her down gently on the couch.
Sienna opened her eyes. "Where's Damien? Did you kill him?"
"No. Of course not. He ran out the back door. Coward. Most men who hit women are, I'm afraid. I told him earlier he better not hit you again. I saw him smack you. I guess he was afraid of what I might do." He clarified. "What I will do."
"Well I guess so, since you cut off his finger for no reason."
"Finger? No, I didn't. I warned him. Did he tell you I cut off his finger?" He was propping a pillow under her head as he spoke. "Wasn't me. Though I do promise you this - when I see him again, if I do, I am going to make him regret hitting a lady when I told him not to."
No one ever called Sienna a lady before, but she kind of liked it. Maybe, Damien, who did lie a lot, had lied to her. Suddenly, a pain. She doubled over.
Matthew asked, "Do you feel like you can make it to the car? I can carry you. I believe it would be faster for me to drive you to the hospital then wait for the ambulance. We can call them on the way and tell them we're coming."
"Hospital? You're going to take me?" asked Sienna with disbelief. She'd been trying to get to the hospital all day.
The front door busted open again. This time there was no music, only a loud thud as the door hit the wall.
"Nobody's going anywhere," said Randall Michael Wall as he stepped through the front door. He shoved Candi into the room. "Where's Damien?"
"That chicken shit done deserted me," shrieked Sienna, "And my new friend here is going to beat him up for smacking me." She sat up and groaned in agony.
"Who are you?" asked Randall Michael Wall to Matthew.
Matthew was expecting this company, but not so soon. He usually liked to hide his cards, especially when met with an unknown player, but he didn't have time to bluff. There was a baby coming. Matthew did not hide his cards.
"I'm a friend of Sienna's, and I am a friend of Candi's (he pointed in her direction). I'm here to get them both to safety, and if you stand in my way, I will cut your heart out of your chest while it is still beating." And then Matthew added for added effect because he was unable to control his anger, "And then I will stuff your beating heart in your mouth and make you chew it."
Randall Michael Wall laughed a big, loud belly laugh, a belly jiggling guffaw. He almost lost his breath. He raised the gun and pointed it towards an unflinching Matthew. He almost fired, but then he thought of the boss. If he hit the girl with a random shot before she had the baby, or he did anything to harm the baby, he knew the boss would most assuredly cut his heart out and make him eat it. He said to Matthew as he waved the gun, "You, move away from the girl. Go towards the kitchen counter."
He shoved Candi towards Sienna, "You go over there and help the girl. Use your nursing and help her. She's going to have us a baby."
"You fool. I'm not a nurse," said Candi.
Randall Michael paused to think about this. "Well, you work around the doctors, so you'll have to do."
As he walked towards the couch, Randall Michael pushed Candi towards Sienna who was whimpering gibberish and crying. "It's my baby, my baby. I am brave. I am brave. I am brave."
All the while Randall Michael was not taking his eyes off of Matthew. There was something about the old man's gaze and steadiness that made Randall Michael believe if the old man were younger, he might could and would have cut a heart out while it was still beating.
Matthew was backing up slowly and weighing options that would not put the ladies in danger. Sienna was not weighing options or worrying about danger. Neither was Candi. Just as they got to the couch where Sienna was moaning, Candi reached in her purse and pulled out a can of mace so effortlessly it seemed like she had been practicing for danger. She had. She sprayed Randall Michael Wall with a dose of pepper spray. It was only because of Sienna and the baby that Candi did not spray the entire can in his eyes, and this meant he had enough time to recover and swing and knock Candi over the coffee table. This was fortuitous as it gave Sienna the split second she needed to pull the serrated folding hunting knife out of her sock and embed it in Randall Michael Wall's upper thigh.
He screamed, "You little bitch," and reached back and aimed the gun at Sienna to shoot her dead. It was a gut reaction from the meanest man on earth and showed his real, true nature - he was going to shoot a pregnant girl in the throes of labor pains and minutes from having her baby.
Randall Michael Wall did not care what the boss would think or do to him. There was a serrated unfolded hunting knife embedded so far in his leg he could only see the handle. The other six inches was in his leg.
By this point, Matthew, who was most decidedly not an "old man", was already there. He tackled the gun, not the man. A shot rang out as they both tumbled over the coffee table and landed on Candi.