Page 53 of Every Sunset

I didn’t even make it close to the edge before Callum grabbed a hold of my arm and wrenched me backwards so hard that I found myself sprawled out on the wood again.

The wind was knocked from me and I was finding it hard to breathe as I scrambled to roll to my front and get back to my feet.

Staying down wasn’t an option. I was too vulnerable on the ground.

I wanted to scream for Logan again, but I knew I wasn’t going to be able to with how hard I was fighting to breathe through my racing adrenaline and the pain I was in.

I pushed up onto my hands and knees with all of the energy and fight I had left in me, conscious that I could hear Callum’s wet footsteps coming towards me.

He was wearing sneakers and they were squelching with water from the lake.

I had no idea how he had gotten to the house from the water, since access to it was pretty restricted in the neighborhood the guys lived in, but I didn’t have time to worry about it right then.

I pushed up onto my knees and looked around me frantically for Callum.

I gasped when I found him stood right behind me, and before I could even cry out in fear he had a hold of my arm and was pulling me to my feet.

I didn’t even work out what he was doing until it was too late.

I barely had a chance to struggle in his grip before he jumped off of the side of the jetty and into the freezing cold water, his grip on me never letting up for a second.

I gasped as the coldness of the water hit me, but that was the only breath I got in before Callum was forcing my head down under the water.

He kept a hold of my body with one arm, and held my head under with his other hand.

I fought to get free, panicking and taking in water by the mouthful as I scrapped and flailed to get free, but Callum was so much stronger than me and nothing I did seemed to make him release me even a little.

Water filled my lungs and black spots danced in my vision as my fight started to die down, and I knew that was it.

I was losing consciousness and my life. With my last tiny bit of fight I reached for his hand at my waist and dug my nails into his flesh as hard as I possibly could, ripping into his skin with everything I had left inside of me.

But it didn’t work. His hold on me never wavered and I was starting to fade.

Everything became fuzzy and images of my son played in my thoughts.

He'd be safe with Logan and Madd, I assured myself with my veery last thought. They’d take care of him just as they’d promised me they would.

***

“MOM!” My eyes snapped open at the terror in my sons anguished cry. Pain radiated through my body as I started to cough hard. Water came out with every cough, and I felt arms lifting me so I was half sat up as I spit up so much water.

“Max?” I gasped the second I managed to get a breath in.

“I’m here, mom. I’m right here,” he gasped, and when I looked up just a little, I realized he was the one propping me up. He was sat on the jetty with me laid out, supporting my top half in his arms.

“Max? Talk to me, kid!” Logan yelled from somewhere. I tried to look around, but I couldn’t see him or….

“MADD!” I cried, followed by more sputtering coughs. I fought to sit up and looked to the water below us in terror.

“She’s back, Logan. She’s back,” Max uttered shakily.

“Where are they?” I asked shakily, my voice barely coming out. “Madd! He w-was shot?”

“Logan’s got him. We called 9-1-1.”

“Is he alive? Logan?” I cried tearfully.

“Mom, you have to calm down and freaking breathe! You were dead! I had to do CPR!” Max cried almost hysterically. I made myself take a breath and pushed up to sitting, despite the pain it caused.

“I’m r-right here, honey. You…you saved me…

again. I’m okay,” I told him as I reached up an arm and wrapped it around his neck, pulling him closer to me for a hug while I coughed and tried to find the strength to keep talking.

“I…I need to see him though. Madd…I have t-to know,” I pushed out emotionally.

Max nodded and took a calming breath, then he scooped me up and started walking down the jetty towards the grass. Off to the side I could see Logan leaning over Maddox’s prone body laid on the ground. It was obvious Logan had pulled him out onto the grass bank.

“Madd?” I gasped as I realized he wasn’t moving at all.

Logan turned briefly to glance over his shoulder at Max and I, then he looked right back to his brother. Even in that brief glance I had seen the panic all over his face.

“He’s gonna be okay. An ambulance is coming and they…they’ll help him. They can fix him up,” Logan called to me shakily. I wanted to take his words for what they were, but his tone made it clear that what he had said was nothing more than wishful thinking.

“Put me down, Max,” I said, and Max did.

He wrapped his arm around me as I stood shakily, then he helped me as I walked around to Maddox’s other side.

As soon as I saw him, a sob burst from me.

His abdomen was covered in blood and Logan was holding a blood soaked towel down over Madd’s stomach with force.

Madd was out cold and as pale as I had ever seen anyone look.

I swallowed back the next sob and forced myself to breathe as I dropped heavily to the ground beside Maddox.

“He has to be alright,” Logan uttered.

“Is he still br-breathing?” I stuttered, terrified of the answer.

“Slowly, but yeah. His chest….it’s still moving, right? Tell me you see it moving, Anna, please!” he cried.

I placed my hand on Maddox’s chest and held my breath for a moment as I waited for the smallest kernel of hope.

“Yes. There. His chest’s still moving, Logan,” I cried with relief. I looked behind me to Max and tried to make myself stay calm. I had to try and keep control of the situation. “Max, what happened to that motherfucker?” I gasped as I fought to calm myself.

“He’s dead. Logan…he….he took him down. He’s dead,” Max bumbled. He hadn’t taken his eyes from Madd’s lifeless body, and tears were silently streaking down his face.

“Good,” I nodded. “Okay. Go to the front gates and let the ambulance in, okay? Show them where to come.”

“Huh?” Max finally moved and met my gaze.

“Go to the gates, Max. Show the ambulance where to come, okay? C-can you do that?” I repeated.

Max didn’t even answer, he just set off running. I placed my hand back on Maddox’s chest and held my breath as I waited to feel it move up and down again. I couldn’t hold in my cry of relief when it did.

“Hold on, Madd. You hear me? You h-have to hold on and you….you’ve got to come back to us.

We n-need you. We all need you so fucking much,” I told him firmly.

I wasn’t even sure Logan knew I was there.

He was just staring at his brother with all of the loss and devastation I could feel inside of myself.

I wanted to say something to soothe him.

I wanted to promise him that Maddox would never leave us, but how could I do that when Maddox looked as though he was already gone?

It was taking every scrap of life I had left in me not to completely crumble to pieces too.

I couldn’t lose Maddox, not when I only just found him.

I couldn’t lose either of these amazing men who I loved more than I ever thought it possible to love a man, but I knew if Maddox didn’t survive this, then Logan wouldn’t either, and neither would I.