Chapter 29 – Don’t Die On Me
Ryder’s arms were the only thing keeping me from collapsing.
I watched as the nurses rushed Jack’s stretcher down the hallway. Blood trailed in streaks along the floor tiles. My hands trembled, stained with it. His blood.
George held Cara like a caged animal, her screams piercing the hospital corridor. She kicked, thrashed, pulled at her hair, shouting Jack’s name over and over.
“I didn’t mean it! Jack! Please! Don’t die!” she wailed, her voice cracking as she clawed at George’s arms, trying to run after the gurney.
“Calm down, Cara!” George barked.
“Let me go! I have to see him!” She howled, trying to bite him.
Tony was already on the phone with the police. His expression was tight, jaw clenched. “Yes. Attempted murder. Send someone now.”
The hallway felt like a grave. Every breath was thick with tension, fear, regret. My head spun. My body was numb. I didn’t know what to feel. Rage? Relief? Pain?
He had saved me. Jack had taken the knife. For me.
“Darling…” Ryder’s voice was hoarse beside me. “Come here.”
He held me tighter. I let him.
A few minutes passed–minutes that felt like hours–before my mom returned with her. phone pressed to her ear.
“I called her,” she whispered. “Jack’s mother… she’s on her way.”
Then the doors burst open again.
Jack’s mother came running in, her scarf half–falling off her shoulder. Her eyes scanned the room like a mad woman until they landed on Cara. Her face crumbled. She lunged.
“You cursed witch! You ruined him!” she screamed, grabbing at Cara.
“You lied to all of us! You turned him into this!”
“Ma! Stop!” Tony shouted, holding her back just as she nearly slapped Cara across the face.
“I told him not to marry you! I told him! But no one listens to the old woman!”
Cara only kept crying. “I didn’t mean to kill him! I just wanted to scare her! It was Gwen! She made me lose my mind!”
I stiffened.
“What did you just say?” I whispered.
Cara turned her wild, tear–streaked face toward me. “It’s your fault! If you had just stayed dead that day–if they had buried you after that plane–none of this would have happened! You always survive, Gwen! Why won’t you just die?!”
Silence filled the hallway
Even George and Tony looked disgusted,
You’re horrible. Tony said quietly. “We adopted you. Loved you. Gave you a family. And all you ever wanted was to destroy our real sister.
The D’Angelos looked broken.
The police arrived moments later. Two officers cuffed Cara, ignoring her screams.
“You can’t take me! I didn’t mean to do it! It was an accident! Jack will wake up! He’ll tell you!”
But she was dragged away anyway, kicking and sobbing like a mad woman.
Ryder rubbed circles on my back as I stood still, watching the chaos.
A few minutes later, the doctor returned. His face told us everything.
He removed his cap. “I’m sorry… Jack didn’t make it through the surgery.”
Sharp gasps sounded followed by silence. Then-
“No!” Jack’s mother fell to her knees,
Tony caught her just in time.
19 her chest.
She wailed, breaking into sobs as she hugged her grandson, David, close.
David didn’t understand.
“Where’s Daddy?” he asked in his soft, baby voice.
Jack’s mother looked him in the eye and whispered, “Your father is gone. And your mother… your mother killed him.”
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Even David started crying then, not understanding the words, only the weight of the moment.
My heart ached. Not for Jack–but for the broken boy in front of me.
I turned away, pressing a hand over my mouth.
Cara had won so many times. Lied, cheated, faked, and manipulated. But this time… she had lost everything.
The moment we turned to leave, a loud voice rang out behind us.
“You’re never leaving here alive Rachel!”
I spun around just in time to see a woman raise a gun.
It was her. Cara’s real mother.
Her eyes were wide with fury, her hands shaking as she pointed the pistol at me.
“You ruined everything!” she screamed. “You took what I gave my daughter! You stole her life!”
The world slowed. I couldn’t move.
Then-
13:17 Wed, 16 July
Then-
“Gwen!”
Ryder moved faster than thought.
He stepped in front of me, shielding me completely.
The sound of the gunshot split the air like thunder.
Ryder jerked, his body stiffening.
Blood splashed across my chest.
“No…” I whispered.
He dropped to his knees… then collapsed into my arms.
“Ryder!” I screamed, catching him.
Everything happened at once. Police tackled Cara’s mother. George called for help. Jack’s mother screamed again. My mother ran toward me.
But all I saw was Ryder.
His eyes fluttered open, glassy.
“Darling…” he rasped, smiling faintly.
“Don’t talk,” I sobbed, holding him tightly. “Please. Don’t do this. Don’t leave me.”
He lifted a trembling hand to my cheek. “I told you… I’d take a bullet for you.”
“No,” I cried, shaking my head. “I can’t lose you. Not now. Please, Ryder. Don’t die. Please.”
He coughed. Blood slipped from the corner of his mouth. “I love you…”
His head fell forward.
My scream shattered the air.
“Ryder!”
Doctors rushed in. They pulled me away as they started CPR. But I couldn’t hear them.
All I could hear was his voice. All I could see was his blood. His smile. His hand slipping.
from mine.
Everything spun and suddenly I couldn’t breathe.
Chapter 29 – Don’t Die On Me
