Chapter 9

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His screams were noiseless to him, but the volume and anguish they conveyed to the rest of the observers would haunt them for years to come.

He gripped her shoulder roughly, shaking her in his desperation.

'Open your eyes, baby. C'mon, come back to me. You don't get to do this. Not now. Not today!'

His voice rose in pitch and he pressed his forehead to hers, crushing her to him as he willed her to come back to him. He had the fleeting thought that he should be giving her CPR or something, but deep down he knew that it wouldn't do any good given her injury.

He punched the floor next to her in frustration and his cries echoed across the room. 'No, no, please god… please… oh god, no.' He buried his face in her hair again, lips to her temple.

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The room was so still, so quiet apart from the man in the corner. No one else moved, no one else breathed.

And then, all in less than a split second, came the faint sound of breaking glass and then, before anyone had the chance to react, someone fired a second shot and through the window it came, a small piece of gold holding all of their hopes for freedom.

There came a gasp from the direction of the shooter, and the librarian glanced over to see his face twisted in shock as he doubled over, weapon dropping from his hand. She watched as in that same moment, one of the quiet Asian students crawled out from under the table, meekly grabbed the weapon and returned to his shelter, a look of disbelief at his own bravery evident on his face.

The librarian looked over to the young couple, where the man had thrown his body on top of his fiancé when the glass first broke. She couldn't help but think that the ending was all too anticlimactic for such a terrifying intrusion into all of their lives, and then in the same second she banished that thought, reprimanding herself to be grateful they had all been saved. She looked back over to the young couple on the floor, not far from the other young man's body.

Well, most of them.

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Charles heard them before he saw them.

When the glass broke, it was impossible to tell if it was from friendly fire and his first instinct had been to protect Alli from any further pain. But then, as moments passed where nobody moved, and then the sound of a weapon dropping to the floor came, he began to understand the situation. And then he heard urgent, important sounding voices in the hall, and he knew that help was coming. But he felt to relief, for it had come too late for the woman he had tried so hard, yet failed to protect, and he was in no hurry to move, felt no urgency to ensure his own safety. No way was he going to leave her by herself. They would have to physically pry his bodyfrom her before he would move. He breathed in the scent of her hair and let out an involuntary sob.

Then he felt it, the faintest hint of a flutter against his cheekbone.

Heart in his throat, he slowly raised his head to see her eyes flutter, and then open, staring straight above them.

'Char?' she croaked, her voice barely a whisper.

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Alli couldn't quite place where she was at first, but then her eyes focused on the ceiling tiles above her .She recognised their dot pattern from the hours she had spent staring at them whilst attempting to study.

And then everything came back to her like a tidal wave, and her first thought was of her husband-to-be. Her eyes searched frantically for him as she called out, and he leaned over so she could see his face.

'Charles? What's wrong? Has anyone come for us?'

He gripped her hand and didn't say anything, just lowered his face to her chest before letting out a barely muffled sob, bringing his hand up to tangle it in her hair. She barely had time to register his distress before the pain came. Like nothing she had ever experienced, it tore down her side and spread through her abdomen, unrelenting. She reached for his hand and cried out, trying to resist the urge to pass out.

Charles brushed the hair from her face and stroked her cheek. 'Al! Alli, it's okay, look at me! You're going to be okay baby, we're going to get you help, okay? Just keep looking at me. Help's coming, okay, you just have to stay with me!'

She searched his face, noting the tears pooling in his eyes, and watched him glance up as a group of voices sounded by the door, and then got closer. She reached out with her other hand to rub his leg comfortingly. Help was coming, everything would be okay. As long as she was with her man, she felt safe, knew he would look after her and this would all be over soon. Content with this knowledge, she closed her eyes.

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