Fix Me, Conflict Me

The seconds crawled by, and the emergency squad or whoever the fuck I called still hadn’t shown up. Baz kept trying to get out of my arms and run back to the door. He knew Maddie was in trouble, too. Not to sound like a pussy, but… I was legit scared to go in there. Whoever that guy was, and I’m pretty sure it was Cooper, he could put up a hell of a fight, I’m sure. I’ve seen what he did to Maddie. I would be no good to Maddie in that condition.

After a few minutes of waiting, I decided to take matters into my own hands.

I put Baz down and gripped the doorknob, silently turning it. Thank god it was left unlocked. “…so the next time you scream like that, I’m gonna paint the wall with your fucking brains, all right?” the hooded figure hissed to someone seated in the middle of the kitchen. Dear god, it was Maddie.

Maddie looked terrible. Her hair was a mess, and I could only imagine what bruises were hidden beneath her clothes this time. She was firmly duct taped to one of her kitchen chairs, more duct tape on her mouth, so she could only sob in silence as the barrel of a gun was held to her temple.

I’d never been in real danger like this before. I was fucking frozen. It was actually Baz that leapt down from my arms and ran up to him, barking furiously. I thought that would make that guy flip out and shoot Maddie on accident, but he didn’t, thank god. “What the fuck?” he growled back at Baz, trying to kick him as he lowered his gun from Maddie’s head.

I snuck into the nearby shoe closet while he finally just picked Baz up and walked outside with him. Once he was standing in the hallway, I kicked him out and shut and locked the door behind him. Baz could take that guy on, no sweat. It's the size of the fight in the dog, after all.

I ran to the kitchen, ripping through the drawers for a knife to slice through the duct tape. Maddie perked up instantly, even though she was just crying some more as I cut her loose. “Shh, Maddie, shh,” I cooed, trying to peel the tape off her mouth as gently as possible.

She ripped it off herself, even though it sounded like it hurt like a bitch. “What took you so long?” She sobbed, throwing her arms around me.

I hugged her thin frame back just as tightly. “I’m so, so sorry, Maddie. I had no idea… I thought –“

“Where did Cooper go?” Maddie sniffled, still trembling with fear.

“Outside. I locked him out. The police are on their way. Everything’s going to be fine. Now, tell me how the fuck this happened.”

“Later,” Maddie sighed shakily, pressing her face to my chest. I held her close, kissing the top of her head repeatedly. We needed to press charges or some shit, because this fucker was just too much. “I love you,” Maddie mumbled, and I felt her hot tears on my neck.

I hated to see her like this. I don’t know how long we stood like that in the middle of her kitchen, but it wasn’t long enough, and it was rudely interrupted by her door being kicked in. I instinctively shielded Maddie’s frail body with my own, despite her protests. “Oh, you must be the boytoy,” Cooper scoffed, throwing back his hoodie. Man, he looked like a drug addict, alright.

“Get the fuck out,” I said calmly, even though I wanted to kill this guy right now. It was here – my chance to exact revenge, to make him pay for hurting my Maddie-bear.

He opened his mouth to say something, but the faint sounds of police sirens reached our ears and he blanched. Maddie practically melted with relief. “You fuckers,” Cooper choked out, raising his gun at us.

The only thought that ran through my mind while Maddie’s piercing scream filled my ears was Oh, shit.

A searing pain shot up my shoulder and I stumbled sideways a bit. Cooper ran away, but then police were all over the apartment complex. They had to have caught him. “Alex! Alex, hey, snap out of it. It’s just a flesh wound, baby,” Maddie tried to convince us both as she gently lowered me down onto the floor of her living room.

If it was just a flesh wound…my vision wouldn’t be spinning right now. Maddie was frantically bunching up my shirt at the wound, applying pressure to it, which only made it more painful for me. “Shit, Maddie, that hurts,” I groaned, cracking my eyes open to look down at the wound. I’d never seen that much blood before. Even Daniel’s suicide was cleaner than this.

“I know, but this is gonna help stop the bleeding,” Maddie said as she wiped some of her tears away with her clean hand. “You called 911, right?”

“Yeah…damn, where the fuck are they?” I asked no one in particular, coughing up…some blood.

Maddie’s trembling fingers gently wiped the blood off the corner of my mouth. “You’re gonna be ok, alright, Lex? You have to be,” she told me, her voice thick with tears again.

“You have to be ok,” I muttered, placing my hand on top of hers that was on my bleeding shoulder. “How long has he been keeping with you like that?”

“Just a few days, I think.” I groaned, feeling like the worst boyfriend in the world, and closed my eyes as I leaned my head back on the couch. “Alex!” Maddie yelped my name, lightly slapping my face.

“I’m awake, I’m awake!” I whined, cringing at her touch now.

“Please don’t close your eyes,” Maddie whispered, pulling off her shirt so she could press it against my bullet wound. She still had a tank top on underneath, though, so it was all good.

“This is gonna make an epic scar,” I laughed, trying to lighten the mood. “I mean, come on, now, every guy would say they’d take a bullet for their girlfriend, but I bet not many guys have actually done it!”

Maddie rolled her eyes but leaned forward to rest her head in the crook of my neck. Baz trotted in and curled up beside me. Thank god the little guy was ok. I frowned when I saw Maddie’s shoulder, though. It was bleeding, too…but, unlike mine, there was no exit wound out the back. “Maddie, you’re hurt.”

Maddie lifted her head and blinked down at her shoulder. “…Oh. Fuck it,” she sighed, shrugging and wincing a bit, but keeping pressure on my shoulder. I tried to sit up, but it hurt even more. Maddie pushed me back into my half-laying down position.

After the police told us Cooper was now incarcerated - fuck yes! - the paramedics finally came in. I made sure they tended to Maddie first, even though I was starting to get dizzy from the blood loss. I was kind of pissed that the paramedic scooped her up in his arms and carried her out of her apartment. I was the boyfriend, I was supposed to do that…

But the whole world faded to black when the paramedics just roughly pulled me to my feet.