Be Your Everything

A loud bang on the front door caused both Harry and Alice to jump hard. A soft whimper escaped Alice’s lips and Harry pulled her tightly to himself. His heart was thudding in his chest as he squeezed his eyes closed.
“Alice, sweetheart,” a disgusting voice called through the closed door and down the hall, “I know you’re in there. Let me in?”
Harry tightened his grip on her, and willed himself not to do something stupid, because just the sound of Rick’s voice made his blood boil. All he wanted to do was stride to the door, wrench it open, and punch the asshole right in the nose – but he couldn’t. He had to stay here, safe, for Alice.
Another loud bang shook the walls. He was kicking the door now, constantly. Bang, bang, bang, until-
With one last shuddering kick, Harry heard the door crash to the floor. Alice was shaking like a leaf into the side of him and he found himself at a loss as to how to comfort her. Heavy footfalls were approaching the room they were holed up in and Harry’s breath hitched in his throat as he quietly got to his feet.
“Get under the bed,” he ordered Alice in a hushed voice.
She hesitated, “What about y-?”
“Go!”
Silently, she crawled under the low structure. Harry climbed into bed under the covers, and pretended to be asleep. He heard quiet steps on the carpet make their way into the room, then a deep grunt. The steps came right up to the edge of the bed, and then Harry felt breath on the side of his face.
“You don’t look like you’re in a very deep sleep.”
The loud voice startled Harry so much that he jumped and opened his eyes. A pair of dazzling blue eyes met him, but there was something in them that wasn’t quite right; a crazed kind of satisfaction dulled the light in this man’s eyes.
“I thought not,” he breathed, straightening up to his full height.
Harry tried his best to look confused, “Who the hell are you?”
“I’m not stupid, boy,” Rick spat, “I’ve been watching you. Listening.”
The horror of this almost made Harry lash out, but just in time he remembered Alice hiding under the bed. Every time he thought of her his mind seemed to straighten out and tell him exactly what he should do.
Getting to his feet, Harry squared his shoulders. He got close to Rick and tried to keep his voice from shaking, “What exactly is it you want?”
“I want my daughter.”
“Daughter?” Alice spoke, outraged, from under the bed. She was crawling onto the carpet a few seconds later and then crossing her arms over her chest. If she was afraid, there wasn’t any trace of it in her eyes.
Harry watched with slight satisfaction the look of total shock that flashed across Rick’s face at the sight of his ex stepdaughter.
“Since when were you entitled to call me your daughter?”
“Since I married your mother,” he snarled.
“You don’t get to talk about her!” she shouted suddenly, “You lost that right a long time ago!”
“Do not speak to me like that,” Rick growled dangerously.
Harry was watching with bated breath, feeling more and more helpless. Rick looked about ready to snap, but Alice wasn’t relenting. She kept fighting back, taunting him. Finally, it seemed he had had enough.
“You know what?” he screamed at her, and for the first time she flinched away from him, “Seeing as you can’t seem to shut your f**ing mouth, how about I teach you a lesson?”
And then he pulled a large hunting knife from his pocket and lunged at Harry. Before Harry even had a chance to register what was happening, he felt warm liquid running over his hands and arms. Blood. It only took another second to realise a last horrific detail – it wasn’t his.
He watched, as if in slow motion; as Alice fell to the floor with the blades handle sticking out of her stomach. Both men were rooted to the spot, Harry because he hadn’t quite registered what had happened, and Rick because he hadn’t been aiming for her.
Rick made to run out of the room, but Harry caught him around the neck and brought the large man tumbling to the floor. He didn’t know what he was doing; all he saw was red as he grabbed his bedside lamp and whacked the older man in the head, over and over, until finally Alice’s faint voice brought him back to reality.
“Harry… stop…”
So he did. And then, as he moved, kneeling on the floor in front of her limp body in a pool of her blood, the chilling truth set in; she’d jumped in front of a blade to save his life.
As he pulled his mobile out, he kept repeating, “You’re gonna be okay… you’re gonna be okay…”

Alice had no idea where she was. Why couldn’t she open her eyes? And what was that incessant beeping noise? Her stomach was throbbing, and her head felt ready to explode. She tried to open her eyes again, but clamped them shut instantly. Why the hell was it so bright? She tried to move, but it sent a shooting pain up her side.
“Al?” a female voice called to her, as though from a hundred meters away.
A thought occurred to her; could she be dead?
“Al, can you hear me?” the girl sounded a lot closer now.
That voice was so familiar. Alice tried to speak, but all that came out was a throaty groan. God, she was thirsty. She tried opening her eyes again, slowly this time, and found it a little easier. A head of bushy brown hair met her and she squinted to see who it was. “Dani?”
A loud sigh of relief, “Oh, my god. You’re awake.”
“Where am I?” and why the hell did her voice sound so awful?
“The hospital, sweetie.”
And then every single thing that had happened to put her there came flooding back. She gasped and tried to sit up too quickly. Her head swam, and her stomach felt like it had been stabbed all over again.
“Don’t move!” Dani warned in a shrill voice. She sounded worried.
“All right. Hurts too much anyway,” Alice agreed breathlessly, “But can you tell me what happened to Harry? Is he-?”
“He’s fine,” and Alice could see Dani was smiling, “You saved his life.”
“No-“ she began, but cut herself off, “Oh. Yes, I did.”
And then something else came to mind.
“And Rick?”
Dani’s smile turned to a scowl, “In jail. Good riddance, too.”
“And how… how many people know what happened?”
“Ah,” Dani began to look sympathetic, “well, the thing is-“
“Everyone,” a new voice put in. Alice broke into a grin and motioned Harry (carefully, mind you; she was in a lot of pain.) to come closer. He dropped to his knees beside the hospital bed and pulled her into a firm yet gentle hug.
“Look at me,” Alice commanded him quietly. He did as he was told and showed her his tear-stained face, “Please don’t cry. I’m fine, really.”
“No,” he shook his head woefully, “you died.”
“I- what?”
“You had to go into surgery. You were officially dead for nearly 20 seconds. They were sure you were gone,” Dani explained, because it seemed Harry had forgotten how to speak.
“I died,” Alice repeated dully. She couldn’t believe it. “How long exactly have I been unconscious?”
“Nearly two weeks,” Harry answered in a croaky voice.
“And this champion has hardly left your side,” Dani grinned.
“Oh, but tell me you’ve showered today!” Alice exclaimed in outrage.
Harry gave her a guilty look, and she laughed. Though she didn’t laugh for long because it hurt too much. In fact, it hurt to breathe. She had never been in this much pain in her life.
“Thank you. For staying with me,” she whispered to the curly haired boy at her bedside.
“I think I should be the one thanking you, don’t you think?”
“Nah,” she said flippantly, “it didn’t even hurt.”
For the first time, he laughed, and Alice couldn’t remember anything ever sounding so wonderful.