Chapter 4 - The Freefall
The icy wind roared in my ears as my feet left the rusted metal platform.
I closed my eyes and wrapped both of my arms protectively around my swollen stomach.
I prayed that my baby would somehow survive the five-story drop to the concrete alley below.
Suddenly, a massive, calloused hand gripped my wrist with bone-crushing force.
My body jerked violently to a halt, dangling terrifyingly in the open air.
I opened my eyes and looked up to see my father leaning halfway over the railing.
He had sprinted across the room the moment the sniper fired, catching me just in time.
Below us, Ryan hit a large industrial dumpster with a sickening crunch.
He groaned in agony, his broken body tangled in the trash bags as he struggled to breathe.
"Hold on, Emily!" my father grunted, his face turning red from the immense strain.
The military police officers rushed out onto the fire escape and helped pull me back over the railing.
I collapsed onto the metal grating, gasping for air as my father wrapped his heavy military coat around my shoulders.
He pulled me into a tight embrace, kissing the top of my head while tears finally fell from his eyes.
"You're safe now, baby girl," he whispered into my hair.
Paramedics flooded the apartment a few minutes later, placing me on a stretcher and checking my vitals.
They loaded Ryan into a separate ambulance under heavy police guard.
Linda was placed in handcuffs, sobbing loudly as she was arrested for conspiracy and accessory to domestic abuse.
As they rolled my stretcher down the hallway, I finally felt a glimmer of hope.
My father walked right beside me, holding my hand the entire time.
We entered the elevator, and the doors slowly closed, leaving the nightmare behind us.
Then the elevator violently stopped between the third and second floors.
The emergency lights flickered, casting a dim red glow over the small space.
The paramedic standing next to my stretcher slowly reached into his medical bag.
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He pulled out a syringe filled with a strange, dark liquid and smiled at my father.
"The boss still wants his two million dollars, Colonel," the fake paramedic whispered.
