Karin Slaughter - Faithless

“It’s okay,” Terri whispered, inching toward him, crawling on her knees. “Just breathe, baby. Just try to breathe.”

Paul edged toward the front door, keeping his eye on Jeffrey, thinking he was the real threat. Lena took a few steps down the stairs, not knowing what she would do if she reached the bottom. She wanted to tear him apart with her hands, hear him scream with agony as she ripped into him.

“It’s okay, baby,” Terri crooned, crawling on her knees toward them. She reached out, touching her son’s foot with the tips of her fingers. The boy was gasping in earnest now, his thin chest heaving. “Just breathe.”

Paul was almost out the door. He told Jeffrey, “Don’t try to follow me.”

Jeffrey said, “You’re not going to take that kid.”

“Watch me.”

He made to leave, but Terri held Tim’s foot in the palm of her hand, keeping them both in place. Paul pressed the gun to her forehead. “Get back,” Paul warned, and Lena froze on the stair, unsure who he was talking to. She took another step as Paul warned Terri, “Move away.”

“His asthma-”

“I don’t care,” Paul barked. “Move away.”

“Mama loves you,” Terri whispered over and over, oblivious to Paul’s threat as she clung to Tim’s foot. “Mama loves you so much-”

“Shut up,” Paul hissed. He tried to pull away, but Terri held on tight, wrapping her hand around Tim’s leg to get a better grip. Paul raised the revolver, slamming the butt of it down on her head.

Jeffrey grabbed up his gun in one fluid motion, pointing it at Paul’s chest. “Stop right there.”

“Baby,” Terri said. She had staggered, but remained on her knees, holding on to Tim’s leg. “Mama’s here, baby. Mama’s here.”

Tim was turning blue, his teeth chattering as if he was cold. Paul tried to pull him away from his mother, but she held on, telling her son, “‘… my grace is sufficient for thee…’ ”

“Let go.” Paul tried to jerk him back, but still she would not release her son. “Terri-” Paul looked panicked, as if some kind of rabid animal had clamped on to him. “Terri, I mean it.”

“‘… my strength is made perfect in weakness…’ ”

“Let go, goddammit!” Again, Paul raised the gun, striking her even more savagely. Terri fell back, but she reached out with her other hand, grabbing on to Paul’s shirt, pulling it as she struggled to stay upright.

Jeffrey had his gun on Paul, but even this close, he couldn’t risk a shot. The boy was in the way. His problem was the same as Lena ’s. An inch too far and he’d end up killing him.

“Terri,” Lena tried, as if she could somehow help. She had reached the bottom stair, but all she could do was watch as Terri held on to Tim, her bleeding forehead pressed to his leg. The boy’s eyelids flickered. His lips were blue, his face a ghostly white as his lungs strained for air.

Jeffrey warned, “Stop right there, Paul.”

“‘When I am weak,’ ” Terri whispered, “‘then am I strong.’ ”

Paul struggled to pull away, but Terri maintained her hold, clutching on to the waist of his pants. Paul raised the gun higher and brought it down, but Terri tilted her head up at the last minute. The gun glanced off her cheek, hitting her collarbone, slipping in Paul’s hand. A single bullet fired straight up into Terri’s face. The woman staggered again, somehow keeping herself upright as she held on to Paul and her boy. There was a gaping hole in her jaw, fragmented bone hanging down. Blood poured out of the open wound, splattering onto the tiled floor, and the injured woman reflexively tightened her grip on Paul’s shirt, bloody handprints streaking the white.

“No,” Paul said, stumbling back, trying to get away from her. He was horrified at what he was seeing, his expression showing a mixture of fear and revulsion. In shock, he let go of the gun and almost dropped Tim as he fell against the porch railing.

Terri kept her tight grip on Paul, using all her remaining strength to hold on. Blood wicked onto his shirt as she pulled him down to the ground, falling on top of him. She kept pulling at his shirt, pulling herself up toward her son. Tim’s skin was deadly white, his eyes closed. Terri put her head on Tim’s back, the pulverized side of her face turned away from her son.

Jeffrey kicked the revolver away from Paul’s hand, then slid the child out from under his mother. He laid Tim flat on the ground and started to give him CPR. “Lena,” he said, then yelled, “ Lena!”

She startled out of her trance, her body working on autopilot as she snapped open her phone and called an ambulance. She knelt beside Terri, putting her fingers to the woman’s neck. There was a faint pulse, and Lena smoothed back her hair from her shattered face, saying, “You’re going to be okay.”

Paul tried to move out from under her, but Lena snarled, “If you so much as breathe, I’ll kill you.”

Paul nodded, his lips trembling as he looked down in horror at Terri’s head in his lap. He had never killed this close before, had always shielded himself from the dirty reality of his deeds. The bullet had torn through the side of Terri’s face, exiting out of the base of her neck. Black dots were burned into the skin from the powder burns. Her left cheek was shredded, her tongue visible through the damage. Fractured bone mingled with blood and gray matter. Fragments of her back molars were stuck in her hair.

Lena put her face close to Terri’s, saying, “Terri? Terri, just hang on.”

Terri’s eyes fluttered open. She took shallow breaths, struggling to speak.

“Terri?”

Lena could see her tongue moving inside her mouth, the white bone shaking from the effort.

“It’s okay,” Lena soothed. “Help is on the way. Just hang on.”

Her jaw worked slowly, labored with the desperate effort of speaking. She couldn’t enunciate, her mouth would not cooperate. It seemed to take everything out of her to say, “I… did it.”

“You did it,” Lena assured her, grabbing her hand, careful not to jostle her. Spinal injuries were tricky: the higher up, the more damage. She didn’t even know if Terri could feel her, but she had to hold on to something.

Lena said, “I’ve got your hand, Terri. Don’t let go.”

Jeffrey muttered, “Come on, Tim,” and she heard him counting, pressing the boy’s chest, trying to make his heart beat.

Terri’s breathing slowed. Her eyelids flickered again. “I… did… it.”

“Terri?” Lena asked. “Terri?”

“Breathe, Tim,” Jeffrey urged. He took a breath of his own and forced it into the boy’s slackened mouth.

Bubbles of bright red blood popped on Terri’s wet lips. There was a gurgling sound in her chest, a fluid look to her features.

“Terri?” Lena begged, holding on to her hand, trying to press life back into her. She heard a siren in the distance, calling like a beacon. Lena knew it was backup; the ambulance couldn’t get there this quickly. Still, she lied.

“Hear that?” Lena asked, gripping Terri’s hand as tightly as she could. “The ambulance is on the way, Terri.”

“Come on, Tim,” Jeffrey coaxed. “Come on.”

Terri blinked, and Lena knew she could hear the wail of the siren, knew help was coming. She exhaled sharply. “I… did…”

“One-one-thousand, two-one-thousand,” Jeffrey said, counting the compressions.

“I… di…”

“Terri, talk to me,” Lena pleaded. “Come on, girl. What did you do? Tell me what you did.”

She struggled to speak, giving a weak cough, spraying a fine mist of blood into Lena ’s face. Lena stayed there, stayed close to her, tried to keep eye contact so that she would not go.

“Tell me,” Lena said, searching her eyes for something, some sign that she would be okay. She just needed to keep her talking, keep her holding on. “Tell me what you did.”