The Awards Show Ch. 16

"So, do you still like red orchids?" His voice was straight out of her memories and Jet cringed a little at the sound.

"No. I never really liked orchids." She answered despite herself. If nothing else it would buy time. Rhett would call the police, she knew it, so she just needed to buy enough time for them to come.

"Lying bitch. You loved them; don't remember those nights where I traced them all over your skin?" Jet watched as Mitchell lowered the gun before putting it behind his back. Memories did come back to her then, but it was as if they all had blackened edges around them like burned photographs. Mitchell had been nice, sexy even, but under it all he was waiting to snap. Jet felt the choke of his control through all of her memories with him.

"So, you got out on good behavior?"

"Yep, no thanks to you. I can't believe you tried to put me away babe. After all I did for you, how could you do that?"

"I guess that's what happens when you beat women and rape them you monster." She said the words and instantly regretted them. Jet didn't want to make him mad, Mitchell was so much worse mad.

"Man, you still have those snappy comebacks, of course you have time to practice with all this writing shit that you do. Tell me, is it just easier for you to be okay with what you did now that you have a boyfriend again?" Thank God, he didn't seem really mad, not yet anyways. She just had to keep him talking until the police arrived, just a little bit longer and she would be safe again with him in jail.

"I don't have a boyfriend."

"Bullshit. You think I didn't have friends who kept track of you? You may not post things online, but others do. That's how I knew about little Jane and now Rhett. That's quite a difference Jet, from some tiny girl to the big stupid looking giant." He took a step closer and Jet was forced backwards.

"I was dating him, but we broke up. I'm single now." She said it, trying to calm him a little, although the words stung her.

"Good. Then, you and I can pick up where we left off before you lied to the police."

"Mitchell...I..."

"Enough. Don't speak babe. You were always so much cuter silent. I should have told you that before, but never did I think you would lie to them."

"I...I didn't lie. I..."

"Shall we call it an omission, does that make it better?"

"Mitchell, I..." He took a few more steps as Jet backed into the door.

"Why wouldn't you tell them that you started the fight?" His face was getting red as he spoke, and Jet could feel the heat from his breath as he stood in front of her. Her throat tightened and she wasn't sure that she would be able to get a word out.

"Speak before I smack you."

She knew he could sense her fear and she knew that not answering would be worse. What she wasn't quite positive about yet was if these would be the last words she ever said. Then, a calm came over her. If this was it, truly the end of her existence, then she didn't want to go out afraid. Rhett had made her realize that she was worth the world. He was willing to give it to her. Sure he had fucked up, but hadn't she fucked up with Jane? Was a drunken night of sex with his ex-wife enough to erase all the love he had shown her? Was it enough to take away how good she felt with him? Jet wanted to feel that again, Rhett's love. So, if she was going to die in front of this monster, then it was going to be fighting to be free from his control forever.

"I didn't start the fucking fight, and I certainly didn't make you rape me you fucker." She said the words and looked him square in the eye.

"LYING BITCH!" Mitchell screamed out the words and then slammed her head into the door behind her.

Jet felt the dull thud resonate through her skull and then everything seemed to slow down. Her eyes couldn't focus and she felt herself falling.

"Look at you just falling into my arms again after all this. I might have to forgive you; well I guess we should see if the sex is still good first though."

She felt arms around her, and she tried to flail. Jet wanted to smack Mitchell away, force him to let her go, but she couldn't. Everything felt heavy and no matter how much she willed herself to move she couldn't seem to. She felt herself being laid down then, although Jet couldn't tell where or on what. It was all so blurry, and her mind couldn't catch up. Then, she realized that all she could see were fuzzy outlines. One was Mitchell, but the rest were indecipherable. Was she in the entry, the kitchen, her bedroom? How much time had passed? Were the police on their way? Jet had a dozen questions running through her mind, but her mind couldn't answer them.

"Get...get away." She said the words softly, even though they were supposed to be a yell.

"Mmmmm...you're pussy looks just as good as it used to. I guess big and tall is tiny where it counts. I'm so happy he didn't stretch you out too much." Mitchell's words came to her, and Jet tried to reason through them. Was she naked? Had he stripped her down? She couldn't tell. Her body felt numb. Again, she tried to make herself move, and this time, she felt her legs shift. It was an improvement, her mind was working again.

"Are you wiggling for me? Such a good girl. Don't worry; I just have to move this gun before I can give you what you want. We wouldn't want an accident would we babe?" His words somehow gave her hope. She didn't want him inside of her again; Jet would do anything to stop that from happening. Of course, that anything was very limited now as she tried to get her limbs to cooperate.

Slowly, she felt herself rise up on her hands and knees just as she wanted to. More was coming back, thank God. Her limbs felt only half connected as she forced them to move, trying to crawl away, even though she wasn't positive where away was right now.

"Careful, you're going to fall off the couch if you keep going." A laugh came from Mitchell's throat and Jet felt like she was going to throw up. She was on her couch, where so many amazing things had happened with Rhett and Mitchell was about to defile it.

"Please...please don't. I don't want..."

"How familiar does that sound? Come on, you missed me after all these years. Admit it."

"No." She said the word and then a strong hand shoved her head down onto a cushion. Her arms gave out as the fabric that she used to love pressed into her face.

She was definitely on her couch, and now she knew she had her ass in the air and Mitchell's hand was pinning her head down. His fingers pressed into her scalp and she felt a shooting pain. The world was suddenly darker, and she swore she heard a cracking noise. Oh God, did he actually crack her skull? Jet felt a sadness slide through her. She was going to die. She was going to die with her pants down being raped by this monster that was cracking through her very skull.

Just as the thought came to her, Mitchell's hand released her head. Jet flopped down on her side, her body couldn't move again as she tried to make sense of what was happening. The image was fuzzy, but she suddenly heard grunting and then as sound started to flow back in she heard two voices.

"YOU FUCKING BASTARD! I'LL KILL YOU!"

"WHY? BECAUSE I WAS GOING TO GIVE HER A REAL DICK AGAIN?" Mitchell's voice had laughter in it that made her shiver. The other voice, though, who was the other voice?

"RHETT? RHETT?' A third voice now joined the mix as it entered the room.

"ILL MAKE SURE YOU NEVER TOUCH HER AGAIN! AH!" Jet heard a thud and then Mitchell's laughter again. It was all so blurry as she tried to focus.

'Gracious! Jet? Are you okay?" Link's voice, that's who it was, Link. A dark haired fuzzy figure came closer to her and Jet shifted backward, afraid it might be Mitchell.

"GET OFF MY FRIEND YOU A-HOLE!" Link's voice changed to a yell as Jet watched the figure move. She heard more scuffling.

"YOU THINK YOU'RE A BIG MAN? GOING TO KILL ME NOW?" Mitchell's voice came again as she started to make out the image of three figures not far from her.

"YOU'RE GODDAMN RIGHT I AM. YOU FUCKING DESTROYED A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN AND YOU DESERVE TO DIE!" Rhett that was the voice. A tall figure suddenly made sense as tanned skin came into view.

She saw the figure go down with a grunt and more scuffling noises as she tried to will herself to sit up. Then, she heard a siren in the distance. The police, thank God the police were here. Jet blinked her eyes a few times, trying to clear them more and then a deafening sound rang out as the smell of burning hit her nostrils. There was a loud clanging then and after just quiet, deathly quiet. Jet wanted to scream, yell out.

"EVERYBODY FREEZE, NO ONE MOVE!" A new voice entered the scene and Jet tried to focus once more. It must be the police, Jet thought, and a relief washed over her. It was over. It was all over.

She wanted to yell out and ask what happened, but as she tried, the world started to get darker once again. Jet felt it all closing in, and then the world went dark completely.

******************************************

The next thing Jet knew, the world was fading back in, and she was in a completely weird place. Her eyes started to focus and she saw everything around her come into view. It was a hospital room. Jet went to move, needing to find out what was going on.

"Hey, hey, slow down. You're okay. Just stay still Jet." Link's voice came through to her and she looked over to see him walking towards her from the side.

"Link?"

"Well, that sounds good. They were wondering if you'd remember anyone with as hard a hit as you took." He grabbed her hand and smiled down at her.

"Link, where am I?"

"You're at the hospital."

"What happened? How long have I been out?" She tried to sit up.

"Nope, none of that. No sitting up for you." Link put a hand on her head. All of his dad qualities came through and Jet relaxed back.

"I'm so confused."

"I guess I would be too. That was quite an ordeal. Where do you want me to start in explaining it to you?" He smiled at her softly.

"Mitchell, oh God Mitchell, where is he?"

"Mitchell's gone sweetheart."

"No, no...he'll come back, he'll find me."

"No, he's gone forever. He died." Relief washed through her. God help her for feeling it, but she did. Jet instantly felt like she was better, even though she was having trouble patching things together.

"How long have I been out?"

"It's the year 2055 and they've perfected reverse aging, so I'm still here and look amazing." Jet gave him a startled look. "Alright, well I guess your sense of humor isn't back yet." He laughed a little. "Don't worry; you were only out for about 10 hours. You didn't miss much."

"She's awake?" Rhett's voice came to her from the doorway and she looked up. She saw familiar green eyes as he came closer to her.

"Yea and she has a bunch of questions. I was just messing with her a little bit."

"Don't be an ass Neal, she's been through enough." Rhett gave his friend a look of death and then handed him a coffee before he looked down at Jet. "Hey Jet, how do you feel?"

"I've been better."

"Yea, me too." She looked at him as he spoke to see that he had a swollen nose and a black eye. Rhett looked like he had been in a fight for sure.

"Are you okay?"

"You're really going to ask me that after what you went through? Baby, I...you have no idea how worried I was about you."

"He's right you know. I've never seen Rhett like that." Link looked at his friend and then looked down at her.

"Tell me what happened. I...I couldn't tell a lot of what was going on." She smiled at the men.

"Well, the cops will want to talk to you about what happened before we got there, so they asked you not go into that. For me, well after you hung up with me, there was no way I was going to sleep. I knew you'd be pissed, but I figured I would pick up Rhett and we'd head over and get you. I didn't want you staying at your house if Mitchell was there." Link started as he pulled up a chair next to her bed.

"After you hung up with me, I called the cops and then Link showed up just as I was about to leave. He told me what happened on his end and I filled him in on mine, and then we hauled ass over to your place. The cops must have had something going on, which figures with the cops around here. I mean I'm still going to kick that detective's ass for lying about patrols, but what do you expect."

"So you came over before them? I thought I heard you." She looked at them both.

"Yea, Rhett damn near jumped out of the car while it was still moving. He knocked on your door and then boom, just busted it down. He was like a superhero over here." Jet moved from watching Link as he spoke to looking at Rhett.

"I heard you inside. I swore I heard you crying. I couldn't wait, but I did use your key. I didn't bust down any doors. Then, when I came into the living room, there you were and that asshole was on top of you, pinning your head down. I just slammed him to the ground. He was such a fucking punk, and after everything...I mean..." Rhett's face turned a little red as he spoke and Jet saw the anger rising in him.

"I checked you while they were fighting and you were out of it girl, but still breathing. Then, I turned around and Rhett had Mitchell at gun point. I thought he was going to kill him, but Mitchell kicked him down and then he was hitting him. I don't know. All I could see was you lying on the couch and Rhett on the ground with Mitchell hitting him in the face. I just...I grabbed the gun and pointed it at him and pulled the trigger." Link swallowed thickly and Jet could see the impact it had on him.

"Oh Link. I'm sorry..." She reached out to his hand and Link looked up at her.

"Well, I'm not. I've been sure of only a handful of things in my life, but that was one of them. I wasn't going to stand by and watch that asshole kill my friends." Link gave her a look of pure resolve.

"Thank you. Thank you both. You saved me." A tear fell down her cheek and Rhett's hand came to her face wiping it away.

"Don't cry baby, please. I never want to see you crying again." He spoke and Rhett's own eyes grew glassy with tears.

"Rhett, I..."

"Ah, there she is." Just then a nurse walked in with a smile on her face. "I'll grab the doctor to come in and check you out, but seeing you open your eyes is sure a good sign." She smiled and walked back out of the room.

"Well, listen, I should head home to Christy and the kids. It's been a long night." Link spoke up and stood. "You call me if you need anything alright, day or night." He spoke and leaned down kissing Jet on the forehead.

"Thank you Link." She looked directly into his eyes and he nodded in response before heading out. When he left, she looked over to her left at Rhett.

"You should go home too. You look tired." She smiled at him and raised a hand to the side of his face.

"No way in hell I'm leaving unless you throw me out." He placed his hand over hers.

"Rhett, I...I love you." He broke as the words came out of her mouth. Tears streamed down his face and he buried his head in her chest, holding her.

"I love you too. I was so worried. I don't know what I'd do without you." He sobbed against her.

"I take it that means you're feeling better if you're comforting everyone else." A female voice rang out and she looked up to see a woman in a white coat with a stethoscope around her neck approaching.

"Oh sorry, doc." Rhett pulled himself up, wiping over his face.

"Perfectly fine, although I hope you aren't working her up too much."

"I..."

"He's fine. We've just had a rough week doctor."

"Ah, well, if you are awake, I would like to observe you for a few more hours and then we can let you go. You got a pretty nasty concussion, although thankfully, any cranial fractures appear to be mild and you should be fine. Of course, I'll only let you go if you have someone to stay with you. You'll need to be checked on regularly to make sure you are okay." The doctor spoke and Jet nodded her head. There was just the one question she still had.

"Doctor, was I...I mean I don't remember, but was I raped?" A tear came to her eye and Rhett looked at her with concern all of his features.

"No, there were no signs of that. I think Rhett here and his friend showed up just in time. Although, a concussion is no laughing matter, especially one as serious as yours. Now, do you have someone to look after you for a few days?"

"I don't know...I..."

"She does. She's coming home with me, and I'll watch her." Rhett spoke up and all Jet could do was look at him as he did.

"Good. Well, I'll leave you two alone, but I'll be in to check on you in a few hours and to give you discharge instructions." With those words, the doctor left the room and she was alone with Rhett once more.

"Rhett, you don't have to, and I mean I'm not sure if ..."

"Look, I have a spare room, so we don't have to talk about anything else. I just need to make sure you are okay. That means you're coming home with me and after you're cleared to be alone you can go wherever you like. Please Jet? Please." His look made her heart stop and all she could do is stare at him and nod.