Without realizing it, Eric's arm instinctively tightens in protection around Stacy. He did feel rotten - for everything. She really was scared and upset with this whole Rich thing, and rightly so. Eric had just made it worse on her, and he truly was sorry.
"There's no way on earth you could ever lose Ashlee to that man," Eric states flatly, though his voice remains gentle. "Nine times out of then the mom gets kids in court cases, and in this situation, he ain't got a leg to stand on. He abandoned you, he hasn't supported you, and Ashlee is old enough now to influence any decisions. There is absolutely no way Rich could ever take Ashlee from you, legally..." He grits his teeth. "...or otherwise."
Shifting to the side a little to see Stacy's eyes as she looks back over his shoulder, his own eyes rest on hers. She'd... thought she lost him? That meant... she really cared about their friendship. As she once again makes up for her original angry words, Eric can feel a little heat rise to his face. He wasn't anything special and he knew it. But her words were nice anyway, and they sent a strange warmth deep down into his veins. Stacy... for some reason... accepted him.
Seeing her tear, his eyes grow even softer. "Hey," he almost whispers. "It's okay." Reaching up, he brushes her tear away with his thumb, leaving his palm to rest on her cheek. His rough skin was a contrast to her smooth, soft face. "You didn't lose me..." That same bolt of electricity shoots down his spine. His own words sounded like they held a whole lot more than just a casual acquaintance.
He searches her eyes more. "Everything will be fine. I promise."
Tal groans in frustration after one more search of his
apartment. He must have left his wallet in his locker at work. There was
no other explanation. He wouldn't have even noticed if he hadn't wanted
to check and see if he had any cash for lunch the next day. Now it was
already eleven o'clock and he really just wanted to go to bed. It was
kind of early, but the last couple days of work had really worn him out,
whether he'd wanted to admit it or not. Maybe Eli was right - maybe he
had gone back to work too early. But at least he'd be able to pay his
bills now, and at least he'd still had another evening with Ryan, even
if he'd cut it a little short.
Now though, it looked
like he was going to have to go back to the shop. Sighing, he finds his
shoes, tells Holly to keep an eye on things, and heads out to his car.
It
doesn't take long to arrive at work. Everything was dark and locked up.
He only had a key to the back door though, so he winds up parking in
the street and walking through the alley to the back of the building.
Once inside, he flips on the lights and goes straight to his locker.
Yep. There was his wallet. He must have forgotten to put it back in his
pocket when leaving work.
Rolling his eyes, he now
returns it to his pocket and closes the padlock on his locker. He could
have waited until morning, but he wasn't coming in to work tomorrow - he
had an appointment with Rick at TJY for follow-up and to see if he
could get his stitches taken out. Rather than trying to work in a
half-day, he'd opted just to take a full sick day... and go out to lunch
with Ryan.
Whistling to himself, he hits the lights
and heads back out of the shop. Stepping into the dark alley, he turns
to lock up again.
"You made this way too easy."
The
deep voice makes Tal jump and he spins around to see no one. It was too
dark. There were too many shadows back here. "Who's there?" he demands.
"Oh, you don't know me. But I know you. And I'm here to do a job."
A chill runs down Tal's spine. "What job? What do you want?"
"I
think you'll figure it out." Finally the man steps closer, emerging
from the shadows to reveal how tall and broad he was. His face was
covered in a ski mask, and in his hand was a short piece of metal pipe.
Adrenaline
surges through Tal's veins as options race through his mind. He had to
act and he had to act fast. Spinning back around, he puts his key back
in the door, attempting to get back inside and lock himself in before
calling the police. But he's not fast enough.
Shoved
away from the door, he stumbles to the side, catching himself on the
brick wall. Squinting up at his adversary, fear runs rampant through his
mind. This couldn't be happening. Not again. Last time was not a
pleasant experience and he knew he couldn't defend himself - let alone
against someone like this.
Looking over his shoulder,
he's reminded that this alley was a dead end. The only open route was
back to the street where he'd parked. Making a run for it, his attempt
is useless. The swinging pipe meets his gut, bringing him to a sudden
halt and directly to his hands and knees. Gasping for breath, he tries
to figure out what was happening. "I don't know what you want," he
gasps. "If it's money, I've only got five bucks."
The
other man laughs. "I'm getting paid for this. I don't need your cash."
Squatting down in front of Tal, his teeth glimmer through a sinister
smile. "Alec told you to stay away from Ryan. You didn't listen to him,
did you?"
Alec? Alec again?! Tal could hardly believe
it. Seriously? Alec was that obsessed to continue an attack? Even to the
point of sending in a ruthless thug? Tal, still on his hands and knees,
raises his head. "No... I didn't. So next time you see him, give him
this." Glaring, he spits in anger.
As soon as he had,
though, the same sturdy pipe strikes his face with such force that he's
thrown backward several feet. Pain like no other shoots through his face
and jaw. It was so severe that Tal thought he was going to pass out
right there. The taste of blood fills his mouth but he's not sure if
it's from a wound on his face or if he'd bit his tongue when hit.
Dazed,
instinct causes him to try and pick himself up, but another slam to the
base of his neck sends him right back to the hard ground. His palms
sting as they scrape broken glass and stones and he cries out in pain.
"Stop," he begs. "Please..."
A laugh echos through the
alley. "I wasn't hired to give you a couple love pats. Now come on," the
man taunts. "Is that all you got?"
Tal claws at the
wall in an attempt to stand, but as soon as he had, there was another
swift blow to the back of his knee. Crumbling once more, he lies in the
damp filth of the ground, praying that this was it. Praying that it was
over.
"Come on, weakling! Get up!"
Tal
suddenly realizes that his cell phone had fallen from his pocket and
was lying only feet away. If he could just reach it and dial quickly...
As his fingers slide towards his phone, his hand is slammed upon with
force. It was a new weapon. A brick. And feeling bones in his hand snap,
Tal screams.
But no one would hear. It was too late.
Too dark. Too secluded. No one would witness the brutality that
continued after that. No one would see the vicious beating that ensued.
And when the attacker was finally gone, all that was left was a still figure lying limp in the alley...
..."Hey, where's Tal?"
Sandy
looks up from her desk and gives Eli a blank stare. It was just after
eight o'clock and Eli had arrived not ten minutes ago, but not anybody
else. "Tal? He took a sick day, remember?"
"Well yeah, but..." Eli thumbs outside. "His car is parked out on the street."
Sandy
shrugs. "How should I know why that is? He's not here. I opened
everything up myself this morning and I certainly didn't see him and he
hasn't clocked in."
Eli furrows his brow. Why would
Tal's car be here then? It was awfully strange. "Weird." He shakes his
head and goes back into the shop, trying to figure it out. Though he
tries to start work, the questions nag at his mind. Something just
didn't seem right. Tal was supposed to be at TJY this morning. Why would
he have come here? Had he gotten a ride? But why from here? And how
long had the car been parked there?
Sighing with
frustration, Eli finally takes a break and calls Tal's cell phone only
to reach his voice mail immediately. If Tal's phone were on, it should
have rung more times than that. Eli's curiosity slowly evolves into
concern. What was going on?
Giving up work for now, he
goes outside to take a closer look at Tal's car. Everything seemed fine.
No flat tires... nothing out of place. So why...?
Frustrated,
Eli turns back to the shop, but stops as his eyes glance past the back
alley. What was that? A garbage bag? He rolls his eyes. Had someone from
the shop gotten lazy and thrown a bag of garbage out the back door
instead of walking it to the dumpster? He sighs. He might as well take
care of it.
As he walks down the alley though, it only
takes a few steps to realize that it was not a bag of garbage. It was a
person. A person in an unmoving heap on the ground.
Quickening his pace, Eli gets there fast, only to have his heart leap into his throat. "Tal? Oh, no.... no... Tal?"
Kneeling
quickly, he carefully rolls his friend over but recoils at the sight.
Cuts and bruises couldn't amply describe what he saw. Tal's clothes were
soaked with both blood and dirty water from the alley, his face barely
recognizable through the bruises, bloody gashes and swelling. What had
happened last time was nothing compared to this, and fear gripped Eli's
soul.
"Tal? God, please let him be alive," he begs.
Bending closer, he listens for breathing while his fingers check for a
pulse. There... it was there, though very weak.
Straightening,
Eli suddenly sees a severe wound in the side of Tal's head that was
still bleeding - it had already created a puddle of blood, proving just
how long he'd been lying here. Eli immediately knew that time was of the
essence, and that every ounce of blood lost could be the difference
between life and death at this point.
Pressing his hand to the deep gash, he retrieves his phone with the other and dials 911...
"Ryan?"
Leo comes back into the auto shop from the customer area. He'd been
dealing with a customer and had just happened to answer the phone when
it rang. Now his face was tight with concern.
Approaching
Ryan at the tool bench, he quickly pulls her aside. "Eli just called.
He knew you'd be working and probably wouldn't answer your phone." Leo
bites his lip. "It's Tal. He's been hurt. Eli said to meet him at the
hospital - that's all I know."
Eli paces the waiting room beside the ER, feeling like a caged animal.
"Sir... do you want to take a seat?" a nurse encourages, trying to steer him to a chair.
Eli rips his arm from her hand and whips around to glare at her. "Just back off, will ya?" he snaps. "I'll pace if I want to."
The nurse immediately backs up a step, her eyes wide. Instead of arguing though, she just lets him be.
Growling,
Eli unzips his leather jacket and pulls his bandanna off his head. As
he does, he glances down and his stomach churns. Blood had stained his
hands and his shirt. Tal's blood. His best friend's blood. His best
friend was in the ER right now, surrounded by doctors and nurses. Eli
had seen the looks on the faces of the medics who had arrived on the
scene - he knew without asking that Tal was in trouble.
Leaning
an arm against the wall, Eli tries to maintain his composure. Who had
done this? Or should he even wonder? Was it just a horrible coincidence
that Tal had been beaten up a second time? Or had Alec been true to his
word? Eli remembers talking to Tal about it over their break just the
day before...
"So apparently you and Ryan aren't going to listen to Alec."
"You
kidding me?" Tal takes a swig of water and rolls his eyes at Eli while
they sat in the break room. "He's just full of hot air. So he got me
once. Big deal. I'm fine, we're all fine, everything's fine. He's just a
bully and bullies never stick to their word."
Eli smirks. "I guess you're right. Ryan agree?"
"Well
she certainly doesn't want to bend to his stupid demands any more than I
do. Alec's acting like a spoiled brat. If Ryan bent to that, I'd be
mighty surprised."
Eli closes his eyes,
trying to control his temper. What if they'd taken Alec more seriously?
What if they'd paid more attention and not let things go so quickly?
What if Eli and Ryan had pressed the issue at TJY? Could this have been
avoided? If the answer was yes, it made him feel even more sick. Without
proof, he knew in his heart of hearts that this was Alec's doing.
Pushing off the wall, he resumes pacing, waiting for Ryan to arrive.
