“You have no idea what you put me through,” the angry voice rang through from the living room. Viktor didn’t want to barge in there like this. He had to get a look at what was going on so that he could interfere without putting Jane in danger. “You were the reason I had to be in jail until now. Because you couldn’t keep your mouth shut. You deserved everything I did to you.”
Viktor edged closer. When he peeked into the living room, his eyes widened in shock. Jane was sitting on a chair, hands and feet were tied to the chair so that she couldn’t move. Blood was dripping from her swollen bottom lip. There were small cuts in her left upper arm. He’d probably cut her with the knife he was holding in his hands.
Viktor quickly grabbed his phone and send a text to Patrick, telling him too call the police and an ambulance. He turned around to Jane again. There were no other visible injuries, but he somehow doubted that this was all. Her father had probably hit her a couple more times. Viktor had to do something.
Suddenly Jane saw him. Her eyes widened slightly, but she tried not to let it show. She had to distract her father, so that he wouldn’t see Viktor. She looked up at her father and said: “It was your own fault. I was just a kid, there was no reason to treat me like that. You got what you deserved.”
Her words were a bit slurred because of the swollen lip, but it didn’t matter. Now that Viktor was here, she had at least a little hope, and wasn’t so afraid anymore. When her father had stood behind her in her apartment, she’d nearly tumbled to the floor. She hadn’t wanted to show too much fear to him, but it had been hard. Until then she’d still had hope that he wouldn’t find her or just give up on her. And here she was, tied up to a chair, her whole body throbbing from the punches he’d delivered to her.
She was pretty sure that one of her ribs was broken. There had been a crack as well as a searing pain. It was hard for her to breathe deeply. Apart from that she couldn’t determine anything. Her lip was swollen and she’d tasted blood.
“You little bitch,” her father hissed and took a step closer to her. He pulled her hair back, so that she had to look up at him. “You deserved every punishment. Every last one.” He let go of her hair again and stroked her cheek.
“I did not. I was just trying to live. I was a kid. Of course there had to be rules, but your rules were ridiculous.”
“You needed those rules,” he smirked at her. “It felt so good to hit you, to know that there was nothing you could do against it.”
“I was your daughter. You should have protected me from people like you!”
“You ARE my daughter.”
“No. I don’t want to be associated with you anymore. Someone like you doesn’t qualify as father-material.”
His face was getting red from anger. He leaned forward and slapped her across the face. Her head lolled to the side and she felt disoriented for a moment.
Then she heard a loud thud and her father tumbled to the ground, his eyes rolling back. Behind him Viktor appeared in her line of vision, holding the baseball bat, she’d had next to her door, breathing heavily. His eyes were wide open and he stared at her father on the ground, before he lifted his head to look at her.
Jane could feel the tears falling down her cheeks, wetting her jeans. Relief flooded her whole body. At once she was aware that she was safe, that she didn’t have to put up an act of bravery anymore.
“What happened here?” She snapped her head up and saw Patrick standing in the door. He looked so shocked that she wanted to tell him that everything would be okay, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it.
“Did you call the police?” Viktor asked as soon as he’d recovered from the shock.
“Yes, they’re on their way.” When Patrick got a good look at Jane, his heart broke. Both men hadn’t been able to protect her from her father. At least Viktor had knocked him out. “And the ambulance as well.”
“Can you tie him up?” Viktor asked. As soon as Patrick nodded, Viktor grabbed the knife that was lying next to the unconscious man. With it he cut off Jane’s ties, first her feet, then her hands. She managed a weak smile, before he engulfed her in his arms and held her close to his body.
“Thank you, Viktor,” Jane said next to his ear, burying her face in the crook of his neck. She was exhausted, but wanted him to hear at least that.
Patrick sprang to action and grabbed the scarfs Jane’s father had used to tie her to the chair. He had to bind two together, because Viktor had cut them apart, but he somehow managed to tie Jane’s father’s hands together behind his back. He sat him upright with his back leaning against the sofa, watching him closely. Should he wake up, Patrick would make sure that he wouldn’t get anywhere.
Of course he wanted to comfort Jane, see that she was alright, but he couldn’t. Someone had to keep an eye on her father and Viktor was taking good care of her. Once the police arrived, he could look after Jane.
“I’m just glad you’re okay,” Viktor whispered to her, stroking her hair. He’d sat down on the loveseat, holding her in his arms. “You got me really scared. When I called Patrick and he said he hadn’t heard from you, I freaked out. I knew something was wrong.” He kissed the top of her head. “Don’t think I’ll let you out of sight now. I love you too much for that. I don’t want to be scared like that again, do you hear me? I won’t leave you alone.”
Viktor waited for a response from her, but there wasn’t one. He said her name again and looked at her face. She was unconscious.
“Jane! Stay with me!” he said louder, repeating her name over and over again. She didn’t regain consciousness. Patrick looked up at him, panic in his eyes. They didn’t know what else to do, but luckily the police as well as the ambulance arrived.
It was clear that they had to take Jane to the hospital as quickly as possible.
“I’m coming with you,” Viktor declared, shaking a little.
“Are you family?”
“No, but-“
“Then we can’t-“
“Don’t you dare cut me off in mid-sentence. Trust me, you don’t want to argue with me. Take me with you.”
He must have made quite an impact on them, because they didn’t say one more word. Viktor watched them quietly in the back of the ambulance. They didn’t talk to him while they were examining Jane as good as they could. He only heard the words “broken rib and that she was in shock.
Once at the hospital they rushed her inside. Viktor could come with them to a certain point, but there he had to wait. They’d let him know as soon as they had some results. Viktor wasn’t good at waiting. Not at all, so he started pacing the corridors. He didn’t know how much time had passed, when Patrick came running towards him. He’d stayed back at the apartment to tell the story to the police. They’d have to question him, Viktor and Jane later on again, but for now he was free to go.
“What happened to her?” Patrick asked immediately.
“They’re still examining her. In the car they talked about a broken rib. I don’t know.” Never in his life had Viktor felt so helpless. Not even after his accident.