So sorry for the cliff hanger last chapter! I won't keep you long, just wanted to say thanks for reading and reviewing!

Words: 1,554

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Two bodies fall to the ground, hitting the pavement below them roughly.

Pain flares throughout Ryder's entire body but the woman pulls herself into a sitting position and reaches for her gun. Her chest heaves, her breaths coming out in short pants. Her eyes never stray from Mark. The man himself lies on his back, groaning in pain but otherwise, he doesn't move.

"Holy shit," The new voice snaps Ryder back to herself. The ringing in her ears disappears instantly and she can hear the things around her. Footsteps, the buzzing of the nearby street lights. The pained noises from Mark. "Lady, are you okay?"

"Call the police," Ryder mumbles, her voice coming out quiet and weak. She never takes her eyes off Mark.

"Already done," Another voice speaks up. "Dude, this is crazy. She shot him!"

"The asshole went psycho, man, she was obviously defending herself. Shut up. Watch him." The first guy, boy?, speaks up again and he crouches in front of Ryder, blocking her view of Mark. "Okay, I'm gonna.." He trails off, voice hesitant. "Take that." Reaching forward, he gently takes the gun from Ryder and sets it on the ground beside them.

Sirens reach their ears soon enough. The kid, Nathan, helps Ryder to the hood of her car. A place for her to sit that's not on the ground and away from the glass. His friend keeps an eye on Mark.

"Oh, shit, you're pregnant," The boy notices after a moment, the street lamp above them shining previous absent light onto Ryder. "And you're bleeding."

"I'm okay," Ryder whispers, unsure of her own words. She lifts the hand not resting on her stomach to her face, wincing when she presses on her cheek. Her fingers come back bloody.

Flashing lights appear then but the sirens have gone quiet. More footsteps and voices sound but Ryder doesn't move. "Hey, he's fine," Nathan moves just a few feet away to speak to the police and EMT's. "Well, he's not, he got shot but she's pregnant." He motions towards Ryder and one of the EMT's moves towards her while her partner goes to Mark.

"Ma'am, hey there, can you tell me how far along you are?"

"Seventeen weeks," Ryder mumbles before clearing her throat. The action sends a shot of pain through her face but she ignores it. "I'm fine. Just, I need to know my baby is okay."

"Okay, can you stand?" The EMT asks and places a hand on Ryder's arm. The younger woman nods and gets to her feet, letting herself be led to the ambulance.

"I need to call my fiancé." Ryder says as she sits on the gurney.

"You can do that, on the way to the hospital." The lady EMT tells her while continuing to check her over. "How's your guy?" She asks her partner when the man appears by the back doors.

"Stable, he can wait for the next bus. We're taking this one." Closing the doors, the man runs around and jumps into the driver seat before starting towards the hospital.

With shaky hands, Ryder pulls out her phone.

********

Rushing through the hospital's doors, a young man runs up to the front desk, bracing his hands on the edge to stop himself. "Ryder Mathews, where is she?" He demands, taking a deep breath and telling the lady that, yes, he is family before he's given the right room number.

Heart beating wildly in his chest, he pushes the door open, his breath escaping his lungs as if someone punched it out of him. "Ry,"

"I shot him," Those aren't the words she meant to say. Honestly, she just wishes she could forget this whole night happened. But she needs to tell someone. "I just, I shot him."

"I know, I know," Tommy moves forward, his hands hovering over Ryder's face, scared to hurt her. The bruises from where Mark smashes her face into the car are deep blue and purple. The cuts have stopped bleeding, now held together by butterfly bandages. "It's okay, you're okay. You're okay, right?"

"I'm fine," Ryder nods, voice flat. "They said the baby is fine. She's fine."

Sighing heavily, Thomas nearly falls over in relief. "You gotta stop doing this to me, sis, I can't take it. I'll have a heart attack before I'm thirty."

"I'm sorry," Ryder whispers, her eyes still floating around his face but not meeting his eyes.

"No, no, it's not your fault," Tommy assures her. "Okay? You did everything right. You defended yourself and your kid. You're still in shock."

"I-I need you to call Spencer," Ryder says, forcing a deep breath into her lungs. "I couldn't do it. I need him here."

"Okay, okay," Tommy nods, one hand resting on Ryder's shoulder, the other pulling out his phone. "He'll be here soon, I promise."

After calling Spencer, Tommy sits on the hospital bed next to Ryder. That's the second time he's had to make that phone call. At this point, it's a race to see who has a heart attack first. Him or Spencer.

Turns out the team was already on their way back. The case went by quickly, Spencer had wanted to surprise Ryder by coming home so soon.

Tommy can tell when the shock starts to wear off. He can feel Ryder, whos tucked against his side, shaking.

The next time the door opens, Ryder flinches but relaxes quickly. Tears spring to her eyes when she sees Spencer. The man himself rushes around to the other side of the bed. He hesitates, eyes taking in the injuries he can see before he gently wraps his arms around her.

"We're okay," Ryder whispers, her voice cracking. She feels Tommy rubbing her back while he moves off the bed and a few tears escape her eyes.

Catching Spencer's eye, Thomas points over his shoulder towards the door and he slowly backs up. He doesn't want to let his sister out of his sight but he knows he needs to give them both a minute.

The door closes behind Tom and he leans against the wall in the hallway. He clenches his jaw and runs a hand through his hair, breathing deeply through his nose and out through his mouth.

"Hey, man," The new voice has Tommy's head snapping up. He sighs when he sees Morgan and he pushes off the wall. "How is she?"

"It's mostly just cuts and bruises," He answers, motioning to his face weakly before shrugging. He's really holding himself back here. The man who hurt his kid sister is in the same building. It's taking everything in him not to track him down and do things that definitely are not legal. "They're keeping her for the night but she'll be okay," Physically. "Just shaken up. Spencer's with her now."

"Good," Derek nods with a glance towards Ryder's room before he turns back to Tom. "I know telling you not to worry isn't going to matter. But don't, we're handling everything. This guy is going away. He'll never get near her again."

Tommy nods with another deep breath. "Don't suppose I could get five minutes alone with him?"

"I don't think that would end well."

"Not for him," Tommy says, voice stern but his face drops. "Sorry, man, I'm just..."

"I get it," Morgan claps a hand onto Thomas's shoulder and nods. "I do."

Rushed footsteps sound down the hall. The two men look up to see Natalie and Steve moving towards them. "Is she-?" Nat starts and Tommy nods.

"She's okay, you can go in." Natalie nods and enters the darkened room, the door closing behind her. Turning away, Thomas looks towards his sister's best friend, his eyebrows furrowing. "Steve?"

"I was supposed to go with her," He says quickly, nearly cutting the other man off. He runs his fingers through his hair and releases a shaky breath, eyes glassy. "I was supposed to be there, if I was there..."

"This is not on you," Tommy steps forward and grabs Steve's shoulders but the younger man shakes his head. "It's not, okay?"

"If you were there, he would've come after her another time. He would've found a way and it might not have turned out the way it did."

"Look, she's fine," Thomas adds onto Morgan's words. "You need to see her, come on." Grabbing Steve's arm, Tom guides the man into Ryder's room. "Hey, guys, one more visitor okay?"

Sniffing, Ryder wipes her face and nods. "Yeah."

Nat moves to the side a little, allowing Steve the room to stand by Ryder. "I am so sorry," He whispers, voice breaking when he sees the bruises lining her face, but Ryder shakes her head and grabs his hand.

"Don't even start," She tells him. "It's not your fault."

"Okay," Steve only agrees because he doesn't want to argue right now. Ryder looks exhausted. "I love you, you know? Get some rest."

"Okay," Ryder nods and tries for a smile. "Love you back."

"Call us if you need anything," Nat steps forward and gives Ryder a soft hug.

"Thanks guys." After her friends leave, Ryder pulls Spencer onto the bed with her and curls up into his side. He wraps his arms around her, one hand rubbing up and down her arm. Ryder closes her eyes but doesn't sleep.

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Of course I wasn't going to kill Ryder...not this time. Cough! Okay, anyway, yeah. She's okay and so is the baby...well...um, I'm not gonna say anything else about that.

Also, let's say Ryder grabbed her bag before getting into the ambulance and that's where her phone was because it totally would've fallen out of her pocket.

But, yeah...Steve blames himself. Spencer and Tommy are going to have heart attacks and Ryder just feels like crap. No ones having a good time.

But there's good things coming up! Only with those good things...maybe some not so good things?

Welp, until next time!

'-'