Alexander released his grip shoving Jessica’s wrist away.
The older woman stumbled back a step nursing her arm her face a mix of lingering fury and deep confusion.
"Safe?" asked Jessica, her voice dripping with venom as she glared between them "Safe from what?"
Ashley swallowed hard her whole body trembling under her mother’s intense gaze.
"Mom... I... I skipped school and went to The Iron Hide" stamred Ashley, the truth spilling out of her in a panicked rush "The bartender... he drugged my drink, they dragged into the backroom, they tore my clothes off, and they were going to... he was going to violate , Alex broke the door down and pulled out before it was too late"
For a fraction of a second the room went dead silent.
Then Jessica’s face twisted into an even uglier mask of raw rage.
Instead of comfort she lunged forward and delivered a stinging slap right across Ashley’s bruised cheek.
SMACK.
"You went back there?!" roared Jessica, her voice reaching a hysterical shriek as Ashley stumbled backward, clutching her face "Are you completely stupid?! Don’t you know those animals just want to fuck you?! Do you think a few miserable coins are worth it?! This is all your brother Marcus’s fault! Ever since he stuck his dick in you, you’ve been thinking with nothing but your cunt!"
Ashley’s eyes went wide with pure horror her face draining of all color at the sudden monstrous accusation.
"Is this why you insisted on staying with ?!" scread Jessica, her breathing becoming dangerously shallow, her chest heaving as she completely lost control "I barely survived cancer just to watch you end up as a whore on so street corner, or dead in a ditch?! For this, I would have preferred to just—"
Before she could finish her sentence Jessica’s eyes rolled back into her head.
Her jaw went slack and her entire body went completely limp collapsing toward the hard linoleum floor.
Alexander lunged forward with explosive speed.
He caught her mid-air before her head could hit the ground sweeping his arm under her torso and lowering her gently onto the worn carpet.
He imdiately pressed his fingers against the side of her neck checking her vitals.
Her skin was clammy and cold.
Her pulse was thready and weak vibrating unevenly beneath his fingertips.
"She’s unconscious" stated Alexander, his voice dropping into a focused, clinical calm as he looked up at the frozen, sobbing girl "Her heart is under too much stress, and her pulse is dropping fast"
Ashley dropped to her knees beside her mother her hands hovering frantically over Jessica’s limp body as fresh tears stread down her face.
The shock of her mother’s horrific accusation was instantly swallowed by the terror of losing her.
"Mom! Mom, wake up!" scread Ashley, her voice cracking as she shook Jessica’s shoulder "Alex, please, is she going to die?! What do we do?!"
"We need to get her professional help" stated Alexander, keeping his hand on Jessica’s weak pulse "Do you want to carry her to my car and take her to the hospital?"
"The hospital?!" cried Ashley, her eyes widening in pure panic as she looked around the decaying living room "No, no, we can’t! We don’t have any money for that! We don’t have health insurance, Alex! They won’t even look at her, and we can’t afford the bill!"
"I can lend you the money" offered Alexander, his tone steady and completely indifferent to the cost "We can worry about the details later"
"No, I can’t take that from you! You already saved my life today, I can’t abuse your kindness like that!" wept Ashley, her mind racing in a million directions.
Suddenly she froze.
Her green eyes widened as a mory flashed through her panic.
Marcus’s voice echoed in her head from months ago right before he completely vanished from their lives.
"If there is ever a real ergency, Ashley, use this, don’t look for , just use it"
She had buried that mory deep actively trying to forget it because she hated her brother and wanted absolutely nothing to do with him or his dirty money.
But looking at her mother’s pale unmoving face she realized she didn’t have a choice.
This was life or death.
"Wait! Hold her! I’ll be right back!" yelled Ashley
She scrambled to her feet and sprinted down the narrow hallway into her small bedroom.
She lunged across the unmade mattress grabbing the edge of the wooden bed fra and lifting it with a desperate surge of strength.
Hidden underneath the floorboards was a small dusty tal box.
With trembling fingers she snapped the latch open and pulled out a thick heavy manila envelope.
She tore it open right there and her breath hitched.
Stuffed inside were neat banded stacks of hundred-dollar bills—exactly ten thousand dollars in cash.
Ashley clutched the envelope to her chest ran back into the living room and collapsed onto the floor next to Alexander showing him the money.
"Let’s go to the hospital, Alex!" cried Ashley, her voice shaking with a mix of guilt and frantic hope as she held out the cash "I have money! I can pay for it! Please, let’s just save my mom!"
"Of course" stated Alexander, imdiately sliding his arms under Jessica’s limp torso and knees "Let’s not waste any more ti"
He lifted the unconscious woman effortlessly his grip firm as he turned toward the front exit.
Ashley scrambled to her feet clutching the thick envelope of cash tightly against her ribs as she sprinted ahead to open the heavy tal security door.
They burst out onto the front porch drawing a few curious glances from neighbors down the block but Alexander ignored them entirely.
He marched down the dirt path and loaded Jessica carefully into the spacious backseat of his rcedes.
Ashley dove into the passenger side her knuckles white as she buckled her seatbelt.
Alexander jumped behind the wheel twisted the key and the engine roared.
He slamd the car into drive mashed his foot down on the accelerator and the luxury sedan peeled away from the curb shooting down the decaying streets of the slums at breakneck speed toward the nearest hospital.
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