Broken

Chapter Forty: Renee-Leah

"Beverly!" I screamed. My lord, he was almost dead. That Johnny Carter! I hated him for hurting my Beverly. I was so mad. I could... I could... Gosh, I could slap him right across the cheek! And Daddy would have to deal with it. No one messes with my Bev. No one.

"Honey, I need to know if you are still with us. How many fingers am I holding?" I put my fingers right in front of his face.

"Ren, they're too blurry." He barely mumbled. If I wasn't wrapped around him so tightly I would've claimed him dead.

I let out a breath of relief. "I was so scared!" I tapped him on his forehead. "Never scare me like that again or else you will be fired before my Daddy shows up with another half sibling!"

Bev smiled through a series of coughs which is what I think was suppose to be a laugh. "That's my girl." He reached up a shaky hand to stroke my face.

"Why are you stroking my face?" Tears began to well up. "Johnny said this isn't a movie."

"I never said it was either."

"Stop that!" I lightly slapped his hand away. "Honey, this is depressing."

"Not my fault."

"It is! You followed me here and if you weren't such a stupid shuck then you wouldn't be bleeding all over my dress!"

"You're worried about your dress more than me?"

"No!" I sighed. "I'm just... I'm just trying to get you to smile for me. I like it when you smile, Bev." I kissed his cheek. He winced.

"What do you need me to do? I can't take you to the hospital, honey, they won't accept you even if I paid them a million dollars."

"Can you sneak me into one of your guest rooms?"

"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?" I screamed. "Oh." I looked around to make sure no one heard me, even though I'm sure they probably did.

"Ren it's not that big of a deal. Just pay someone to carry me in through the back or something and then sneak me upstairs. Easy."

"Do you know what my Daddy will do to the both of us if he sees you?"

"Isn't he out of town?"

"Bev." I glared at him. I couldn't believe even with his life on the line he could still be this stupid. Actually, he's putting himself in more danger! "I can't let you come over."

"Actually you can. You're just a wimp."

I clutched my chest in mock horror. "How dare you talk to a lady like that!"

"I wasn't talking to a lady. I was talking to a wimp!" Beverly smiled at me and I immediately wanted to make him happy. He'd been begging to come to the famous White Estate for months and I always said no. I didn't know how much time we had left together before Beverly really got in trouble and I would never be able to see him again.

"Alright, honey. Anything for you." I dragged him out of the front lawn and into the bushes so he wouldn't be seen from any cars. The last thing I needed was for someone to hurt him even more. Maybe even kill him. "I'll be right back. Don't go anywhere."

"And I was over here thinking about getting some ice cream for a second."

I laughed and borrowed the Carter's phone. I called my most trusted assistant, James Court, and he immediately sent a small team to fetch us. On the way back home I insisted on getting my Beverly a chocolate ice cream cup. It's his favorite, after all.

We arrived at the White House (haha, I made a pun!) with Beverly barely responding to me anymore. Occasionally he would look up and smile but other than that he was drifting away.