Extinguished

~19~ Broken

Ellie's POV

Why are Jake and Liam together right now? Jake never comes around. Ever. The fact that he's got his hands on my son immediately infuriates me.

I stand up quickly and start walking towards them. I hear the legs scratch against the linoleum, so I know that Taylor is out of his seat and following behind me too.

"What's going on?" I ask as I look into Liam's terrified expression.

"Your little delinquent just vandalized my fitness center."

"What?!"

Liam does stupid things sometimes, but even he isn't that stupid.

"I didn't do it mom, I promise," Liam says with tears streaming down his face. I immediately believe him.

Jake grabs him even rougher, as he starts shaking him like a rag doll. "Where's the bathroom? He and I are gonna have a little chat."

I step in front of them immediately.

"Let him go, Jake," I say, starting to shake with anger.

I feel Taylor move forward, about to intervene. I put my hand on his chest, stopping him. That will only make things worse right now.

"You're kidding, right? I know you suck at everything, but I thought you at least had enough sense to keep your kid in line."

"Let him go," I say again. Calmer. My brother's mean. If he leaves with Liam, it won't be a punishment—It'll be bad. I refuse to let that happen.

"Get out of my way, Eleanor," he says as he starts to move forward.

Before I can think about what I'm doing, I clench my fist tight, and pull my arm back. I swing with every ounce of strength that I have as my knuckles connect with Jake's nose.

The crunch on both the giving and receiving end lets me know immediately that I not only broke his nose, but also my hand.

I don't let the pain stop me, though. I use the moment that he lets go of Liam to push Liam out of the line of fire. Megan grabs him and shuffles him behind Diego and Mack, as Greene and Taylor get in front of me. They are waiting for Jake to retaliate.

I'm so mad though, I push through them and go over to Jake, who's still doubled over and holding his nose. Blood is gushing from his hands.

"YOU JUST BROKE MY NOSE YOU B****," he screams as he tries to get the blood to stop.

"Yeah I did. Pretty badly from the looks of it. But that's NOTHING compared to what I'll do to you if you EVER touch my son again," I say as I shove him and get in his face.

I've been afraid of him my whole life...But not today—Not when my kid is being threatened.

Jake stands up and glares at me, blood still running down his face. "What're you gonna do
about the damages he and his friends made?" He asks, a little calmer than before.

"YOU HAVE YET TO EVEN TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED!" I scream.

He stands there a little shocked. Usually he does the screaming, and I just take it.

"They broke in early this morning, and started messing around on the equipment. Then one of them decided it would be fun to throw a weight into the full-sized wall mirror I just had installed a month ago. They broke several machines too. There's thousands of dollars' worth of damages."

I can tell that he's devastated. That fitness center is the only thing he has.

I turn until I can see Liam, still standing behind Mack and Diego.

"Is this true?" I ask him. I thought for sure he was telling me the truth earlier.

"I helped them sneak in, but I didn't damage anything. I promise," he says, desperately.

"You still committed breaking and entering, though?" I ask, starting to cross my arms. Then I remembered I just broke my hand and decided against it.

"Yeah, I guess so," he says, giving up and slumping his shoulders.

"I'm sorry, Jake. I'll take care of it. Just send me the bill."

I'm never going to be able to pay for this.

Jake's face softens just a touch, and he nods his head once as he turns to leave.

"Do you want me to set your nose before you leave?" I ask. Such a funny thing to ask somebody...So casually.

He stops walking and turns back to me. "Better than spending all damn day in the ER I guess."

I motion for him to sit down in the chair, and Megan goes to get a couple of things for me.

I start pressing lightly, feeling the bones, and he flinches slightly.

"Where'd you learn to throw a hook like that?" He asks, sounding impressed.

"From you," I say simply, giving him a small smile.

"Well that bit me in the ass, didn't it?" He asks as he chuckles slightly. I don't think I've ever heard my brother genuinely chuckle before...Well, not for a long long time.

I'm easily able to set the bone, and then I put some packing inside of his nose, and a dressing on the outside.

"You're probably going to have some bruising under your eyes for a while. Make sure you take something for the pain."

"Once I talk to insurance, I'll send you the bill for what they don't cover," he says as he walks out, not even glancing in my direction again.

Once he leaves, Taylor immediately comes up to me. He lifts my right hand gingerly and inspects it. "Megan, can you fix this, or does she need to go to the ER?" He asks, not taking his eyes off of my swollen hand.

Megan comes over to me and lifts my hand carefully. "You need an X-ray. There's so much swelling I don't want to injure you further."

"Chief, how long until you can get a replacement for me?" Taylor asks, still looking at me.

"Go ahead. You two can take the rest of shift off and deal with all of this. I'll get replacements called in now."

"Thanks Chief," Taylor says as he meets Liam's gaze.

"Let's go," Taylor says simply. Darkly.

The three of us go to the hospital to get my hand looked at.

There's no way I'm going to be able to discipline Liam now. Unless Alex does it for me, it's just going to have to wait until I get better.