Expendables- Devil's Ax

Chapter 10

The doctor coming into her room after she had woken up. The flat expression Barney wore as the doctor explained to her what had happened.

"I'm sorry..." He said in a low voice. "The damage was too great. there was extensive bleeding. If we hadn't removed those organs, you would have died. You are now infertile. I'm sorry. We had no other choice."

Rose placed a hand on her lower stomach and felt the faint scar left by the hospital.

The sound of her heart wasn't enough to drain out the voices.

"Ha! Hold her down!" They had yelled. "It's my turn!" "Bitch! I'll teach you to bite me!" *slap* "Please..... Kill me..." She had begged. "We're not done with you yet." The men had laughed as the light faded from behind them. There shadows engulfed her.

"AAAAAHHHHHHH!" Rose threw a fist against the wall, and the voices left her. But the feeling of their hands and their bodies lingered on her skin. Tears ran fast down her face as she sobbed the pain away. Crawling out of bed, she walked into the kitchen. Grabbing a glass of water, she sat down on the couch after turning on a light. Her body and mind ached as she sat staring at the floor. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out the pill bottle she had grabbed from nightstand and opened it. Pouring the remaining pills into her mouth, she took several gulps of water before the all the pills had been swallowed. Within moments, the emotions she had been feeling, the fear, the anger, the confusion, all began to fade away as her body went numb. Leaning back on the couch, the glass in her hand slipped from her grasp and shattered on the hardwood floor. the bottle in her other hand fell to the floor as well, and the few pills that remained scattered across the floor.

Gunner turned his motorcycle off and got off the seat. He knew it was late, and he didn't want to wake anyone else up. He walked his cycle the remaining few yards to the tattoo shop. Grabbing his keys he walked out of the garage and began to unlock the door to the shop, when he noticed a light on a few floors up.

Gunner approached Rose's apartment door. She was the one that was still up. Standing in front of the door, Gunner knocked a few times put heard no response right away.

Maybe she left the light on by accident. As he turned to walk away, he could hear something shatter on other side of the door. Startled, Gunner knocked again, this time calling out her name.

"Rose? Rose!" Gunner said. There was no movement within the apartment. "I'm coming in!" He yelled. Grabbing the knob and finding that it was unlocked, Gunner walked in and looked around. Sitting on the couch was Rose. Her head rolled to the side and her body slid down onto the cushion.

"Rose?" Gunner asked worried. He walked over to her and noticed her bloodshot eyes closing slowly. As he walked up closer, something crushed under his feet. Looking down, he saw broken glass and water. Pills had spread across the floor and the empty bottle they belonged in was open and halfway pushed under the couch.

"You didn't." He said. Rose's breathing grew a little shallow as she laid on the couch.

"Shit!" Gunner yelled. Leaning down he held her head in his eyes and shook it back and forth. "Rose! Rose! Hey! Answer me!" He said. With a grunt he lifted her up into his arms and carried her to the bathroom. Stepping into the tub, he turned on the cold water and sat down with her on his lap, her back facing him. Taking his pointer and middle finger, he shoved it down her throat and moved them around a little, the cold water hitting the both of them from the shower head.

"Come on!" He yelled angrily. Suddenly, Rose's body jerked a little and she began to cough. Gunner held her stomach with one hand and continued to tease her throat with his fingers. Finally, Rose gagged and began to throw up. Gunner removed his fingers and held her as her body shook and expelled the remains of left in her stomach. She gasped for air and finally stopped twitching.

"You idiot." Gunner growled in her ear as he pulled her back to look at her. By now, their clothes were soaked and their hair drenched.

"Why the hell would you do that?!" He yelled at her. Still woozy from the pills, Rose couldn't give an answer. All she could do was cry. Tears swelled out of her eyes as Gunner reached for her and pulled her in. Rose rested her head against his chest and sobbed. Gunner wrapped his arms around her and held her close as she sobbed and cried.

"I- I didn't mean to yell." He said rubbing a hand up and down her back. Leaning forward, Gunner shut the water off and leaned back, still holding Rose. "Come on. Don't cry." He said not knowing what to do. "What happened?" His voice was low and right in her ear.

"E-end it." Rose said through her sobs and gasps. "Please. M....Mak-- it s-stop." Her fingers digged into his wet shirt.

Gunner looked down at the top of her head. He brushed some of the hair away and maneuvered her limp body around to look at her face to face.

"I know it's hard." He said looking her in the eyes. "But don't ever do that again.If you do, I'll kill you if the pills don't." Pushing himself up, he grabbed Rose and picked her up in his arms again.

"Come on. Lets dry off."

Gunner had stayed in the bathroom most of the time and cleaned up while Rose calmed down. even though he was mad as hell, he didn't show it to Rose. He had taken most of his clothes off to through in the dryer. Sat on his knees near the tub in nothing but his boxers as he rinsed the tub out. After hearing the dryer go off, Gunner got up and walked over to it and pulled his pants out. In a low grumble, he put them back on. Though they were still damp, he shrugged it off and let his shirt continue to dry a little.

Walking out of the bathroom, he made his way back into Rose's room. She laid in large pile of comforters and blankets, only the top of her head visible. Gunner let out a low sigh and sat down on the edge of the bed. He placed his large hand on the top of her head and ruffled her wet hair.

"I'm glad you're ok." He said in a low voice. "But please, for the love of god, don't do that again." Rose's body tensed up and she curled up into an even tighter ball. "Listen. If you have trouble, call me. I don't live that far away. I'll be here. No matter what."

"I'm sorry." Rose said in a low voice, almost inaudible.

"It's alright. My clothes needed to be washed anyways." Gunner said with a chuckle. He leaned back and rested his back against Rose's body and stretched out. He could feel her body tense up even more. "Hey kid. It was a joke." He said looking over at her. "Look. I won't tell Barney what happened. I'll leave that to you. If you think he should know then tell him."

"Gunner sighed again and grabbed the covers and pulled them away. "Are you at least going to look at me?"

Rose's eyes were tightly shut but slowly open as she looked over at the wall, her back turned to him. Turning her head slightly, she looked over at him. His brow was furrowed as he thought back to something. "You're embarrassed huh?" He asked turning around. "Not just by this, but those visions, and having to show this side of you to someone. Rose sat up and held her knees close to her chest.

"I'll be the only one." He said in a low voice. He moved his body to sit next to her. His eyes wandered down her bare back to the scars of cigarette burns and whip marks. The nasty looking scar across her left shoulder was still a little pink. He draped an arm around her and pulled her in. He looked over at the wall, the sight of her in nothing but her bra and underwear seared into his mind.

"Call me if it happens again." He said getting up from the bed and walking back to the dryer to grab his shirt. After putting it on, he walked back to Rose's room and leaned against the door.

"You going to be alright?" He asked. Rose finally look at him the eye.

"Could you stay a little longer." Gunner looked over at the clock and saw that it was 4:30 am.

"Sure." He walked back over to the bed and sat down again. Leaning back, his back rested against the wall as he outstretched his legs on the rest of the bed. He closed his eyes and let out a low sigh. Exhaustion swept over his body. He felt the bed move a little, then felt Rose's head rest up against his chest. He moved his left arm out of the way and wrapped it around her shoulder. Rose snuggled up to him and tangled her fingers in his shirt wouldn't let go. Slowly, the two of them drifted off to sleep.