sheet covered, sleeping figure.
He approached the foot of the double bed then quickly jumped on her, pinning her arms underneath the sheet with his knees. She cried out, surprised, and he immediately drew his fist back and slugged her in the mouth. Her head flew to the side and her mouth dripped blood.
Instantly, her mouth started to swell and tears filled her eyes. He knew she was flailing with her feet, trying to hurt him but the weight of him holding the sheet down kept her from struggling too much.
“Cohen! Sonja!” she cried through the blood, trying desperately to free an appendage to knock this piece of shit off of her. He would pay for that punch in the mouth that much she was sure. Confused as to why the dogs didn't come when they were called, she slowly realized that he had done something horrible to them.
“Get off me!” she screamed, and earned another punch in the face, this time causing her spitting a tooth. “I'm gonna kill you!” she tried to wriggle out from underneath him, flailing her legs and working her shoulders. She earned a punch in the nose and more blood streamed down her face, mixed with her tears and the sweat of her exertions.
Crying for her dogs and the pain of her injuries, she stared at the man that held her captive. She looked him in the eyes and knew that her life was in danger but she stared at him, quiet and still. Eve focused on the man's face and with the glow of the moonlight streaming in to her bedroom window, she gathered up blood, spit and snot into her mouth and spat it at her attackers face.
It landed square in his right eye, bypassing the black ski mask that covered his face. Another mouthful of bloody goo hit him dead on in the mouth. Before he could swipe the sticky mess out of his eye and mouth, she spat again, this time hitting him in the left eye, driving a sharp edged tooth remnant into the pupil.
Sitting on top of her, the man roared. This was too much even for him. He wrapped the nylon cord he had brought with him around her neck and pulled tight. Just then he was grabbed by the shoulders and tossed into the wall. Eve scrambled out of the bed, flailing her arms and legs, kicking the sheet away from her.
She tried to see what was going on but the swelling on her face made it almost impossible. She heard someone ask if she was alright and she let loose a string of expletives that thankfully was garbled. She heard bare fists hitting flesh and she peered through her beat up eyes.
“Is that you, David,?” she asked
“Yeah, it's me,” the man said.
This time she let loose some choice expletives and told him that she was fine, she could take care of herself.
David banged the intruders head into the wall until he didn't move anymore and turned to look at Eve.
“There is no doubt in my mind that you can take care of yourself,” he said to her, not letting her see his concern. “But just this once, let me take care of you.”
Through the pain, Eve smiled. Her husband was back and from the looks of the intruder, he was back with a vengeance.
David, a tall, broad shouldered, muscular man went to Eve and scooped her up. He gently laid her down on the couch in the living room and called 911. Then he went to check on the dogs and tie up the intruder. He found the two German Shepherds, oblivious to the goings on, still sleeping heavily and knew they would be okay. Then he turned to the stirring intruder and pounded his head into the wall again until he quit moving.
He tore his ski mask off and hog tied him, behind his back, kicking his knife far away. He was almost through when Eve came in, concerned about her dogs. She saw the unmasked man lying on the floor, walked over to him calmly and stomped on his crotch. She stood on him, then stomped her feet. David, inwardly groaning, but proud of his wife, let her do what she needed to do.
“He's going to feel like a Mack truck drove into his crotch,” David said to her, smiling.
“Yeah, if I had the guts, I'd cut the thing right off,” she said vehemently, giving the unmasked intruder another shot to the crotch.
“Easy, thunder,” David grinned, his hand automatically covering his own crotch.
Eve bent and looked closer at the man's face. Then she suddenly drew back a fist and popped him in the mouth, drawing blood. One more time in the nose and she was satisfied with the rearranging of his face.
“Told you you were gonna pay,” She spat one more time on his face and then turned her attention to her beloved German Shepherds. She sat down beside them and pet both their heads.
“They're going to be alright, I think,” David said to her, noting the gentleness she had for them. He remembered how gentle and sweet she could be and his heart swelled with love for this woman who was his estranged wife.
They heard the sirens then and went to the door to wave them in. At first, Eve refused the medical attention the EMT guys offered, but David persuaded her to acquiesce. He watched the medical personnel wipe the sticky, drying goo off of her face and his heart went out to her. He should never have left. If he hadn't left, this wouldn't have happened to her, he thought. But unbeknownst to him, leaving had saved his life. The intruder had made plans for him as well.
In the early morning hours, the police finally left, taking the finally conscious intruder in cuffs with them. The police had taken a lengthy statement from them and David and Eve fully admitted to the injuries the intruder had sustained.
***
After the police left, she sat down heavily in the lounge chair, knowing she would have to go to work in an hour. Her face hurt, even with the pain relieving shot she'd had. Her mouth felt sore and her nose felt broken. She still had blood in her hair and ears but she didn't care. She closed her eyes for only a minute and promptly fell into a deep sleep.
David watched and saw that the sedative he had asked the EMT guys to give her was taking effect. He knew she would be stubborn and insist on taking care of her horses, so he had asked them to slip her a sedative without her knowing. He would take care of her horses as she slept.
He pulled out his cell phone and called his mother to come over to keep an eye on Eve and while he waited for her to drive up, he gently picked up his quietly sleeping wife and took her to the guest bedroom. He laid her on the bed and covered her with a light blanket. He brushed the bloody hair from her face and softly touched her injuries, thinking how beautiful and brave she was.
David stood up and went into their bedroom, picked up Cohen and brought him into the guest bedroom. He laid him on the floor next to the bed, then did the same with Sonja. He stood with his hands on his hips and looked at his sleeping beauties, love and concern gracing his face. He sighed, thankful they were all going to be alright and turned to go back out into the living room to wait for his mother.
***
Eve's injuries had healed quickly, and a little over a week later they were just a light bruising. They were still sore but the memory of her stomping the crap out of the man made her feel no pain. She was extremely grateful that her husband David had showed up when he did that night and proud that he had literally saved her from that dangerous man.
When asked why he was there to begin with, David had replied that he couldn't sleep and wanted to come see and talk to her. She accepted his response but was still confused, why had he been there so late? He knew that she would have been asleep, she was a very early riser.
Shaking her head, she chose not to pursue the matter. He had saved her life, that's all she knew for sure and for now that was enough.
She stirred a teaspoon of sugar into his ice tea and brought it out to where he was splitting wood for the winter.
“How's it going,?” she asked sweetly.
David looked up and wiped the sweat off his brow. “Hot, humid and lovely,” he said, noting that she looked a lot better today, the swelling was gone and the bruising had almost disappeared.
She handed him the ice tea and he drank the whole glass. “Thank you,” he said to her.
“You know that winter is still months away, right?” she asked him.
“Yes, but I want to get this done for you so you don't have to worry about it when it does get here,” he replied, smiling.
Eve hadn't yet decided to let him come back and she didn't want him to think just because he saved her life doesn't mean their marriage was all better. Him getting the wood ready for the wood stove in the house before
