Durability (The LockDown Series Book 3) by Shannon Dobson Read Free Book Online Page A

crack to my cheek, the same bone crushing further. I can’t move my face, it is swollen, bleeding and numb. My lips are busted, my eyebrows split and bleeding, my skull caving a little and gushing red paint. My cheeks and jaw are unusable and causing a pain so intense it makes me see stars.
    Every hit forces me further to the light, a huge tunnel that leads to a bright white abyss that I hope leads me to heaven, and to the place my soul had fled to when my wife had taken her life.
    “Fucking Cunt! I’ll fucking kill you,” I can hear Leighton saying repeatedly through my fog. He is relentless in his attack, never giving up, never lightening, only intensifying his strikes. I am surprised I am not already passed out, but I want to be aware as I take my final breath.
    “You ready to die; you ready to leave Abbi alone you sick fucking bastard?!” He shouts again as he clenches my jaw in his hand, the bones sliding and grinding as the broken pieces move.
    I feel sick with pain, tears streaming my face uninvited. I blink back the wetness, every drop stinging my open and gashed skin.
    He taps the gun against my cheek, and then stands up straight. I breathe out relieved air as I hear his steps move away. The few second rest makes my heart rate settle a little.
    “Say your last prayers because I am ending this now,” he says and I force my eyes open to watch as he aims the gun to my head, his hard and cruel face staring at me, our eyes locking. I breathe out and nod my head as I ready myself for the impact.
    “Later,” he says malevolently before I hear the pop of the gun. I think of everything I have done, every reason why this is now ending. I deserve it, I want it and I need it. Abbi needs this, to end her endless nightmare of the thought of me.
    My heart is broken, my spirit and soul lost and abandoned but I will find them all again. I will watch from afar as my daughter grows to be the amazing woman I know she will be, and my beautiful granddaughter breaking guys' hearts. They will be fine; I will make sure of it.
    I accept my fate and I am aware of myself for mere seconds before everything turns black. The white light is fading in the distance and I push myself through the thick mist as I grasp onto the final remnants of humanity.
    This is the vine God is offering me, a tiny slither of hope that I can clasp onto. I grip to the tiny wisp of white in the darkness and feel myself speed through into the beautiful brightness, I hope and pray will end my torture.
    “I’m here angel, I’m here.” I speak aloud, smiling as everything clears and I spot the one thing I have been missing. My soul, my other half and my everything. My Penny.
     



Abigail
     
    Fogginess is what I can feel. A pounding within my skull that is more than unbearable. Angel is nowhere to be seen, just a softness below my back that shields the aching pain that is deep inside me.
    “She’s coming round,” I hear somebody say as I move my head side to side, trying to force my lids to open and allow my eyes the gift of sight. “Remove the tube now,” he says again and I nearly puke as I feel that horrible sensation of the rubber sliding against my tonsils. “Bowl,” he orders for the final time as my body propels me up, vomit rising and spewing into the cardboard container. “And she’s back.”
    “Ergh,” I say, feeling worse than I ever have before. I blink hard as the bright lights around me morph into a duller glare.
    “I think you’ll be okay now, Mrs Lock,” he says to me as my hazy brain regains a little consciousness.
    “What happened?” I croak out. This amount of anaesthetic cannot be good on a person. I feel hazy, confused and somewhat frightened of what had just happened. I thought after escaping hell, I wouldn’t see my angel again.
    “Your wound re-opened. The veins we had stitched up burst and you lost a lot of blood. You were talking about random things. Was quite funny to watch, Mrs Lock, but I’m afraid you may have