Free Country Love by Chelsea Dorsette Page A

It was then when Paden caught the glint of a knife in the woman’s hand and threw her arms up in self defense.
    “You filthy bitch!” the woman screamed.
    When Ray, the bar’s bouncer saw Archie running at top speed past him , he knew something bad was going on and followed right behind him. As they both raced across the parking lot toward the women, Archie could see they were too late and that the woman holding the knife had struck Paden and she was sprawled unconscious on the ground.
    Just at that moment, some people appeared in the parking lot on their way into the club and Archie yelled to them, “Call 911.”
    Immediately upon reaching the women, Ray tackled Roxanne, pulled her off Paden, and ripped the knife from her hand. Archie immediately went to Paden and dropped down on his knees to see how badly she had been hurt.
    There was definitely a lot blood on the ground , but when he checked her pulse, she was breathing and it looked like she had gotten deeply slashed in her upper right arm.
    As Paden lay passed out on the pavement, Roxanne continued screaming hysterically “Bitch, bitch, bitch!” It was all Ray could do to keep this deranged woman confined in his arms as she thrashed around, trying to break free. Roxanne then tried to spit in his face but missed, which only pissed off Ray even more.
    The next thing they knew, the police were on the scene , followed by a fire truck and ambulance. As the police handcuffed Roxanne, the EMTs lifted Paden up onto a stretcher.
    Even though the band had been playing, the volume of the sirens that came screeching into the club’s parking lot was easily heard and CJ stopped the band. He was overcome with a sick feeling of dread in his stomach because neither Paden nor Archie had come back inside.
    Telling the audience they would be taking a quick break, CJ moved very quickly through the club, trying his hardest to not break  into a run. Some of the patrons were looking out the windows to see what was going on, but many others just stayed in their seats. As CJ plowed through the club doors to the parking lot, his heart jumped in his throat. He could see a redheaded woman in handcuffs being directed into the back seat of a police car, another woman on a stretcher, and Archie and the bouncer talking to police.
    As he came closer to the scene, CJ saw it was Paden on the stretcher and fear tore through every core of his body.
    Just as this realization was hitting CJ, Archie excused himself from the officer for a moment and was by his side. “She’s gonna be okay, CJ. She got pretty badly slashed on her arm and she was unconscious for a time, but outside of being scared and in shock, she’s going to be fine.”
    At the moment, CJ wasn’t interested in what happened. He’d find that out later. Right now, all he wanted to do was run to Paden. When he reached the stretcher, even in the darkness of night he could tell she was very pale and her eyes were closed. Trying to stay out of the way of the paramedics while they tended to her arm, he gently stroked her forehead and face.
    Feeling a familiar touch, Paden opened her eyes and gave him a weak smile. Looking at her in such a weakened state broke his heart. After asking the paramedics what hospital they were taking her to, CJ bent over, kissed her on the lips and said, “Don’t worry , baby. I’ll be there as soon as I can, okay?”
    Giving him a nod, she whispered, “O kay, I’ll see you later,” and closed her eyes again.
    After the ambulance and the fire truck left, CJ walked over to where Archie and Ray had been talking to the police. The officers had just finished their questioning of the night’s events and were heading back to their car to take Roxanne to jail.
    Throwing up his hands , CJ asked, “What the hell happened?”
    As Archie recounted the story about looking into the monitor and seeing a woman coming up quickly behind Paden with a knife in her hand, CJ physically trembled. Archie explained how the