She winced in pain. There was a dark spot beneath her left eye that would be quite the shiner in a few minutes. But her eyes fluttered open and she squinted at first before she recognized me. "David?"

Immediately, her hands came up behind my back and she hugged me, causing me to wince as her arms pressed against my side. I probably had bruised ribs or something from those gut kicks. I bit down against the pain and hugged her back, sinking my butt onto the sidewalk and being careful not to hurt her.

Still, Amber seemed to be moving fine as she clutched at me.

“Thank you," she whispered.

"Oh, don't thank me, Cherys did all the work."

Amber looked to the side to see the beautiful brunette squatting next to us and keeping an eye on the unconscious attacker.

Cherys held up her hands. "No, no. David did all the fighting and took all the punishment for it. I just finished this one off."

“That's the second time you've rescued me." Amber Looked up at me, her blue eyes sparkling in the streetlamp light.

“My hero."

We didn't get home for a few hours, it seemed. Cherys called Danielle and soon my big sister was fussing over me almost as much as Amber was.

A black and white squad car arrived less than a minute after Danielle did, and they soon had coward boy handcuffed and in the back of their car, still in a daze.

Everybody gave a statement, even Danielle, who wasn't even there and had to repeat that fact two more times. Amber explained that she had been on her way to the store when the two thugs jumped her. She ran and started blowing her whistle, but couldn't get away before they caught her and coldly told her they were going to knock her out and then take turns raping her.

Cherys visibly bristled when Amber recounted that part. She Looked ready to bust into the squad car and rip the coward boy's balls off.

The paramedics pronounced us in stable condition. Still, they wanted to have the docs take a look at us with the attempted rape and assault charges and all. Amber and I hopped into the ambulance and Danielle and

Cherys hurried back to pick up a car and meet us at the hospital. The cops would drop off coward boy and then meet us at the hospital to finish our statements.

Amber let go of my hand just once the entire time, to get out her own cell phone and call E-Beth.

“No, no, you don‘t have to come down. I'm fine, I'm fine. David's with me."

That Last phrase seemed to mollify the housemates and my ex-girlfriend.

Amber soon hung up and then went back to snuggling under my arm.

When the medics checked us, it turned out that Cherys was right. She didn't have a scratch on her. Meanwhile, I'd suffered a Lot more damage than I thought I had, but nothing too serious. Three bruised ribs, several contusions to my forearms, and a shiner on my left cheek to match the one on Amber.

Amber's damage was probably a Little more mental. She had a couple of scrapes and bruises, mostly from the tight gripping on her limbs with her tender skin not used to that kind of abuse. The one big bruise under her Left eye was dark purple and looked uglier than it probably felt. Then there was the mild concussion. Thankfully, she didn't have any memory gaps and she wasn't suffering from any serious shock.

After a couple of hours and a repeat of our police statements, they Let us all go. Danielle drove us first to Amber's house. We all walked her inside where her housemates immediately began doting on her.

It was really Late now (or really early, depending on how you read the clock), and we started to make our exit. But Amber reached over from her spot on the couch and grabbed my arm.

She Looked so small and fragile, looking up at me with baby blue eyes and that shiner on her cheek.

“Don't leave me. Stay tonight."