The hand tightened only slightly around my battered balls, immediately incapacitating me. I wailed as my face mashed to the floor. I tried to look bac... between my legs, and saw a zip tie being pulled tight around my scrotum just above my balls. There was a long cord attached to the zip tie. My balls were now leashed.The guy spoke, still utterly calm, unnervingly dispassionate.'Ok, now we are ready to move on to stage two, now that you are...more amenable shall we say. It's amazing how receptive. Peggy called an ambulance from the local fire district and told them it wasn't an emergency, but she needed to take three people to the hospital. They arrived in lessthan twenty minutes, lights flashing and sirens wailing as they entered our driveway.Ellie protested weakly while they were loading her into the ambulance, and Peggy said, "Ssshh, it's just for a day or two."A day or two turned out to be three; the twins were a few ounces shy of five pounds and the doctor in charge of the OB-GYN. Elizabeth helped her take a few sips of water and waited impatiently for Beckie to speak. Eventually the words came out."David says he's shot Ben through the heart," she blurted out and then threw herself forward as she spewed once more.Elizabeth sat for a second, dazed by what she thought Beckie had said."I must have misheard her, surely she didn't just say that David has shot Ben?"She turned to look at David and forced herself to ask the question."Did she just say that..."David's laughter. Just like last night, he brings my plate to me. He really is a remarkable man. Like so many others, I now have a tale about how he went out of his way to help me. ‘How do you like your coffee angel?’ He prepares a cup according to my specifications and brings it to me. He had baked some of those canned Pillsbury Dough cinnamon rolls and had fried strips of bacon to crisp-but -not-burnt perfection. It was one of my favorite breakfast combinations. But it tastes even better than usual because he.