Chapter 58
58
TEGAN
I’ve been dozing all morning.
I was vaguely aware of Polly coming in to do something with my left ankle. It hurt enough to wake me up, but I just lay there and let her do it. I didn’t have the energy to talk to her. There was no point in fighting. At some point, she came in to offer me food, but my appetite was gone. She coaxed me into drinking a few sips of water, and that was all I could keep down.
I hope she’s calling for an ambulance. I have to believe she isn’t just going to let me die here.
But I’m not sure anymore.
My eyes finally crack open at the sound of the basement door opening and heavy footsteps landing on the top step. I’ve been out of it all morning, but that sound is the first thing to get my attention. I know whose footsteps those are.
It’s Hank.
No, not now. Please, not now…
I close my eyes, pretending to be asleep. It was hard enough to deal with him when I was feeling halfway okay. I don’t want him near me right now.
But it doesn’t matter what I want. He’s coming. His footsteps grow louder as he descends the stairs.
“Miss Werner?”
He’s at the foot of the bed now. Oh God, what does he want from me? Can’t he tell I’m seriously ill? But maybe this is the moment he was waiting for. Maybe this is my lot in life. Simon Lamar already took advantage of me, and now this giant man wants a go at me. And I am far too weak to fight him off. He doesn’t even need to drug me.
He comes around the side of the bed so he’s right next to me. His large hand drops onto my arm, and he shakes me. “Miss Werner! Can you hear me?”
I don’t answer.
He stands there for a moment, hovering over me. I’m hopeful that he’s going to leave when he realizes how sick I am. But—to my horror—he puts one arm under my knees and the other under my back. And he lifts me into the air.
“Stop!” I gasp. “What are you doing?”
He blinks at me, surprised that I’m awake. For a second, we’re face-to-face. “Are you okay?”
“No, I’m not okay.” My mouth feels like it’s made of sandpaper, and it hurts my head just to say the words. “Please put me down right now.”
He frowns. “You need to go to the hospital. We need to go now—before she gets back.”
He’s lying. He’s got to be lying. But I’m too weak to fight him. I let him carry me up the stairs, not sure where he’s taking me, but anything is better than the basement.
“Where are you taking me?” I murmur.
“The hospital,” he answers patiently.
“Stop lying to me,” I croak. “Please tell me…”
Hank fumbles a bit to get the door open while still keeping me in his arms. It’s cold outside, but it feels good on my hot skin. The truck that brought me over here is parked in the driveway, and the passenger side door is already open. But apparently, we’re not taking this journey alone. There’s another man standing next to the truck, and it takes me a second to recognize who it is. When I do, my body is racked by a violent chill.
It’s Simon Lamar.
He’s waiting for me by the truck.
“What’s he doing here?” I shriek.
Simon and Hank are in it together—conspiring to hurt me. Even though I didn’t trust Hank, I genuinely never saw this coming. I assumed it was a coincidence that Hank came upon me that night in the snow, but it wasn’t. Simon sent him to find me and trap me so I couldn’t tell anyone what he did to me.
I struggle in Hank’s arms, but he’s got me firmly in his grasp. It barely takes an effort on his part to keep me contained. “Please don’t do this!” I beg him. “He’s a terrible man. He wants to hurt me.”
“Who?” Hank asks.
“Simon!”
“Who’s Simon?”
His voice is convincingly blank. I look back at the truck to point out his partner in crime, but to my surprise, nobody is there. Simon has vanished into thin air. All I can see now is that dented pickup truck with the door hanging open. Simon is simply gone, like he was never there in the first place.
A wave of dizziness washes over me. Oh God, did I imagine him? I must have.
I really am sick.
Hank carries me the rest of the way to his truck. He’s surprisingly gentle as he helps me into the passenger seat. He leans over me to buckle the seat belt, then climbs into the seat beside me and starts up the engine. I take one last look out the window, searching for any signs of Simon, but all I can see now are spots dancing before my eyes.
“Where are you taking me?” I croak.
“Roosevelt Memorial Hospital.”
“No, you’re not.”
“I swear, I am.”
“Where’s Polly?”
He doesn’t answer that one. He keeps his eyes pinned on the road as he drives me to God knows where. He claims he’s going to the hospital, but I don’t know why he would do that. Why take me to the hospital when he knows I’ll turn him in and he’ll end up in jail?
I place my hand on my belly. I don’t feel any movement at all. Even early this morning, I could feel my baby move. But now there’s nothing. And I don’t hear her voice in my ear anymore. It might be too late.
“There’s something wrong with my baby,” I say. Even through my haze of fever, the panic is mounting inside me. “I need to go to the hospital.”
“I’m taking you to the hospital,” Hank says again, even though it’s a lie. It has to be. “We’ll be there real soon.”
I don’t know where he’s taking me. It’s possible I hallucinated Simon standing by the truck, but this man didn’t keep me captive in his basement for four days just to drive me to the freaking hospital. He’s taking me somewhere he can do what he wants with me, and Polly won’t be able to stop him anymore.
“Please,” I beg him. “Please don’t do this…”
This time, he ignores me entirely. I can only watch him drive as my body shakes with chills.
I stare through the windshield, wondering where we’re going. The strange part is that we don’t seem to be going deeper into the woods. In fact, we’re pulling onto a busy road with lots of cars surrounding us.
Could I get the attention of one of the drivers? Alert them that I’m being held hostage?
Hank slows to a halt at a red light. I bang on the window next to me, trying to get the attention of the vehicle next to ours. The driver is a middle-aged man who is bobbing his head to music I can’t hear. “Help!” I cry in a hoarse voice. “Please help me!”
I press the button to roll down the passenger side window, and Hank’s eyes widen in alarm. “Tegan!” He fumbles with the buttons on the door next to him, and the window reverses its course. “You need to calm down before I get in an accident. We’re almost there.”
I start to bang on the window, but he’s moving again, pulling off the busy road. Have I missed my opportunity to get help? I wonder if I could somehow make a run for it the next time he stops. It seems unlikely with my broken ankle, but I have to try. I summon up every ounce of my remaining strength, but there’s not much left. I take a deep breath, and for a moment, everything goes black.
And when my vision clears, there’s a hospital looming in the distance.
I stare out the windshield at the large building in front of us, unable to entirely convince myself it isn’t a mirage. I blink and rub my eyes, certain that when I do, it will disappear, and we’ll be in front of some remote dungeon where Hank will finish me off.
But no. It’s real. Hank really did drive me to the hospital, and now he’s pulling up in front of the entrance.
He puts the car in park, and then he just sits there for a moment, taking deep breaths. “Tegan,” he says quietly, “you need to know that Polly is a good person. She only did what she did because… Well, I don’t have a good excuse for her. But if you were ever in the hospital and my wife was your nurse, you’d know what a great person she is. She was a great nurse, and she’s a great wife. There’s nobody better, really. And I’m just saying, this isn’t her.” His eyes are glazed as he stares out the windshield. “It’s just… It’s been a hard few years. I’m going to get her help though. I promise.”
My brain is hazy, and it’s hard to comprehend his words. What is he saying? Is he trying to tell me that Polly was the one responsible for imprisoning me in the basement?
Is that possible?
You need to go to the hospital. We need to go now—before she gets back.
“Anyway, what I’m saying…” His chin wobbles under his thick beard. “All I’m saying is please don’t ruin her life. Please.”
I don’t know what to say.
Fortunately, Hank doesn’t wait for an answer. He gets out of the truck, and he flags down a man at the entrance to the hospital. Before I know it, they’re loading me onto a stretcher. An oxygen mask is pressed against my face, and that’s the last thing I remember for a long time.