Virginity Sold : A Night To Remember Auction

24. Liam

The Sartori name and money can make anyone go against the rules. The name, more than the money. It’s no secret who and what our family is, not in this town. People literally quiver in fear when I step in their presence and the staff of this hospital isn’t any different.

“How is she?” I stand as soon as I see the doctor stepping through the door and heading straight toward us. I can see the sweat beading on his forehead and the rigid way he’s holding his body.

He’s scared.

Good! He should be.

“First, Mr. Sartori, I just want you to know this goes against all my rules, not to mention I could lose my medical license for this.”

“How is that, Dr. Klinger?”

“Please, with all due respect, Mr. Sartori, do not patronize me. I know you are a smart man and know full well what confidentiality and HIPPA are.” He flinches as I lift my hand to straighten my tie. That’s right, be scared. I could end you right now and never face a day in jail, even with a room full of witnesses.

The doctor clears his throat, and I can feel the boys step closer behind me.

“All I see, Dr.Klinger, is you giving information to my nephew,” I say as I turn, placing my hand on Kyrian’s shoulder, moving him forward. “About his fiance.”

I don’t know if that’s the direction my nephew was going with Elena, but it works for this moment in time.

“Very well. She was beaten badly. She suffered extensive damage at the hands of her attacker or attackers, as we are not sure exactly what happened. There’s severe blood loss and massive head trauma, along with multiple broken bones. We had to perform surgery to remove her spleen and control the internal bleeding caused by it rupturing. Miss Hastings is lucky to be alive. She actually flatlined on the way to the hospital. We were able to get her back. She woke once but was so agitated we had to give her medication to calm her. She hasn’t woken since. If there’s nothing else, the nurse will show you to her room.”

We’re all quiet as we follow the petite nurse down the hallway. She hasn’t said anything to us, nor does she seem afraid.

When we get to Elena’s room, she stops abruptly, spinning to face us.

“I know who you are and I don’t give a shit. But that girl in there doesn’t deserve to be here. If she becomes upset, or she’s afraid of you, then I’ll put your asses out myself. Right now, as far as I know, you could be the fuckers that put her in here and you’ve come to finish the job. I’ll be watching all three of you.” With that, she opens the door, allowing us inside, before taking off down the hallway.

“She’s got fire,” Killian announces with a laugh. “I like her.”

She does have moxie. I”ll give her that.

Taking a breath, we step into the room, and my heart feels like a knife has been stuck straight through it.

She’s broken. That’s the nicest way of putting it. Her face is swollen black and blue and she has a bandage over her nose. Her arm is in a temporary cast and she looks deathly white.

Kyrian pushes past me, rushing to her bedside, taking her hand gingerly in his as he leans over and kisses her forehead. His breath hitches and I know he’s crying.

Of my nephews, Kyrian is the one most like my beautiful sister, Mary. Caring and sweet. When he loves, he loves hard. It’s why I always debated if he was able to make the cut in the family business and never pushed him to join—even though it’s his birthright.

But seeing this woman I know he loves, lying in the bed, may be the thing that pushes him over the edge and turns him into the killer that Killian and I already are.

“Do we have a lead on who did this? Was it her parents?” Killian whispers in my ear, but as I glance over at him, I see his eyes are on her.

“No. John has his team watching her house, the airport, bus, and train stations. He’s watching the abandoned house himself. If they try to leave, we’re going to catch them. But it could be something totally different. She could’ve merely walked in on a home invasion.”

We both go quiet after that. Killian leaves my side and goes to the other side of the bed, carefully cradling the fingers of her casted arm in his hand.

Neither of them speaks to each other. Instead, they’re focused on the steady but faint rise and fall of her chest, telling us that she’s breathing.

Seeing her broken, knowing how I thought of her and how I ended the weekend, has me feeling like shit. I’m Liam fucking Sartori, and I let her leave to end up like this. I didn’t protect her. It doesn’t matter whether she was my submissive or not.

I wanted her to be.

Fuck! I wanted her to be my submissive and I let my hatred for her father cloud my feelings for her. Blaming her and ready to use her to make him pay, even when she confessed to Killian she hadn’t seen him in years—how he abused her as a child.

Shame spreads through me and I feel like I’m suffocating. I need to get out of here. I need to find who did this to her and make them pay.

“I’ll be back, boys. If you need to leave, call one of the men to sit at her door. She’s not to be left alone in case the fucker who did this to her comes back to make sure she never identifies them.” I take one final look at my little mouse and turn, leaving the room. Rage is taking over now, and I need to find an outlet.

I went to the gym and punched the bag until I was exhausted, then showered and drove around for the next two hours. Every part of me wanted to go back to the hospital to be with Elena, but I let her down. I failed her and my family.

The only positive thing to happen since leaving the hospital is the phone call I just got from John. No one’s gone back to the house on the outskirts of town or to Elena’s home, but he did find a room rented in Elena’s grandmother”s name. The very one who’s dead. He hasn’t physically laid eyes on who’s in the room, but he’s watching from a distance.

Heading up the elevator of the hospital, I feel dread. I’ve been in touch with the boys since I left and nothing’s changed. She hasn’t woken once since they’ve been here.

As I stop by the nurse’s station to speak with the firecracker to get an update on Elena, she’s already talking to Killian. As luck would have it, the doctor is standing there.

“There’s been no change, same as I told her fiance in the room and now his brother when he asked again a few moments ago. There’s still swelling on her brain, and if it doesn”t resolve, the neurosurgeon already said the next step is trepanning.”

“What the hell is that?” Killian blurts.

“We would go in and drill a hole in her skull to her dura mater to relieve the pressure,” the doctor states very matter of factly.

“You’re going to put a fucking hole in her skull? That’s insane.” Killian runs his hands through his hair, pulling on the tips, something he only does when upset or frustrated. I place my hand on his shoulder as I step beside him.

“Yes.” The doctor doesn’t even acknowledge Killian’s outburst. “And until she wakes up, we won’t know if she’ll have any other issues, like changes in her personality, post-traumatic epilepsy, or any number of other cognitive and physical disabilities.” He turns his head to me. “I’m sorry that I can’t tell you anything else, except to hope for the best.” He presses his lips together and the corner of his mouth lifts somewhat as his eyebrows pull inward, his expression serious but sympathetic simultaneously.

I thank the doctor before he picks up his chart and leaves, heading off down the hallway.

“She could wake up and be perfectly fine. Doctors always give you the worst case scenario.” The firecracker from earlier reaches out and gives my arm a comforting squeeze.

“Thank you.” We go to step away, but I stop as Killian continues towards Elena’s room. “Can you have your billing office come to the room? I want to ensure the bill is paid and she gets top notch care.”

“Yes sir,” she says, a slight smile forming on her face, telling me all I needed to know. Elena has no insurance and her care would be impacted by that. I don’t care what they say. It’s true. I know if it came down to a pricey procedure to save her life or waiting to see if it gets better, the hospital would wait.

I make my way down the hallway, passing nurses and doctors as I go, huddled up together, whispering—either about their patients or the Sartori family present in their hospital.

Opening the door, I see the boys sitting beside the bed.

“Why don’t you boys go down to the cafeteria and get us something to eat.”

They turn their heads to me almost in unison. Kyrian’s eyes are bloodshot and he looks ragged, like he hasn’t slept in days.

“No, I’m staying with her. You and Killian can go.”

“It wasn’t a request, Kyrian. The both of you need to get out and eat. In fact, bring me back something. I’ll stay with her.”

Kyrian and Killian reluctantly stand, each taking a moment to lean down to kiss her on the top of her head and whisper something only they can hear.

“I’m bringing the food back here. I’m not staying away from her,” Kyrian states boldly as he leaves the room. Killian stops beside me, gripping my shoulder and squeezing, before following behind Kyrian.

I shut the door once they are gone and step over to the bed, taking a seat in the chair vacated by Kyrian.

There’s not a spot on her that’s not a shade of purple as far as I can see. The steady beep of the machine comforts me. She’s alive.

“Come on, Little Mouse. You’re a fighter. I need you to open those eyes. I’m so sorry. I was wrong about you and felt you deserved to pay for your father. You don’t know, but he took two very important people from me a year ago. Not just me, but my nephews. Your father killed them in a drunk driving accident. We wanted him to pay, and we didn’t care that we were using you.”

I feel the tear sliding down my cheek, but I don’t brush it away. I haven’t cried in years. Not even when Mary and Bo passed away.

I feel her hand move in mine, a slight twitch.

Did I imagine it?

“Little Mouse, come back to me, to us. Me and the boys need you. We want you in so many ways and I’m finally ready to admit it, not only to you, but to myself as well. You brought a light into my life I haven’t felt in a long time. You need to wake up, Little Mouse.”

There it is again.

A twitch.

I ring the bell for the nurse.

“That’s it, fight, Elena. Open those beautiful chocolate eyes so I can tell you how big of an idiot I am.”

A voice comes through the speaker. “Can I help you?”

“Yes, she’s moving her hand. I need the doctor in here now!” I bark.

“I’ll let her nurse know,” the voice responds.

“Come on, Elena, wake up. Let me see those eyes, Little Mouse.”

Her eyes start to flutter in response until they’re fully open and looking back at me. But there’s no life in them, just a blank stare.

She opens her mouth and starts to speak, but nothing comes out. I pick up the water jug off the cart and pour some water into a cup, putting a straw in it and placing it to her lips.

“Just sip, Little Mouse.”

She blinks her eyes, but does as I say, taking several small sips. When she’s done, she rests her head back on the pillow.

“Wh…Wh…Who are you? Where am I? What happened?” she finally manages to get out between coughs.

“Little Mouse, don’t be that way. I have things you need to hear,” I tell her, just as the nurse comes rushing through the door.

“Mr. Sartori, I need you to step to the side.” I move out of her way, stepping down to the end of the bed as Elena”s eyes dart between the nurse and me. “Elena, do you know what happened to you? Who this man is?”

“No.” Her eyes widen and sweat peppers her forehead.

“What day is it?” the nurse asks.

“It’s Monday.”

“What month?” the nurse asks again, and I become concerned with the line of questions.

“January. Why, what’s wrong?” The monitor starts beeping as her heartbeat rises.

“Nothing, please calm down, Elena. It is Monday, but it’s May, sweetheart.”

Her body begins to tremble, and she starts to whimper before her eyes close.