Chapter 28
Twenty-Eight
T he hospital room was a war room now. Noah stood at the center of it, gripping Ruth’s cold, fragile hand, his mind racing through the details. Every risk. Every possibility. They had one shot at this, and if they got it wrong, Ruth wouldn’t survive another attempt.
Across the room, Paul, Tristan, and James were deep in discussion. Paul was still processing everything, but his sharp gaze was already locked onto the medical side of the problem—how to move Ruth without killing her.
Charlotte stood near the door, arms crossed, eyes hard. Brad and Alex were discussing security, while Evan mapped out their route, the best ways to keep their movements off the grid.
Paul turned to James. “I need a full list of what she’s on—IV meds, painkillers, anything affecting her vitals.”
James nodded. “She’s still on mild oxygen support, but we can manage that with a portable tank. And a converter when you get there.
Tristan added, “The main concern is her brain pressure. We don’t know if the blindness is permanent, and we also don’t know if the pressure is going to get worse.”
Paul rubbed his jaw, thinking. “I’ll need to monitor her neurological status on the way. If she deteriorates, we need a backup plan.”
Noah’s stomach twisted. “And what does that backup plan look like?”
Paul met his eyes. “A hospital. And at that point? We’ll have to pray they don’t find her before we can move her again.”
That wasn’t good enough.
Noah looked at Tristan and James. “You’re giving us everything we might need before we go. I don’t care how big the kit is, we’re taking it.”
James nodded. “We’ll set up an IV kit for fluids and meds, monitoring equipment, and a portable brain pressure monitor. I’ll teach Paul how to use it.”
Paul smirked. “Please. I could run a trauma bay in my sleep.”
“Not the point,” Tristan muttered, “but good to know.”
“This isn’t just about getting her out,” Charlotte said, her voice firm. “It’s about making sure no one follows you.”
Brad nodded. “We need a decoy. Something that makes it look like she’s still here.”
Noah raised an eyebrow. “And how do you pull that off?”
“Fake medical records,” Alex answered. “We alter her chart, make it look like she was transferred to a different facility. Buy you some time before they realize she’s gone.”
Charlotte’s expression remained cold. Calculated. “We’ll also leak that false intel. Let them think we’re moving her somewhere else, somewhere with security they can try to breach.”
Brad crossed his arms. “Meanwhile, you take her the opposite direction.”
Noah nodded. It was smart. Create confusion. Buy time. Keep them guessing .
“Any chance we can get an escort?” Paul asked.
Brad exhaled. “Not without tipping them off. This has to look unofficial. The moment they think she’s in law enforcement custody, they’ll change tactics.”
Noah clenched his jaw. “Fine. We do it alone.”
Evan laid out a paper map, something Noah hadn’t seen used in years. “You’ll head west through Rapid City, then take a secondary road into the Black Hills.”
Brad traced his finger along the map. “Most people use Highway 16 to get into the hills. You won’t. That’s where they’ll watch.”
Alex tapped a different route. “Take gravel back roads through Custer County. That’ll keep you off the main grid.”
Noah studied the map, memorizing every turn. “And once we get there?”
Evan smirked slightly. “106 Sparrow Ridge Road. Completely off-grid. The house runs on solar power, water’s purified on-site, and there’s no electronic footprint. It’s the safest place you could possibly hide.”
Charlotte narrowed her eyes at Evan. “How do we know no one else knows about it?”
Evan’s smile faded. “Because it was my late mother-in-law’s house. She was paranoid as hell and built that place to disappear.”
Charlotte seemed to approve of that answer.
Noah exhaled slowly. It was coming together.
* * *
A quiet voice interrupted the low murmur of conversation. “Someone… tell me what’s going on.”
The room went still. She felt the shift of his presence before she heard the scrape of a chair. The silence pressed against her ribs, thick and heavy. Something was wrong.
Her body felt too weak, too sluggish. The air smelled like antiseptic, the kind that clung to everything in hospitals. But she couldn’t see. The world was still black, no matter how much she strained, no matter how much she tried to will her vision back.
Noah’s voice came, soft but firm. “Rae, we’re working on taking you somewhere safe.”
She frowned, her head aching from the effort. “I don’t… understand.”
A pause. A flicker of something in the air.
Noah wasn’t alone. She could hear the faint shift of someone else moving—Paul? She wasn’t sure. Something wasn’t right.
The silence stretched again, just enough for unease to start twisting in her stomach.
Then, Noah’s voice, careful, steady: “You’re in danger.”
Her chest tightened.
“We need to get you out of here before they try again.”
Try again.
Her breath hitched. “Someone—someone was here?” Panic curled at the edges of her thoughts, pressing inward. There was a gaping hole in her memory, a blank space where something should have been. She knew she was injured. She knew something happened. But she couldn’t piece it together.
Noah’s fingers tightened around hers. “Yes,” he said. “But we stopped them.”
She swallowed, trying to hold on to the information. Trying to process it, to lock it down before it could slip away. But the harder she grasped for it, the further it slipped through her fingers.
Noah must have noticed because his grip didn’t loosen. Neither did hers. She exhaled, her voice small. “Okay.” It was all she could give. All she had. But it was enough.
Noah’s voice rose. Was he talking to the others? “We move tomorrow.”
A muttered curse. Paul, maybe. He didn’t argue.
Another male voice: “We’ll make it happen.”
The tension in the room shifted. Then, her mom’s voice—not directed at her. At Noah? Ruth couldn’t see her expression, but she felt the moment her mom’s gaze landed on him. The realization. The understanding. She knew that tone.
And then, a beat later, Charlotte answered, “Okay.”
Ruth didn’t know why. But something told her it wasn’t about the plan.
* * *
The hospital room was too quiet, but the tension hadn’t lifted. The plan was set. Tomorrow, they would disappear. But, until then, they had to survive one more night.
Noah sat at Ruth’s bedside, his hand still wrapped around hers. He hadn’t let go. Not since she’d fallen into an uneasy sleep, her breaths shallow and uneven. Every now and then, her fingers twitched, grasping at something unseen. Maybe dreams. Maybe memories that wouldn’t stay.
Noah squeezed her hand gently, just enough to remind her he was here.
Paul stood near the window, but Noah could feel his brother’s gaze. Watching him. Studying him.
“You’re in love with her.”
The words landed like a gut punch, but Noah didn’t flinch. His jaw clenched. He didn’t look up.
“Not the time, Paul.” It was never the time.
Paul exhaled. “She’s sicker than she looks.”
Noah knew. He had known since she woke up confused, since she started losing pieces of time. Since her voice had wavered in fear when she admitted she didn’t remember them.
“She needs time to heal.” Paul’s voice was steady. Clinical. “And she’s not going to get that on the run.”
Noah finally looked up, his eyes burning. “She won’t get it if she’s dead either.”
Paul stilled.
They both knew the truth—waiting here meant waiting to die.
Paul’s jaw tensed. He didn’t like it. But after a long, reluctant pause, he nodded. “You’re right.” His voice was tight. “I just don’t like it.”
Noah exhaled, his grip tightening around Ruth’s small, fragile fingers. “Neither do I.”
The soft knock at the door shattered the moment. Tristan and James walked in, arms full of supplies, moving with the sharp efficiency of men who had done this before.
James dropped a heavy black duffel onto the table. “Everything you need is in here. IV fluids, pain meds, monitoring equipment, oxygen tank.”
Tristan set another case down with a soft thud. “You’ll need to watch her vitals constantly. If she spikes a fever, if she gets more confused or lethargic, if the pressure in her brain increases?—”
“I’ll know.” Paul’s voice was clipped as he rifled through the contents of the bag.
Tristan nodded. “We also packed a portable ultrasound. Just in case.”
Paul raised a brow. “You raided a hospital for this, didn’t you?”
James smirked, unfazed. “Not the first time.”
Noah ignored them. His focus never left Ruth.
She shifted slightly, her body tense, her breathing uneven. A quiet whimper escaped her lips.
Paul saw it too. His expression darkened. “She’s exhausted,” he murmured. “This is pushing her too hard.”
Noah’s stomach twisted. He knew. But there was no other option. His lips pressed into a tight line. “She just has to hold on a little longer.”
Paul didn’t say what they were both thinking. What if she couldn’t?
* * *
Brad, Alex, and Evan entered next, carrying folders, burner phones, and cash.
“Alright,” Brad got straight to the point, “your cover story is already in motion. We have hospital records showing Ruth being transferred out of state for specialized care.”
Alex tossed Noah a prepaid phone. “No tracking, no internet access. Just a line for emergencies.”
Evan pulled out the map again. “We’ve got your exit route locked down. You’ll take the back loading dock. Security has been… let’s say, persuaded not to ask questions.”
Noah nodded, grateful but tense.
“We also have a car waiting,” Evan added. “A medical transport van. Looks official but won’t draw attention. It’ll get you out of the city without raising flags.”
Paul frowned. “And after that?”
Brad sighed. “After that, you’re on your own.”
Noah was fine with that.
* * *
Another movement from Ruth. A small, pained whimper.
Noah was at her side in an instant. “Rae?”
She stirred, her blind eyes fluttering open.
He hated seeing her like this. So fragile. So lost.
Her voice was weak. “Noah?”
“I’m here,” he murmured.
She exhaled, relief flickering across her face. For a moment, she just breathed. Then, she frowned slightly. “…I feel weird.”
Paul stepped closer. “Define weird.”
Ruth’s brows knit together. “Like I’m not… all the way here.”
Noah’s chest tightened.
Paul placed a hand on her wrist, checking her pulse. “How’s your head?”
She hesitated. “…Heavy.”
Paul and Noah exchanged a look.
James stepped in, checking her pupils with a small light. “Her reflexes are slower.”
Tristan cursed softly. They had checked and scanned everything and found nothing.
Noah’s grip on Ruth’s hand tightened. “We’re still going,” he said before anyone could argue.
No one objected. Because they all knew staying was worse.
The room emptied after that. Brad left to finalize security measures. Alex and Evan took care of the last of the paperwork. Paul triple-checked every supply in the duffel.
But Noah didn’t move. He stayed exactly where he was—next to Ruth, his fingers still wrapped around hers.
She shifted slightly, her blind eyes searching. “Are you still here?”
“Always,” he said quietly.
She sighed, her body relaxing. She trusted him. Even now. Even like this.
Noah swallowed past the lump in his throat. They had a long road ahead of them. But for now, he just held on to her.