Chapter 35 It All Burned Down #2
As Johnny began to close her up, the doctor took off his lab coat and rolled up his sleeve.
A nurse prepared the inside of his elbow for the blood, and I wondered what the fuck his angle was.
This doctor was good at his job, and we’d managed to maintain a civil relationship through the years.
There had been things I’d allowed him to get away with because I owed him.
But there was no doubt in my mind he was a straight up psychopath.
“You’re not going to be able to move her, not with such a fresh deep wound,” he warned me, but I only glared at him, not believing a word he was saying.
He was attempting to read my mind, find out what I was up to.
The smell of smoke started filling my nose as his blood filled the line, traveling into her arm.
Not long after, the pulse detector began to beep consistently again.
“Can these three leave at least? It’s a bit crowded here and the fire alarm is going off. It will just be you and me. No one has to get hurt. You know I’ll make sure she’s fine.” Our gazes locked. He was negotiating with me, again, and it was so fucking annoying.
I let go of the nurse the minute I saw her moving. “Free her from the zip ties.” He had to go around the other side to grab a pair of scissors, then returned to cut it.
Her lower lip slipped up over the top, making her look like a sad little girl. I pushed her hair back. “Shhh… It’s okay. You did good, Little One.” Her eyes opened a little before she lost consciousness again.
“Little One,” I called, my voice holding panic.
“My Little One, you can’t die.” Although just a few hours ago I’d had no hope for the future, I had to give her some.
“You need to live, my love,” I whispered into her ear and kissed her cheek.
“You’re so young.” I kissed her eyebrow.
“Today hurts, but maybe tomorrow will be the best day of your life. Maybe in a few months we will all be finally free. Please Little One. Please... You’re the only good thing in my life. ”
“Killian...” she whispered.
“No, Little One. No. Don’t go to him. Stay here with me, for me. I promise I’ll fix it. I’ll make everything right. I promise. I’ll do everything to free you. I’ll give my life. They won’t hurt you again.”
One of the two nurses that remained dared to speak. “Sir—”
“Finish your fucking job, or I will brow your mother fucking brains out!” I threatened through my teeth.
“She’s okay. She’s just too weak,” Dr. Avery said, bringing the calm to the room.
“How much longer?” I asked him.
“Usually, these things take up to four hours.”
The last nurse had just exited the room. “Dr. Avery… I need your help. It’s obvious I need your fucking help. Help me!”
He was attempting to hide a cocky smile, one that pulled at the corner of his eyes and mouth but was very subtle. “What do you need from me, kid?”
“Help me save her. I need to get her away from here.”
“Fine…” He kept arranging things. “Aww young love. So delicious, isn’t it?” he joked as he adjusted so whatever was in the saline bag would drip quicker. “Listen. If I don’t give her an hour’s worth, she won’t even last thirty minutes.”
I didn’t wake her as the time passed at a snail’s pace and Dr. Avery’s blood filled the line.
She needed the rest. I gawked at the clock, counting every second and minute while he stared at me in complete silence.
The smoke was seeping under the doors. The walls moaned and crackled, and the ground swayed just a bit.
I was leaning over the railing of the bed, still raking my fingers through her hair.
“Sir! Tristan!” Ben’s voice yelled.
“I’m here.”
“What are you doing? The other side of the building just collapsed! All the girls are running away!”
“I don’t give a fuck. That’s why we have trackers on them anyway!”
Ben had a huge black backpack hanging from his shoulders. Usually, we weren’t supposed to take any equipment out of the building, but I guessed the fire would be an exception. I looked at Dr. Avery, who was still sitting there with the same expression. “Fifteen more minutes.”
We both gawked at him, wondering why the fuck he was so calm as everything began to vibrate.
“The fucking building is not stable!” Ben yelled again.
“Fourteen minutes,” announced the doctor.
“Ben, go! Leave!”
“No. I know this building, and I just saw where this fire is blaring. We don’t have time for this, Sir!”
“Thirteen minutes.”
The sprinklers began spraying water, wetting everything. “Twelve minutes,” Dr. Avery announced.
I gave it until the ten-minute mark before yelling, “Let’s go!”
Dr. Avery pulled the needle out of himself and then out of her.
It was good she was still so out of it, so she wouldn’t be able to feel the pain.
“Follow me!” Ben yelled.
Dr. Avery was in front of me as we ran down the hall then the stairs to the tunnel Ben had just shown me that morning. Somehow, even with her in my arms, it all happened much quicker than in the morning. Perhaps he’d taken a different way.
“Where are we?” Dr. Avery asked when we finally got outside. I turned around to the building right before another section of it collapsed. A giant cloud of gray smoke rose with the flames and ash exploded out of the cloud and building.
“Gentlemen. Good luck,” Dr. Avery stated, and nodded once before walking away. It was in harsh contrast to the sight in the distance, where several girls were still running away from the building into the forest at full speed.
“I fucking owe you, man,” I said to Ben.
He took off the bag. “Come. You’re gonna need this.”
“Did you have a chance to—”
My eyes stayed locked on his. I still had not put her down on the grass to take the bag when he began explaining, “Sir. DiSantos is the Italian last name of John Waters. The candidate for the United States presidency. Jay Waters as in Jay DiSantos is his uncle.”
“All the information is there but…” He paused.
“It’s one thing to expose that a bunch of politicians and one side of the Royal Family of Monaco was into this but quite another to expose the family of the leading candidate for POTUS who is also an old Mafia family.
Do you understand? You can't do this, Sir.”
“I don’t give a flying fuck,” I yelled as I bent down to place her on the grass.
“There’s something else. Which might be the part that saves your ass. His daughter was here.”
“What do you mean?”
“Something didn’t look right. He was shot last year and since then we’ve had his daughter here.”
“Who?”
“I printed it for you. Slave number F-one-five-one-six-seven-eight-three-one, Scarlett Waters.”
“I’ve never seen that name or number. But I guess if you’re kidnapping the daughter of a presidential candidate.”
Guns were fired, making several girls scream in the distance. We both looked toward where the gunshots were coming from then looked at each other again.
“It wasn’t logged in. Call me when you get her to safety.”
We patted each other's backs. “And the Lords?”
“They were locked into the auditorium. Not sure what happened but it’s not like I tried hard.”
“And Master?”
He shook his head. “I have no idea. Everything was empty so I'm guessing everyone else is in that auditorium. But I don't know. ”
I’d explored the area before. If I continued deeper into the forest, I’d eventually reach a path that led to the Hudson River, and that would take us south of here, if we could survive the rapids and cold temperature.
So, I picked her up and ran. I was grateful for the adrenaline because despite all my wounds, I hardly felt anything.
Until I fell at a landing of rocks, that is.
She rolled off my arms down the rough cliff, groaning when her body finally stopped at the bottom.
I had to crawl most of it, then picked her up.
My speed slowed from there and nothing was clear in my head. Why was I running? She had a tracer now, so it wasn’t like they couldn’t track her. I wondered if Dr. Avery knew a way. If anyone did, he did. I’d have to contact him soon. With the blood and everything, there hadn’t been any time.
By the time I lost a hold of her on the second rocky incline, I was gasping for air.
She gasped, struggling to breathe right with the pain.
“Come on. I need to get you as far away from here as possible. Maybe because they had you down for a harvest, they won’t look for you.
But I don’t know if he erased your tracker.
Fuck!” I explained, but it was me who was struggling to start running again.
I could only walk. Only the sound of the river rapids lifted my spirits enough for me to get there.
She scanned the world around her, so pale and half naked, with just the hospital blanket.
Then I saw it. She was bleeding, but it was to be expected with the procedures she’d just been through.
If Adler wasn’t already dead, I was going to kill him myself.
What the fuck had he been thinking? Had he been in on Lansbury’s slave killing spree?
I was sure he had. That sick fuck. That’s when I saw it.
The blood was leaking worse than I’d thought.
“Fuck! You’re bleeding bad! Goddammit!” I yelled, and walked in circles, trying to catch my breath and gather my calm and thoughts, not caring that my dick was scalding hot and throbbing, making me sweat.
“Sir. It-it’s okay.”
“No, it’s fucking not! You are not gonna die on me today! Do you hear me? I fucking forbid it! Don’t you dare!”
A weak smile widened her dried lips. I took her bloody hand in mine. This can’t be happening. It just can’t.
“As much as I’d love to obey that command, I don’t think I can … I-it’s okay.” She nodded. “I forgive you.”
My mouth fell open. She was dying on me? She was going to give up? Forgive me? What the fuck? The Magdalena I knew was unabashedly unforgiving. What the fuck? What did they do to her? Who was this? My tears fell to the ground.
“Shut the fuck up, Magdalena. No, you fucking don’t. Fuck you for saying that. Fuck you and your forgiveness. You’re not dying on me. Do you hear me? Stay with me.” Her eyes looked up at a bird that was screeching at us.
“I do. I forgive you. I know you tried. I know …”
The pain stabbed so deep it stole my breath. The world rolled as I closed my eyes tight, wincing. Something was truly not okay.
“Here, sit up. If we’re going to die, we’re gonna die trying.
And you can forgive me in fucking hell.” I yanked her, feeling possessive.
The force pulled a shriek out of her that echoed through the forest. I hung the big black backpack on her shoulders.
I was so grateful Ben had gone to my office despite everything.
In that bag, I had a bunch of money I’d cleaned.
Enough for her to buy a house somewhere and live a decent life, but also a bunch of USBs with information on the trafficking ring—not all the names but a lot of them.
“Wh-what are you doing?” she whispered.
“We’re gonna jump, but if for some reason I don’t make it and you do, don’t you dare let anyone take this bag, do you understand me?” I yelled the last four words.
She nodded. “Sir. Wait—What do you mean? Jump?”
“Can you stand?”
“Probably not on my own.”
I helped her, and we held on to each other.
“Don’t let go, Little One.” We stared into each other’s eyes.
I cupped her cheek, wanting to tell her I cared about her more than I’d ever cared about anyone, and I didn’t understand why, but it was something I thought death would not cure.
“Did you hear what I said? Don’t ever let me go.
” Stay with me, Little One. Please stay with me.
As we stepped to the edge, I was hoping the frigid water would help slow down her bleeding and that the current would get us at least four cities away from here.
“Wait. Water. I-I can’t. I’m gonna drown again.
No!” I heard the panic in her voice. Of course, they’d almost killed her by drowning her when she got here, so it was not surprising my little one had a fear of drowning.
I pulled her over the edge with me. The cold water was a shock that tensed my body.
I struggled to get used to the temperature, but also, the water was moving so fast. Submerged, I could see nothing, only feel her.
In wanting to know if she was okay, I squeezed her hand.
Relief filled me when she squeezed back, but then dizziness and exhaustion took over.
With everything we’d been through, it wasn’t surprising.
What were those dark spots in the water?
Everything went black.