CHAPTER 13
BELLA
Bella didn’t recognize the doctor that had entered Lucas’ room.
He wasn’t one of the doctors that had updated them on his condition.
He must have been a specialist of some sort.
Hoping he could help her to better understand Lucas’ prognosis, Bella stuffed her phone in her pocket and hurried down the hall so she could be present during his examination.
With a list of questions in her head, she pushed through the door and stepped inside. A physician examining his patient was what Bella had expected to find, but what she actually found was a man in doctor’s scrubs, pointing what looked like a forty-five-caliber pistol at her fiancé.
With giant steps, Bella crossed the room, dove over Lucas’ unconscious body, and tackled the armed man. His eyes widened as she slammed into him. She grabbed for the gun, but he snatched it away and used it to slap the side of her head.
Bella hit the floor with a thud. She wanted to nurse the painful injury to her head, but she didn’t have time.
The man had recovered and was pointing the gun at Lucas’ head.
Bella swiveled around like a breakdancer and kicked the gunman’s feet from up under him.
When he hit the floor, Bella climbed on top of him and punched his face.
He was unfazed. The gunman shook it off and swiped her away like a mosquito.
Bella hit the floor again. But before she could recover, the man slammed a hard elbow into her gut and climbed on top of her.
Bella struggled, but it was no use. She’d been overpowered.
The maniacal smirk on the gunman’s face said that he knew it.
Without an ounce of mercy, he slammed his fist to her nose.
Bella’s eyes swelled immediately, nearly swollen completely shut when she saw his fist coming at her again.
The impact of his knuckle’s impact on her face almost sent her into a slumber.
Only her body would relent. It couldn’t.
She couldn’t allow herself to let go. Lucas was in danger.
Bella willed her fist to ball and raised a limp arm.
She tried to strike her attacker, but he caught her wrist and struck another blow to her face.
Warm tears rolled down her face, not because of the pain of cracking bones, but because she had failed.
Bella would easily have died to save the man she loved. Sadly, it seemed she would die in vain.