Chapter 53
Chapter Fifty-Three
Atlas
As I pull into an old blue house, I take in the quaint yellow shutters and front door. This is where Bea lives? There’s no way that evil bitch has a place like this. Shoving the car into park, I rush out, nearly slipping on the snow-covered ground.
There’s a solid two to three inches out here, and I almost wrecked three times on the way over. Sirens wail in the distance, but I’ll be damned if I’m waiting for them.
“Atlas, be careful!” Rhett shouts behind me. I don’t stop to see if he’s following. I don’t know if it’s only Bea now, but it’s a chance I have to take. I left the knife at Seth’s workshop, but I’ll figure it out.
When I climb onto the porch, I notice the house is quiet, except for a TV playing in the living room.
Looking through the windows, I don’t see anyone and take it as my chance.
When I try the doorknob, I find it locked.
Fuck it. Pulling my booted foot up, I slam it into the entryway, and it caves in.
Swinging the door open, I scream Cora’s name but get no answer.
“Come on, pretty girl. Where are you? I know you’re here. I can feel it.”
Rhett comes into the house behind me and looks around the room. “Go check upstairs,” I instruct. Nodding, he starts to leave. “But be careful,” I add. “We don’t know who else is here.”
Turning, I head into the kitchen and see a box sitting on the table. It reminds me of those old cigar holders, and when I grab it, I notice there are bullets in it but no gun. Fuck.
“Cora!” I scream again, racing through the kitchen toward the back door, then stop. The door next to the pantry is partially open, leading down to a basement.
Grabbing a knife from the block, I slowly make my way down the stairs. My heart stops beating in my chest when I get halfway down. Cora is lying on the floor, blood pooling around her, with who I’m assuming is her grandmother to the side. The stench of copper fills my nose, and I rush to her.
“Cora! Firefly. Baby.” I cradle her in my arms. The relief I have in finding her is dimmed by the large bump I feel at the base of her skull.
Pulling my hand away, the blood that coats it fills me with fear and dread so heavy it’s crushing.
She doesn’t seem to be breathing. “Cora!” I beg.
“Come on, baby. Don’t give up.” Holding her tighter, I hear the rattle of a chain and nearly come out of my skin.
They fucking chained her up like an animal?
I look out the window across the room and see the blue-and-red lights. “Down here!” I scream. “Help!”
Rhett’s body comes into view as he runs down the stairs. “Oh my God, Atlas.” He takes in my form, clutching Cora’s bloody body to mine. “What the fuck?” he shouts, tugging at his hair.
Looking behind me, he notices Bea’s body for the first time. “Is she dead? Whose blood is that?”
Shaking my head, I can’t answer. I know some of it is Cora’s, but I don’t know how much. There’s pools of sticky red liquid all around. When we hear footsteps above us, Rhett runs back upstairs. “We need help down here! Fucking now!” he shouts.
Holding Cora in my arms, I look down at her face and plead with her to open her eyes.
“Come on, baby. Show me those pretty blues. The ones our kids will have one day.” I gently kiss her forehead and cheeks.
“A little girl with your eyes and brown hair, one who’s as beautiful as her mother. One who brings light to my life.”
“Sir, I need you to step away.” A paramedic pulls her from me. There’s blood all over my clothes, but I reluctantly let go as they start to work on her.
“We need cutters,” one of them shouts.
After an eternity, one of the paramedics comes back, and I flinch as they cut the chain by the cuff on her ankle.
Bracing her neck, they rush up the stairs with the love of my life on a stretcher.
Another set of paramedics are looking over Bea, and I see one of them shake their head, but the sense of satisfaction I was hoping for doesn’t come.
I’m glad she’s dead, but that means Cora was the one to take her life.
Turning back to my girl, I follow them back up the stairs and out into the chilly night. The snow is falling in thick blankets as I rush toward the ambulance. I hear a few words they say as they’re loading her in.
“Gunshot to the leg… broken finger… head contusions.”
What did they do to you, baby? The urge to go back and set fire to the house, along with the old bag’s body, overwhelms me, but I stay with Cora. “Sir, you can follow us to the hospital.” As he speaks, he tries to block my view.
Shoving past him, I climb in. “She’s my fiancée. I’m not fucking leaving. Let’s go. Now.” I exchange a look with Rhett. “Follow us but be careful.” He nods just as the doors slam shut, and we set off.
Refusing to take my eyes off her, I pray to the God that abandoned me as a child and beg him not to take her from me. The monitors begin to beep rapidly as the medics work on her body.
“She’s crashing!” one of them shouts, then barks out orders.
Squeezing my eyes shut, my fearful prayers turn to angry ultimatums. Don’t you fucking dare try this. I will destroy this world if something happens to her. I don’t care who I have to maim or hurt along the way.
A steady beeping fills the air, and the paramedics pause their frantic activities as we pull into the hospital.
Raising my eyes to the sky as I get out, I nod. Glad we understand each other.
It feels like it’s been hours since I heard anything.
There’s now at least eight inches of snow outside, but it wouldn’t matter if there were thirty.
I’m not going anywhere. Noah and the Morgans sit across from me.
When they first got here, Mara punched me, and when her dad tried to yell at her, I stopped him. I deserved that.
If she hadn’t heard us, she never would have left, and I’d have been with her. None of this would have happened. I could have protected her. Shaking my head in disgust, I take a small bit of comfort that Noah sits in the chair next to mine.
“Cora’s going to be okay, right, Atlas?” he asks in a small voice. “What happens if she’s not?”
“Don’t think like that.” I pull him closer into my side. The nurses took my clothes for the police and gave me some scrubs to wear. I’m grateful because I didn’t want Noah to freak out when he saw me.
“Cora loves you, Noah. She’s not going anywhere.
She’ll be up and about in no time.” When he first got here, we decided to tell him Cora had been in a car accident.
How do you tell a child their grandmother kidnapped and tried to murder their sister?
I wish I could kill that woman slowly and painfully, but Cora did it in self-defense. She didn’t get to suffer enough.
The only time I’ve stepped away was when I had to talk to the police.
Mr. Morgan stood with me as I answered their questions about my relationship with Cora and what I knew.
I told them a condensed version of what I learned.
That Cora had been missing and was estranged from her parents’ families. I was her family now.
“I’m scared, Atlas,” Noah admits. My heart hasn’t felt right since they took her back. I’m fucking terrified that every beat it makes is one that she’s supposed to have. It’s true—my heart only beats for her. I need her to come back to me, for both our sakes.
“I know, buddy, but Cora’s strong. As long as we keep thinking positively, I’m sure we’ll get good news soon,” I say with as much hope as I can manage.
When I see him yawn, I grab my coat, which Rhett brought along with him, and put it over his shoulders.
“Get some sleep, Noah. I’ll wake you when they come out. ”
Noah rests his head against my shoulder, and I tug him close to me. He’s an extension of Cora, and right now, we both need this.
I ignore the glares from Mara and Mila. They can fuck off. The only person I owe an explanation to is Cora, and the moment she wakes up, she will get it. Then, when she’s better, she’ll get one hell of a spanking.
Another hour passes, and I almost jolt Noah awake when I see a doctor come out. “Cora Ashford?” they call and look around. Gently sliding out from beneath Noah, I follow Mr. Morgan. Seth sits with Noah as the rest of us gather around the doctor.
“What is it?” Mr. Morgan asks, his face pale. His usual happy demeanor is completely gone.
“Cora is stable for now. We had to repair the break in her hand and remove a bullet from her leg. It didn’t hit anything vital, but she’s on heavy-duty antibiotics. She also has two fractured ribs and some bruising."
“Good God.” His wife releases a shaky breath. “When can we see her?”
“That’s not all.” He pauses. Shit. Nothing could have prepared me for what he says next.
“She’s in a coma right now, and we’re not sure how long it will be for. She has some significant swelling on her brain, which we had to relieve.” He pauses, looking between us. “Cora’s skull was fractured, and she had a CSF leak.”
“I don’t understand,” Mila interrupts. “What is that?”
“Cora suffered an injury at the base of her skull, and a part of the membrane that protects the brain was torn. We call it a cerebrospinal fluid leak,” he explains. “We had to insert a lumbar drain to drain it out and repair the membrane.”
“Will there be any permanent damage?” Kash questions, his face pale. “How long will the coma last?”
“We don’t know yet,” the doctor admits. “She’s young and healthy, so we’re remaining optimistic. We’re moving her to a room, and then you can visit, but only one at a time. She won’t be awake yet. Cora needs as much rest as possible right now.”
The doctor talks to Mr. Morgan for a few minutes longer, but my eyes swing to the doors past him. I need to see her. I need to see with my own eyes that she’s alive. Looking back at Noah, I see he’s now awake beside Seth. Walking over, I crouch down.
“She’s okay, Noah.”
“Can I see her?” he asks, eyes lighting up.
“No, not yet.”