25. Chapter Twenty-Three
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
GENE
G ene stretched as he pulled up to the farm. It had taken a lot longer for them to get the truck working. Three days more than he expected. He had been gone for five days and he didn’t like it.
Sammi hadn’t been replying to the texts he had sent today. He figured he would be able to text her a little while he was away, but he wasn’t able to.
Johnson was too paranoid when Gene started to use his phone too frequently. It sucked, but he understood that being in this line of business came with being a little on edge.
“How was your trip?” Ezekiel asked as he got out of the car.
Gene cracked his neck and shut his door. “Exhausting. He’s a paranoid fuck. We got into several arguments but finally got it figured out in the end.”
He couldn’t wait to get home and snuggle with Sammi, to find out how moving in with her brother had gone while he was away.
“Of course.” Ezekiel chuckled. “Didn’t expect anything less when he said he would only do the deal if you went.”
Gene sighed and nodded. He really needed to get the others to trust Ezekiel so he didn’t have to go on business trips. It wasn’t often, but whenever it happened it was inopportune times.
“Did Sammi come by at all?” he asked, leaning against his truck.
“Nope, not at all,” he replied.
Gene nodded. “Good.”
He was hoping she had moved into her brother’s house in one day and had taken the other days to rest, but he wouldn’t be sure until he talked to her.
“Johnson is going to buy a new truck so it won’t break down so easily. Truck was probably over forty years old,” Gene scoffed.
No wonder it had broken down. Thankfully, the couple of parts it needed hadn’t cost much. To fully fix the truck and make it run well have cost more than it was worth.
“Good. Production going smoothly now?”
He gave a thumbs up. “Yeah, two days more, and we would have been behind.”
This couldn’t happen again. Not when they had paying clients, specifically Deccan, for this stuff. Gene didn’t want to disappoint.
“I’m going to pick up Sammi and go home. I’ll do what I need to next week,” Gene pushed himself off his truck.
“Have a good one!” Ezekiel called as he got into the truck.
It didn’t take long for him to get to Sammi’s parents’ house where her brother now lived. It was just down the road from the farm. Gene pulled into the driveway and walked up to the front door, ringing the doorbell and waiting.
“Yes?” Her man Gene presumed was Sammi’s brother opened the door and looked confused . “Sorry, dude but I don’t need to buy anything.”
“Is Sammi here, your sister?” he asked.
Her brother’s eyebrows furrowed. “What do you need with my sister?”
“I’m dating her. Is she here? Last week, she told me she was moving in with so she could sell hers.”
His eyes went wide. “Did she say anything else?”
It was Gene’s turn to look shocked now. Why was he concerned?
“No, she didn’t. Just said she was helping you with something and needed to move in. So, is she in here?”
Her brother relaxed, and he shook his head. “No, I haven’t seen her for five days. She was supposed to move in, but she never came. Tried contacting her, but she hasn’t responded.”
“What do you mean she hasn’t responded?” Gene crossed his arms.
“Exactly what I said. I’ve tried calling and texting her, but she hasn’t responded. Didn’t know what happened; maybe she left town. She promised she wouldn’t, but with everything going on, I wouldn’t be surprised if she did.” He shrugged.
Sammi wouldn’t just get up and leave. Not when he was her Daddy, and they had a connection. It wasn’t like her to do something so flighty.
“Do you know where she could have gone?” Gene asked.
“No, and right now, I don’t really care. I need to work things out since Sammi’s left me in a pickle. I’ve got to go.” Her brother attempted to close the door but Gene placed his foot in the way.
“What else do you know? Did she say anything to you before?” Gene asked.
Something was off. The way her brother looked around as they spoke didn’t sit well with him.
“Did Deccan send you to find out where both of us were?” His eyes went wide. “Shit. Just tell him I’ll get his money soon.”
Gene’s eyebrows went up as he stared at her brother. He kicked his foot out of the way and slammed the door. What was going on? Why did he think Deccan senthim?
After pulling up Ezekiel’s contact on his phone, Gene called him.
“What’s up, boss? Car break down?”
“You said Sammi didn’t come to work at all while I was gone?” Gene got straight to the point.
Worry flooded him as he thought about every possibility. Where was she? Why wasn’t she answering her phone?Had Deccan done something?
“Yeah, promise. What’s wrong?”
“She didn’t move into her brother’s house. She hasn’t answered him in five days,” he explained while walking to his car.“Her brother mentioned something about Deccan. I’ll head there before going to the hospital.”
But his mind wouldn’t leave her possibly being in the hospital. What if she had struggled with her diabetes and she was unwell? What if she didn’t hear her phone go off? He had caught her putting her phone on silent a couple of times so she could ignore it telling her about her blood sugar.
He made sure she knew she couldn’t do that again.
“If you see her, let me know.”Gene told his friend.
Gene hoped and prayed she wasn’t Mercy Hospital and had nothing to do with Deccan.He knew he shouldn’t have left her alone. He had a bad feeling, one that got worse when he realized he wouldn’t be able to speak with her. But she hadn’t messaged him once. Why hadn’t she?
“Did she contact you at all?” Gene asked as he started to drive.
It was a long shot since she hadn’t reached out to him or her brother. What was going on?
“No, she didn’t. I meant to go check on her yesterday but several of the animals got out and everybody was rushing around to get them back into their field,” Ezekiel explained. “Do you need me to do anything? Get anything or meet you there?”
“Not yet. I don’t know if she’s there. I’m going to meet with Deccan first. I’ll keep you posted,” Gene replied before hanging up. He needed to focus on getting to Deccan first and then the hospital as fast as he could. Ezekiel would understand why he hadn’t stayed on the phone.
Pulling up to the front of the club house, he got out of his car and stormed in.
“Deccan!” he yelled, heading straight towards his office.
Everyone looked at him as he stormed over but he didn’t care. Bursting into Deccan’s office, he sees him relaxed in his chair, looking directly at him.
“What the fuck are you doing with my girl?” Gene yelled, slamming the door behind him.
He walked up right in front of Deccan, grabbing him by his collar.
“What are you doing with my girl? I won’t ask again,” he glared at him.
“Pres?” Xavier asked.
Deccan held up his hand. “Who’s your girl?” he calmly asked.
“Sammi you fucker. What are you doing with her?” he growled.
Deccan’s eyes went wide. “Shit.”
“Not an answer!” he bellowed. “Tell me right now!”
“Her brother owes me money! He brought her into this. If I knew she was your girl I wouldn’t have accepted anything,” Deccan pushed Gene’s hands off of him.
“Fuck,” he mumbled. “How much does he owe you?”
Deccan gave him a deadpan. “You know I don’t discuss that.”
“You did with one of my employees,” Gene pointed out.
“Sammi’s brother is not your employee.”
“But she’s my girl!” he slammed his fist against the wall. “My fucking girl who you are taking money from.”
“Ask him or her but I won’t say,” Deccan crossed his arms.
He shook his head and stormed out of the office and straight to his car. He needed to find Sammi and fast.
* * *
Gene pulled into the parking lot, park in a space, and got out to run to the front door. He had no idea where Sammi might be, if she was here at all. So many things could have happened, she could been anywhere.
Pushing through the door, his eyes narrowed on the person sitting behind the front desk.
“Sammi Franklyn Is she in here?” Gene asked as he got to her, not wasting a second for pleasantries.
“Sir,” the receptionist answered. “What can I do for you?”
He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Sammi Frankie. Is she in the hospital anywhere? She has diabetes.”
“Sir, I can’t give out any information if she is one of our patients unless you’re family. I don’t know whether she is, but I can’t look unless you’re a relative,” she explained.
That didn’t sit well with Gene. She looked at him uninterested and with a little annoyance. He wasn’t normally a violent man, but when it came to the people he loved, especially Sammi, he would do anything. He would destroy anyone in his path if he had to. No one was going to get in the way of him and his girl, no matter how hard they tried.
Gene leaned forward. “I don’t give a fuck. Sammi is my fiancée. Now, look in your fucking systems to see if she is in the hospital, or you’ll regret it,” he lowly said.
The middle-aged woman looked at him wide-eyed, her face pale. “Y-you can’t thre-threaten me!”
He chuckled as he stared at her. She looked terrified. “I didn’t threaten you. It was a promise. Now look or I am going to get Deccan and the Springfield Sinners here. They won’t be as merciful as I would be. So, look on the computer and tell me where the fuck she is,” Gene growled.
The receptionist nodded and started to type as he glared at her. Did he feel a little guilty about scaring her? Maybe in a couple of hours, when he figured out where Sammi was and he had calmed down, but right now, he didn’t care. His top priority was finding Sammi.
Until he found her, he was going to go through anybody he had to. He would make enemies to find Sammi right now; he would deal with the consequences later.
“She’s in room five hundred and two.” The receptionist looked up at him. “But Sir, you can’t go back there. Only family can.”
Gene growled again, not liking her telling him what to do. “I’m her fucking fiancé, which makes me family.”
“According to her belongings when she was admitted, she wasn’t wearing any engagement ring.” The damn woman actually looked smug.
It took everything in him not to reach across and grab her collar.
“You fucking idiot,” he snapped, not caring whether people were looking. “You call your manager and have them meet me in my girl’s room. If you don’t, I will personally make your life a living hell.”
Her eyes somehow widened even more as she nodded. He could get into so much trouble, though he didn’t have it in himself to bothered about anyone but Sammi.
“If you try to stop me, you’ll regret it,” he said, not giving her a chance to reply before he rushed off toward the elevators.
When Gene stepped into the elevator, anger bubbled inside of him as he thought about the interaction. Who was she to tell him that he wasn’t Sammi’s fiancé? Sure, it was a lie, but they didn’t know that. Not having a ring didn’t prove that she wasn’t engaged. A lot of people didn’t wear rings.
He took several deep breaths as he walked out of the elevator and searched for her room. He didn’t like how little security there was in this hallway. Nurses were walking up and down, but anybody could slip into a room. There were a few cameras; not enough in Gene’s opinion.
Gene had just got to the room when a nurse walked out, her eyes going wide.
“What’s wrong with Sammi?” he asked, not letting the nurse pass him.
“Who are you in relation to her?” The nurse stood her ground, not letting Gene in.
He couldn’t see Sammi from where he was standing. Was she in there? Was she all right? He would have asked the person downstairs, but she was giving him attitude after he threatened her. He didn’t trust her either. She could have said that Sammi was almost dead.
“I’m her fiancé,” he calmly said.
The nurse nodded and walked back into the room. He followed after her. He found Sammi lying on the bed, her eyes closed and looking extremely pale.
Is she dead? He pushed that thought out of her head as he realized she would be in the morgue and not in the hospital room if she were dead. There were machines hooked up to her and a steady beeping sound that he assumed was her heartbeat.
“What’s wrong with her?” Gene asked once again, almost whispering this time, looking over at the nurse.
He found himself walking over to the side of the bed, grabbing her hand and gently kissing it.
Cold, so cold .
“I think we should wait for the doctor to come so he can tell you everything,” the nurse softly spoke.
Gene shook his head. “That could take hours. Tell me what’s wrong with her,” he demanded in a quiet tone.
He didn’t want to make enemies with the nurse taking care of Sammi, but he needed to know. His mind was going to be spiraling with worry until the doctor came. He couldn’t wait that long. Not when he knew the nurse knew what was wrong with her.
“Somebody saw her passed out on the street, and they called nine-one-one. She fell into a diabetic coma after not having enough insulin in her body. She’s currently out of the woods, but we’re monitoring her. She woke up for the first time yesterday, and the pain medicine we gave her has knocked her out,” the nurse gently explained.
“Pain medicine for what?” Gene asked. “How long has she been here? Has she said anything? Has she asked for anybody?”
He hoped Sammi had asked for him, but knowing her, she probably didn’t want to bother him. He should have never left. He knew it was dangerous to leave her on her own. He should have found somebody to help her with her diabetes while he was gone.
“Pain medicine because she hit her head when she fell. She’s got a concussion, and it’s been hurting. She’s been here for five days,” the nurse informed him as she typed on the computer.
“You said she woke up yesterday. Has she asked for anybody or said anything?” he asked again when she didn’t answer him the first time.
“She’s been groggy and hasn’t spoken much,” the nurse finally responded.
“Who was her emergency contact? Was anybody called?” He fired off the questions.
“I don’t know, Sir. But from the little I heard from the paramedics, the person who called them knew her. Maybe they was her emergency contact?” She queried. “I’ve got to go do my rounds. If you need anything, I’ll be back soon. If anything concerning happens, press this button and I’ll try and come. If it’s not me, it will be another nurse.”
“Thank you for answering my questions,” Gene said as she walked out of the room.
He looked at Sammi who lay perfectly still on the bed. What could have happened to her? How did she let it get so bad? Did she attempt to do anything about her health?
She had to. He knew she wasn’t comfortable with her diabetes, but that didn’t mean she would just let it go untreated. So then, what could have possibly happened?
Gene kissed her hand. “Everything is going to be okay now, baby. Daddy is here.”