Drew was anxious to get back to the hospital. He had an uneasy feeling about all of this. When Ryan and he got to Jenna’s house to grab the bag, he called a locksmith. They were waiting in Jenna’s kitchen for the guy to show up, but instead, the police did. They had received a report of a break-in at Jenna’s house. After answering the many questions that the officer asked, Drew got fed up.
“You’re wasting our time. Just call Officer Peterson, he can verify our story,” Drew barked. About fifteen minutes later, Officer Peterson showed up and talked to the officers who were detaining them. It felt like an eternity had passed. Ryan seemed just as anxious to get back to the hospital. He kept checking his cell phone. It was vibrating like crazy, but he just kept sending the calls to voicemail. “Someone’s anxious to talk to you,” Drew cocked an eyebrow, questioning his brother.
“Just work, it can wait,” Ryan growled. “Right now, we need to get back to the hospital.” Drew agreed, and they jumped into Ryan’s truck. “Fuck,” Ryan swore, “that took way too much time.I just hope that Jenna and Karlie are all right.” Drew nodded, too pissed to talk. He just needed to get back to Karlie. He hadn’t been away from her in over a month, and he was worried that they were all playing into Jake’s hands. Why would Jake beat up Mrs. Angel? Jake wanted them to come back, and Drew was afraid that they would give him exactly what he wanted by leaving Jenna and Karlie alone.
“I have a bad feeling about this,” Drew growled. “It just seems to be too much of a coincidence that the police showed up at Jenna’s house while we were there. It was almost like someone was waiting for us, watching us.” Ryan grunted his agreement, speeding up to get them to the hospital faster. When Mr. Angel met them at the entrance of the hospital, Drew knew that something was wrong. The hairs on his arms stood up. “Where’s Karlie?” Drew questioned.
Mr. Angel frowned, “She’s missing. We don’t know where she is. She was with Jenna, but then she was going to grab a bite to eat. Jenna said she looked like she needed a break, and she knew Karlie had to be hungry, so she sent her to the cafeteria.” Drew took off toward the cafeteria in a dead run. He knew that he shouldn’t have left her.
He shouted back to Ryan, “You go to Jenna and keep an eye on her. He’s here, I can feel it. Make sure she’s safe.” Ryan nodded, and the elevator doors closed to take Drew to the second floor. God, if that asshole had Karlie, he’d kill him. What about the baby? Would Jake hurt the baby? Drew couldn’t even think about that. He needed to keep his head together or he’d be no good to either Karlie or their unborn child.
The elevator doors opened, and Drew cautiously stepped out, looking up and down the empty hallway. No one was around, and the lunch rush probably wouldn’t be for another hour. Hefroze when he heard her scream. Karlie sounded terrified. He started running in the direction of her screams, stopping short at the sight of Jake kissing her. Drew ducked out of sight, not wanting to alert Jake to do something stupid. Karlie looked as terrified as she sounded, and he felt helpless. She was begging for Drew to find her. “I’m here, baby,” he whispered to himself. He knew that he had to get Karlie out of there fast or Jake would have his chance to take her. He just couldn’t let that happen. It made him sick to see Jake with his hands on his woman, on his baby, his lips on Karlie’s. Yeah, he’d pay for all of that. Jake started pulling Karlie by the hair toward the elevators. Jake froze when he noticed that one of the elevators was already on their floor.
“When did that fucking elevator car get here?” He was yelling at no one in particular, but taking out his frustrations and anger on Karlie. She was crying and screaming in pain every time Jake pulled her hair. That’s when Drew noticed that Jake didn’t have a weapon. “Big mistake, asshole,” Drew murmured. He knew that it was now or never. If Jake got Karlie on that elevator, they could disappear—forever.
Drew stepped out from the shadows, “Get your fucking hands off of her!” His shout echoed through the empty hallway.
“Drew—help me, please.” Karlie’s scream went straight through him.
“I’m here, baby. You’ll be fine. I won’t let him hurt you anymore,” a promise he meant to keep.
Jake just gave a smug laugh. “You can’t take a hint, can you, Drew? She’s with me now. You two are over—she’s mine.” He bent to kiss Karlie, sealing his lips over hers, and Karlie fought the whole time, struggling against Jake’s hold. She stompeddown, with all her weight, onto Jake’s running shoe and bit his lip. He screamed in pain, losing his grip on Karlie’s hair. Karlie ran toward Drew, who was reaching for her; he pulled her around the corner into the cafeteria. Workers were starting to put food out to open for the lunch rush.
“Baby, go and get help. Call 911- GO!” he shouted.
Karlie didn’t hesitate, just ran to the lunch lady behind the counter, yelling for help. Drew turned and ran back into the hall. He found Jake on the elevator with the doors closing. The asshole had the nerve to smile, waving his fingers at Drew. “No! I’ll get you, asshole, and when I do.” He banged his fists on the closed elevator doors. “I’ll fucking kill you!” he promised. Drew knew that if he let Jake leave the hospital, they would have to watch their backs at every turn. God, what if Jake had a weapon? This whole thing would have ended much differently. Drew called Ryan on his cell, hoping that his brother was still close to the hospital entrance.
“Ryan—he had her.” Drew was running his fingers through his hair, making it stand on end. “He’s on his way up in the elevator. It stopped on the third floor.”
“Does he have Karlie still?” Ryan asked.
“No—she’s safe, thank fuck.” Drew peeked into the cafeteria to find Karlie on the phone, waving her hands around like a crazy person. It made him smile, seeing how animated she was, and relief filled him that she and the baby were okay.
Ryan brought him back to reality, “You there?”
“Yeah, I’m here and I’m thinking that we can’t let that asshole leave here or this will never end,” Drew said.
“I agree, man, I’m in the stairwell and heading to the third floor now.” Ryan was breathing hard, and Drew looked back again at Karlie.
“Let me get Karlie someplace safe, and then I’ll head that way.” Drew ended the call and turned to see Karlie running from the kitchen. What the hell? She was shouting his name, running toward him. What was she running for? He ran into the cafeteria, suddenly feeling like all the air was being knocked from his lungs. His body spun around, and he was gasping for air as he fell to the floor. His hand went to his shoulder—the pain was most intense there. When he pulled his hand away, it was sticky. He looked down and realized he was bleeding. “Fuck,” he hissed.
Jake was standing over Drew, laughing, “Drew, when will you learn that I’m better than you? I’m smarter than you are, I mean, here we are—you shot and lying on the floor and me holding the gun.” Jake was laughing again, seeming pleased with himself. Drew tried to stand; he needed to fight back. He couldn’t let Jake win. He knew that Jake would keep on trying to get to Karlie; nothing would stop him. Drew stood upright just in time to see Karlie standing behind Jake with a frying pan, of all things. Drew’s expression must have given him away because Jake turned, just as Karlie was taking a swing with the pan. She hit Jake on the side of the face. He grunted and took a step back from her, firing the gun at the same time. Karlie fell to the ground, holding her leg.
“No! Karlie, no!” Drew rushed toward Jake and pulled his arm behind his back, dislocating Jake’s shoulder from the force he used. Jake’s hand automatically released the gun, and it fell to the floor. Drew swung Jake around, punching him in the face so hard that Jake hit the floor, out cold.
“Karlie,” Drew yelled, sliding across the floor to where she was lying. “Baby, tell me you’re okay.” He rolled her over, saying a silent prayer.
Karlie moaned, still holding her bloody upper thigh. “He—he shot me.” Her lips were trembling, and she was shaking. “Oh, God—the baby,” she whispered. “Drew is the baby—” Drew was pushed back from Karlie as EMTs rushed into the cafeteria.
“She’s pregnant,” Drew growled. Another EMT noticed Drew’s shoulder wound.
“You’ve been shot, Sir. You need medical attention.” The EMT was trying to shove Drew into a seat, but Drew shrugged him off.
“No—take care of her first. She’s pregnant. She’s my fiancée—help her first!” He was shoving the poor guy toward Karlie, who was lying so still on the floor that he worried she had stopped breathing. God, just let her be okay. His entire world was lying on the floor, bleeding, and he felt like he could hardly breathe.
“Drew.” Ryan shouted, running down the hall. “Man, you’re bleeding, you need help.”
“Not until they help her,” Drew nodded at Karlie, and Ryan saw her for the first time, lying on the floor.
