And then, I saw it. My salvation.
A semi-truck. The bad guys wouldn’t be driving that. I hesitated, trying to decide if I should bring the gun out with me. I had nowhere to hide it. And if this person didn’t stop because they saw me with a gun, I could have just fucked up my one shot at escape. So I tossed it and raced out of the woods, holding my chains and shouting as loud as possible, trying to get to the road before the semi passed by.
I made it. And I stood there, waving my chained hands and screaming as the semi drove past.
“No!” I shouted, turning, feeling the rush of air as it sped past. “No! Stop!”
By the grace of God, I saw its brake lights flash, and its breaks squealed a second later. I raced around the back of it, running to the driver’s side, leaving new bloody footprints in my wake. The driver jumped out of the cab. I stopped. And drew in air as he stared at me with wide eyes.
He wasn’t a predator. I knew what predators moved like now. No. This was a normal human being seeing a naked, pregnant woman with blood all over her. A busted face with only one good working eye and shackled.
“Please. Help me,” I cried, walking toward him.
“Good Lord above, ma’am,” he stated, taking his ball cap off and running his hands through his hair. He shoved his cap back on his head crookedly. “How badly are you hurt? Do I need to call for an ambulance?”
“Hospital. Just take me to the hospital.” One far, far away from here.
He nodded, surveying me again before leaning into his truck and pulling out a blanket. He began walking toward me, and I couldn’t help my flinch as his long legs ate up the area between us too quickly. He stopped, and said gently, “I’m not going to hurt you.” He started moving again, and I made myself stay still. “Here. Let’s get you covered up.”
He put the blanket around me gently but stopped when his hand brushed my shoulder. He cleared his throat, and said, “I’m going to feel your forehead. Don’t be scared.” He rested the blanket over my shoulder, placing his hand on my forehead and sucked in a breath. “You’re burning up.” He pulled the blanket closed, and stated, “I’m going to lift you into the cab. You won’t be able to get in with those chains on you.”
I stilled but slowly nodded. Yes, I needed a fucking hospital. A fever couldn’t be healthy for the babies. “Okay. Please, just get me to a hospital. But one far away from here. Don’t go to the closest one.”
His lips thinned, and suddenly, his eyebrows snapped together under his cap. His head snapped around in all directions before resting on my face. “Let’s get you out of here.” He picked me up too quickly, but I kept still and quiet as he put me in his cab.
Once we were moving, he kept glancing at me. I could feel it. And it unnerved me, and I fumbled for the window controls, trying to let some fresh air in. The woods had terrified me, but being couped back up frightened me even more. Once the window was down, I rested my hot head against the doorframe and let the wind cool my sweating flesh.
“I’m not going to hurt you. I promise. You can rest,” the man stated.
And, yes, I knew he wouldn’t, even though he kept staring at me. I knew evil now. And he wasn’t evil. But he wasn’t to be completely trusted. So I kept silent and closed my eyes, making sure not to fall asleep even though I was dead tired.
The truck driver carried me into the third hospital we passed. I had no clue what town we were in, but he had done exactly as I had asked. Almost immediately, I was taken in for surgery…but only after I had made them do a sonogram. And I saw all my babies were fine.
Then, they told me they were putting me under a local anesthetic, and I had no memory of them taking off my chains or re-breaking my arm and fixing it correctly since it was crooked.
I woke to beeping sounds. There was a doctor standing by the bed, the same one who had talked to me before surgery, and he was watching my face. The same as the truck driver, who had apparently stayed. No one else was in the room, and the door was shut.
I stared at it, and my lungs seized. “Please open the door!” It came out a croak, and my throat was sore as hell, but I couldn’t stay in this room with it shut. I tried to move my hands and get out of bed, but my left arm was in a cast, and my hands and wrists had been wrapped in gauze. But I didn’t feel as hot as I had before.
The doctor leaned forward, pushing me back on the bed, stating, “First, I need to ask you a question before I open that door. Our conversation needs to be private.”
I sucked in oxygen, and stared at the closed door, feeling tears spring to my eyes. “Fine.”
Hurry the fuck up!
The doctor leaned away from the bed and nodded his dark head toward the truck driver. “This gentleman says that he found you on the side of the road.” He cleared his throat, and said quietly, “Your fingers are too cut up to do a finger print on, but this gentleman believes you’re Elizabeth Forter, the woman who disappeared two months ago. Are you that woman?”
I tried to keep from freaking out, but I felt my eyes flick to the driver. “How would he know who Elizabeth Forter is?” God, he wasn’t a bad guy. I knew I wasn’t wrong about that. At least, I didn’t think so.
The doctor said softly, “Elizabeth Forter’s picture has been flashed all over the news for the past two months while everyone has been searching for her.” He glanced at my head, his eyebrows rising. “Your hair is the same color. Although, it’s only an inch long so I can’t tell if it’s curled. And the one eye that’s not swollen shut is green like hers.” He stared into that one said eye. “Are you Elizabeth Forter?”
My lips pinched even further, and I glanced around for something to protect myself with, squinting with my good eye. “What would you do if I was?”
He sucked in a breath, watching me. “I would call the authorities and let them know you’ve been found.”
I shook my head. “Wrong answer. You would give me a fucking phone,” since I couldn’t see one around here anywhere, “and let me call Lion Security.” I didn’t trust the damn authorities right now. And sadly, I didn’t know Daniil’s phone number off the top of my head, and I was positive it wasn’t listed anywhere unlike Lion Securities. I had programmed it into my phone before he had broken it, and after that, I had used the bodyguards’ phones. My heart clenched for a moment, but I pushed it back, along with the memories of Trofim. Right now, I needed to focus.
Both men stilled, and their eyes widened even more, but the doctor wasn’t one to be shaken too badly. He pulled a cell phone out of his pocket, and asked, “Number?”
