Reckless Mind (28 page)

Making my way back out to the car I noticed their office sat lengthwise and there was parking and rooms on either side. Running farther over so I could see if there were any bikes parked on that side, I saw it. All the way at the end, in front of the last room, sat a motorcycle with a sidecar.

Running, I took my phone out and called Brandon because he was the closest. “I think I found her man, shitty ass Star Motel way over on the south side. Only one that's had a motorcycle with a side car in the lot.” I was still running and coming up on the door. “I'm going in, just call the cops and get here in case something happens.” I hung up and full out sprinted.

Stopping in front of the door I didn't hear anything, but that wasn't stopping me. I kicked in the door, ripping it off the frame. Then my whole world went red.

Kahlen was spread out on the bed unconscious. Some dirty fucker was kneeling over her bare legs getting ready to move a knife up under her underwear to cut them off her. Her shirt was already cut open, but her bra still on and intact. When the door opened his head snapped up to meet mine, he knew what I was there for, and he tried to quickly move the knife to her throat, but I was faster.

I ran and hit him hard with my shoulder, getting him off her, but keeping me on my feet. He stood, holding the knife out in front of him. “I
'm going to kill you for even looking at her you sick fuck,” I spat his direction.

Maybe he thought the fact that he had a knife would keep me from going after him, maybe he'd just never been in a real fight or fought against someone who was willing to die for another person, or maybe he was just really high, but when I went at him I was able to knock the knife out of his hand right away.

Then it was attack mode. I ran on him and started punching. It didn't matter where I hit him, as long as every single punch was connecting with some part of his body. He was pretty scrappy and got his fair share of hits in to, but then the image of him over Kahlen flashed in my mind and I hit him square in the face. He fell down to his knees and I hit him again, and again.

Falling over to the ground I kept slamming my fists into his face until I thought I'd knocked him out. If I killed him then I would leave Kahlen and go to jail and I couldn't do that, so I left him there for the cops.

I moved to get off my knees and check on her limp frame on the bed, make sure she was still alive and breathing. I should have seen it coming, but I didn't. He sat up so fast, having been close enough to the knife on the floor to grab it, and stabbed me in the stomach. I slammed my fist into his face again, so he only got me once, but that one time was enough.

Blood soaked through my shirt. I made my way over to Kahlen as I tried to keep pressure on the stab wound. Her breathing was fine, she was alive. I leaned down and kissed her softly on her lips. If this didn't turn out well for me, and by the looks of the amount of blood now soaking my hand as well it didn't seem the odds were in my favor, at least I knew she was safe.

I slumped down on the floor, my hand twined with Kahlen's. My vision was blurring and I was getting cold, but I would fight as long as I could. I couldn't leave her without me. I needed to marry her, see how beautiful she was pregnant with my boy, and have our life together. I didn't want her to have that with another man.

She was my forever, I needed to fight to be hers.

Chapter 26

Kahlen

I startled awake to a lot of noise and people moving around me. Shooting straight up in the bed, I realized the majority of my clothes were off me at the same time as I screamed out in pain because I tried to put weight on the hand that was broken. Using my right hand I pulled a pillow over my exposed body.

There were paramedics and police officers moving inside and outside the room. “Ms. Jourdan?” My eyes shifted to a man wearing a police uniform, I nodded to his question. “I'm Officer Ryan, I've been the lead officer on your case since yesterday.” Had I only been in this room not even twenty four hours? It felt much longer than that. “Your boyfriend over there,” he pointed out the door to a stretcher. “He found you in just enough time. We have a Brandon Lucas outside for you, do you want him to come in while you wait?”

“Where is Cole?” The anxiety started to build, and fast. Forgetting my hand again, I went to push off the bed and a loud growl came out from deep in my chest. “Where is he? Why isn't he the one coming in here to wait for me?” I was on my feet now, not caring that I barely had any clothes on, making my way to the door.

Officer Ryan's hand's snaked around my waist as I saw people moving around the stretcher, there were needles, and someone was putting those pads on his chest to shock his heart. All of a sudden I heard someone call out something, and then Cole's chest raised up off the stretcher. There was a tube in his throat, and another EMT was squeezing a big rubber balloon thing to pump air into Cole's lungs. Then his chest rose up again.

“Cole!” I screamed and tore at the hands that held me in the room. “No! Cole, please! Oh god, no, no, no, no,” I was trying to break free, trying to get to him. Tears poured down my face. “Let go of me,” I yelled at the cop. “He needs me, let go of me.”

Sobs took hold of my body now. “Please, Cole. Please don't leave me,” I whispered as different arms, familiar more comforting ones, held me.

“Kahlen, shhhh,” Brandon held me tight and rocked me back and forth. “He's tough and he loves you. He'll pull through.” Under his breath I heard Brandon say, “He has to pull through.” I buried my face into his chest, fisting his shirt, and just cried.

“Why won't they let me go with him?” I didn't understand. They could question me wherever they wanted, why couldn't I just go with him. Then Brandon said what I was too afraid to hear.

“He's flatlining, Kahlen. They need to do what they need to do without you there...they need to save him.”

“No,” it was a tortured sound coming out of me, one I felt to my core. “He can't die, Brandon. I love him, he can't leave me here alone, he wouldn't do that to me.” But maybe it wasn't going to be his choice.

I saw the EMTs put the stretcher in the back of the ambulance and drive away, and I didn't care what I needed to do, I was going to the hospital right fucking then. Maybe not in the ambulance with him, but I was getting there one way or another immediately.

“Take me to the hospital,” I told Brandon.

“Kahlen, you need clothes, you,” he looked down at my basically bare self sitting in his lap, curled up in his arms. “Here, take this,” he gave me his t
-shirt leaving him in a basic guy's tank he had on underneath. “I'm so much taller than you it almost looks like it could be a dress, but at least you are covered right now. Your shorts were cut with a knife, so you can't put those back on.

I nodded as I slipped his shirt on. He also took his shoes off and gave me his socks. My feet were bloody, but I didn't need shoes because he would have to carry me since there was no way I could walk. Just then a new set of EMTs came into the room.

“Kahlen Jourdan?” The girl asked me and I nodded. “Alright, honey, come with us. We are going to take you to the hospital. You have quite a few cuts across your body, though none are life threatening, we still need to take you in and have you examined and cleaned up.”

“She can't walk,” Brandon said. “I'll carry her to the ambulance, but only if I can ride with, otherwise she rides with me in my car and we will meet you at the hospital.” He was very matter of fact, and in that moment any lingering anger I had at him dissipated. The EMT said he could ride with, so Brandon wrapped his arm under my legs and behind my back and stood, taking me to the ambulance.

On the ride there I couldn't think of anything except Cole. I heard Brandon on the phone telling, probably his parents, whoever he talked to what hospital to go to. Then he reached over and held my hand, worry pooled in his eyes as he continued to tell me Cole would pull through.

It seemed like we were at the hospital in no time, and they took me into the emergency room. All hell was breaking loose in there. I heard one nurse yelling code blue as a doctor came running toward that area of the room. “He needs surgery, stat,” the doctor said. “Move him now. Call up there and tell them to prep for a stab wound to the stomach. Dr. Vorhees is the surgeon tonight. Move all of you, now.”

It was Cole, before I ever saw his limp form being moved for surgery, I knew it was him. “He was stabbed?” I whispered. Brandon gave me a quick rundown of what had happened since Cole had come over to their place.

“They got the guy though, right?” He nodded, telling me Cole had knocked him out and the guy was still out when the cops showed up and cuffed him. They had already taken him away before I'd woken up. “And Helen? They get her?”

“What do you mean, Kahlen? He was the only one?” I started shaking my head fast telling Brandon he needed to find Officer Ryan right away. Within minutes the officer came into the room. I told him everything I heard the guy say and what I thought it meant. He called two other cops into the room and told them they needed to get back to the motel, have the door repaired, and wait until someone knocked on that door.

I gave them a description of what she looked like, and then made notes and then left quickly. “We'll get her Kahlen. She won't ever do anything to you or anyone else again. I have undercover men heading to the airport because that's the only way she would've been able to get here in less than twenty four hours. They will tail her to the motel, make her think she really is getting away with it. We also have the man's phone who abducted you, so if anyone calls I can have one of my guys pretend to be him. Everything will play out and she will be arrested, just like he was.”

I nodded, but I'd learned long ago to never believe anything unless you saw it with your own two eyes. I hoped they could catch her, that I would know she was locked away, but nothing was certain until it happened.

Officer Ryan took this time to question me further. I told him what I believed set this whole thing off, that when I got really sick and was in the hospital getting my appendix removed one of the nurses must have seen all the scars and called child services. He told me he was in contact with all those agencies about my case, but that he needed me to tell him what happened before I moved out here.

Brandon moved over and sat next to me on the bed. “You don't have to do this, Kahlen. I'm sure, and don't get mad at Emma for telling me, but I'm sure Dr. Hyland could give them her notes about everything you've told her since you've been seeing her. Emma thought if we called her maybe you had told Sarah something, someone contacting you or anything, you didn't want to worry the rest of us with.”

“It's okay, I'll tell him, but can you stay here with me?” He smiled his crooked smile and took my hand in his as he nodded at me. I told officer Ryan everything, like
everything
, so there was even stuff Brandon was hearing for the first time. Several times he squeezed me hand pretty hard at the things I was saying, I'm not even sure he knew he was doing it. When I was finished Ryan left and the ER doctor came in.

He said my hand was definitely broken, but the cuts I had were minor and no stitches were needed. He told me he needed to ask me some personal questions, pointing at Brandon telling him to leave. I clung to his hand and arm telling the doctor I didn't want him to leave. The doctor started to object, but I told him Brandon was my brother and I didn't want to be left alone.

“If that's how you want it Miss Jourdan.” The way he eyed Brandon and I, I was pretty sure he knew I was lying, but he moved on. “Did the man who abducted you sexually assault you?”

“No.”

“Any type of sexual assault? We only need to know because different tests need to be ran depending.”

“No, none. He hit me, cut me, and broken my hand, but nothing sex related happened.”

“Is there any chance you could be pregnant? We'll put you on an antibiotic just to ensure those cuts don't cause any infection, but if you are pregnant we'll need to be careful about what we put you on.”

“No I'm not, nor is it possible that I'm pregnant.”

“Do you have a professional you can or will speak to after we discharge you?”

“Yes, Dr. Sarah Hyland. Her office is on the campus here in Columbia.”

“Alright, Kahlen. I'm going to send you off to get your cast. Is the pain medicine helping so far with the pain you might be in?” I nodded. “While you are down there they will also clean all the cuts. Then you'll have a CT scan. It looks like you have a concussion, but I want your head checked further for any swelling or cerebral hemorrhaging.” I just nodded again.

“He can come, right?”

“Your
brother
,” I felt like he was using verbal air quotes. “He can go, but he will have to step out of the room when you are having the CT scan done. Otherwise it's whatever you are comfortable with while they are cleaning you up. A decent amount of skin may be showing at certain times, so that is your choice.” He smiled warmly at me and told me he would see me when it was time for him to discharge me.

“Doctor?” I called out almost frantic. “Have you heard anything about him?” He knew exactly who I was asking for, but he just shook his head.

“When we know we'll let you know. The pain medicine helped relax you, but we also gave you some anxiety medication. You should be feeling more calm now, less frantic and stressed like you were when the EMTs first got to you.”