“If that’s what you want to do.”
“Does that mean you don’t?”
“I don’t know,” I hiss. “I want to know she’s okay just as much as you but what are we accomplishing? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.”
Alex jumps to his feet and looks me straight in the eyes. “Do you love her?” His question causes my heart to race. “Do you love my sister? It’s a very simple question.”
My anger spikes. “I’m here, aren’t I?” I turn and give Alex my back as I try to gain some control over my emotions. I don’t know if I love Isabelle. I think I do...then some days I think I hate her for leaving, but even when those thoughts pop into my head, I know I wouldn’t care that she left if I didn’t love her at least on some level.
“We’ll leave in the morning.” Alex flips the light off and climbs into bed.
All night we toss and turn. I don’t think I slept for more than ten minutes at a time. The next morning, we get up, change our clothing, and are ready to get the hell out of here when we spot a letter shoved under the door. Alex looks over at me for a second before grabbing the envelope and ripping it open.
His eyes flare. “She’s here.” My heart speeds up as I take the letter from him. The only thing on the damn paper is an address.
“This doesn’t prove she’s here.”
“It’s her. I can feel it.” Alex picks up his bag and walks out the door, leaving me to do the same.
Once we’re in his car, he puts the address in his phone and starts driving. Almost twenty minutes later, we pull up to an old house that looks deserted.
“Now what?”
“We knock on the door.” He gets out of the car. I jump out and follow him up the old sidewalk then Alex bangs on the door. We wait several long minutes before he frantically knocks again.
“She’s here. She has to be.” Alex paces back and forth, running his hands through his hair when suddenly the door cracks open. Our eyes dart to a man not much older than us.
“What are you doing here?” Judging by his accent, I would guess English isn’t his first language.
Instead of answering him, Alex shoves the paper toward him, which he opens the door to take. He quickly glances down at it then back at us. He stares at us for a few moments before he opens the door the rest of the way and motions with his chin for us to come in.
The inside of the house is nicer than I would have guessed from the looks of the outside, but it’s nowhere near a mansion. We walk through a couple of rooms until we reach the kitchen where another man is sitting at a table. He crosses his arms over his chest and glares at us.
“You’re too late.” My stomach drops.
“What are you talking about?” Alex screams. “We came the second we got the note.”
The man shakes his head. “No, you didn’t. You waited after the last one was delivered to the girl.” I’m ready to punch the smug bastard in the face.
“The flowers?” I hiss, causing both men to nod.
“She couldn’t wait any longer. She had to go.” He shrugs.
“Go where?” Alex questions.
The man at the table exhales loudly. “To the hospital.”
Alex growls as we both take a step closer. “What hospital?” he demands. I put a hand on Alex’s shoulder. “Who went to the hospital? Why are we even here, huh? You haven’t told us shit. For all we know this is some kind of set up.”
“You’re here for Belle. And I’m telling you she left days ago. If she hadn’t, she’d be dead by now.”
Alex shrugs my hand off and lunges forward. “Where is my sister and what’s wrong with her?”
The second man grins. “She has...infection. Boss tried to find her doctor but she was too ill. He took her to the hospital. Hopefully, they both aren’t dead by now.”
My breath catches. “Who? Who took her?” I question.
The men look at each other before looking back at the two of us. Finally, the man at the table answers. “Damian.”
My eyes painfully close. If there’s anyone on this earth that would fight as hard as Alex and me for Isabelle, it’s Damian. I growl, “What hospital?”
The man at the table smirks. “Don’t know. He went south.” His eyes thin. “I told him not to. It’s not safe but he couldn’t let that stupid little girl die.” Alex lunges forward, but the man standing grabs him by the throat, stopping him.
“I suggest you leave. If you want the girl, travel south and check every hospital or first-aid center you can find. Damian hasn’t returned, which means the girl is probably still alive.” The man holding Alex drops his hand as I tug on his arm.
“Let’s go.” I turn, leaving Alex to follow me as we make our way back to his car.
We drive close to fifty miles before we hit a town large enough to have any medical services. Alex slams on the breaks when he spots a first-aid sign. We get out and make our way into a place that looks more like a bar than an urgent care.
“Hello. I’m looking for an American girl who might be here?” he asks the woman behind the counter who shakes her head then starts rambling in Spanish.
A man wearing a doctor’s coat steps out from behind a curtain and stops the second he spots us. “Can I help you?” he questions with puzzled eyes. Thankfully, he speaks English.
“Yes. We’re looking for a woman who needed medical assistance. For an infection,” I add, trying like hell to make it sound like we know what we’re talking about. “She’s American with blonde hair.” He knows something. I can tell by the way he watches us with caution.
“And why do you think she’s here?” he asks.
“We know she’s sick. This is the closest place to where she’s been staying,” I explain.
The doctor clears his throat. “Your names?”
“This is Alex Johnson and I’m Kiran Clark.” The doctor’s eyes flash when he hears my name.
“Go to the end of the hall. Open the only door without a number on it and wait there,” he says before disappearing behind a curtain. Alex and I do exactly what he said and we end up in what looks like an office. I pace the room for at least twenty minutes before the doctor finally steps in a takes a seat at the desk.
The doctor watches us closely without saying a word then the door opens again. We both turn and my blood runs cold when I see Damian Paasch step inside.
He looks at Alex first then he stops and glares at me. His jaw ticks and his knuckles turn white from forming a fist.
“I see you met Dr. Sanchez,” Damian says as he walks around the desk and stands next to the doctor, never once taking his eyes off me.
“You’re lucky you made the trip down here. Otherwise, I might have put a hit out on you.” I swallow hard. I never pictured meeting Isabelle’s father, but I never would have imagined we’d start off like this.
The doctor ignores Damian. “Belle is here because she had a urinary tract infection that was left untreated.” He glances at Damian long enough to give him a dirty look before turning back to us. “The bacteria started attacking her kidneys. By the time she was brought in, her kidneys were failing”
“Is she okay?” I ask.
The doctor sighs. “She could be. Unfortunately, she’s not going to get the proper care she needs here. Her best chance of survival is for her to be taken to the States and given the specialized treatment she needs.”
“Okay. We’ll take her,” Alex readily agrees.
The doctor exhales loudly. “It’s not that easy. She’s refusing to go,” he adds.
I blow out a rush of air. “What? Why?”
“Well, that would be your fault, Mr. Clark,” Damian growls.
I arch an eyebrow. “What did I do?”
“Moving her poses a risk,” the doctor interrupts.
“But staying could kill her?” Alex voices the same question I have.
The doctor slowly looks over at Damian before looking back at me. “We don’t have the proper equipment here to know the correct condition Belle is in, but kidney failure can cause complications, including placenta abruption.”
My eyes narrow as I look over at Alex whose expression mirrors my thoughts. “What the hell does that mean?” I snap.
Damian’s face turns beat red. “It means you knocked up my daughter, asshole.” The room goes silent as my mouth drops open. Alex’s eyes dart to mine as everyone in the room glares at me.
My mouth goes dry as I sputter, “Pregnant? Isabelle is pregnant?”
Damian’s face reddens. “Yes, and if you dare ask me if it’s yours, I’ll take my .32 out and I’ll personally shoot you.” My breathing picks up as I drop my face into my hands.
Holy shit, Isabelle is pregnant...pregnant with my child.
“Mr. Clark,” the doctor says, waiting until I look up at him to continue. “Belle didn’t discover she was pregnant until she was close to twelve weeks. I’m guessing her UTI started sometime after her sixteenth week. With proper care and medicine, the infection wouldn’t have been a problem. Now that we’re dealing with her kidneys, she needs a treatment we can’t provide for her here. However, we also don’t know if the placenta has detached in any way. If it has, then moving her would more than likely cause her to miscarry.”
My mind is still spinning with the fact that Isabelle is pregnant. “But if she stays and dies, her baby will die too, correct?” Alex questions.
“Yes,” Damian says before his hard demeanor slightly slips and the pain he’s feeling becomes obvious.
“I can’t guarantee what will happen,” the doctor continues. “It’s possible that Belle could deliver earlier than a normal pregnancy with the baby surviving. Again, we don’t have what she or the baby needs for that to happen here.”
Alex shakes his head. “Then why the hell won’t she leave?” Everyone looks toward Damian, waiting for him to say something. His expression is etched with pain as he rubs his hands over his face.
“The Ramoses want her,” he says just above a whisper. “Manuel wants her,” he adds, confirming my suspicions. I’m convinced there’s not a straight man on earth that’s not related to Isabelle that could be friends and only friends with her. Hell, I tried and it lasted all but one day before I wanted to rip her clothing off.
“Does this man who wants her...does he know she’s pregnant?” Alex questions as Damian shakes his head. “No, and if he finds out she is, I suspect he’ll kill her.” I cast my eyes down as Damian continues.
“Manuel started making plans to claim Belle when he was only a teenager. I knew it. I saw the way he looked at her, and Belle liked him. It seemed like it would end up being a good thing. That’s one of the reasons I allowed Miguel to bring him around when he was only a kid. If I was going to give him my little girl, then I wanted him as strong as possible.” Damian painfully closes his eyes and when he opens them again, he appears defeated. “I gave him power and he turned on me.”
The doctor clears his throat and everyone looks back at him. “I’ve contacted a doctor in Houston. If you can get Belle there, he’ll take care of her, but you’re going to have to convince her to go.”
Alex jumps to his feet. “Where is she?” My stomach is turning from the information I’ve learned, but I stand, ready to find Isabelle.
Damian sighs. “I’ll take you.”
Everyone including the doctor walks to the door and down another hallway. When we make it to the end, there’s a large man standing with his arms crossed over his chest, looking bored. Damian nods his head and he moves to the side as the doctor pulls a curtain back.
Nothing anyone said prepared me for what we find before us. “Oh my God,” Alex says as his voice cracks with pain. My feet seem stuck to the floor as my eyes scan the broken woman in the bed. Her blonde hair is in a mess as sweat drips down the side of her face. She has bags under her eyes, bruises cover one arm, and an IV is stuck in the other. Her legs are pulled up tight as she lies slightly to one side, and there’s no mistaking the bump in her belly.
“Belle? Baby?” Damian says, brushing his hand softly down the arm that doesn’t have the IV.
“Umm?” Isabelle hums without opening her eyes.
“Are you feeling okay?” he asks. Without opening her eyes, she nods her head yes. “Sweetie, you need to go to Houston. Dr. Ross is waiting on you.” She pulls her hand back and mumbles something while she shakes her head no.
I step closer to the bed as Damian moves and allows me to sit down next to her. I place my hand on Isabelle as my eyes go wide. “She’s burning up,” I shout as panic sets in. Isabelle’s eyes open and they flash with worry, possibly even pain, as she looks at me, then her eyes move until they stop on Damian.
“I had to, Belle. You need to get out of here before you and the baby die.” A lone tear falls from her eye.
“Isabelle?” I take my hand up to her face. I brush my thumb across her cheek, waiting for her to look at me, and when she finally does, all the pain I’ve felt for the last six months shatters. My carelessness is the reason she’s lying in this bed, practically dying, but I have the chance to help her and at this point I’ll die trying if that’s what it takes.
“Let me take care of you and our baby.” The sparkle is gone from her gorgeous brown eyes and I’m hoping like hell that’s from the fever and not because she’s past the point of broken.
“Alex, will you stay with Belle while we talk with Mr. Clark about exactly what needs to happen?” Damian asks.
“Yes,” Alex rushes out. “I’ll stay with her,” he adds, moving around the bed and grabbing her hand. I step back, already hating the idea of taking my eyes off her. My eyes connect with Alex and he gives me a reassuring nod. I glance back at Isabelle and smile before stepping outside of the curtain. The doctor and Damian walk back down the hall, but instead of returning to his office, they stop and look at me.
“Dr. Ross is good about helping people who don’t always have the proper paperwork. He has a private clinic outside of the hospital that he plans to use. When you leave here, he’ll make sure he has everything he needs ready to treat her when she arrives.”
Damian sighs. “She can’t use her real name or the fake ID she used in the past.” He hands me a drawstring bag. I open it and pull out a passport with Isabelle’s picture but not her real name. “That’s good enough to get her across the border, but after Dr. Ross treats her, she can’t return here.” Damian looks down the hall toward Isabelle’s room and shakes his head in disgust.
“I don’t think it’s safe for her to return to Denver, either. Manuel has a large reward out for anyone who will bring him Belle. Gavin needs to watch over Kate, too. I’m not sure how far he’s willing to go to get what he wants.”