Page 30 of Red

“You need to lay back. Let me go get a doctor.”

After pushing me back down on the hospital bed, Jake leaves, returning with a female doctor. “Hello, Mr. Fortin, my name is Dr. Johnson, and I was here when your friend brought you into the emergency room. When you arrived, your system was filled with a cocktail of drugs. One of the levels wasn’t life threatening, but when it was mixed with the heroin, I’m surprised that you didn’t die. You did have a few seizures while we were trying to flush your system. Because of that, I would like to keep you overnight and make sure that you’re hydrated. If you don’t have any issues tonight, then you’ll be discharged in the morning.”

I start to cough. Jake hands me a cup of water.

“How long was I out?”

“Two days, man,” said Jake.

A panic runs through my body. I need this doctor gone, so I can figure out what the fuck is happening and where Red is.

“Thank you, doctor.” The doctor walks back out and I turn to Jake, “Where’s Blanche?”

Jake’s eyes blaze with anger then he says something that I never wanted to hear, “We don’t know, man. The security team was ambushed by Old Lady Marelle’s men. Hearing the gunfire, I went to help them. I saw them loading you into a white van and followed them till they dropped you unconscious at the cabin with a needle in your arm.”

Listening, it takes everything in me not to lose my fucking shit and wrap my hands around his throat for not protecting her. What fucking idiots! Probably should’ve checked to see if I was dead first.

I need to find my wife. The Old Lady made a mistake not shooting me in my head, because I will burn this fucking world to the ground to find her. God help anyone who is in my way.

It’s time I show everyone how dangerous the Wolf can really be. I turn to the man next to me, gritting through my teeth.

“We need to get my wife back.”

Chapter 22

Blanche

I wake up feeling very cold. My body is shivering. Why am I so cold? Rubbing my hands over my arms and looking around from my position on the ground, I try to get a better idea of where I could be, not recognizing the room. Where am I?

I start to sit up to see if it helps, but the change in position causes my head to pound more. Using my fingertips, I start to massage my head to help reduce the pain. Shit, it feels like someone took a board and cracked it over my head. I don’t think my head has ever hurt this much before. If this is a hangover, then it's the mother of hangovers.

I see that I’m in some sort of basement. No wonder I’m so cold and the floor is hard. The room smells musty mixed with sweat and urine. Great.

I need to get out of here. I see a gross, dirty mattress with no blankets or sheets in the corner of the room. I hope they don’t expect me to sleep on that. Who knows what kind of diseases are on it? On the other side of the room is a bucket. That better not be what I think it is. God, how did I get here? The last thing I remember is being at my grandmother’s house having dinner, then it all goes black.

Fuck! Where is Zeev? What if something happened to him?! My chest starts to ache with the thought of something bad happening to him. I rub my chest trying to ease the pain. This is not good.

I didn’t expect my grandmother to lock me up in a dungeon. Should I have been able to predict this? Of course I should have. She killed my parents, she killed Zeev’s parents, the old bitch is even involved in human trafficking.

I stand up, ignoring the protest in my head, and start pacing. I look around this small room trying to see a way to escape. I need to get out of here and find Zeev. I start to feel nauseous and my head is swimming with so many thoughts of the unknown, it's as if my body is going through withdrawals. I can’t be away from him, I need him. I never thought I’d meet anyone that I could trust, but Zeev is the only one who has proven himself. He is my everything and without him, I’m nothing.

As my thoughts are running rampant about my grandmother and Zeev, I hear the large metal door as it creaks open. The person that comes through the door is the biggest asshole I know, Nicholas the douche. Smiling to myself, Zeev would’ve liked that nickname. He would respond with, “It suits him.”

Nicholas enters the room, “Good, you're awake. It’s time that we talk. This is how this is going to go for you from now on.”

Standing so close to me, I can feel his rancid breath on my face. Needing to show him that I can stand up for myself, I steel my spine and narrow my eyes at him. I spit, “Why the fuck do you have me locked up down here, and where the fuck is my husband?”

Nicholas gives me a psychotic grin and I just know that I am not going to like what he’s about to tell me. “Oh, petite salope, you are not married anymore. Your husband is dead. I saw the body myself.”

Fuck, did he just call me little slut? I’m not anyone’s slut…except maybe Zeev’s.

The thought of Zeev makes my heart crack painfully. It feels like someone sucked all the air out of my chest. I grit my teeth and stare right back at him and yell, “You’re lying, you asshole. My husband is not dead!”

Nicholas just laughs at me, grabbing my arms. I rip my arms out of his grip. Not wanting to be close to him anymore, I start backing away, taking steps back until my back hits a wall. Seeing that I have nowhere else to go, he cages me in and leans forward. When he breathes into my face, I start to gag, swallowing down bile. I’m not sure what this man eats or if he doesn’t brush his teeth. I turn my face, needing to put as much space as possible between us.

It doesn’t deter Nicholas, his hand caressing my cheek. The thought that he might take it further starts to frighten me. My arm starts to sting, looking down I see that Nicholas has injected me with something. He pushes back away from the wall and starts heading to leave. Suddenly, he looks over his shoulder at me. “Don’t worry, my petite salope. Once we're married, I’ll have you in every hole, whether you ask me for it or not. I hope you fight me the whole way. I like it when my woman makes me work for it.”

Those words hang in the air and I hear the door shut with a loud bang, and then Nicholas’ chuckle follows behind it. Damn! What did he give me?

---