Chapitre 29: Chapter 29

Nathaniel's driver dropped him off at the entrance of Liberty Hospital's emergency room. He went inside and asked to be taken to Paige. The person at the front desk asked his name and immediately took him back to a hallway with a few chairs. There was an older woman with short blonde hair looking worried. She spotted him and got up.

"Mr. Donovan? I'm Carrie," she said, wiping tears away with one hand and extending the other. Nathaniel took it.

"Please don't be so formal. Paige calls me 'Nathan'. You can, too," he said gently as he released her hand. He gestured for her to sit down. She sat and so did he. He looked at the room and could hear commotion and monitors beeping. "Any updates?"

"Not yet. I'm so scared for her. I'm scared it's her family come to finish the job because they found her," Carrie said, crying again.

"'Finish the job'?" Nathaniel questioned. Carrie looked at him and sighed.

"I don't know details. I only know what I saw when we met. I know she told you she ran away. Well, I found her on the streets that night and I helped her. By the looks of her, someone tried to kill her. She had old bruises, new bruises, deep gashes and there were bruises from her impact with stairs. When I took her to the doctor, I found out she had a punctured lung, 2 broken ribs and some fractures that were older and healing. That sweet honey child was half-dead," Carrie said, crying while recalling Paige's state when she first met her.

"I will find whoever did this and I will make them pay for it," Nathaniel said fiercely. He felt like killing someone. He would probably get away with it if he did. His thoughts were interrupted by the overhead announcement.

"Code Blue. Emergency Room. Bed 56. Code Blue. Emergency Room. Bed 56."

The automated announcement had more people rushing into the hallway, pushing a cart. The door of Paige's room swung open and the person pushing the cart ran in first. Nathaniel heard Carrie sob beside him and he saw a glimpse of Paige from the door. The monitors were beeping wildly and the doctor opened the cart drawer and grabbed a syringe of some medication and quickly handed it to a nurse.

"Push this epinephrine, stat. Ready the paddles. Somebody shut the door," the doctor said loudly but calmly. A nurse shut the door. Nathaniel heard the monitors beeping in a different rhythm and hear the doctor say, "Paddles, now! Everyone clear!" There was a strange, loud electric sound. "Again!" came the voice of the doctor. The strange electric sound came again. "Again!" There was another electric sound. "Again!" The electric sound occurred a final time. Nathaniel heard some beeping stop and a light beeping start. There was more talking, but it wasn't as loud and he couldn't make out what they were saying. At least 6 people exited the room after about 10 minutes, dragging the cart they brought in. The doctor came out and approached them.

"Dr. Williams, is Paige okay?" Carrie asked. Her emotions were written all over her face.

"Paige is stable right now. We weren't sure what they drugged her with, the tox screen won't be completely resulted until tomorrow. She's not awake yet, but she's going to be admitted and she'll get more treatment depending on what the blood work shows us," he said reassuringly.

"Dr. Williams, what just happened in there? You called a code on her," Nathaniel asked. He needed to know everything.

"The drug that they gave her slowed heart heart rate down and made her blood pressure get dangerously low. I tried some other things that didn't work but were less risky first. I had to give her a medicine that risked giving her an arrhythmia, which made us have to shock her heart back into a normal sinus rhythm," the doctor said with a tired look. "But, Paige is a very strong and healthy young woman. We were very fortunate in that regard. We just need her to wake up. Unfortunately, some of these types of drugs can cause comas, so we're unsure of a timeframe of her awakening until we know what she was drugged with."

"Thank you, doctor. Hopefully, she wakes up soon," Nathaniel said solemnly.

"My Paige is strong. She's a picture of health and takes very good care of herself and I know she'll pull through," Carrie said proudly. Nathaniel felt like this woman was akin to a mother figure to Paige. He suddenly wanted to make a very good impression.

"Dr. Williams, thank you for taking care of Paige for us. Are we allowed to see her?" Nathaniel asked. The doctor nodded and Carrie dragged Nathaniel into Paige's room. She walked straight to Paige's side and held her hand.

"Paige, I'm so sorry I wasn't there with you this morning. You always come in so early, honey. But, we need you to stop being our sleeping beauty and come back to us, please," Carrie said, starting to cry. Nathaniel grabbed a chair and moved it to Carrie so she could sit. He also lowered the bed so she didn't have to keep her arm at an uncomfortable angle while holding Paige's hand.

Nathaniel put a chair for himself on the other side of Paige. He sat down, pulled out his phone and sent a text to Jamal. He wanted Paige to have the best care possible and Jamal would help him achieve that. He sent a text to Marshall, asking for updates.

'Her coffee was drugged. I questioned the baristas from the shop and one new employee started recently. I spoke with the new employee and he's now in police custody.'

Nathaniel called Marshall. The phone rang once when Marshall answered.

"Did you find out what was in the coffee?" Nathaniel demanded. Carrie shivered at his change in demeanor.

"27 more minutes and our lab's analysis will be completed. The new barista was paid by a shell account that I'm tracing. I obtained the police records and the person who attempted to abduct her is a former security guard for JA Industries. You know how Mr. Allen likes to promote security into his high-paid thugs if they're loyal enough. I'm trying to find that connection as well. I'll keep you updated, but I have no solid evidence yet."

"What about the van?" Nathaniel demanded.

"The found the van, but the driver got away. Van is registered to the perpetrator. Also, he gave her a bouquet of 7 black dahlias. The card said, 'To new and old friends.' I'm unsure of the significance," Marshall told him.

"When James Allen II tried to poison my mother, he sent her 5 black dahlias. She was 5 months pregnant with me and the information hadn't been released to the public, yet," Nathaniel stated coldly. "It's in the police report from that incident. It has to be them."

"Mr. Donovan, do you know the significance of the 7 flowers?" Marshall asked.

"No. I am going to hang up. Keep me updated," he said icily, hanging up. Carrie looked at him, shocked.

"Sorry, I have my people working on finding out as much information as possible about this. We'll know shortly what the drug in her system is. And," he said, pausing, "I think whoever did this was trying to get to me."

"I'm glad we're closer to an answer. I'm going to call my husband. You sit with Paige," Carrie said with a smile, getting up and closing the door. Nathaniel was alone with Paige. He stared at her sleeping form. She was very pale, there was an iv attached to her arm. He saw burn marks from the paddles they used on her. He felt like his heart was utterly broken. 'Why does everything keep interfering with us being together? I just want us to be happy,' he thought. He touched her hand, unsure if he was worthy enough to hold it. He decided to hold it anyway. She might break up with him after this and he wouldn't blame her.

"Paige, baby, I need to tell you something," he said gently. "I am in love with you. I think I've known that since I first saw you. But, because of this, people are trying to hurt you. I thought you leaving me was the worst thing that could happen, but this is worse. This is so much worse. Seeing you like this is killing me. So, I need you to decide to stay with me or leave me. I will honor your decision and protect you no matter what."

Nathaniel stared at her beautiful, sleeping face. He wanted more than anything for her to wake up, smile at him and let him hold her. "Wake up, Paige. Please, baby. I love you so much and I need you to be okay. Otherwise, I might destroy this entire planet out of rage," he said. "You'd hate that. So, wake up so I don't have to burn down the world."