by Julia Sykes
“What did you do, Bradley?” Sean was looking at his friend, wide eyed and shocked. “You kidnapped her? That goes way beyond anything… You know you can’t come back from that, right? What are we supposed to do with her now?”
His friend looked at him levelly. “You know I couldn’t take you to the hospital. Not without getting you arrested. I didn’t have another choice. I wasn’t going to let you die. The doc here patched you up. You’ll be fine now.”
Sean lifted his hand as though to run it through his hair in frustration, but he gave a small cry of pain and quickly dropped it back onto the bed beside him. “That hurts like a bitch,” he hissed. He turned his eyes on me. They were no longer burning, but they were dark with pain. I felt a moment of sympathy for him, but then I reminded myself of how he had just assaulted me, and my heart hardened.
“Do you have anything for the pain?” He asked me.
“No,” I said flatly, feeling a surge of vindictive pleasure. But I immediately felt guilty about it. It was my calling as a doctor to fix people, to alleviate their pain. I dropped my eyes, a bit ashamed of myself. “I’m sorry,” I said softly.
“I’ll get you some pain killers from Jerry,” Bradley said. “But first…” He turned to me, and dread filled my gut at the coldness that I saw in his eyes. “Is he going to be okay, doc?” He asked.
“Y-yes,” I said, undeniably intimidated by his hard stare. “So long as the wound is cleaned and the bandages are changed regularly, he should be fine.”
Bradley looked at me appraisingly. “I think I can handle that,” he said finally, nodding. Then my heart dropped as he pulled his gun from his waistband and pointed it straight at my heart.
“Please,” my voice hitched. “Don’t do this. I won’t tell anyone. I swear-”
“Bradley!” Sean’s hard voice cut across me. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing? You’re going to add murder to kidnapping now? What are you thinking, man? This isn’t you.”
“I’m doing this for you, Sean,” he told his friend, never taking his eyes off me. “There’s no other way.”
There was a terrifying click as he cocked the gun, and my heart stopped.
Chapter 2
“Stop, Bradley!” Sean shouted. With a grunt of effort, he struggled upright, his fists clenched threateningly. “I won’t let you do this.”
Bradley glared at his friend. “What other choice do we have? Let her go? She’ll go running to the cops as soon as she leaves.” The gun remained trained at my heart, which was now fluttering wildly in my chest. I hardly breathed, as though any sudden movement would make the gun go off, ending my life in the space of a second.
“I won’t say anything,” I forced out, my voice strangled. “I swear. Please…” I couldn’t say anything else; fear had risen up in me, squeezing my throat like a boa constrictor until I couldn’t draw breath.
“Put the gun away, Bradley,” Sean’s voice was hard and unyielding. “I’ll never forgive you if you do this. She saved my life. We can’t kill her.”
I stared up at Bradley, my eyes wide and pleading, praying that he would listen to his friend. He glanced over at Sean.
“And what are we supposed to do with her?” He demanded. “You know we can’t let her leave.”
Sean ran a hand through his hair in frustration. “Fuck,” he barked out. “I don’t know. Keep her here for now. Then we can figure out what to do.”
Bradley stared at me for a long moment, his mouth set in a grim line. Finally, he lowered the gun, tucking it back into his waistband. I heaved in a shaky breath, my burning lungs gratefully drawing in the oxygen that I so desperately needed. I collapsed back onto the bed, all of my muscles turning to jelly. The clinician in me rationally told me that I was going into shock, but the rest of my brain didn’t give a shit about what she said. I was trembling all over, gasping for breath as my skin went cold and my vision blurred. I wrapped my free arm around myself as I shook, my mind going blank as the residual fear of what had almost happened to me consumed me.
“Hey, doc,” came a gentle voice from beside me. There was a reassuring hand gripping my shoulder. It was hot, its warmth seeming to spread throughout my body, pushing back the ice in my veins.
“Claudia. Take a deep breath,” the voice ordered.
I did as it said, raggedly sucking in air. Once; twice. The third time, my breathing came easier, the deep, regular rhythm soothing me. I blinked several times, my vision clearing. The first thing I saw was a pair of gorgeous green eyes, their depths filled with concern. Sean smiled down at me gently.
“That’s better,” he said softly.
He jerked as Bradley cleared his throat pointedly. Sean’s expression shifted suddenly to an unconcerned mask and he backed away from me. Some of the coldness inside returned, but I shoved it back, determined not to show further weakness.
“There’s just one problem with this plan,” Bradley said to Sean resentfully. “People are going to be missing her. If they find out she was kidnapped, then they’ll come looking for her. They might trace it back to us.”
Sean’s brow furrowed as he thought for a moment. “Then we call her family and her work to give some excuse,” he said finally. “I’m not letting you kill her.”
Bradley cocked his head at me, considering. “Well, that all depends on how cooperative she is.” The way he kept referring to me in the third person, as though I wasn’t even there, got my hackles up. I propped myself up on one elbow and glared up at him, but I still didn’t dare speak.
“Where’s your cell phone?” He demanded.
I gritted my teeth, not wanting to answer, but his hard stare told me that I didn’t have a choice. “In my purse. It’s still in my car.”
“Alright, I’m going to get it. But if you try anything while I’m gone…” He left the threat open-ended, making it all the more frightening as thoughts of what he might do to me ran across my mind. Sean had convinced him not to kill me, but that didn’t mean that he wouldn’t do… other things.
He left the room, locking the door behind him. As though I could go anywhere when I was cuffed to the bed, I though derisively. And somewhat dejectedly. I could feel Sean’s eyes on me, but I resolutely stared up at the ceiling. For the first time since the beginning of my ordeal, tears were pricking at the corners of my eyes. And I was determined not to betray my desperation to these men who had captured me. I had already shown enough weakness in front of them. I didn’t have time to fall apart; it was time to pull myself together and start coming up with an escape plan.
Uh-huh, a voice in my head said to me snidely. Good luck with that.
“So,” Sean said, breaking the tense silence. “This is awkward.”
Awkward?! Was he honestly making a joke about my situation? I glared at him.
“I think you’re confusing the word ‘awkward’ with the term ‘completely fucked up,’” I snapped. “‘Awkward’ is when you accidentally text the wrong person. ‘Awkward’ is when you trip over nothing and fall on your face. ‘Completely fucked up’ is when you kidnap a woman, threaten her with a gun, chain her to a bed, and tell her that life as she knows it is over. Can you see the difference there?”
His eyes darkened. Was that shame in his expression? “Okay, doc,” he said lightly after a moment. “You’re not up for chitchat. I get it.”
Anger bubbled up within me, burning away my fear. How dare he make light of what he was doing to me? I opened my mouth to hurl venomous words at him, but I stopped abruptly.
I could hear Bradley’s footsteps just before the door unlocked. I tried to suppress a shudder as he entered again. Sean was injured, weakened. Although he had scared the shit out of me when he assaulted me, he had also calmed me when I had been having a panic attack. And he was more infuriating than intimidating. Bradley, on the other hand, had shown me nothing but coldness. His fierce loyalty to his friend, his determination to keep him alive and safe, meant that my life was of no consequence to him.
Bra
dley fished my cell out of my purse. “Alright,” he said. “You only have one missed call: Work.” He raised a quizzical eyebrow at me. “So, it seems I don’t have to be too concerned about anyone missing you. I’m assuming that you don’t have a husband or a boyfriend? No one who would panic when you didn’t come home?”
My cheeks flamed. I hadn’t been in a relationship since before I started med school.
I just haven’t had the time, I lied to myself. But I knew that the reason went deeper than that; I hadn’t trusted anyone enough to open up to them in years. I had never felt ashamed of that fact before, but now that Bradley questioned me about it, I felt pathetic. And utterly alone.
I considered lying, wanted to tell him that someone would notice my absence. But that simply wasn’t true. Who would I tell him to call? One of my work colleagues? They were the only people that I could even remotely consider to be my friends, and it wasn’t exactly like we went for cocktails after work.
Bradley was right: no one would miss me. And I hated him for making me admit it. Finally, I shook my head, confirming his assumption.
He glanced down at my phone again. “Well, it seems there’s no one to contact but your work.” His gaze turned inward, considering. “What excuse should we give? Illness? No, you could get over that quickly.” He shot a hard look at Sean. “And since I don’t know how long you’ll be with us, that won’t be feasible.” He snapped his fingers as an idea came to him. “Your mother died. You have to go home and will be off work indefinitely.”
I glared at him, hating him even more fiercely for cutting to the core of me, for bringing my deeply-buried pain to the surface. “You’re about fourteen years too late for that,” I hissed. “My parents died when I was thirteen.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sean’s hand twitch, as though he wanted to reach out to me. But I didn’t want his pity, so I shot him a forbidding look. His expression hardened to that blank mask again, and his hand clenched into a fist, held resolutely at his side.
But Bradley was eyeing me skeptically. “How?” He demanded, clearly testing me.
“Car crash,” I said tersely.
Bradley studied me for a moment, assessing my story. I kept my face blank, not giving away my lie lest he think that I was lying about them being dead. That much was true, at least.
“Fine, then,” he finally continued. “Your foster mother died. I assume you were in the system?”
More painful memories. I just nodded jerkily.
“Okay,” he said. “I’m your foster-brother, and I’m calling to let them know that my mother has died. You’re coming to comfort me in this difficult time.”
I tried to suppress my derisive snort. As though I would ever comfort that jackass, and I certainly wouldn’t waste one second mourning my foster-mom. I had been nothing but a meal ticket for her, and she turned a blind eye when Marcus had…
“What’s his name?” Bradley asked, intercepting my dark thoughts. “Your foster brother. You had one right? What’s his name?” He insisted.
I glared up at him, hating him as I said the disgusting name through gritted teeth. “Marcus,” I hissed. “Marcus Ames.” I knew that I was making a mistake in betraying more of my weaknesses by showing my long-harbored ire, but I couldn’t hold it in. Not when I was forced to think of him.
Bradley was already dialing my work number, taking no particular interest in my show of emotion. “Don’t make a sound,” he said, a warning in his tone.
“Or I won’t hesitate to kill you,” his words played over in my mind. That was something I didn’t care to hear again. It was getting old, to be honest.
A few moments passed in heavy silence as I seethed and the phone rang.
“Hi, this is Marcus Ames, Dr. Ellers’ brother,” Bradley said into the receiver. His brow furrowed, and he shot a glare at me, clearly wondering if I had tricked him in some way. “I’m her foster brother,” he explained.
I knew why there was some confusion. I had never told anyone at work that I had a brother. Or any sort of family for that matter. I kept things pretty close to the vest. That way, no one would ever give me those pitying looks that I hated so much, the ones that had followed me for years after my parents’ deaths. They had only stopped when I had created a new life for myself in med school, throwing myself into my work so that there was no room in my world for anyone else, for anyone’s pity.
“She hasn’t mentioned me?” Bradley glowered at me, his hand twitching towards his gun. Sean tensed, clearly ready to make a move against his friend if he threatened me. Catching his eye, Bradley frowned and stopped himself short. “Well, she asked me to call,” he plowed on. “My mother has died, and Claudia has come home to help make funeral arrangements. She wanted me to let you know that she won’t be able to come in, and she’s not sure when she might be ready to return to work. She’s pretty torn up about it.”
Another pause. Bradley’s frown deepened.
“Alight,” he said, his voice tight. “I’ll put her on.”
He pushed the phone to my ear, putting his hand on his gun at the same time. “Back me up, bitch,” he hissed at me.
“Claudia?” The receptionist said my name questioningly.
I wanted to scream, to tell her I needed help. But one glance at Bradley told me that I wouldn’t live long enough to get the words out. Sean’s demands to keep me alive didn’t matter; all that mattered to him was his own safety, and he would gladly sacrifice me for that. I swallowed hard.
“Ava,” I said, my voice ragged with suppressed emotion. Too bad she would interpret it as grief rather than fear for my life. “I’m sorry I didn’t call sooner. I just found out that Darla… That my foster mom died.” I had to force myself to call her “mom.” The woman didn’t even deserve to be classed as human, much less a mother.
“Oh, sweetie, I’m so sorry to hear that,” the pity in Ava’s voice was genuine. And I hated her a little for it. “Take as much time as you need. I’ll get your appointments shuffled around.”
“Thanks,” I forced out the word. I most certainly was not grateful that Ava was buying this hook, line, and sinker.
Bradley took the phone from me and ended the call before I had time to say anything else. He was staring down at me, his eyes burning.
“Why didn’t you tell me that they didn’t know about your foster family?” He demanded.
“You didn’t ask,” I replied as coolly as I could, trying not to quell under his furious stare.
He let out a low growl, his muscles tensing as he took a threatening step towards me.
“Bradley!” Sean’s voice cut in sharply. He sat up fully, his arms cording as he flexed threateningly. “Leave it.” Bradley’s glare rounded on his friend, but Sean held it, his deep green eyes steady, implacable. But he was going very pale, and the red stain on his bandages was blooming.
“Shit,” Bradley said, all menace leaving him.
Seeing that his friend was no longer threatening me, Sean allowed himself to fall back on the pillows, unable to suppress a small groan as the soft impact jarred his shoulder.
“What’s wrong?” Bradley demanded of me. “I thought you said he would be fine.”
“Well, he would be if he didn’t have to keep straining himself because of your hot head,” I snapped, reaching out to check the bandages. I was stopped short by the cuffs. I rounded on Bradley with a curse. “Can’t you take these off? I kind of need my hands to do this.”
His eyes flicked from me to Sean, unsure.
“For fuck’s sake, Bradley,” Sean said. “What could she possibly do to hurt me?” His irritation was clear in his tone, but it was the barely-concealed pain in his voice that swayed his friend.
Bradley pulled a small key out of his pocket and unlocked the handcuffs. I gratefully rubbed my sore wrist and flexed my fingers, working the blood flow back into my hand. A wave of dizziness washed over me as I pushed myself up; I was still weakened from giving so much of my blood to Sean.
I
gave my life’s blood to a man who wants to keep me locked away indefinitely, I thought a bit angrily at myself. It seemed my desire to preserve human life was overriding my own sense of self-preservation.
He did save your life, another voice said. I repressed the urge to snort at it derisively. Yeah, he saved my life from his deranged friend who had only kidnapped me in the first place to save his sorry hide. Sean might not have been holding the gun on me, but it was just as much his fault that I was here.
Despite my anger, my hands were gentle as I began to unwrap the gauze, revealing the angry red hole in his chest. Some of the stitches had ripped open from his sudden movements. I gathered up the first-aid kit and retrieved the needle and suture thread in order to close the wound once again.
Bradley was looking on anxiously. “You look like shit, buddy,” he said to Sean, who had gone very pale. A light smattering of freckles across his cheeks stood out starkly now as his skin went white.
But his lips curved up in a small smile. “I’ve had a rough day,” he said, his voice low and rough with suppressed pain as I worked. “What’s your excuse?” He gave a weak laugh, but it quickly turned to a pained cough. He closed his eyes, grimacing.
Bradley ignored his quip, turning to me. “Give him more of your blood, doc,” he ordered.
I looked up at him coldly. “Oh, I’m sorry,” I said flatly. “I’m fresh out of spare blood today.”
Bradley’s face twisted into a snarl. “Give it to him. He needs it.”
“No. I’d rather live long enough to finish treating him, thanks. If you want to kill me, shooting me would be much faster, you know.” I glared up at him for emphasis, but something I saw in his muddy brown eyes softened my heart a little. There was fear there, terror. No matter what else Bradley was, he was a fiercely loyal friend, and the man lying on the bed before me clearly meant the world to him. In his mind, Sean’s life was worth more than that of an innocent woman. As twisted as it was, I recognized love in his eyes, the kind of love that comes from a deep-seated bond between people who are such a part of each other that one wouldn’t know how to live without the other. It was that look that made me drop my snarkiness.