by Robin Nadler
“We will. I’ll be in touch,” the officer said and they all left. David walked into the bedroom and looked for something, anything to help him figure out where she was.
“Think Bryant. Where would he take her? What does he want?” He spoke to himself as he walked through the house. He ran his hand through his hair and looked in the baby tank again, his heart breaking at the tiny lifeless bodies. He looked at Adam and Eve and something caught his eye. There was a piece of paper in the tank.
“What the hell?” he said as he opened the top and reached in, grabbing the paper and closing the top. He looked at it and there was a message written. There was an address and the words “come alone; tell no one”. He didn’t hesitate; he ran.
*****
David drove quickly to the address and saw what looked to be a huge empty building. He knew this was stupid and he needed some way to protect himself. He had a knife in his car and his medical bag, but he didn’t know what else he could use. He grabbed the bag and the knife and the tiny flashlight he had. He made his way inside.
The building was dark and wet, with water leaking all around and the stench of mold and mildew permeated everything. He felt his stomach churn as he made his way through the large empty room. He tripped on the concrete floor and crashed to the ground, swearing as he dropped everything. He grabbed his flashlight and got back up, making his way down the hall when the floor crumbled and he fell through the cement and crashed to the ground below.
“Fuck,” he swore again, his head throbbing and his back twisted. He could barely see in front of him and felt around for the flashlight, shining it and looking up, he saw he had fallen through the floor to what looked like a basement. The floor was damp and it was freezing. He sat up and saw his medical bag next to him. After gathering his wits, he stood up and turned to look around the room. His heart fell when he saw her.
“Oh my God, Lila?” he ran to her, her body limp, dressed only in her underwear. Her hands were tied together with wet tape and her skin was ice cold to the touch. He felt for a pulse and it was faint, but he could feel it. He fumbled in his bag to find the knife and he held the flashlight between his teeth as he sawed through the tape around her wrists. He finally separated them, but he didn’t pull it off her skin, fearing he would rip the flesh. He gathered her in his arms and moved to a relatively dry place.
“Baby I’m so sorry,” he said as his voice caught in his throat. He unbuttoned his shirt and pulled it off, gently placing it around her body. He shivered in the cold air and gathered her in his arms, holding her to him and trying to figure out how to get them out of there.
“Let me go,” she whimpered suddenly and he lay her down, holding her face in his hands and stroking her cheek.
“Lila? It’s David. Can you open your eyes?” he leaned in close to her, and she slowly opened her eyes. “Hey beautiful, I’m here,” he smiled and held her hand.
“David?”
“We’re going to get out of here, it’s okay,” he said.
“No, Paul is here. He wanted me to go with him and I wouldn’t. He refused to give me my meds,” she began to cough and doubled over.
“Shit,” David said as he watched her struggle to get air. “We need to get out of here now.”
“No, you go. He doesn’t know you’re here and you can save yourself. I don’t want anything to happen to you,” she said breathlessly, her tears falling.
He shook his head. “You are obviously delirious if you think for a second I’m going to leave you.”
“But David, he will kill us both,” she whispered.
“No he won’t. This will end once and for all.” He went to move when there was a shaking sound and more of the floor above them began to come down. David covered her with his body and they both heard a thud as Paul fell through the concrete and landed a few feet from them. They soon realized he wasn’t alone. June had fallen right beside him.
Chapter Forty-Seven:
David held Lila in his arms and sat there, stunned, watching the two bodies of the people who tormented both of them, lying there, unconscious. He looked up and saw the stairs where they must have tried to come down were broken. How were they going to get out of there?
“What the hell happened?” Paul asked as he came around.
David placed Lila gently on the floor and moved to grab his bag. He knew he had gauze and he figured he should try and tie them up.
“June? Are you okay?” Paul cried and shook his sister.
“What happened?” June said as she came around. Her voice sent David reeling and he felt like he was back in that awful moment. He moved back to Lila and sat in front of her, grabbing a scalpel from his bag and holding it in front of him, protecting them both.
“We fell through the fucking floor,” Paul said as he wiped his face. “I think I broke my arm.”
June sat up and looked at him before she looked and saw David and Lila. “What is he doing here? And who is that?”
David didn’t say anything. He held the scalpel and protected Lila.
“We need to find a way out of here. Forget them,” Paul said.
June scrambled to her feet and walked towards David. “Who is this bitch? Is this who hurt my Paul and who you decided was worth having your child?”
“June, stop. Get over here and help me,” Paul yelled at her.
She turned and walked to Paul. “What the fuck is going on here? You told me we would find the key to our future here. You didn’t tell me David would be here.”
“I didn’t know he would be here. He must have found the note sooner than I thought.” He stood up and held his arm to his side before walking to David and Lila. “She’s not dead, is she?”
David couldn’t believe these people. He kept his mouth shut until Paul reached to Lila.
“Get away from her or I will kill you.”
“Right. You and who else? Looks kind of like you’re outnumbered.”
“How did you get out of jail? Where is your tether?”
“You think you know everything, don’t you?” Paul began and suddenly the room shook again and the ceiling began to cave in. Paul fell back and June went to him when a huge piece of ceiling fell and hit her directly on the head, killing her instantly.
“June?” Paul screamed. “Oh God no,” he scooped her in his arms and held her.
David gathered Lila in his arms and moved to the open area of the room, far away from Paul and June. He felt her stir and he sat down, smoothing her hair away.
“Hey, can you look at me?”
She opened her eyes and struggled to focus. “I’m so cold.”
He held her and nodded. “I know. We’re going to get out of here.”
“You bitch,” Paul suddenly ran at them. “How could you do this? I loved her.”
Lila’s eyes opened wide and she tensed up as David held her. “Paul?”
“We were going to be a family and you did this. Everything was fine until you went to that stupid appointment and fell for this loser.”
“What are you talking about? You were going to be a family with your sister? You’re sicker than I thought,” David said.
“She isn’t my sister, she’s my wife.”
“What?” Lila asked. “Then why were you so crazy with me?”
“It’s his fault,” Paul said as he looked at David.
“What are you talking about?” Lila asked, her voice weak.
“If he had helped her get pregnant, then everything would have been fine. He couldn’t, and so I had to pretend to work with you to see if there was a way for you to help me,” he said.
“Help you how?” David asked.
“I couldn’t get my wife pregnant. I figured Lila could help me.”
“How? You stalked me and attacked me. How was I supposed to help you? Carry a child for you?” Lila moved a little and sat next to David. She saw David had the scalpel behind him and she was giving him room.
“At first, yes, but then I found out you had MS. You sh
ould have told me,” he looked at her with disgust. “I allowed my wife to go after another man and I went after someone who is diseased. You will pay for that with your life.”
“I am not diseased and there is no way in hell I would ever have slept with you,” she said.
“Not willingly, perhaps, but so what? With June in jail, I decided to stay with the plan, get to you and I knew if you became pregnant, you would keep it.”
“You’re a sick piece of shit,” David said.
Paul lunged at him and knocked David onto his back. Lila moved out of the way and David punched at Paul until he was able to throw him off of him. The room shook again and the ceiling began to fall. David jumped to cover Lila and they lay there until the dust settled.
“You okay?” he asked her.
“I’m having some trouble breathing,” she said, her lips turning blue.
He looked for his bag and found it, reaching in and fumbling for an inhaler. He helped her use it and she closed her eyes, letting it help.
“Looking for this?” Paul asked; reminding them he was there.
David and Lila looked at him and saw he was pinned under a rock, the scalpel in his hand. They both watched in horror as he took the scalpel and slit his own throat.
David turned and held Lila to him, feeling her shaking with fear and cold. “We need to get out of here.”
She looked at him and wiped her face. “Maybe one of them had a cell phone?”
He nodded and got up carefully, worried about the stability of the ceiling and walked to Paul, who was lying in a pool of his own blood. He didn’t see anything and went to June, fighting his own demons and reaching to her. He felt her clothes and found a phone, pulling it off her and walking back to Lila. He sat down and dialed 911, thrilled when someone answered. He told them what happened and the address where they were. He hung up and saw Lila was unconscious again. He gathered her in his arms and prayed.
Chapter Forty-Eight:
How long had it been? David adjusted Lila in his arms and stroked her cheek. His own body was going numb from the cold and he tried to wrap her lower body in his legs to help her keep warm, because his shirt only covered so much. The police had been there and they were waiting to get the proper equipment to come back in. The floor above them was totally unstable and every time someone came in, it threatened to completely collapse.
“David?” Lila murmured. She had been in and out of consciousness.
“I’m here. Can you wake up? I’m kind of lonely.”
She smiled and looked at him. “Thundering silence?”
He felt tears prick his eyes. “Something like that.”
“Can you get out of here? If you leave me behind, can you get out?”
“I’m not leaving you behind.”
She tried to focus on him. “That’s not what I asked,” she began to cough and her body felt like it was on fire. David held her and tried to rub her back. He was terrified of what was wrong with her.
She concentrated in her breathing and looked up at him. “Will you just talk to me for awhile?”
He rubbed her arms and she sat up, her back against his chest. “You know, I think it’s good we met the way we did. I’m glad you didn’t go through with the fertility treatment.”
She held his hands in hers. “Why is that?” Her voice was weak, but she tried to stay with him.
“Because when you have a child, I want it to be with me,” he whispered close to her.
Her tears fell and he wiped them away. “You are going to be the best mom.”
“That’s just not going to happen.”
“Didn’t I tell you I’m the best? Besides, you fixed me, so now our future is wide open.”
She had trouble keeping her eyes open. “I didn’t fix you. That implies you were broken and you weren’t. You deserve to be a father, David.”
He felt her pass out again and he cradled her in his arms. “Stay with me, Lila, please don’t leave me,” he sobbed.
“Help us,” he yelled out into the darkness. He kissed her forehead and his tears fell at the heat he felt despite the cold. He heard the officers come back and yell that they were going to try and lower a rope with a harness and if he could hold her to him, they would try and lift them out. It was the best shot they had.
******
“I’m fine, just let me help her,” David said a while later. They had successfully been pulled out of the building and were rushed to the hospital. Lila had been taken away from him and he was trying to get to her.
“Dr. Bryant, you need to let us help you,” the attending physician said. “As soon as we know anything, I will let you know.”
“David?” A panicked voice ran into the room.
“Susan, I’m okay,” he said as she hugged him. “I have to find Lila. She is really bad. I have to go to her.”
“I’ll find out what I can,” she said. “I just need you to be okay.”
He could see the fear in her eyes. “I’m okay, Susan. I promise.”
She nodded and walked out.
“You seem to be okay. I’d like to give you a tetanus shot because you are due and we don’t know what was in that room. After that, you can go sit with Dr. Frankel,” the doctor said.
David nodded; his only thought was to get to Lila.
******
Susan walked inside the triage where they had Lila. The nurses were covering her with warming blankets and she was being given oxygen. The x-rays were on the wall and her lungs looked full of fluid. She walked to the bed and nodded to the other nurses. They walked out and Susan sat down, taking Lila’s hand in her own.
“I’m so sorry. I never meant for you to get hurt. I think all of this is my fault. I’m so sorry.”
“What are you talking about?” David asked from the door, startling Susan.
“David, I didn’t know you were done,” she wiped her eyes and stood up.
“What were you saying? What did you do?” He walked closer and his eyes were sad and full of fear.
“Nothing. I didn’t do anything. I just want you to be okay,” she stammered.
He felt like the walls were closing in around him. “Susan, what aren’t you telling me? Please, you’ve known me my whole life. My mother was your best friend. Don’t lie to me, please.”
She looked at him and then at Lila. “I think it’s my fault Paul got to Lila.”
“What?”
“I didn’t know who he was before and I may have talked to him about you and Lila. It was before he attacked you both the first time, but I think maybe something I said gave him an in somehow. I just don’t understand how he got out and how he got to her again.” She looked at him. “I must have done something.”
He shook his head. “No you didn’t. Don’t think that way and let’s just be thankful both Paul and June are dead. Now why don’t you go home and rest? I’ll be here with Lila.”
Susan left and David sat down, taking Lila’s hand in his and bringing it to his lips. He felt his tears fall as he looked at her and realized with a sickening feeling that he never told Susan that June was out. He didn’t know what that meant or didn’t mean, but he knew one thing for sure, the only people he and Lila could trust were each other.
“David?” Lila asked softly.
“Hey, I’m here,” he stroked her cheek and she opened her eyes.
“Are you okay?” she stroked his cheek with her finger.
“I’m perfect. How do you feel?”
“My chest hurts. What did the doctor say?”
“You have pneumonia, but hopefully we can get rid of it quickly,” he said, trying to keep his voice upbeat.
“When can I go home?”
“Tomorrow hopefully, assuming the antibiotics work.”
She looked at him and her eyes filled with tears.
“What is it? Are you in pain?” He stood up to check her vitals.
She grabbed his hand and he looked at her. “I’m so sorry you had to go through that. I’m so sorry
you had to see her again.”
“It doesn’t matter. Don’t you see? Nothing matters except you. I would face 1000 June’s if it meant you weren’t in this hospital bed. You deserve to be happy and healthy and not in this bed.” He wiped his eyes and sat on the side of the bed.
“Can you lay here with me and let me hold you?” she asked softly.
“I’m okay, Lila,” he said as his chin quivered.