Into My Heart

LXXXIII

ABBY

It was a busy day at the hospital, and I was quite tensed as I knew Christen and Kristie were on the search of a plausible explanation about who The Patriarch really is - because I highly doubt it is Kelley O'Hara.

Either way, as an apprentice doctor, I especially had to do preliminary consultations with patients that just got in, and today I was in the children's area. I've already seen three or four - including a kid that broke his leg while skateboarding, and a little girl falling on her face during a soccer game - and so far, so good. 

I just had a 5-minutes break, during which I texted Christen:

ABBY: Hi, any lead on what the heck's going on? be careful, love you xx

I nervously stare at my phone from time to time, but it's already been three hours since I sent that text, and I couldn't help but think that something happened, until I realise that Kristie's with her, so at least they're two badass women. 

When I enter the final room where I was supposed to check a new patient in, jaw opens wide, as I see Rose Lavelle, bruises all over her body, staring at me with surprise.

"Oh my God, Rose!" I exclaim, immediately closing the door behind me and rushing toward her. Before she can say anything, I ask: "Are you okay? What happened?"

The brunette nods, before calmly saying:

"It isn't as bad as it looked: I just got into a bar fight and-"

"Rose, it's 2 PM, and you can't even get into a bar" I interrupt her, suspicious. As she realises her mistake, I add: "What really happened?"

As those words come out of my mouth, Rose bursts into tears, hiding her face within her hands. Frowning - how do I even calm a teenager down ? - I put my file down, before sitting down on her bed.

When she finally looks up, her eyes are red.

Instinctively, I grab her hand, squeezing it softly, and I feel her shake with her whole body: something traumatising definitely happened, and she seems to feel lonely and scared. But not any longer.

I softly whisper:

"You can talk to me, whatever happened, alright?" 

Rose nods her head, calming down a little.

" I-I don't remember clearly 'cause I-I h-hit my head p-pretty harshly" the brunette says, her voice trembling, "but I was coming home from school a-a-and a car stopped r-right next to me, and t-three o-or four people just g-g-got out and started b-beating me up, I-I-"

But her voice breaks.

"It's okay, Rose, take your time" I try to reassure her, while trying to come up with the right words. When I finally do, I communicate them calmly and clearly: "Do you remember what they looked like? Any details that would help us find out who they were?"

Rose starts crying as she declares:

"I-I... N-No, they were wearing m-masks... B-but one of them had a British accent..."

"A British accent ?" I repeat, as my mind is now running 100%.

As Rose looks up to continue our conversation, she freezes, and I soon realise that my intuitions were right: I know who attacked Rose, and they might stand right behind me. So, when I calmly put my hands in the air and slowly, very slowly turn around, getting up, it doesn't come as a surprise at all who I see in front of me.

Lucy Bronze, Tobin Heath and Crystal Dunn, the three of them pointing guns at me. Before I can say anything, Crystal orders:

"We need her alive."

With that said, she watches as Lucy Bronze fires her gun, aiming right inside my shoulder. 

As a light pain makes me fall on the ground, making me feel as if I was dying, I slowly lose consciousness, as the last thing I see is Rose's horrified eyes as the three women start taking me off the ground.

But I am not conscious any longer, and everything goes dark...

*

Muffed voices were what woke me up.

My eyes remain closed, as I try to ignore the intense pain I was feeling in my shoulder, as I try to understand what position I am in. Visibly, they sat me on a chair, my arms tied behind me, and my feet glued to the chair as well. 

Praying that they left Rose alone, I tune into the conversation:

"... you three are just fucking idiots" a familiar voice, that I replaced as being Ali Krieger's, exclaims, as footsteps could be heard. 

"You told us we were running out of time, and that we needed to have a mean of pressure to carry our plan on" Crystal says, visibly frustrated.

"I am not sure that abducting the state's most powerful woman's girlfriend was a good way of 'remaining in the dark', are you?" the FBI agent asks on the same tone. Afterwards, she adds, pissed off: "And taking another prisoner that has nothing to do with what's going on? Stupid."

There is a small silence, as another voice (Tobin's?) says:

"What's done is done, so we better come up with a B plan."

"The police probably know about Crystal's and my involvement with The Patriarch, but we still are a step ahead because they don't know about you two."

"Do what do you want us do?" Tobin asks, and this time I am certain that it is her voice.

Another silence follows, before Ali says:

"Well, I am not the one in charge, you fucking idiot. But The Patriarch has issued her orders, and she wants us to speed up the initial plan. So, while me and Crystal stay here to watch over our guests, Tobin and Lucy will go back to Press Corporation and install the bombs in the basement when our dear friend Christen is out of the manor, got it?"

"Yes, boss" Lucy confirms, as I hear footsteps leaving the room. 

Just before they are gone, Ali adds:

"And wait for my signal: tonight we will reach the final stage of her plan."

"Got it" Tobin says.

As they leave the room, I try to barely open my eyes subtly, and am soon blinded by an intense white light. All I can see is another chair next to me, and Rose, who is visibly still unconscious. Anxiety starts kicking in, as I was thinking about Christen and my sisters being in huge danger without even knowing about it. 

When I try to open my arms a little more, somebody grabs the hair at the back of my head, pulling them harshly, before a devilish voice whispers into my ear (Ali Krieger's):

"Check mate, Abigail."

With that said, I feel an intense pain on the top of my head, and everything goes black again...