Accidentally Kidnapped

Chapter 51

"Wow." Fern sounded impressed. "Nice work."

"Thanks."

"But that's why you both survived." She said. "The firefighters caught you both before you went splat on the ground. Heath tried explaining to me what happened but even he had no clue what was going on. All we heard was that Cage and you jumped off the roof of the Chicago Medical building which was on fire. And Heath...he also explained to me what happened to our parents and how Romeo tied into all of this."

I stared hard at the blankets, trying hard not to cry. "I wanted to tell you, Fern. I was going to, but I never found the right time. How do you even explain something like that?"

"I understand, November." Fern's voice cracked. She paused for a second, trying to maintain her composure just as much as I was. "Mom and Dad lived a secret life and it got the best of them in the end. We can't change the past."

"And Romeo? What happened to Romeo?"

"Well, Heath said that he got back on his helicopter and flew away before anyone could do anything." She said. "Heath said he was going after him after they found Cage. They took off after Cage disappeared. Last night was the last time I saw them. I don't know what happened after that."

I stared at the needles taped to my arm. The sight made me physically ill. "So Romeo's gone, Cage disappeared, and I'm alive."

"Why?" The anger in Fern seemed to come back. "That's my question. Why the hell did you jump off a building, November? And without any protection. You could have died!"

''Romeo's men filled the hospital with gunpowder. It was gonna explode." I sighed as if this type of thing happened every day. "Either way, we were going to die. Cage just decided that jumping off would be safer than staying up there. He was right, Fern. We survived."

"Barely, November." Fern whispered. "Look at yourself. Look at what Cage did to you. This is all his fault. He put your life at risk just to save his own. He's dangerous and an animal. He's a criminal, for goodness sake. Cage's got half the world looking for him. I'll kill him when I get the chance. I don't know why you haven't done the job yourself."

"What, kill him?" I asked in surprise.

"Yes! I would have."

"For many reasons, Fern!" I snapped. "I can't live with murder on my conscience. And another thing. Have you seen the size of Cage? He almost killed me on multiple occasions-"

"What?"

"-I can't take him on." I cringed as Fern's face got red. Trying to cover up my blunder, I babbled on. "Besides, Cage has more fighting skill in his pinky finger than I do in my whole body. And look, my pinky's broken." Pressing my lips together, I waited for Fern to speak. I couldn't risk telling her what really happened up on that roof and what transpired between us.

"Oh my God." Fern sighed deeply. "Listen, we'll talk about this later. Right now, I want you to get some rest. The police want to ask you some questions."

"No, thanks."

"Seriously, I don't think you have an option. They already know you have a connection to Cage. It's not gonna get any better. My advice to you would be to tell them everything. Don't dig your grave any deeper, November. Get out of this while you can."

"I don't want to talk about this anymore." I covered my face with my bandaged hands. The medication was wearing off the more I conversed with Fern. At this point, I wanted nothing more than a drug-induced bliss to take me out of the harsh reality. A little flower of pain blossomed up on the back of my head. What a mess I'd made. And all because of a stupid four letter word beginning with L.