Everything You Wanted Me To Be.

Chapter 46

Jaces POV

I'm panicking, she shouldn't have read the emails. They didn't say enough to give anything away but I know I have to tell her now. I fumble in the doorcard looking for the cigarettes I bought yesterday. So much for not smoking. I put one between my lips and light it. I roll the window down slightly. I take a deep breath. It calms me. I'm not sure where I'm going exactly but I couldn't do this there.

Grace holds her hand out. What does she want? I take another drag of the cigarette and put it in my hand next to the window.
"Give me it." She says. Is she really choosing now to try make me stop.
"No."
"I want some." I look at her and snigger.
"Absolutely not." I reply in a warning tone.
"So you can smoke but I can? You're such a hypocrite."
"Yep." I'm being an ass, I don't know why. She drives me insane but I love her. Fuck I love her so much that's why I'm going so insane. I notice signs for a nature park I turn off down the gravel road. It doesn't take long before we find a car park. I take a long drag and flick the cigarette out the window and press the button to pull it up.
"Why are you being such an ass!"
"I'm worried."
"Well worried people don't abuse their wives." I turn and look at her. How fucking dare she say that.
"Abuse you, I would never fucking lay a finger on you Grace. Have you absolutely lost your mind? I'm like this because of you!"
"Emotional abuse is just as damaging."
"Get out the car Grace." I unlock my door and climb out the car. I go to the boot and pull my familiar glock out the leather bag and shove it into the back of my pants. I can see graces eyes in the rear view. I suspect she knows. She climbs out the car and walks to the back of it. She looks funny in all my clothes but I love her in them all the same. She looks at me, she looks scared. Fuck I hate it when I do this shit to her. I walk over to her and tuck a loose hair behind her beautiful ear.
"I'd never hurt you, I'm sorry."
"Did you bring me out here to get rid of me?" My eyes go wide. She thinks I've brought her here to kill her? Is she insane?
"Why would you ever think that?"
"I pissed you off, your force me into a car, you drive to a wood, put a gun down your back, what the fuck am I supposed to think? I have no clue who you are right now?!"
"I have a gun down my back because I'm paranoid someone is following us. I brought you here to tell you why, why I got so annoyed and why I think somethings not right." She nods at me. I hold my hand out for her to take. She does and I squeeze it.
"I'm sorry. I just loose my temper, especially when I'm on edge." She nods her eyes don't meet mine though.
"You asked for an Oxy." I run my spare hand along the back of my neck.
"I know, sorry, im in pain, and it's driving me insane." She gives me a weary smile.
"Grace. This isn't what you signed up for. Those papers stand if it's what you want."
"It's not." I smile. I'm relieved.
"I want you to destroy them." She says to me. I'm shocked I'll be honest, why would she want that?
"Why?"
"Because I'll never sign them, I also want you to stop offering me a quick get out clause. I love you and I'm going to stand by you through all this shit." I nod but don't reply. I think she's as crazy for me as I am her. I lead her to a clearing where I see a bench. I need to sit my leg is fucking killing me. She sits and I pull her into my side.
"Who do you think it is do you think it's real?"
"I think my father has something to do with it but I don't understand why. I'm not sure Charles was ever our real issue. I know what I did to his sister but Grace, it was years. She killed herself years after me. When I did that to her, I was barely even 18 I was a boy. She didn't kill herself till I was atleast 21. It doesn't seem to fit."
"I'm relieved."
"What?"
"I thought that it was more recent than that."
"Of course not. The last three years of my life have been consumed by you." She smiles, I can tell I said something right there.
"So?"
"I think it was a set up, someone on the boat knew. Why talk about the commissioner and all that shit if it wasn't even relevant? My family are powerful Grace, they'd have known this stuff. I trust Chris. He came and helped, why would a boat full of people send one person?" She's nodding.
"It's why we didn't go back isn't it?" I nod.
"Chris ran in and grabbed us some stuff, he told them he couldn't find us when he went to the cave. I left silently I left the boat drift for a bit and started it when we were far enough away. Chris was just going to tell them the boat drifted off. They know we are alive though Grace, my attorney would have told them about me asking about the divorce papers and the driver being there when we got to the port. I think the hospital is safe. It was something I did personally it wasn't ever funded through Atlas." She's staring at me I know she's trying to figure out why someone would do this. I am too but I'm lost.
"You need to call Chris." I nod.
"I know but I'm going to do it from a phone box or something, maybe a bar. I can't let them track my phone." She stands and grabs my hand.
"What are we waiting for then?"

This is why I love her. She's so smart, strong even when she shouldn't be. I nod and we head back to the car. When we get there something doesn't feel right. I grab Grace and cover her mouth. I can hear someone talking, there's no other cars though.
She stops and looks at me and nods. I move my hand. We are pressed against a tree so tightly. I still can't see where the voices are coming from. Her eyes go wide as she looks behind me. Shit their behind us they've got to have seen us. I turn around fully hiding Grace behind my own body.
I see a young pair of teens in the distance making out by the tree and let out a sigh. I whisper to grace "let's leave them to it." She nods and smiles holding her laughter back. We climb into the car and I lock the doors.
"I really panicked then."
"With good reason too." I spin fuck how did someone get in the car, I look to Grace whose out cold.
"What the fuck did you do to her?!"
"She'll be fine. Just drive the car Jace." I look at the person in the back of the car, it's Chris?
"What the fuck are you doing here man? Why've you done this to her?" I can't work out if he's the one crossing us or if he's looking out for me. I put the car in gear and drive out the car park. I knew something wasn't right when we reached the car park.
"I'm not here to hurt you guys. I needed Grace temporarily out the way. You don't see clearly with her here." I roll my eyes. He knows nothing.
"Go on then what is it?."
"I think it's Grace." I slam the car on in the road. It's near midnight so no one is around. I turn around to him.
"What the fuck did you just say to me?"
"Hear me out before you go nuts on me. I'm not sure she realises it. I think there's got to be something in her phone, on her pocket. Maybe something she's eaten. I think it's still there too."
"Chris I'm confused what are you talking about." "Take her back to the hospital, get Geoff to X-ray her. I bet they find something."
"What are they looking for?"
"I think it'll be a tracker. Someone knows where you both are all the time, you need to switch it out. Give it to someone else." None of this seems likely to cause Grace any harm. I restart the car and return to the hospital with Chris. "I'm not going to ask Geoff. I'll do it myself." We return to the hospital and I park away from the door. I don't want people to know I'm here. I gently lift my unconscious girl from the front seat and carry her into the hospital. I walk to the X-ray department. I open one of the rooms and lay her on the X-ray table.
"I need to find a radiographer."
"I'll go." Chris leaves the room. I smooth my hand over Graces. Please let there be nothing. Chris returns quickly.
"This is a radiographer but he's refusing to do it." I leave Grace in the room and walk in.
"Do you know who I am?" He nods. I pull my wallet out and hold out nearly 1000 dollars. "Scan her."
"Where?"
Fuck I don't know. I can't expose her to an entire body of radiation, where would she have a chip?
"Her stomach, she has a bullet wound." This is the only place I can think of right now that might have a chip. The radiographer gets to work. I pace around.
"Jace if she has one it's easy to fix." I turn to him I'm furious he would say that.
"Easy to fix? Chris she's either gonna have to have surgery again or..well I don't know." The radiographer waves us over.
"This is her stomach area. I can't see anything but I don't know what I'm looking for."
"Chris what do you think we are looking for here?" I'm panicking whatever he thinks there is I need to get it out of her.
"It's there." He points to graces X-ray.
Shit it's in her bullet wound.
"Check me. You need to check me." I run into where Grace is and gently lie her on a nearby gurney. I lie down and the radiographer comes in.
"Where?"
"My leg and my flank the same place as hers." He takes the X-rays and I don't need to be in the room to hear Chris shout shit. I sit up and walk back in. As I thought, I have one in my flank still.
"We need to leave."
"What!? but this is the perfect place to get it removed?"
"Chris, me and Grace both had surgery yesterday, you'd like to think that they'd take out some metal from our wound wouldn't you think?"
"Shit." He replies. I walk into the X-ray room and scoop Grace up.
"Go and get a theatre kit. And plenty of anaesthetic. Whatever you gave Grace get more." My chest tightens at the fact Grace is going to be going through yet another trauma because of me.