10. Cal

10

CAL

The steady beep is the only sound in the room. For a moment, I think I'm at the grocery store, but when the antiseptic scent hits me, I realize where I must be.

Sure enough, when I open my eyes, I'm surrounded by white-washed walls and machinery. For the first time in days, I'm not dizzy when I prop myself up. My wrists and forearms are bandaged. A white cotton blanket slips from my chest as I move.

"Are you cold?" a deep voice asks. I start at the noise and freeze. Chase's eyes are haunted, but he seems relieved to see me awake. I am a little cold, but I shake my head. My friend studies me for a moment before standing and striding out of the room.

I'm sure he only stayed in the hospital because he felt obligated to make sure I woke up. I'm sure he can't stand to look at me, let alone be in my presence after letting his sister go through everything. But a few moments later, he walks back in the room holding another blanket. He wordlessly drapes it over me before dropping back into his chair.

"Thank you," I choke out. My chest is tight, but I feel some relief when he nods. He has dark circles under his eyes as he gives me a little smile.

"Didn't think you were going to make it for a second. You were close to dead." I look ahead without responding. The local news flashes across the TV but I can't make any sense of it. Chase continues. "I'm sorry it took us so long, Cal." I've never heard him sound so gentle. I turn toward his chair.

"Ava?" I ask. My voice is still raspy. Chase stares at me for a few seconds beforeresponding.

"We're not sure. We got one of his men, but we're still trying to figure out where he went. But you just need to focus on getting better. We'll focus on Ava." I close my eyes. "We're going to find her, Cal. I swear we will." His voice is firm now, but I shake my head.

"I should have gotten her out of there." My voice is unsteady, but I continue. "I should have gotten her out. I don't know how you can even look at me right now. You should have left me there and gone after Ava."

"The fuck is this, a pity party?" Chase's voice is venomous. "You want to die, Drake? That's too goddamn bad. There's not a doubt in my mind that you did the best that you could while you were in there. But my sister is gone and there's no way in hell I'm going to lose my best friend too." I close my eyes again, breathing through my nose before exhaling from my mouth. I repeat this over and over until I feel like I can look Chase in the eyes.

"I'm sorry. So, what's the plan?" There's a quiver in my chest but I force it down. Chase surveys me for a second before responding.

"Why don't you start with your side of things. I know it might be painful, but

we need to know what we're looking at." Deep, terrible dread settles in my gut as I remember how all of this started.

"Kiel called me that night. Told me to meet him somewhere else. He threatened Ava. I had no choice but to go alone." I clear my throat then continue. "It was the simplest trick in the book. He and his men cornered me and of course he didn't give Ava back. Ava became collateral and leverage all at once. I didn't expect what he would do to her. Chase, I-"

My voice breaks off and it takes me several long moments before I can continue. The beep of the machines is the only sound in the room as he waits.

"You couldn't imagine the horrible things he did to her. Or maybe you can. He made me watch everything. I have never felt more useless than I did during those days."

"Weeks," Chase interjects, his expression solemn.

"What?"

"You were missing for 2 weeks. We were going into Day 15 when we found you and stormed his place in the mountains." I'm momentarily disoriented at the realization ofhow much time has passed.

"And here? How long have I been in the hospital?" Chase looks like he doesn't

want to answer, but he does anyway.

"This is Day 4. The doctors wanted to keep you asleep for a while. You were distressed when they brought you in and they needed to focus on refeeding and getting fluids in your system without worrying you'd make a run for it."

"I don't remember any of that."

"Yeah, you probably wouldn't. They said you were experiencing psychosis. The doctors honestly weren't sure how you were still alive." I know the reason, although it couldn't be proved by medical science. I couldn't leave Ava. While she was alive in that hellhole, I knew that I had to stay alive too.

"We have to get her, Chase. I don't know how much longer she can withstand him." The haunted look returns to his eyes.

"The twins are trying to get more information. They talked to the local Air Force base yesterday. They confirmed that a private aircraft took off the day we found you. It was only 100 miles away from his hideout, so it seems plausible. The flight wasn't appropriately logged, though, so they couldn't tell where he was going. Satellite imaging shows the aircraft flying over the Atlantic. I don't know how they fucking missed that when it was happening, but it gives us some information."

"He took her out of the country?"

"We think so. But we're going to keep looking stateside too, just in case he's trying to pull a bait and switch. I called in some of our old friends from Ops to help with the search, so we're not spread so thin. It doesn't help that I shot the one source we could have used. He was going to shoot me, but I should have gone for non-lethal. I don't know what I was thinking."

"Wait, what? Who are you talking about?" I have a guess, but I need to hear him say it.

"I'm not totally sure. He was wearing scrubs, like he was a nurse or doctor." Chase may or may not have been able to get information out of him, but I can't deny the satisfaction of knowing he's dead.

"Did he suffer?" I ask, voice low. Understanding dawns in Chase's eyes.

"I left him to bleed out, so he definitely didn't go easy."

"He deserved worse, but I'm glad we don't have him to deal with, too." Chase nods. For the first time, I see how exhausted my friend is. His shoulders are slumped and his clothes are wrinkly.

"You should go rest," I tell him. He scoffs as he sits back in the cheap hospital chair, the vinyl squeaking beneath his weight.

"I'm not going anywhere. Paige is coming by in a little bit to bring me a change of clothes. I don't trust you not to make a fucking run for it." I roll my eyes at him.

"The doctors let me wake up. Obviously I'm not in psychosis anymore." Chase narrows his eyes at me.

"That may be true, but you have a tendency to operate solo when you shouldn't. So, I'm staying here until we can bring you home. We have to get you strong again because we'll need you to bring Ava back."

I must look confused because he continues.

"If Kiel went through all the trouble to take her instead of you, and then leave the country, I'm sure he's taking her to some kind of stronghold. There's no way he's going to risk us storming the place like we did. So, we need you to get your strength back as soon as possible. Ava needs you to get better."

Chase's words flip a switch. I have a lot to process about the last couple weeks, but I can process when Ava is safe. The door bursts open and a tall woman strides in.

"Glad you're alive. You ready to get our girl back?"