Catching Fire

by T. N. King

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Ellie awoke in a bed. Gasping as she came to, she wondered what had happened. She saw nothing but black this time, just a black void. She reached up to her face and found bandages wrapped over her eyes. “O-oh god,” she whispered.

  “There you are,” a voice spoke.

  Ellie turned her head.

  “I’m your nurse.”

  Ellie felt more than confused. She couldn’t remember anything.

  “You are in the hospital and will be okay. I’m going to get the doctor, so he can talk to you,” the voice said slowly and gently.

  Ellie had nothing to say. She was lost. She felt like there was something majorly important that had happened, but she couldn’t think straight. All she could feel was fear. Why? Well, to wake up in the hospital with your eyes wrapped. Okay, that is a major thing. So, how did I get here?

  “Well, hello young lady,” a man’s voice spoke.

  She flinched as this was disorientating—a voice coming out of nowhere. “Umm, hello?” She could hear movement around her.

  “Now,” the voice came closer. “I want you to know that the chances are you will not be blind permanently, ok?”

  Blind? “Do you know how I got here?” she asked.

  “By ambulance, I think?” he replied.

  “B-but I don’t remember anything.”

  “That is natural. If you have been through something traumatic and it appears you have.” His voice sounded soothing and his tone kind.

  “Is it natural to wake up, have bandages on your eyes, and not remember a thing?”

  Silence.

  “Doctor?”

  “Mmm, yes. I was looking at your file the nurse gave me to see if there was anything here about your accident or…”

  She waited.

  “Not much here,” he said. “Do you know your name?”

  “Yes, it’s Ellie.”

  “Okay that’s something and a last name?”

  “White.”

  “Oh, mmm. Seems that is a familiar name to me, for some reason,” he replied.

  She felt some hope, maybe he could find out.

  “Yes,” he spoke again. “Nurse?” he called out.

  A few minutes went by as he spoke to Ellie about her eyes, saying they had wrapped them to prevent any damage from light or otherwise and in 48 hours, she would have them unwrapped.

  “Yes, Doctor Ellison?” that familiar voice of the nurse spoke now.

  “Yes, this is Ellie White,” he announced.

  Silence.

  Ellie now felt more puzzled. Why would the doctor announce her name like that?

  “THE Ellie White of…” The nurse’s voice fell away.

  “I think so,” he replied.

  “The one who is going out with Morgan Hunt? The star couple that’s all over the net?”

  Ellie sucked in a breath as she bolted upright and her body shook. Her breathing sped up as she gripped her hands together. A car. A car following her. She turned off the freeway and then…

  “Miss White, are you okay?” the doctor asked. Your heart monitor is telling us…”

  Ellie tuned him out. She had to remember this. The motel room, yes! The man with the aspirins, then Morgan and Chance and other voices…what were they saying? Her heart pounded in her ears, as she felt dizzy.

  “Nurse, check her vitals, I don’t like this.”

  “Yes, Doctor, she looks upset. Miss White, I’m going to take your pressure.”

  Ellie wrung her hands and became breathless. She felt like she was going to throw up, as she felt cold and clammy again. Yes, she felt this way after hearing some loud noise, a bad noise—what did they say?

  “Miss White, please tell us what is happening? Are you remembering now?” the doctor sounded worried.

  They were calling for Morgan to step away from…from the victim? Me, they meant me? Then Morgan’s voice saying he would get her help. Then—

  “Now Miss White, you need to lay back. You aren’t supposed to—”

  Suddenly, it all came back with a vengeance. “MORGAN! The cop shot him!” she screamed and tried to get up. “Oh, God! Where is he? Oh, God!” She pulled her tubes out where she could feel them at least. “He has to be alive! I have to go. I need to…” She pushed her legs over the side and felt cold metal underneath her knees, then she pushed herself off.

  Hands caught her as a loud beeping went off in the room.

  “Whoa, now. Just calm down,” the doctor’s voice urged from close to her ear. “Nurse, 44 cc’s!”

  “It will be okay,” the nurse said again from another direction.

  Ellie was hyperventilating. “Please you gotta find him! If he got shot, he would be here! Come on please?” she shouted in panic. Morgan could be dead. What would I do? No more Morgan? She started to cry.

  “No, Miss White don’t cry, your eyes!” the doctor now sounded upset as she struggled with someone’s arms and the voices grew quieter.

  Her hands fell away as he had no strength in her arms now and her body felt like jelly. Morgan?

  Then the black void in front of her eyes became everything as she drifted out to nothing.

  “It’s about fucking time!” Chance shouted.

  Morgan held his head in his hands. “Would you please not shout?”

  “We have been in here for fucking hours. Our lawyers are finally here.”

  Morgan looked up.

  “Yes, you’re interested now, right?”

  Chance had been bitching and yelling about the scandal for the last…no telling how long. Getting arrested and booked. “Throwing us into county!” he’d shouted. “It will be in all the papers!” Them with mug shots all over the net. The board getting pissed. Companies dropping contracts. The stock plummeting.

  All the while, Morgan didn’t care. He couldn’t give a holy fuck. The pain in his arm from where that cop’s bullet had grazed him didn’t even register in his brain. It was all crap anyway. Who cared if he lost anything else? He kept seeing Ellie in his head. The way she’d looked. Her screams. What she’d said about Hillborn. When all the while this last month, Morgan had convinced himself, it’d been better to sweep it under the rug. Yeah, better for him. I’m a selfish prick, always have been. He’d allowed it to stew there inside her. He had at least destroyed an entire 3 room hotel suite in getting his therapy. He’d wished it had been Hillborn that he’d broken into little pieces, but at least he’d let out the rage. He’d confronted the deep defiling terror and violence that Hilborn had left behind.

  What did Ellie have? She never even had anyone to talk to about it. Let out all the terror she’d experienced.

  Yes, Morgan was feeling low, so low—he hadn’t cared about anything at all for the last four hours or however long it had been. Time just slipped away and in its place was misery. He’d failed her again. Over and over again. The more he wanted to be this better person the more he’d failed her. She deserved someone better. Then he worried about what she’d said. Blind. Blind. Blind. The word had repeated over and over in his head like a death toll. What if it were permanent, what if—

  “Morgan!” Chance yelled close to his ear.

  He raised his head up.

  Chance stilled as he stared at him. “Now, Morgan, you can’t—”

  Morgan rose up. “I can’t what? Do anything right? Get anything right? I didn’t help her. I didn’t do a goddamn thing to help her!”

  “Whoa!” Chance put his hands up. “Of course, you did.”

  Morgan stared at him. “That fiend did unspeakable things to my girl. I couldn’t stop that. Then I just acted like it never happened. Then fucking Daphne came plowing into our home and sent Ellie off to head into God knows where. Then your man ran her off the fucking road. I know that he did, I figured that much out.”

  Chance’s eyes widened.

  “Yeah, but I won’t even blame him for that OR you! It’s me. I sent them out through you. I wasn’t there to take care of her myself like a good man would
have. I’ve failed her time and time again.”

  Chance looked upset. “You’re human.”

  “I’m selfish that’s what the fuck I am. Make the deal. Keep the deal.” He threw up his fists. “Well, FUCK the goddamn deal!”

  Chance dropped his hands. “Okay. You’re just upset. I can see why. Ellie she looked….” His voice fell away.

  “Yeah!” Morgan choked up. “I can’t get that image of the way she looked out of my mind. She was more terrified than I’d ever seen her. You know how brave she is right? How fast she bounced back after that monster did what he did to her… And where was I this time?”

  Chance sighed.

  “Yeah, I was in the boardroom fucking over Daphne like it was SO damn important when Ellie was getting fucked over again! She could be blind from this, she—”

  “Whoa, whoa buddy. Come on. We’re leaving and we’ll head over to the hospital—”

  “And do what? Come in when it’s too late, again?”

  Chance looked angry. “You know what, you’re right. You weren’t there. You run a multibillion dollar company and Ellie understands that. You can’t just sit here IN jail and feel sorry for yourself. She needs you right the fuck now!” Chance pushed him hard and Morgan even stumbled back as he almost lost his footing. “Get the fuck going!”

  Morgan turned his head and glared at him.

  “No. You’re not taking it out on me. You are going to go to her. Hold her fucking hand. Help her all you can. Get the fuck moving!” Chance shouted.

  Morgan let his shoulders drop and much to Chance’s obvious surprise—he turned and walked out of the cell without a word.

  “Well, fuck me,” Chance muttered as he followed him out. “The fucker actually did what I said?”

  The officer who held the door for them snickered and then motioned them down the hall. When they’d first arrived here, all the cons had hooted and hollered through the bars about fresh meat and how they would be someone’s bitch when they got sent to prison.

  Chance had fumed at the time.

  Abruptly, Morgan had stopped and grabbed one particular big mouthed felon’s head through the bars then asked him who was the bitch now!

  Chance and the guard had to make him let go. Now, all was quiet as a church while they made their way back through the same hallway and Chance was snickering. They were led to a cage type of desk and there was their lawyer.

  The best suit in town and the best attorney, Chaz Stratton. Ten thousand dollars an hour and change. Wearing Armani and smiling like he’d just won the lottery. “Well, Morgan, Chance. This wasn’t easy. You two were supposedly perpetrating three felonies. Good thing you weren’t armed.”

  Morgan stopped and glared at him.

  Chance just shook his head.

  His smile dropped and the usually confident lawyer cleared his throat. “Hmm, well.” He motioned with his hand to the cage. “Get your effects.”

  They both turned to the bald headed black cop who stood behind the cage desk.

  “Chance Givens and Morgan Hunt,” Chaz announced.

  The man raised a brow at them and turned to retrieve two envelopes. “Chance Givens?”

  Chance stepped up.

  The cop opened the envelope and dropped out the contents. Several items hit the desk with a clatter.

  “Whoa man. That watch is worth more than your salary!” Chance seethed.

  The cop halted and looked him over with disdain in his eyes. “My salary is decent and I’m not stupid enough to waste it on a goddamn watch.” He then listed off items, “So… one GOLD Rolex, a pair of gold cufflinks with the monogram letters CG. Gold ring with three 24 karat diamonds. A diamond studded tie pin, gold of course. A Smart phone?” He stopped and raised it up curious as to the design. “Never seen one like this.”

  “That’s a prototype,” Chance replied. “Won’t be available to the public for six more months.”

  Another two cops stepped up from behind them to listen.

  The cop at the desk rolled his eyes. “So who the hell needs it if we po’ folks can’t get it?” Then he listed another item, “A wallet…” He lifted it up. “What the fuck is it made of?”

  Chance sighed. “It’s a new synthetic anti electrostatic, waterproof faux…” His words faded away.

  The cop shook his head and opened the wallet. He whistled. “A gold card of course and a black card.” Then he pulled out the wad of cash. “These are actually thousand dollar bills?” He counted them out. “One, two, three…” He thumbed through the rest. “Who in the hell carries 8,000 bucks in their wallet?”

  Chance shrugged looking unaffected by the attitude. “Me, I guess. One never knows when you will need a little something.” He grinned.

  “A little something?” the cop quipped back at him.

  The cops gathered all started laughing.

  “Damn man, in my neighborhood you could buy like twenty thousand drinks for everybody that lives there or the whole pizza house with this cash!”

  More laughter.

  “Keys…” He raised a key ring up. “One that says Porsche, one Jaguar, one Mercedes, one Lexus.” He looked up at Chance. “Holy fuck. One guy needs all these cars?”

  The other cops gathered behind them…which there were five now, all chuckled.

  “Yeah, overcompensating for something,” one muttered.

  Chance looked livid. “I earned them all. Let’s move along shall we?” He signed for his small fortune that had been on his person when he’d been arrested.

  More snickering came from behind them.

  Morgan watched it all with little interest, though he couldn’t help but smile a little. Only because Chance was getting some long overdue ribbing.

  “Okay, so Playboy number one out of the way.” The black cop raised a brow at Morgan. “I would assume you are number two?”

  More laughter echoed from the hall.

  Chance sighed and shook his head as he wore a worried look. He knew Morgan wouldn’t like this whole scene the way it was playing out.

  Morgan stepped up to the cage, all six foot 3 of him. Shoulders wider than most men. A glint in his steely eyes. “I’m number one wherever the fuck I go. I don’t care what you…” He turned to glare at the men standing around. “Or any of you fucks think.”

  The men all around looked shocked.

  “Now Morgan,” Chance started.

  “NO! I have a woman who is in a hospital bed that needs me. I don’t care! Give me my shit and I’ll leave!”

  “Mr. Hunt,” Chaz broke in. “Really you should—”

  Morgan turned and stared at him, his bloodshot eyes pinning him with rage.

  The group of cops all dispersed, their teasing seemingly done with.

  Morgan flipped back around and glared at the bald cop.

  The cop lost his smart ass smile as he gently poured his items out on the table. “One smartphone, one gold ring. One key.” He looked up at Morgan. “I guess you are number one.”

  Morgan took his items and signed the sheet. “Money doesn’t make the man, it is simply the man that makes the money.” He swiped his stuff up from the desk and turned away.

  Chance stood there and smirked at the cop. “Yeah, what he said.”

  Their lawyer chuckled as he followed the Playboys out of the police station

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Ellie could hear voices but they seemed like they were coming from a tunnel. She was trapped wherever she was. She tried to move, to open her eyes and none of her efforts worked. Where am I? She whimpered as she now heard a voice. “I will have you and no one will want you after I’m through, especially that fucking Morgan Hunt.”

  Ellie began breathing fast. She needed to get out of here. He had her trapped good this time. Now she heard chains rattling. Oh, god. She was hanging in chains and her nude body was exposed. She felt his hands all over her skin.

  Someone would come right? Morgan would be here soon. Right?

  Now another voice was speaking, “
You are nothing but a billionaire’s sex toy, a plaything. When he’s done playing, he will be mine.”

  It was that Daphne bitch. She had stood in their home and told Ellie the truth. A truth Morgan had kept from her.

  “I told my father no. I refused the merger. I love you Ellie.”

  Yes, Ellie remembered it now. She was going to see someone who could tell her the truth. Someone who could save Morgan from himself. She knew she couldn’t let him ruin himself. Yes, she’d been angry that he’d kept it from her, but her fear of him being poor overrode that anger. No, she couldn’t let him do it. He would be half the man he was now. You can’t just strip everything from a man like him and expect him to be the same…to be okay. Could it be that Ellie herself had been the very worst thing to happen to Morgan?

  Ever since he’d pulled her from the fire, his life had gone down a dark hole. Scandal, turmoil, and hateful acts. No wonder he’d hesitated when it came to having a relationship with her. No one could blame him. Then finally, when he’d been certain they should have a future, she finds out that his future would be ruined if she was selfish enough to keep him with her.

  His father would cut him off and he would have nothing. No more being a CEO, no more wealth, no inheritance. Ellie couldn’t allow herself to be the reason he was ruined. She couldn’t watch that downward spiral of the man she loved beyond words.

  So, where am I now? It’s dark and quiet. I remember something from before…Her body froze. MORGAN! He’d been shot! Then she woke up in a hospital and couldn’t see. Did they find him? Her breathing picked up again, as she fought to get awake to find out—

  “Miss White?”

  There, that was the nurse’s voice she’d heard earlier. Ellie opened her mouth to speak. Nothing came out. I can’t even ask about him! I can’t see and now I can’t speak. I’m blind and mute. NO! I need to know if he is okay. She tried again, “M-morgannn?”

  Someone squeezed her hand. “It will be okay, Miss White.”

  Ellie shook her head back and forth. NO! No, it won’t!

  “Just try to stay calm. We will find out about Mr. Hunt for you. Okay? Squeeze my hand if you understand.”