by Christa Lynn
The door to the dungeon flies open on a slam and I scream in fear. “HELP ME! PLEASE!” I plead with whoever has just come into the room. He could be another bad guy, but at this point I don’t care. If they can help Gabe........
My body is pulled away from Gabe as a uniformed officer sinks to his knees next to Gabe.
“Get a medic in here stat! We have an officer down!” I hear him bark in to his radio as I’m pulled off of him. Two EMTs come in and someone is hovering over me asking me questions, but I can’t hear him. All I can hear is the cop and the EMT calling out vitals and other information.
“Ma’am, are you okay?” I vaguely hear, but I can only nod my head.
I watch the EMTs work on Gabe, talking to each other and barking out orders. I hear one of them call out for a defibrillator and I feel my body start to shake again. A hand touches my shoulder and I pull away, “NO! LEAVE ME ALONE!” I scream as I watch in horror as the EMT tries to revive Gabe.
“Clear!” He shouts as I watch Gabe’s body jerk upwards, his chest rising and his head rolling back. The EMT looks at a small monitor before pressing the paddles to his chest again.
The electrical surge that blasts through his body jerking him up again. After a third time, the monitor shows a straight line running across it and the EMT drops his head, shaking it back and forth. “Call it.” He says as he stands and walks away, taking his rubber gloves off as he disappears.
“No!! Wait! He was still alive a few minutes ago! Please! You can’t give up! Gabe, NOOOOOOO!!!” I scream and cry as I try to crawl to his lifeless body in front of me. But strong hands pull me back. I fight with him, jerking my arms out of his hold, wrestling with a man three times as strong as me.
I’m placed on a stretcher and wheeled out of the room, my nose instantly clearing with the fresh air outside. But my nose is the only thing that is clear. I’m sobbing, my body jerking and heaving.
“Sydney, wake up babe. I’m here, it’s okay.”
I hold my breath, because I hear a male voice, strong and clear in my head. I wait to hear it again, because I can’t be sure I heard it in the first place. But nothing, I must have imagined it.
The tears again start to squeeze out of my eyelids, and the shaking comes back.
“Sydney, baby. Wake up.”
I pause again, my mind now drifting between fantasy and reality, warm light seeping between my eye lids. I take a deep breath and force my eyes open, fearful of what I’ll see. I blink away the cobwebs and finally focus on the beauty that is right in front of me.
Gabe
“Welcome back, baby.” He whispers to my cheek as he gently presses his lips against my skin.
“Gabe?” I choke out with a weak voice.
“Yeah, baby. It’s me.”
“Oh my God, you.......you’re.......” I suck in a breath.
“Alive, sweetheart. I’m alive, and so are you.”
He moves back a little to allow me to focus and I see his beautiful face. I try and lift my right hand to his face, but I can’t move it. It’s taped up or something and.....I realize I have another hand.
My left hand slowly comes up and I press my palm against his face, his eyes my focal point.
“Gabe?” I ask again, not believing what I am seeing. “Am I dreaming?”
“Not anymore, babe. I’m right here.”
I brush my thumb along his stubble covered cheek, my eyes roaming over his face, his nose, his lips. I scan his body and see the bandage over his shoulder and chest and realize his shirt is only half on.
“You were shot.” I breathe out, my fingers now trailing along the bandages on his shoulder.
“Just a flesh wound. I’m fine.” He says as his eyes close.
“But you.......shit, I don’t know. Tell me what happened?” I ask.
“Later babe, you need to rest.” He says as he sits back in his chair.
“You’re sitting here bandaged up like a mummy and I’m in a hospital bed, and you won’t tell me what happened?”
“You don’t remember?” He asks.
“Some of it. Did he.....?” I ask, not sure I want to know the answer.
“No, thank God. I stopped him before that happened. But we can talk about all of that later, right now you need to rest. Agent Morrison will have questions for you later and we need you rested and focused.”
“Agent Morrison?” I ask.
“Yeah, my boss.”
I ponder that thought for a moment, because I thought Matthews was his boss.
He smirks at me, his lips curling in a devious way.
I look at him with questioning eyes, but I don’t speak.
“I quit the NYPD.”
I try and sit up, but there are so many wires crossing my body that I’m afraid to move. He reaches down and presses a button, rising the head of the bead.
“You quit? Why?”
“We’ll talk about that later.” He stops as someone walks into the room. My eyes don’t leave his and we stare at each other, a connection being made with only our eyes.
A nurse makes her way to my bedside, wheeling her portable station with her.
“Oh, hi Doctor DeCarlo. I didn’t realize you were awake. I’m Angie and here to take your vitals, then I’ll notify Doctor Kane that you’re awake. How are you feeling?” She asks as she wraps the blood pressure cuff on my good arm. I nod at her, but don’t answer her question.
She finishes and types it all in on her station and then leaves, “Doctor Kane will be in shortly.” She smiles as she pulls the door closed.
I look over at Gabe, his head laid back and his eyes closed. He looks exhausted. “Gabe?” I whisper, not wanting to wake him up if he’s asleep. He opens his eyes and lifts his head, looking at me with sleepy eyes.
“Yeah, babe. You okay?” He asks as he sits up.
“I think so. Why don’t you go home and get some rest?”
“No way, not until I know you’re okay.”
“I’m fine Gabe. Thanks to you.”
His eyes flash and he smirks at me. “You’re one tough lady, Doctor DeCarlo.” He says as he comes over to my bedside, pulling his chair with him. He sits down and takes my hand. “But you never should have run off without me.”
Oh, so he’s sticking around to lecture me huh? Well........
“I couldn’t find you, Sydney. Within seconds you vanished and........” His throat catches.
“Within seconds you were gone.”
“SHHHH, I’m fine now Gabe.”
“But you almost weren’t, Syd. God, when I came out of my house and you were gone.....” he chokes back a sob, his eyes glassy with tears he’s struggling to hold in. He drops his head and swipes a stray tear off of his cheek. “When I couldn’t find you.........” and he begins to sob, his upper body shaking and trembling.
“Gabe.” I whisper. “I’m so sorry Gabe. I should have never.....”
“No, you shouldn’t have, but......” His eyes softening and his head shaking. “But it’s over now. You’re fine, I’m fine....we can move on, get past this.”
“But is it really over Gabe? I won’t be able to get past it until I know what happened. The guy.....he told me he was my brother. Who was he really?” I ask.
He stands up and walks to the window, looking out on the world below.
“His name was Stephan DeCarlo.” He says. “He was a victim of your father’s crime spree years ago, just like Samantha and Sophia. His mother drowned in a pool of her own blood when your father strangled her with barbed wire. Then he tossed her in to Lake Michigan. She had already delivered Stephan and your father had no more use for her. Stephan was raised in foster care and was a tattoo artist in Chicago.”
He stops and takes a deep breath, then turns to face me.
“He started studying Criminal Justice at Chicago State, which gave him access to sealed records. Apparently he had a friend in the records division of CPD as well, so he studied his father diligently.”
He looks up at me, wa
iting for me to ask questions.
“How did you find all of this out?” I ask.
“Stupid idiot.” He chuckles. “He carried ID with him, correct ID instead of a fake one. He never tried to hide who he was, and was raping and killing these young girls. The first two were your half-sisters.”
“Revenge?” I ask.
He nods.
“But the third girl, was she.......”
“No, that was his actual girlfriend. He needed another victim.....”
“To make sure I was number four.”
He nodded.
“Shit.”
“Yeah, but that’s not all.”
What else could there be? Before he can continue a man walks in carrying a file. “Doctor Decarlo, I’m Doctor Kane. How are you feeling?” I nod at him but my mind is reeling from what Gabe told me.
“I’m going to go get a cup of coffee, Syd. I’ll be back.” Gabe says as he leaves the room.
The doctor checks me out, and I finally find out the extent of my injuries. A grade three concussion, dislocated shoulder and multiple contusions on my knees, wrists and head. But I’m told I’m going to be fine and can probably go home in a few days. He tells me I was dehydrated which was why I’m still here with an IV plugged in to my arm. “Once you’re re-hydrated you can go home.” He says as he smiles.
He heads towards the door and then turns back to me. “That man’s in love with you, I hope you realize that. He’s not left your side all night.” And he smiles before leaving the room. He hardly said anything while checking me out, but then he says that? Internally I shake my head, cause I know there’s no way Gabriel Torres is in love with me. It’s too soon, and too much has been going on. But then that internal head shaking turns in to a smile. A weak smile at that, but I can definitely feel my lips curling up just a little.
I lean my head back and press the button to lower the bed. I’m exhausted and I close my eyes to sleep. But my mind is in a flurry with all that I have consumed over the last few days. The sights, the smells, the pain. And fury, I realize I’m furious. At who or what, I have no idea. But I’m angry. Why did my family have to be so fucked up? My own father and brother, a brother I never knew I had. One that was just as deranged as my father.
I wrap my hand around my neck to massage the tense muscles and my fingers graze on a sore and tender area behind my left ear. Probably just one of my many contusions the doctor mentioned. But as my finger rubs the tender area, I realize the skin is raised. I rise the bed up again, so that I’m sitting and then twist my aching body sideways. My feet it the floor and I grab the IV stand, using it to hold myself up. It’s a futile attempt as the stand starts rolling and my legs can’t move fast enough. I grab on to the side of the bed and steady myself, calmly waiting for some strength to come back in my legs.
When I finally get my balance, I slowly move to the bathroom and I gaze at myself in the mirror. I’m a hot mess for sure. My eyes are swollen with bags underneath. A scab just above my lip and traveling up towards my nose, and a right red patch of skin below my ear, where my fingers found tender tissue.
I pull my hair back and turn my head and my eyes spot the jagged black lines. “Fuck.” I whisper. He fucking marked me. I angle my head to get a better look and that’s when it hits me.
My mind flashes back to the moment he pressed the needle in to my skin. “Son of a bitch!” I say in a slightly higher voice.
“What are you doing?”
I jump at the sight of Gabe standing behind me looking like he wants to kill someone, possibly me.
“Shit, you scared me.”
“I asked you a question, what are you doing?”
“What are you my father?” I say and immediately realize what I’ve just said. I know I can’t unsay it, but the pain in his eyes tells me I’ve fucked up. “Gabe, I’m sorry.........”
He turns away and leaves the bathroom, the door to the hospital room clicking as he closes that too. “Shit, nice going Syd.” I say to myself as I look back to the mirror. The tattoo is a smaller version of the creepy one that snaked up Stephan’s neck. I get closer to the mirror and focus on it, the serpent behind my ear.
My knees give out on me and my body falls in slow motion to the floor of the bathroom, the IV stand tumbling over and yanking the tube out of my arm. The sound of metal clanking on the floor and blood spurts across the wall. The sight of it makes my stomach churn and I close my eyes to avoid the images. But once I do, the images are much worse. I shake them off and take a deep breath. The tile floor is cool, but the room is spinning and nausea waves over me. I take a deep breath and do my best to relax before the dizziness takes over, darkening my vision.
Chapter 21
Gabe
“How could she say that?” I say to myself as I storm down the hallway of Mercy Hospital.
“Mercy? Lord, have mercy on me please.” I continue the conversation to myself as I exit the front door into the bright sunshine. I lean my head back, taking a deep breath and focus on the warmth on my face.
As I pace the entryway to the hospital, I continue my self-argument. “Damn it! I sat with her for two solid days while I waited for her to wake up. Then she accuses me of acting like her father? God, how could I be so stupid?”
“Gabe?”
I turn and see Mo walking towards me. “Hey Mo,” is all I can muster before turning my back to him. I start to pace again when Mo claps me on my back.
“You still here?” He asks me.
“No, I’m a figment of your imagination.” I spat back at him, but he chuckles.
“Sydney doing better?” He asks, cutting to the chase.
“She’s awake, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“Yeah, that’s good. How is she?”
I scrub my hands down my face, realizing I need a shower and to shave, but I turn back to Mo. “I guess she’s all right. The doctor was seeing her a little while ago and then.......”
“Then what?”
“Nothing, just drop it okay?”
“Gabe, we’ve been friends a long time. And, you work for me now, so spill it.”
“Shit, I’m probably over reacting. It’s nothing, I’ll figure it out.”
“Gabe.” Mo says with a warning hinted in his tone.
“Really, just something she said. I’m sure she didn’t mean it, but it hit me the wrong way and I walked out on her. I really can be an ass sometimes.”
“Yes you can, but you need to think about what you’ve both just gone through. Hell, you were shot for Pete’s sake.”
“A flesh wound, Mo. I wasn’t really shot.” I smirk at him.
“Well, you were still hurt. And on my watch, so that is unacceptable. Now, tell me what’s really bothering you.” He says as he nudges me over to a bench to the side of the door. “Sit.”
I do as I’m told with a growl and Mo chuckles beside me.
“Tell me what happened.”
I look at him like he’s grown horns. “You were there, Mo. You know what happened.”
“No, I mean in the last few minutes. What did she say?”
“She accused me of being like her father.” I say as I lean back.
“Surely she didn’t mean that.”
“No, I’m sure she didn’t, but it hit me the wrong way I guess. Then I walked out on her. Shit, I’m so stupid.” I say as I stand up to go back to her room. “I have to fix this.”
“Wait, Gabe. Sit back down and take a breather. Think about what to say before you go back in there. You both have been through hell and your tempers are short right now.”
I know he’s right, so I sit back down taking a long pause.
“She saved my life, Mo.”
“And you saved hers Gabe.”
“But I was angry that she ran off so quickly.”
“Sounds familiar.” He says.
I look at him in shock, “What do you mean?”
Mo rests his elbows on his knees and stares at a crack in the sidewalk.
<
br /> “You did the same thing, Gabe. I gave you a strict order NOT to enter that hotel room without backup, but you charged along and busted in that door before anyone could stop you.
How is that different?”
“It isn’t.” I respond shaking my head, knowing he’s got me by the balls.
“You two are two peas in a pod, Gabe. But you need to give her some time to sort all of this through. She probably woke up confused and in self defense mode, so cut her some slack.”
“I know, I know. But when she......damn it, I know she didn’t mean it. But fuck if it didn’t slash me right down my chest.”
He places his arm on my shoulder. “Go to her, Gabe. Don’t let her down like her own family did.”
“Speaking of, any word on her brother, Franco?”
“Yeah, he’s gonna be fine. Though it may take some time for him to heal.
“Okay, and her mother and sister?”
“Sister is good, mother still in hospital on suicide watch. You didn’t tell Syd what happened did you?”
“Not yet, but I will as soon as she’s strong enough. Right now, I think she’d retreat so far into her shell that she might not recover. Once things have calmed down a bit, I’ll tell her.”
Mo nods and stands up, “Well, I’ll let you two work this out and come back later to talk to Syd. Call me when she’s rested up.”
“I will.” We shake hands and Mo strides off to his car. I stand and stare at his back as he walks away, my mind going back to yesterday when I found Syd in that room, her brother’s grimy body over hers. I shiver at the thought of what he was about to do. I know I shouldn’t have barged in there without back up, but when I heard her scream I knew I couldn’t wait. And I would do it all again the same way. No regrets. But when she finds out about Franco, God help us all.
I shove my one good hand in my pocket as I head back into the hospital. I need to get back to Sydney and apologize for walking out on her. I know she didn’t mean what she said, it was just a phrase that we all use at times. But coming from her, knowing what her father did and the man that he was made it feel like a stab in the back.
