“Where is Mr. Mark Reed?” I ask the tall, slim man who looks like he has had a late night because his blonde hair is all messed up.   

“Can I ask who you are?” he replies, looking up at me.  He definitely had a late night.

“His girlfriend,” I answer. I still find it awkward being called his girlfriend. The title is strange to me. John never called me his girlfriend nor did he ever use a title to introduce me apart from my name.  I was just there for him. Things with Mark are different.  Not quite a year has passed, and I already have a title.  I mean something to him.

“I’m sorry. You can’t go in at the moment. I will check with the doctor and see if he will let you in. You’re not considered a close relative, so he might say no.  Please keep that in mind,” he answers condescendingly.

“Okay,” I say quietly, too stunned to say anything else.  I should have known they wouldn’t allow me to go inside the room.

I dropped off Jessie at Mark’s house where I knew she would be safe, and Connor rang me just as I arrived at the hospital.  He searched the entire house.  It had been destroyed.

I just don’t get it.  Why is someone after Annabella or Mark?  Who would want to hurt either of them?   

Tears begin rolling down my face again.  I can’t see anything through my wet lashes, but I can hear the shuffle of feet moving past me.  I tip my head down, pulling Lucy closer to me and placing my chin on her head.  “No one will ever hurt you,” I whisper.

“Megan,” I hear a familiar voice say, and I lift my head towards the sound.

“Annabella, is he okay?” I question, rubbing my eyes.

“Why are you out here?” she asks.

“They wouldn’t let me in because I’m not considered family,” I state with an aching heart.

“Oh, bullshit. Come on. Mark is asking for you,” she says in a firm voice.  I’m full-on stunned by her language.  I have never heard her say anything like that before.

I stand up, lifting Lucy onto my hip and grabbing my bag and changing bag that Mark gave me.  It is a pretty purple with “Lucy” embroidered on it in pink thread.  I take the tissue from my jacket pocket and rub my puffy eyes.  Inhaling a deep breath, I follow Annabella. The unit is full off little bays with different curtains separating the beds. There is medical staff dressed in various coloured uniforms everywhere I look, making it easy to distinguish their jobs.  Annabella stops at the end of the ward at a private room that has walls and a window with closed white blinds.  

“We need to wait here. The lead doctor, who has been treating Mark, is in the room with him. That’s why the blinds are down.  He went into the room as I came out to find you.”

I nod, placing a little kiss on Lucy’s head. “I love you, baby girl,” I say barely above a whisper.

“The young lad, I think his name is Len, told me Mark’s girlfriend was here.  I had to come find you,” she informs me. 

“Thank you, Annabella.  I was getting so worried not knowing what was happening.”

“Hi, can I get you anything?” I turn to see a young lady with short ginger hair, wearing a dark blue top.

“This is Kim, the nurse that has been looking after Mark,” Annabella boastly states.  It’s nice to know who to talk to if I need to know anything about Mark.  Right now, I need to see him. I need to see him with my own eyes.  

“Hello, I’m okay. Thank you,” I reply.

“Can we get two cups of sugary tea, Kim? Megan, you need to keep strong for Mark,” Annabella says, being forceful as usual.  I should have known she was going to order something for me; she is always looking after others.  I could use a drink, though, so I can take some painkillers since my head is killing me. 

It seems like I have been standing here for ages. I turn around, trying to gaze into the room through the gaps in the blinds.  As I watch a tall figure walk past the window and towards the door, I hear the door slowly open, creaking as it does.  The doctor walks out of the room towards us.  Although he’s wearing a doctor’s badge, I really don’t notice anything else about him apart from his solemn face that remains deadpan.  

“How is he?” Annabella asks.

“He is awake. There are no signs of any major damage. He has had a scan, and we are just waiting for the results. I will be admitting him overnight, though, so we will be able to keep an eye on him, no matter what the results say.”

“Thank you, Dr. Bradybury,” Annabella says, smiling.

“This must be little Lucy,” he states as he walks over to her, placing his hand on her back.

“Yes, it is,” I reply.

“Mark has been asking if she is okay.” He really does care about Lucy. She interacts so well with him; it’s amazing to watch. I sometimes worry that it is Lucy he wants and not me because I have read articles in magazines where men pick up pregnant women just for the child. I hope Mark isn’t one of those men. “You can go inside and see him,” Dr. Bradybury states before spinning on his heels and walking towards the desk labeled “Nurses’ Station”.  There are so many different people over there wearing either green or blue uniforms.  Kim is wearing a blue one, but that lad Len, I think Annabella called him, has on a green one.

I follow Annabella into the room, taking deep, calming breaths as I go. I don’t know what to expect when I walk in.  I know it’s Mark, but I don’t know the extent of the damage that was done to him.  “You’re both all right,” Mark says as Annabella and I walk closer to him.  I don’t try to hold back my tears as they begin to fall freely from my eyes.

“You’re alive,” I respond, hastily closing the space between us and reaching his bed. I sit on the edge of it, making sure I don’t sit on him or any of the wires attached to him.  Even though the doctor assured us he’s all right, there seems to be a lot of medical devices hooked up to him.

“Yes, I am.” He smiles, rubbing my back.  I’m supposed to be comforting him, but he is comforting me instead.

“Your head must hurt.” I look deeply into his eyes and see the pain he is in that’s only slightly displayed on the surface. He has a black eye, three large cuts on his head that required stitches, and a cut lip. Who would do this to him?  I just don’t understand.

“It’s fine. Have you contacted Connor?” he questions.

“Yes, he is on his way here. Someone broke into Annabella’s house,” I inform him.  He needs to know. I can’t keep that piece of information from him since it might be able to help the police. 

“Annabella, you’re staying at mine until further notice, no arguing,” he states in a commanding voice.

“Deal,” she replies. “I’m going to find our teas.”

“Who did this to you?” I enquire.

“I have no idea. He was tall with blonde hair.  That’s all I know.”

“But why you, Mark?” I probe further.

“Hi, everyone,” Connor says as he walks into the room with a massive smile spread across his face.  I have never seen him look anything but happy.

“Connor, we need to find him now,” Mark orders, waving his finger at him.

“But who is he?” he asks.  “Did he say anything to you?”

“The only thing he said to me was ‘she’s mine.’”

I sit there listening to the two men talk back and forth, attempting to absorb everything that is being said. Connor tells Mark about the damage inside the house and how all the photographs containing Mark were smashed and his head was ripped off. Connor had left the police and one of the security guards there while they finished checking out the place. Mark recounts what he had seen and heard, which isn’t much. The man came up behind him and when he turned around, Mark smacked him in the face with the back of his fist, which explains the cuts on his hand. Mark continues saying that he didn’t even know the man. He will not tell me any more about the fight. I want to know how he ended up with such a bad injury to his head.

“Megan, come with me,” Annabella says, poking her head around the door frame and holding a brown tray with two cups sitting on it. I need a drink, and I need to take some painkillers. I leave Lucy’s bag with Mark and head out with Lucy asleep in my arms.