Chapter 46

Once at the hospital, they rushed through the glass doors at the entrance into the emergency area. Colt stopped at the nurses’ station to make the necessary inquiries. The nurse on duty gaped at him as he approached, her eyes widened in awe.

“My sister, Zoey Williams, was in an accident; can you tell me where she is?” His voice was calm.

The nurse, whose pink cheeks flushed red, stared at him with wide baby blue eyes.

“Nurse, Zoey Williams,” he reiterated.

She blinked and flushed embarrassingly, her skin becoming a much deeper shade of red. “I-I-I’m sorry,” she stuttered, hurriedly looking at her computer screen. “She’s being prepped for surgery.”

“Can you tell me what kind of accident it was?”

“I don’t know all the details, but it seems she fell,” the woman replied.

“Thank you,” he said with a smile.

The nurse blushed once more, reaching up her palms to rest on her cheeks. Chelsea giggled to herself. She understood being star struck by Colt as she recalled the first time she saw him perform on stage. It was an amazing experience. She believed that was when she started falling in love with him.

Colt took Chelsea’s hand and led her to the lobby. Three people were sitting separately while one man paced nervously. All the faces seemed anxious as they were obviously awaiting word about their loved ones.

After about ten minutes, a man in scrubs came out. He was approximately in his late thirties, deep brown eyes and a strong nose. Colt stood expectantly; however, he walked over to one of the men sitting.

“You have a baby boy, Mr. Clevens. Your wife is asking for you.”

The relief on the man’s face was unmistakable. Two other doctors came out on separate occasions and spoke with the man who was pacing and a woman who had been quietly sitting.

It appeared that no one was coming to speak with them. Colt sat, stretched his legs out and leaned his head on the backrest of the seat. She sat beside him and rested her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes. She knew Colt had dozed off by the way he was breathing. The close contact with him was awakening her unsated body.

“Colt Montgomery?” a man’s voice said.

She raised her head to see a doctor in scrubs looking at them. Colt stood, waiting for news of Zoey. The doctor gazed over at her, his eyes lingering on her chest for a few seconds before going back to Colt.

“I’m Doctor Madden. Your sister is out of surgery and is resting in the ICU,” he said. “She should be awake in a little while.”

Chelsea stepped closer to the surgeon who now turned his silvery gray eyes to her. Somehow, he reminded her of Reid. “Can you tell us what happened to her?”

“She was brought in by the paramedics who were called to a hostel where she stays. At first glance, it appeared as if she fell, but upon closer inspection, while I operated, it was evident she received a hit on her head, resulting in some hemorrhaging.”

“What?”

“I filed a report and sent it off to the local PD. They will be here shortly to speak with you.”

Colt ran a hand through his hair and paced a few steps, then came back to stop in front of the man. “You mean someone did this?”

“The force of the impact, the gash on the head, and the angle of the wound would imply she was hit over the head, rather than falling,” Doctor Madden replied. “We’ve stopped the bleeding. Hopefully, she will soon awaken; however, she was unconscious when they brought her in.”

“Thanks, Doctor,” Chelsea said, her mind whirling from the information.

“If you will excuse me,” he said in an apologetic manner before returning through the door from which he came earlier.

“What the hell is happening?” Colt blurted out as soon as Dr. Madden was out of earshot.

“I know,” she agreed. “It’s weird.”

He turned to her, his eyes hard. “First, you were kidnapped, and now this.”

Chelsea’s heart seemed to have leaped to her throat as Colt made the statement. Now that Colt mentioned both incidents, she was apt to believe that Jason figured out that Zoey spoke with her. The possibility was likely given that he followed them around. He may have been keeping his eyes on his sister.

The more she thought about it, her suspicion of Jason grew. There was a reason that he and Zoey didn’t get along. She wondered what that reason was.

“What are you thinking?” Colt asked, breaking through her thoughts.

“Nothing,” she said, managing to smile.

He didn’t seem to buy it. “Come on, tell me what’s going on in that beautiful head of yours.”

She fidgeted with the strap of her handbag while she settled her mind on telling him what she thought. Knowing Colt, he’d fly off the handle at the merest mention of Jason’s name. She hadn’t even told him her suspicion that his stepbrother was responsible for her kidnapping. She decided against saying anything.

“Seriously, I was just wondering who could have done this,” she replied, brightening her face.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.” She nodded. “I think we should go up to the ICU to see her.”

“Do you think she’s awake?”

She wasn’t sure, but it was better than standing around waiting. “I don’t know, but I want us to be there when she regains consciousness.”

He agreed. “You’re right.”

The ICU was a floor above; a quieter, seemingly more sterile environment. The smell of the hospital disinfectant was pungent. It seemed they were in a different world altogether with how silent the ward was. Even the nurses at the desk spoke in hushed tones.

“Hello,” Chelsea almost whispered.

A dark haired nurse with a honey complexion raised her eyes with a smile. “Yes?” her tone was low.

“Zoey Williams, where is she? We are family.”

“Third door on your left, down the passage.”

“Thank you.”

Their footsteps broke through the silence as they made their way to Zoey’s room. Colt paused at the door and looked through the square glass panel. Chelsea too looked in at the figure lying in the bed.

Zoey’s head was bandaged, covering all her hair. Chelsea wondered if they shaved it all for the surgery. She looked like she was wearing a turban. Her face was ashen and seemed to have aged a great deal from when she last saw the woman.

Zoey had looked no older than her, though, in fact, she was four years Colt’s senior. She now looked closer to forty. Colt pushed the door and went in. She followed tentatively behind him with her heart beating unevenly.

She hated seeing anyone hurt, and this reminded her of her own ordeal. The gut feeling that the two were connected was now stronger than ever. A movement behind them made her turn to see a police officer standing at the door.

Colt took the cue and went to speak with him while she pulled up a chair beside the bed. Zoey was hooked up to an IV tube via one of her hands; she placed a hand on the other. The woman’s skin was very cool.

“Zoey, I’m so sorry,” she whispered, her eyes catching sight of the medical monitor. “Don’t worry, whoever did this to you will face the consequences of their actions.”

The door opened, and she raised her eyes. Colt stood at the door while Dr. Madden walked in followed by a nurse. She stood, leaving the medics to do their thing and followed Colt back to the passage.

There was a police officer standing a few feet away. She felt relief at seeing the man in uniform. It meant that they were taking this seriously. If this was attempted murder, the attacker might come back to finish the job. At least that’s what she always saw in the movies and TV shows.

“What did the police say?’ she asked.

He turned. “They are investigating, but there were no witnesses.”

“How did they find her and where?” she asked.

“She was found on the street near the dumpster behind the building. They are looking for a weapon the perp may have thrown away. They doubt he took the weapon with him.”

“If he used a tool from a car, he could throw it back in his trunk,” she said, thoughtfully.

Colt narrowed his eyes. “Why didn’t I think of that?”

“I watch a lot of detective shows,” she chortled, trying to lighten the mood. “You should call Reid and let him know where we are.”

“What for?”

“He may be wondering where we are if he doesn’t see us when he wakes up. You know how he is.”

“Let’s head back to the hotel; we’ll come back in the morning.”

She walked over to the door and peeked in the room. Dr. Madden and the nurse were finishing up whatever they were doing. The doctor made some notes on a chart while the nurse was fixing the pillow at Zoey’s head.

She waited until Dr. Madden came out before responding to Colt. She wanted to know Zoey’s status.

“How is she?” she asked as soon as the doctor came out.

He paused. “She is stable, but we can’t be certain when she will regain consciousness. We thought it would be sooner. We will do a scan to make certain there is no swelling in the area and that the bleeding hasn’t resumed.”

“Thank you, Doctor.”

“You should go home and get some rest,” she said.

Chelsea was afraid to leave Zoey, but maybe the doctor and Colt were right. The policeman was still there so she was certain Zoey would be protected in case the assailant came to the hospital.

“Okay, let’s go,” she finally acquiesced.

She knew that her plan to take down Jason had to be set into motion. Her gut told her he was responsible for this, and the feeling was getting stronger the more she thought about it.

She recalled how scared Zoey seemed when she saw her earlier. If she’d known this would have happened, she would never have insisted on Zoey telling her the truth. She should never have let her leave. This was her fault.

How could she tell Colt she was responsible for what happened to Zoey. He would be angry that she kept information from him about what his stepsister told her. She was determined now more than before to make the stepbrother pay for all he’d done to make Colt’s lie hell, and now his own sister.

When they got back to the hotel, she feigned sleep once more and bade a goodnight to Colt at her door. He didn’t protest as she had anticipated. He pulled her into his arms and hugged her close, planting a solid kiss on her lips before letting her go. She wanted more, but she needed to do what she’d originally set out to do earlier that evening.

“See you in the morning,” he whispered hoarsely against her lips.

“Goodnight,” she whispered, returning a peck on his lips.

He made sure she was in, and the door closed before she heard him walk away. She moved quickly, grabbing her laptop from its bag and setting it on the tiny table in the corner, left of the bed.

First, she checked the alternate fan website where Colt’s real fans were. This was not the official website for the ban but a website run by Colt’s real fan base. Over the past two months, she’d made friends with the administrator of that website.

The support was going strong for the rock star, and this made her smile. Next, she logged into the Purple Crush official site and made a statement about the article. The support on this website was fifty-fifty. These so-called fans were not very loyal at all; they flip-flopped easily as soon as they read a nasty article. Many of them were already sending Colt to jail or hell.

After writing the post, she logged out because she knew she would be getting a lot of backlash about it. What she did next was to transcribe the recording she took of her and Zoey’s conversation, along with saving an audio file of the same.

She spent the next two hours writing a comprehensive report then emailed a zip file to the administrator of the alternate fan website. By the time she was done, it was close to 2 o’clock. She barely crawled into bed and promptly fell asleep.