“Don’t be like that, Inaya. It will be ok. You don’t need to cry.” Jeffrey said, standing beside me. Erica, who was more distant, quickly glanced at us.

Had they had an affair as well? Seriously, I wasn’t in any condition to think about that at the moment. I just wanted my Jared back. I just wanted the agony to be over and for him to be ok.

Without saying a word, I went back to the well-lit, clean, white waiting room. There were big armchairs, a water fountain, and a soda vending machine. Different than public hospitals, which were always crowded, there were no more than six people in two groups, comforting their patients who were waiting for surgery.

I chose a place and sat down. My face had become puffy as my tears were drying. My soul was shattered. Minutes later, Jeffrey sad beside me, offering me grape juice in a box.

“Drink it. It will help you relax,” he said.

I had sunbathed a lot in Caribe and Malibu, and my thirst was constant. I accepted the juice and drank a large gulp using the straw.

“How do you know the doctor who will be performing the surgery on Jared?” I asked.

“I met him in New York. I was sick once and he took care of me. After that, he wanted to move to Seattle and I helped him settle in. He’s a great professional, that’s why I introduced him to Jared.” He stood silently, waiting for me to say something, but I had nothing to say. He moved on. “Changing subjects, what do you think of married life?”

What did he have to do with that? Why did he want to know about it? The question irritated me, but I tried to be polite. “It’s good,” I answered without elaboration.

“Is Jared making you happy?”

“Very much. I love him like I’ve never loved anyone before.” If that’s what he wanted to know, he had his answer.

Jeffrey kept silent for a moment, scrutinizing me before continuing. “Why did you lie to me about your pregnancy? I mean, you could have told me you weren’t part of the harem. I’d have understood and respected that. I’m not a maniac, I can control myself in the presence of a beautiful woman.” He was being accusatory.

After all, I was the liar and I had to explain myself to him. However, I didn’t have the inclination to respond right now. “I don’t want to talk about it now,” I said, but he didn’t seem to hear me.

“I could have made you happy too, Inaya. You just needed to trust me, like you trusted Jared to talk about your life. I’m no worse than he is.”

Fuck! He was boring! Couldn’t he respect this time when we were tense? I looked into his eyes and said, “We don’t choose how we feel for someone. I didn’t choose to fall in love with Jared. Things just happened that way. You can’t control what you feel.”

“I know it wasn’t your fault, but you could have given me a second chance. If you knew me better, you’d know I’m not as bad as you think.”

Fuck! When would he stop?

To my relief, Erica approached us and sat in the chair on the other side with me between them. “Is Jeffrey bothering you?” She asked.

“No, we’re just talking.” I said.

“What’s the problem, Erica? Why would I bother Inaya? You think I can’t have a civilized conversation with a girl, don’t you?” Jeffrey was upset.

They looked like snakes swallowing each other. What the hell!

I was ready to excuse myself and leave them when I heard a different cellphone ring from my purse. It wasn’t mine and I took seconds to remember Jared put his belongings in my bag when we were in the limo to the hospital, before telling the driver to take our things to the apartment. It had to be his phone. Without hesitating, I took his high-tech phone from my purse and answered it.

“Hello.” I noticed Erica and Jeffrey looking each other complicitly. They obviously knew it was Jared’s phone.

“Is this Jared Harrington’s phone?” I recognized the male voice on the other end of the line.

“Yes, this is his wife. Mr. Harrington is being prepared for surgery right now.”

“Oh, yes. We spoke before, Ms. Harrington. I’m the chief of Seattle’s Highway patrol.”

I remembered him from when we spoke on the phone in the middle of that nightmare ride. “How can I help you?”

“Our investigators found out who sabotaged the car brakes.

“And who was it?”

“A drug dealer. He’s been arrested and he said he was hired by Jeffrey Harrington and Erica, Mr. Harrington’s brother and cousin.”

I processed the information and I froze. I paled, it was like a trailer from a horror movie was playing in my mind. I suddenly could see Jeffrey hiring the doctor to kill his brother. It was the only logical to think that when two people had tried to murder someone even though they wanted that person to have surgery, as they did. Besides, Jared wasn’t that sick, I was certain of it. His bigger problem was the murderer who shared the same blood.

Jeffrey and Erica wanted to get rid of Jared. I didn’t know why, but it didn’t matter. At this moment I needed to stay calm and save the life of the man I loved.

I saw the murderers looking at me, one from each side and I started shaking. Panic overtook me, a terrible fear grew, not for me, but for the fact that I might not be able to stop Jared from getting that surgery in time.

Following an impulse, I started walking rapidly down the hallway. Jeffrey and Erica followed close behind me. They had to be thinking I knew something. Fuck! How would I get rid of them?

“Ms. Harrington, are you still there?” The chief’s voice wrenched me from my thoughts. “Yes, I’m here.”

“The judge already issued warrants for both of them, but we couldn’t find them in time. Do you know where we can find them?”

Fuck! If I told him outright, those two fuckers would hear me. They were too close, pretending they weren’t paying attention to the conversation, but I knew they heard every word. It was now or never. If I stayed quiet, if I didn’t do something, Jared would die.

“In John F. Kennedy hospital, 1400, Sixth Ave. Send your cars fast. They are trying to kill my husband again.” The instant I got quiet, they looked at me.

“Who are you talking to?” Erica demanded.

I put the phone on my bag, without ending the call and stepped back, going to the hall without them looking away from me. “I know what you’re trying to do here.” I said, gritting my teeth, and they looked to each other. “I won’t let you take Jared’s life, you bastards!”

“What are you talking about, Inaya? Are you insane?” Jeffrey tried be convincing, but failed miserably.

I looked at the other people in the waiting room and screamed, “Someone hold these two. They are trying to kill my husband!” People looked at me with wide-open eyes, without moving, and I suddenly missed being in a crowded public hospital.

“Stop talking shit, girl!” Erica raged.

“You won’t get away! The police are coming.”

With that, I turned around and ran down the corridor, knowing I wouldn’t get to Jared in time to save him if Jeffrey reached me. I didn’t know if it was too late. The adrenaline made me run in ridiculously fast. However, Jeffrey and Erica followed me, and he was faster. He reached me in seconds, grabbing me from behind.

“Let me go. Murderer! Murderer! Someone help me! They’re trying to kill my husband!”

“Shut up, you slut, or I’ll end you right here.” Jeffrey raged at me, holding me from behind. I saw the fire alarm on the wall behind us and screamed louder.

When he let go of one of my arms to shut me up, I rid myself of his grip and elbowed him while pulling the alarm. The loud alarm was heard everywhere and, as a result, doors started opening and people started coming out to the elevator. That was when I screamed louder.

“Help! Someone help me! This man is trying to kill me!” People heard me, and saw Jeffrey holding me, dragging me to one of the closed doors and they did nothing. They just wanted to save themselves from the fire.

Jeffrey was getting close to one of the doors. If we entered, it would be the end for Jared and me.

I kept screaming, begging for help, until, finally, a dark-skinned man going past us, wearing a patient’s gown stopped. “Hey man, let go of her,” he said.

“She’s crazy, bro. she pulled the fire alarm. We’re just trying to stop her so she doesn’t hurt herself,” Jeffrey said.

“He’s lying! He’s trying to kill me! Please, help me!”

The big, strong man hesitated, without knowing who to believe, until he finally decided and attacked Jeffrey, making him let me go. I ran from him so fast I tripped over my own feet and fell on the floor. I got up in a hurry, leaving my bag on the floor, and ran as fast as I could to the surgery center at the end of the hall, when I saw Jared leaving with the doctor.

Without looking back, I made it through the double door to a new wing of the hospital. However, there were many doors, and I didn’t know where Jared was. I’d need to search one by one. My heart raced, I was nervous, and my blood ran cold. I opened the first door and the room was empty. In the second, there was a patient, but it wasn’t Jared. I ran to the third, where a surgery was proceeding. Again, it wasn’t my husband.

For Allah! Where was he?

Desperate, I opened the last door and saw him, laid on the table, draped and sedated, with machines attached to him by wires. There were doctors and nurses wearing masks, surgical gowns and gloves around him.

By the time I entered the room and looked at his chest, it felt like an eternity. I said a silent prayer and I felt grateful when I saw they hadn’t cut him yet.

“Stop!” I screamed. I looked at the bistoury knife one of them was holding and uncontrollably threw myself over Jared, holding him, using my body as a shield. “I know what you’re doing here! I know you’re trying to kill him! Stop, now!”

“What is she talking about?” one of the nurses asked.

“It’s his wife. I think she’s in shock.” I recognized the bastard’s voice. “They went through some bad moments with a runaway car a few days ago.”

“He’s lying! I’m ok, my husband is ok as well. He’s not sick. This bastard is trying to kill him!” I screamed so much I was becoming hoarse.

I raised my head to look at Jared. His eyes were closed, and his face was relaxed, like he was sleeping.

“Wake up, love. Let’s get out of here.” I mumbled.

“He’s sedated.” one of them said.

“I know” cut the anesthesia off now. I’ll take him with me.”

At this instant, the door opened and a young man came, dressed as a nurse, saying, “The fire was a false alarm. It looks like some crazy woman pulled the alarm.” Before finishing the sentence, he was already glaring accusatorily at me.

“Miss, I don’t know what you’re thinking, or what they told you, but your husband is sick. He has a big tumor on his heart,” An older doctor said and pointed to photographs and an echocardiogram hanging on the wall. “See, those are the results of the exam.”

“You’re lying. All of you are involved.”

“Someone, take this woman out of here,” a nurse said. “He’ll soon wake up from anesthesia and we haven’t even started.”

“You won’t touch him!” I screamed. “Whoever isn’t a part of this, please, help me! These aren’t Jared’s results.”

No one answered. Fuck! Were they all involved and paid to do this?

“I already called the cops. If you touch him, you’re all going to jail!” I warned and two of them exchanged looks between them.

“What is this woman talking about?” one of the nurses said and I knew she wasn’t part of it. She could help me.

“They’re trying to kill him. Please, help me get him out of here.”

In the instant I shut my mouth, the door opened again and Jeffrey came in followed by Erica and a security guard.

“Please, forgive us for this,” he said as he entered. “She’s in shock, that’s why she’s acting this way. We’ll take her out of here and you may continue with the surgery.” He faced me. “Inaya, dear, come with us. It’s going to be ok. Jared will be ok. Let’s go.”

The way he talked, it really made it look like I was insane. He was so convincing, that if I was watching, without knowing the truth, without knowing he’d had the brakes cut, I’d have believed him.

“No one is going me out of here!” I said desperately, holding tighter to Jared. I knew no one would help me, that those not involved wouldn’t believe me. “No one touches him!”

With a nod of Jeffrey’s head, the security guard approached and grabbed me from behind, trying to pull me away from Jared. If he succeeded, it would be the end for Jared, but he was much stronger than I.

“Come with me, Miss. I don’t want to hurt you,” he said and pulled me stronger, prying my hands from my husband’s gown. He finally managed to get me away and I became even more desperate, close to completely losing it.

It couldn’t be possible that they would succeed. It wasn’t possible that the evil would win. It wasn’t possible.

I was almost fainting when I heard Jeffrey’s voice. It seemed much farther than it really was. “Sorry about this. She’s Moroccan, she isn’t used to riding in cars and she was in a tense situation very recently’ she’s likely in shock. We’ll take her away from here.”

As the security guard pulled me through the door, I saw Jared farther from me, defenseless on that table. They would kill him, and then probably me. I couldn’t let this happen.

I don’t know where I found the strength to get away from the security guard, but I did and ran back to my love. I tried to protect him again, but this time Jeffrey and the guard held me, taking away any chance of escape I might have. They were pulling me out of the room again, when it the door opened and, to my complete relief, the chief entered the room. There was a man wearing suit and tie and he had a lot of cops with him.

It was about time!

“Let go of the lady!” he commanded. “What’s happening here?”

“Jeffrey is trying to kill him.” I was hoarse from screaming.

Finally, both of them let go of me and I ran to my husband. I saw the officer in the suit serving the warrants on Jeffrey and Erica, who tried to run through the door, but she got caught.

“What is she talking about?” The detective who followed the Highway patrolmen asked the doctors, some of no longer wore masks.

“We don’t know what she’s talking about,” Jeffrey’s friend answered. “This man has a tumor in his heart and we were trying to operate, but she came in screaming.”

Both of them looked at me, waiting for an explanation.

“The doctor,” I said, pointing at the man, “is Jeffrey’s friend, and Jared doesn’t have the symptoms of heart cancer. Considering Jeffrey chose him to be his brother’s doctor and then tried to kill Jared afterwards, it was a logical conclusion.”

They looked at the medical crew again and the detective said, ““I want the names and identities of you all. From now on, you’re under police investigation. Don’t leave town.”

“I didn’t do anything, it was them!” one of the nurses said, taking off her mask. “These X-rays and the echocardiogram are from another patient, they told me to bring it to this room! I don’t know anything else.”

“Who told you to bring them?” The detective asked.

She pointed to Jeffrey’s friend, and he swore.

“Wake the patient and take off all these gadgets!” the detective ordered.

“We can’t wake him. We have to wait the effects of anesthesia to pass,” Jeffrey’s accomplice said.

“Actually, we have a new drug called Sugammadex,” the nurse who had pointed an accusing finger at the doctor said. “It reverses the neuromuscular blockade and can wake him in three minutes, but strong drugs such as this have side effects and, while your husband might not have cancer, he surely has heart problems. Therefore, I’d recommend that you wait for the sedatives to wear off.”

“I’ll wait.” I decided.

“I’ll leave officers here with orders to stop anyone who approaches him again to do any more medical procedures,” the chief said. “Now, all of you will please accompany me to the police station. I want to take your statements.” It wasn’t a request.

In minutes, the room was empty. There was only Jared, unconscious on bed, and me on a chair beside him. I couldn’t look away from his beautiful face while waiting for him to wake up. To feel safer, I opened the door and left it open so I could see the cops outside in front of it. I’d wanted to make sure they were still there, that we were really safe.