Chapter 308: They Can Wait

After seeing the state Mina was in, Ian was not concerned with his own safety. He just wanted to get to Mina and make sure she was alive, but he knew that could be dangerous. He and Kace Anders were far from friends, and the truth was that Ian could have been walking into a trap. Kace had promised to help put an end to Ian's ties with Lisa, and Ian was starting to think that may have included getting rid of him altogether.

As badly as Ian wanted to run to Mina's side, he had to first scan the room for wires, triggers and even bombs. Confirming that the room was empty, Ian and Zane finally rushed forward. They tried to gently lift Mina into a more comfortable position, only to be shocked once again. Mina's face was a mess of blood, bruises, and welts. Ian also noticed that her shirt had been torn open and he reacted the only way he could think.

"Turn around. Close your f*cking eyes," he shouted at Zane, who had already seen what Ian had. None-the-less, Zane complied. "Don't just stand there. Help me untie her." Ian shouted again, and Zane went to help. "I told you to turn-"

"IAN!" Zane shouted so loudly that it echoed. "I get what you are trying to do, but I can't help you with my eyes closed. I promise that I am not looking at her. Okay?' Ian nodded slowly. He was not accusing Zane, he just wanted to respect Mina.

Zane very wisely chose to work on untying Mina's ankles, while Ian removed the ropes from around her waist. The bindings on Mina's wrists were so tight that they had irritated her skin, leaving ugly red marks once they were removed. With Mina fully untied, Zane left the room, allowing Ian to adjust Mina's clothing in whatever way he saw fit.

"I'll pull the car closer," Zane said. He could only guess what was going through Ian's mind, but the lack of emotion his friend was showing terrified him.

----

Ian carried Mina's lifeless body out of the building and toward the waiting car. He was shocked to see that Lisa had also stayed behind and waited for him. When she caught a glimpse of Mina's face, she sucked in a large breath of air and Ian knew she was genuinely shocked by Mina's appearance.

"Go to my family's hospital," Ian ordered Lisa as he walked by, and the woman nodded wordlessly.

Lisa had seen Mina being beaten but because she had not shed a single tear, and even kept putting up a fight; Lisa had believed that she was fine. Lisa was shocked and disgusted by the swollen mess she had just seen, and she wondered if something had been broken.

----

Ian brought Mina to his family hospital through a private entrance. He was immediately shown a room where he could lay the woman down, and several nurses got to work on checking the woman's vitals. One of the nurses tried to remove Mina's clothing, but Ian stopped the woman. He was shouting violently, and his aggression had scared the other nurses into confusion.

"Ian they are just trying to check her body for injuries. They are here to help," Zane said. He had not been in the room when the nurses tried to change Mina, but he could guess from Ian's words what had happened.

"They can wait for her to wake up and change herself. Mina has already woken up once without her clothes on, and I never want her to experience that again. I want her to wake up the exact same way we found her." Ian's words were profound, and some of the nurses who were bold enough to listen understood.

Mina's body was checked for metal, and after determining that there was none on her persons, she was rolled into another room for an x-ray. Ian sat anxiously outside of the doors, but his mind soon returned to him and he ordered Zane not to leave Mina's side. Before Zane could ask anything, Ian was already running away.

----

Lisa had been checked by the Lee family personal doctor, and she had been made comfortable in a recovery suite. She wanted to feel happy that she was getting VIP treatment, but she was bitter. She knew that Mina was likely getting the same treatment, only with Ian by her side.

Jealous, Lisa thought up a way to make Ian take a step back from the girl. She planned to tell him that Mina had been used by the men who took them. Since Mina remained passed out for an extended period, it would make sense that only Lisa would know the truth.

"Miss Lisa, your brother wants to speak with you." Lisa looked at her brother's trusted guard and struggled to remember the man's name. She slowly took the phone and placed it to her ear, expecting her brother's concern.

"Why did I just receive a video of you ripping an unconscious woman's shirt open?" He lied. "Lisa, consider the implications for what I know you are planning." Lisa listened to her brother's words, but she did not actually hear them.

"Who sent you something-"

"Stop. Lisa. Do you know how much I had to pay to stop the video from being sent to your precious president Lee? If he sees that, he will think you orchestrated the entire abduction."

"I didn't," Lisa said indignantly.

"I know. I have a good idea of who wanted to snatch you, but they hired amateurs without enough experience or facts." Kace would never tell his sister that it was him, he would shuck the blame to an old enemy of his father, who was known for kidnapping relatives. "My men tell me you were hit," Kace said.

"I was, but I am okay. Scared, but okay." Lisa felt good that her brother believed her, and him finally showing concern helped to calm her frazzled nerves.

Lisa's conversation with her brother went much more pleasantly than she expected. He did not order her to stop seeing Ian, and although he asked her to stay home for a few days to a few weeks, he did not insist. She felt like her old brother had returned to her, and he finally learned to respect her relationship.

Lisa was still chatting with her brother about when he would return to Pan Country when Ian walked into the room. She rushed her brother off the phone, saying that a doctor had come to speak to her, and she dismissed her brother's guard.

"How is Mina?" Lisa asked, trying to sound genuinely concerned.

"I don't know," Ian replied. "I came to check on you before she was finished with her examination." Lisa did not know if that was a good thing or not. Was she a priority or a time killer? "Lisa, you know, you can tell me if anything happened to you. Right?" Lisa blanched and her brother's words echoed in her mind.

"Nothing happened," Lisa said defensively, but Ian had a look of disbelief on his face. While he had come in and seen Mina likely unmoved from where she was kept by her abductors, Lisa was already wrapped in a jacket and sitting in a car.