Hazy

Back in the grotto, Sara and Zane were awkwardly making small talk, trying to avoid sharing too much about their past. Sara found herself feeling sad and wanted to avoid a deep conversation, so she kept her mouth busy by drinking more of her Bellini.

She had finished her second glass, and Zane had fetched a third for her. He could sense the tension in the air, so he suggested they go back to the pool and join Jen and Ethan on to give them something else to focus on.

Zane noticed that Sara was a little tipsy, so he held her hand and helped her up the stairs and out of the grotto.

They started walking towards the main pool area, and Zane noticed that Ethan and Jen were nowhere in site. As he was scanning the yard, he heard a loud shatter. He snapped around to see that the Bellini that Sara was holding had fallen out of her hands, crashing on the ground. He looked at Sara and noticed that her eyes were rolling toward the back of her head. Her breathing became heavy, and her lips were starting to turn blue.

Panic settled on Zane as he quickly thought, she hadn't had that much to drink! And alcohol won't make someone's body react like this. His panic disappeared as his mind kicked in motion. He picked her up and ran towards the front door of the house. He quickly placed her in his car, and Ethan's head of security, Taylor was by the front door and noticed the scene.

Zane slammed his foot on the pedal, causing his car to move jolt into action. The hospital wasn't too far, but he could see that Sara was really struggling to breathe now.

How could this happen? What's wrong with her? The thought of something happening to Sara made his insides feel like they were being suffocated. His thoughts shifted, why was he so impacted by this woman? As Sara's eyes closed and her breathing was becoming wheezy, Zane whipped in the driveway of the hospital and jumped out of the car.

"Get her examined immediately! This girl can't breathe and needs your best doctors to attend to her!" Zane was concerned but was firm and assertive.

"Mr. Smith!! Right away sir!" stammered the emergency room attendant.

A stretcher was rushed to the car, and Zane lifted Sara and placed her on the stretcher. A team of ten nurses and doctors ran down the hall and disappeared in to a room.

Zane walked back towards the team of nurses and doctors when he heard, "Sir! You can't be back there! That's for patients and doctors only!"

Zane whipped his head around to find the person who dared say that to him. His eyes looked dark, and if looks could kill, the woman who spoke those words would surely be dead.

One of the nurses was nearby and overheard the emergency room attendant scolding Zane. "Me. Smith! I'm so sorry, the attendant is foolish and just started this job today! She doesn't know who you are! Please forgive her and us," the nurse nervously said. She looked back at the emergency room attendant and shot another dirty look her way.

Zane was growing impatient. He didn't care to give the attendant a lesson and bolted past the two women and in to the room of doctors where Sara laid seemingly lifeless.

He overheard one of the doctors say, "poison...pump her stomach...she's not going to make it!" Zane roared in fury, "You all do what you need to do and save this woman if you want to live to see past today!"

Zane began to pace to try and calm his nerves down and think things through. Poison? How could that be? The only other people that were in the house were Sara, Jen, Ethan and Ethan's staff. Who could be responsible for this?

He stepped out of the room and dialed a number on his phone. "Someone poisoned my woman companion today. You find out who in the next ten minutes and detain the culprit. You know where to place the piece of shit until I arrive. Ten minutes, do you hear me?!" He seemed satisfied with the call and shut his phone off and walked back in the room where the doctors were all attending to Sara. He was relieved to see that Sara's coloring was returning to normal and her breathing was more steady.

He addressed the head doctor, "What happened to her?"

"Mr. Smith, this woman is lucky to be alive! She consumed a high dose of poison, and if she would have arrived a minute later, she would surely be dead."

"Doctor, is she alright now?" Asked Zane.

The doctor thought he heard a hint of compassion and care coming from Zane and was surprised. Zane has a reputation in this hospital as being ruthless and demanding. He took ownership of the hospital about five years ago, and although he rarely was seen inside the hospital, hearing his name alone would make most of the hospital staff shudder.

"We were able to save her, but she is weak and needs some rest. We will move her in to a recovery room now."

"I expect to have a head doctor and nurse monitoring her 24/7 as long as she remains here. And move her up to the private room on the top floor!" demanded Zane.

"Yes Mr. Smith, of course," replied the doctor.

Hearing the doctor share that Sara was clear now made Zane sigh in relief. But why was she poisoned in the first place? Why would someone want her dead, and how could this be done right under his nose?

His phone rang, and he looked down and noticed it had been eight minutes since he demanded his head of security to find and secure the person behind the poisoning. Sure enough, it was Drew, his head of security.

"Yes Drew," Zane said expectantly.

"Mr. Smith, we have him. We are taking him to your warehouse."

"Fine. Torture him all you want and get whatever information you can for now, but don't kill him. I'll do the honors when I get there." A flash of darkness spread across Zane's face, as of the devil himself had surfaced.

"Yes sir," Drew acknowledged.