No Ordinary Man

"Take me to the hospital now!" demanded Jen. "I have to get to her!" she stammered as her tears were flowing hard.

"Jen, I can see your concern, but you have to trust me, she's okay now. She is in good hands with Zane." Ethan was doing his very best to calm her down, and he pulled her in an embrace.

"Ethan, Sara doesn't even know Zane very well," she pleaded. "She must be so scared right now. I can't believe I let this happen. I shouldn't have gotten caught up in the moment with you. I should have stayed with her." Jen was feeling a rush of emotions. She was mad at herself for not protecting her friend. Jen was always responsible and level-headed. She regretted letting her lust cloud her usual good judgment.

"There is nothing you could do for her right now. She needs to rest, and I promise you that I will take you to her in the morning." Ethan was trying to reason with her, but it didn't seem like any of his words were calming Jen down. "Would it make you feel better if we called Zane to check up on her?"

Jen's shivering slowed down at his suggestion. She looked up at him like a helpless puppy. "Umm, okay."

Ethan reaches over to the nightstand and picked up his phone. He dialed a number and put the phone to his ear. "Zane, how is she?"

Sara has fallen back asleep now, and Zane saw his phone ringing. He quietly stepped out of the room so that he could let Sara rest. "She's doing alright. She's really weak, but she will be okay."

"Listen, I told Jen what happened. She is really concerned for Sara, and she wants to talk to you."

Zane was never good with words when it came to comforting someone. He felt uneasy being responsible to offer assurance to Jen. In his usual role, he was callous and ruthless. He was known to be cutthroat in the business world. When it came to relationships outside of business, he was used to women who would come in and out of his life quickly. He would never have to make an effort to converse or make any effort in relationships.

Zane let out a big sigh, and he heard Jen's voice on the line. "What's going on? How is Sara? How did this happen? I want to come see her." Jen blurted all of her thoughts out, overwhelming Zane with the onslaught of questions.

"I want you to know that my men have caught the man responsible for what happened to Sara. No, you can't come see her right now. She's resting and doesn't need more excitement right now." Although Zane was really trying to be gentle, he delivered this information in a very matter-of-fact and assertive way.

"Who is the man who poisoned Sara? And with all due respect, if anyone should be with Sara right now, it should be me!" demanded Jen.

"I'll fill you in on the details of the poisoning, but it won't be now. Jen, I can appreciate that you wanted to be with Sara right now, but I was the one that brought her to the hospital when you were nowhere to be found. I have my best doctors and nurses attending to her, and there is no better person to be with her to keep her safe."

His words cut Jen very deeply. He was right! She wasn't there for Sara when this all happened. "What do you mean you have YOUR best doctors?"

"I mean just that. I have MY best doctors here. I own the hospital, and they work for me. She had been placed on the hospital's highest priority under my orders, and my doctors are the best in the country. Sara is safe, and that's all you need to know for now. I'm going to get back to her now, but you can come by in the morning."

Jen was speechless. She wanted to protest, but she knew Zane was right. She wasn't there for Sara today, and Zane was. She was also surprised but relieved to hear that he had so much authority over the hospital, and she appreciated that he had taken the steps to save and protect Sara. "Zane, thank you."

He didn't expect her words, and he smiled and hung up the phone.

Before he went back in the hospital room, he took the opportunity to call Drew. "Well Drew? What do you know?"

"We underestimated this man. We ran some deep surveillance on him, and we can't find any trace of his existence. We have tried some of our techniques, but he's not talking. There's a lot more to this that we need to uncover." Drew was surprised at what little he and Taylor had been able to achieve. This man was clearly no ordinary man, but who was he?

Zane ended the call and walked back in to the hospital room. He glanced over at Sara, and he saw that she was still asleep. He sat down in a chair at the edge of the room. "Sara, what are you involved in?" he sighed. His mind was racing. Why would someone want Sara dead? Whoever was after her was no ordinary man, and she was in danger. She was a known around the world as the ultimate seductress, but who was she really?

He looked out the window and noticed that the sun as beginning to set. The day had started off with a surprise at seeing her when he walked in to Ethan's house this morning. He had hoped to get to know her better and expected the day to go smoothly. The day ended in an even bigger surprise, Sara having a near death experience and discovering that Sara was meant to be killed today. He definitely had a lot to uncover, but he didn't want to leave Sara's side while she was in this state.