Chapter 16

"Call someone and you will find yourself to blame" the kid had said.

What the heck? Serena thought in rage.

Well, the person on the other end couldn't have been much of a kid but she was sure that he was no adult either.

Ridiculous, isn't it? That she had felt a frisson of fear run down her back even as she had let out the enraged "Excuse me?"

He had simply replied that they would join them soon before he disconnected the call.

Her anger had not let her ask him just how he intended to do that when she did not tell him where they were. Not that he gave her the opportunity, though; the phone had gone dead in her ears.

She might not be so sure of where she was at the moment, but she did remember where she had started her drive from, didn't she? She had not taken any detour and telling him something at all would have been better than he or they, whoever they were trying to locate them without direction.

The arrogant ass. Serena was too angry at the moment to bother about how easily swear words were coming to her now.

Mathew would almost have a permanent frown line with how deeply he would scowl at her disapprovingly if he heard the way she had been swearing in her mind since.

Not to talk of him seeing her in the company of a buffed man, though almost unconscious. Serena was sure that Mathew would disapprove.

Eugenia? Better not to even think of that.

What luck did she have today though, she wondered.

From an irate husband to his insensitive mother.

All she had wanted was a drive. A calming drive to clear her head before she get back to the conundrum that had become the definition of her life but what did she get?

A nearly unconscious man that refused to get the help he needed and a threat from a kid who probably thought this was a game of search.

"Please, stop moving about so much. I think I might faint more from your pacing than from my loss of blood"

She heard him say in a low voice that she had to stop her pacing to listen carefully to get what he was saying very well.

The amusement in his voice infuriated her the more. Did he think this was a kind of joke?

Well, she was not about to hang around and watch him die if that was his intention. His stupid brother could come to deal with him.

She turned to leave and then thought of what she had been thought.

She was a certified nurse for God's sake. Even if she had never used her certificate since; that does not mean she had to forget about her principles. She was not going to listen to any kid and the man who have no idea of what was good for him.

She would not stand here and watch him die just because someone, probably just a teenager according to the voice she had heard, threatened her in a menacing voice that had frightened her for a moment.

She dialled the hospital again.

"Hello, Chevsko General Hospital. What is your emergency?" a warm voice said immediately after the first ring.

"Hello, someone's been shot and I need…"

"I told you not to call the hospital!" the man at her feet yelled.

It was more of a wheezing sound that prompted her of just how much he was forcing himself to hold on. She was amazed that he was still awake after the exertion he had put himself through.

Though the blood flow had slowed, it had not stopped entirely. He must have the willpower of a horse, she thought.

"Hello, hello, can you hear me? What is your location? How many people?" the dispatcher's voice droned in her ear on the phone and she was jolted. She had to do the right thing. She was medical personnel. She had to do the right thing.

"Yes, we are around…" she looked around to think of the best way to describe her location.

"Damn it woman"

Serena was about to tell him to save his strength when she saw headlights piercing the darkened night. Where they were was towards the outskirts of the city. Serena had not seen another vehicle pass, save for two vehicles that had whisked past them, one in and the other out.

There was something different about these vehicles anyway. They slowed purposefully.

"Hello, ma'am can you hear me? I need you to provide your location for me so we can get you the needed help. I ca…"

Serena automatically disconnected the call when she saw the cars parked behind hers and four hefty men came down from the jeep. Then a not-so-hefty younger man came down from the sports car. Jumped down, more like.

He ran at full speed toward where they were with the men running to catch up with him, their flashlights illuminating his way.

"Cade?" the voice she recognised from the call said urgently as he got closer to them.

Serena was about to call out when she saw his head whipped up and his hand followed suit. The difference was that his hand didn't jerk up empty. No, it came up with a gun pointed.

Pointed directly at her.

"You are a very brave girl, Si. you should never forget that" her father's voice came to mind as she shouted "Are you serious? A gun? After waiting here with him, all I get is a gun pointed at me?"

Serena had no idea where she'd gotten the courage from but then she thought her father must have known what he was talking about when he used to say that she was a strong girl. Back when she would only giggle without knowing the true meaning of his words.

The young man must have dismissed her as harmless as he tucked his gun back in his waistband and crouched urgently beside his brother.

"Cade? What the hell? Jeff did this to you?" he asked anxiously as he lifted his brother's head from the floor.

"What are you doing here?" Serena heard the man ask in surprise.

"I find out something was wrong and I followed you here. I have been trying to warn you but you were not picking then Jeff, he… never mind"

"She called the hospital. We need to move"

"What," the younger man said as he looked up at her furiously "Were my instructions not clear when I told you not to call anybody?"

Serena had never been as angry as she was at that moment "No, you did not tell me not to call anyone. You threatened me that I would regret it if I did. I am a nurse for God's sake. Was I supposed to watch him…"

She cut off her tirade amidst outbursts when she saw that he was no longer paying her attention.

"Cade! Cade!" he shouted. "Don't just stand there" he snapped at the men "Come and carry him to the car.

The men sprung into action and they lifted him.

Serena could see that the man had finally fainted. Well, it would be hard for an elephant not to pass out from that much loss of blood, Serena thought as the brother turned to follow them.

Time to…

Her breath backed up against her throat when she saw him swing towards her. "You said you are a nurse"

"N..not practising," she said, hating the tremble in her voice.

"Well, you are today," he said as he motioned to her to go before him.

"What?" Serena asked with her mouth agape.

"You are coming with us"

"I am not…"

He put his gun to her back as he grabbed her and prodded her forward in front of me.

"I am so anxious about my brother now that I can't control my angst. I wouldn't want to shoot you. What kind of a nurse wouldn't jump at the chance to save a life anyway?"

All these he was saying as he prodded her ahead of him to where the men had started their car.

"To the hotel!" he shouted to them before leading Serena to his car. He opened the passenger door and ordered her in.

"This has a silencer and can kill faster than you can blink," he said as he started the ignition.

Yes, she got the idea. Trying to run would spell nothing but doom for her.

"Arnold, we got a problem," he said into his phone as he peeled out at such a dizzying pace that Serena held tight to her seatbelt in fear.

If his bullet didn't do the job; she was going to die anyway from his crazy driving.

Looking at Mathew's parked car in the side mirror, she wondered what he would think if she did not get home that night and he met his car at the roadside.

Would he be afraid for her safety or would he breathe a sigh of relief?

Not that she intended to stay out all night in the vicinity of this gun-wielding youth though.

She would only do what she could and she would be back home in no time.

Having to explain herself to Mathew seemed nothing now compared to what she'd seen tonight.