Chapter 44

**Blue**


“Are you okay Miss Blue?” Bryant’s voice finally breaks through the pounding in my ears.

“Excuse me sir we need to look at her.” Another voice says.

A second later someone I don’t recognize moves into my vision and shines a light in my eyes.

“Ma’am can you hear me? I need you to say you understand.” The woman says. “Do you know your name?”

My name…

I nod but don’t bother saying my name out loud. She’ll probably think I have brain damage or something.

“Can you tell me what day it is?” She asks.

“S-Saturday.” I’m able to say but my voice sounds scratchy and my throat is sore.

I wince in pain.

“Your throat might be a bit sore, but we’re going to take you to the hospital.” She says before moving away and the room comes into view.

There are people everywhere. Uniformed police officers are talking to Dane and Bryant while the two paramedics get the gurney ready. When did it get so crowded in here? Did I black out?

“Ma’am let’s get you on the gurney now. Can you walk?” The woman paramedic asks.

I nod and reach out for the hand she’s holding out to help me up. At first my body feels too weak to move but she has a good grip on me and her partner joins to help me. The three of us finally get me on the gurney when someone from outside of the room starts yelling.

“I will be going in there! I am her family!” I can’t help but smile at the familiar voice. “Excuse me? Don’t you dare touch me!”

The paramedics slowly push me through the crowd and Rhea appears next to me.

“Blue! Oh my gosh! Are you okay?” She turns her head and glares at Bryant and Dane. “I will deal with you two later.”

“Rhea it wasn’t their fault.” I try to say through my sore throat.

She scoffs. “Artemis isn’t going to see it that way.”

She’s right, but I can’t blame the guys for what happened. We don’t know how my foster father got into the house and I didn’t hear him in my room so how could they?

“Where is my brother by the way?” She glances around the house as we make our way toward the front door.

“He went back to the office.” I tell her and I watch her become more furious.

“He left you alone the night before your wedding? I’m going to kill him.” She pulls out her phone and starts typing away.

We finally make it outside and chaos is everywhere. Police are pushing groups of people out of the way so that the paramedics can reach the ambulance. Rhea keeps up alongside us without looking up from her phone but one of the paramedics stops her when we reach the ambulance.

“Sorry ma’am but you’re not allowed-“
“I’m going with you. My brother is her fiancé and isn’t here to be with her, so I will be staying with her until he arrives at the hospital. Or do I need to call our lawyer and ask him what laws you’re breaking by not allowing me to ride along with my family member?”

The man throws his hands up and helps his partner load me into the back of the ambulance with no further protest. Once I’m inside she climbs in as well. It’s then that I realize she’s wearing a zip up hoodie, yoga pants, and her hair is pulled up into a messy bun. I’m shook! I’ve never seen her looking anything but red carpet ready since we met.

“What are you wearing?” I ask sounding a lot more like a long-time smoker than my usual self.

She looks down at her outfit and sighs. “I know. My mother would die of shame. Well, she’ll see the pictures tomorrow, so…Anyway, I was relaxing on the couch with my ice cream and wine when Bryant called. He said he tried to reach Artemis, but he wasn’t answering. Of course, he knew to call me since we’re sisters now, and here I am.”

I attempt to laugh but groan when my throat throbs. She cringes at the sound and reaches out for my hand.

“I’m so sorry this happened Blue. No one should feel unsafe in their own home.” She shakes her head and I am a hundred percent sure she has no idea I knew the man who attacked me.

Should I bother telling her? No one will know if I keep my mouth shut, right?

When we arrive at the hospital the press is already there too. How did they know what hospital we would be going to? Uniformed officers are creating a barrier like they did at our house and the paramedics move quickly to get me inside. They push me into an empty room and help me onto the hospital bed.

“Take care.” The woman paramedic says before she leaves the room.

Rhea blows out a breath and pulls the chair in the corner of the room over to sit closer to me.

“You have some serious bad luck my friend.” She says with a weak laugh.

“Yeah well, I guess I can say my life isn’t boring.”

She takes my hand again and squeezes it tight. “I meant what I said Blue. We’re family now. I’m team Blue from here on out.”

“Thank you, Rhea. That means more than you know.” My eyes burn with tears, and I can see hers becoming glossy as well.

Her phone starts to ring, breaking the emotional moment. “Hello?”

There’s a moment of silence but I can hear that the person on the other end of the call is worked up.

“Artemis can you let me get a word in?” She sighs in exasperation and hands me the phone.

I listen to him go off for a little longer before I decide to interrupt. “Artemis. I’m fine.”

He instantly stops talking.

“Artemis?” I pull the phone away from my ear to see if the call dropped but it hasn’t. “Artemis are you there?”

“What’s wrong with your voice? What did he do Blue?”

“I’m okay, I promise. It’s a little sore that’s all.”

“Don’t lie to me Blue. What the fuck did he do?” His voice is low and monotone.

I try to think of the best way to explain, but it’s fuzzy to me too. Half of it felt like a dream.
“I don’t.” I whisper into the phone.

There is silence again, and I fight back the tears building in my eyes again.

“Artemis, please don’t be mad.”

“What?” He snaps back before taking a deep breath. “Shit. Blue I’m not mad at you. I’m fucking pissed at the bastard who touched my fiancé. I’m on my way, okay? Don’t worry, I’ll handle everything.”

“Okay.”

We both go silent but neither of us hang up.

“Guess what?” He says suddenly.

“What?”

“That little bit of code you found. We ran it through the full software, and it worked. You’re a fucking genius Blue Rhodes.”

“We aren’t married yet Artemis. You have to stop calling me that.”

“You know what? I think we should change that.”

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“Nothing. I’ll be there as soon as I can. I promise.”

“Okay see you soon.” I end the call and hand the phone back to Rhea.
“So? Is he riding his white horse here soon or what?”

I have the urge to break out laughing but I think better of it and smile instead. “Something like that.”

“Mrs. Rhodes?” A man asks as he steps into the room.

I look between him and Rhea, but I realize after a few awkward seconds of silence that he’s talking to me.

“Yes?” It comes out like a question because…well, I’m not married yet but I guess they needed a last name to admit me.

“I’m Doctor Samuels. I would like to get a few x-rays done to make sure there aren’t any other injuries except for the…mark on your neck, but I want to ask you a couple of questions.” He is acting a little uncomfortable which is concerning. “Did you become unconscious at any time that you are aware of?”

“I’m not sure. I thought I was dreaming until my bodyguard pulled the man off me.”

He nods and writes something on the paper he’s holding.

“Do you feel any pain in your pelvic area?” He asks.

At first I’m not sure what he means but then it hits me and I have to take a moment to mentally evaluate my body. I don’t feel any pain or soreness outside of my throat, thank God.

“No.”

He finally smiles. “That’s good. Let’s order those x-rays for you. Is there anything else you’re feeling that I should take note of?”

I shake my head.
“You were very lucky to have someone intervene in time. Some women I see come in here from a similar situation aren’t as lucky.” He gives me a tight smile and leaves.

I’m glad things didn’t go another way, but it also makes me hate that I feel violated when those women have it a lot worse.

Rhea’s phone rings again and she groans loudly before turning it to show me the caller ID. It’s her mom.

“I’ll take this outside. Will you be okay for a minute?” She asks.

“Yeah. Go.” I wave her off and she gives me a quick hug before leaving the room as well.

I’m left alone in the quiet for a while and my mind is racing trying to work out what happened. In my dream my foster father had been covering my mouth to keep me quiet, but that doesn’t explain my sore throat. The only explanation is that he choked my neck but why can’t I remember?

The door opens again, and I expect it to be Rhea but Artemis walks in instead. He strides over to me looking like he owns the world, and I almost don’t notice the other person with him.

“Hey, what’s going on?” I ask.

He smiles down at me and pulls a small box out of his pocket. “We’re getting married. Right now”