~Chapter 4 ~

Sirens blared loudly outside the building I was held captives. The two jerks moved over to the window to discuss their current situation, leaving me to think. I noticed the trail of cigarette butts, leading from the door over to the window. Empty bottles of beer were piled up at one corner of the room. No wonder it reeked in here. Filthy pigs! A little harsh? Of course! It wasn't like I was to give hugs and kisses after they released me. Holding a 16-year-old girl just to steal kisses and carress her face. One of this fucking beer-drinking bastards had his tongue in my mouth. My first kiss! Blinking rapidly, I prevented the tears that welled up in my eyes threatening to fall. That's exactly what they wanted from me, to hurt me and break my spirit. The room was empty, aside from me tied up to the chair by the door and the two morons. Why they kidnapped me, I had no idea. Perhaps they were someone my parents had offended, but why kidnap me just to get back at them. I doubted they wanted to get back at my parents. Maybe.... Just maybe they wanted to exploit from me, or explore my mouth?..... The thought of the latter made me sick! They both deserve to die a painful and hurtful death, the strength should be drained from them slowly until they'll beg to die.

   As though, suddenly remembering my presence. They turned to look at me in synchronization, eyes fixed and their gazes making me feel uneasy. One had fear plastered over his face and the other remained emotionless. I hated poker face guy the more. With good reasons too.

“ Hear that? Looks like daddy has come to save his beloved princess.” The expressionless dude said mockingly, breaking the uncomfortable silence. Honestly, I'll rather wallow in silence than hear his stupid voice. Someone had come for me, judging from the sirens it had to be the cops. It was strange though, that the hideout of my kidnappers had been discovered. I hadn't expected anybody to declare me kidnapping until about a day at least. Or did these two call my parents, demanding a ransom?

  “ Come on now, let's get you out of here.” He walked out of the room but retreated upon remembering that I was tied to a chair. Snapping his fingers, dummy number 2 crouched in front of me and used a pocket knife to cut the ropes skillfully. Pulling me out of the chair with my neck, he raised an eyebrow at his accomplice.

  “ Hmmmm, why bother waste the time and walk down the stairs. There are easier ways to get to the ground floor.”

 Suddenly, the lights went out. Oh, I was blindfolded again. What's all the fuss about? Shouldn't they be happy that their sorry asses will get paid ransom or something? I don't know how these things work but it should be the point of denouement. The voice I loathed with every fiber in me spoke again.

   “ The blindfold is to make things easier for you. Goodbye forever darling”

I felt his warm lips on the side of my face, followed by the cold breeze slapping me across the face. Did someone open the window? His hands gently shoved me towards the direction of the wind, slowly.

Realization dawned on me, no, no, no, no, no. It was too late to struggle with, my legs were no longer supported by a hard surface.

   I could hear mom and dad screaming, some other voices too. But I only focused on the ones that brought me into this world and had to watch me leave.

  No, the goodbye I had imagined, but goodbye nevertheless. I was going to sleep, a forever slumber.

*************

Nothing else mattered to me at the moment. Not the cops, not the guys being dragged away for murder and kidnapping, not the paramedics. Only my daughter. Her skin turned white from the stoppage of blood flow. The wounds and the blood gushing out front of her head that she hit on the ground was a displeasing sight. I couldn't even imagine the number of broken bones she would have.

“ Zoa's father?” A cop inquired

“ Yes” I confirmed

“ Your daughter has been taking to the hospital. You weren't listening and neither was your wife. We'll come back later to take our statement. I hope it gets better.” He said before walking into his car.

My wife Maria, was curled up in a corner silently sobbing. I wanted to do the same. But I had no choice but to hold her in my arms, being strong for the two of us.

Noël squealed, stretching out his arms for me to pick him up. I placed him on my lap and let him grab my collar. The little guy was upset because his mother was paying no attention to him. Maria sat on one of the chairs across from me. Her face was completely distant as she stared into space. After she cried her eyes out, she looked numb. She wasn't the only one sad, Noël was upset too. His momma wasn't looking at him. I had instructed his nanny to bring him to the hospital earlier. She had somewhere to go and I could not trust him with the little ones.

On normal days, Zoa was in charge of the little ones... But I guess this was not a normal day. Noël grabbed my attention as he tried to nibble on my collar, standing on my lap. It's been three hours since we've gotten here and not a single word has been heard. Although, I signed giving my permission for surgery.

  One of the male nurses walked by and I jumped out of my seat to stop him. Noël squirmed in discomfort and I balanced him on my hip.

  “ I'm sorry, but please we need to hear something about my daughter Zoa. She has been in there for a while and was brought in as an emergency patient. ” I spoke quickly, all in one breath.

   “ You'll be spoken to very soon.” He informed me, before walking away.

   True to his word, a doctor searched for me a few minutes later.

“ Zoa's parents?” He asked, unsure. I nodded frantically, as my wife said nothing.

“ We performed a surgical operation on your daughter. An exploratory laparotomy, to check for internal injuries in her abdominal wall. There's no longer internal bleeding. But sadly, there are a few broken bones, cuts and wounds, concussions, and a broken rib cage. It's a 50-50 chance and I can't really tell you much about your daughter. She fell into a coma, and all we have to do now is wait.”