Chapter 9

Mitch

    When we got to the hospital, there were nurses already waiting for us. We laid Ophelia down on the bed and they took her away. Jax walked in with Damian and a nurse put him in an exam room also. I still could not believe we found them both alive. I tried to follow them, but another nurse placed her hand on my chest to stop me. She asked me to wait in the waiting room. I didn't want to wait, but she told me that I needed to let them examine Ophelia and that it would be better if I waited. 

Jax sent the rest of the men back to the compound. I had never been so proud of my guys; we cleared that fucking paper mill like it was nothing. A few of the guys had some flesh wounds, but nothing life threatening. I was proud of the team Jax, Noah and Oliver had trained. 

Noah, Oliver, Liam, James, Jax and I all went into the waiting room and took a seat. We were all still pretty jacked up from the fight we had been through. I'm fairly sure we scared the shit out of the other people in the waiting room.

We waited for what felt like hours. I would go to the desk and ask for an update, but they were not able to tell me much. Only that Ophelia was being examined by the doctors and that the doctor would be out soon to speak with us. My patience was wearing thin and all I wanted was to go to the back and see her. I had been away from my daughter long enough. I did not want to be away from her any longer.

    After a few more hours passed, the doctor came out to speak with us. The look on his face spoke louder than his words. I knew what he had to say was not going to be easy to hear. I was sitting in one of the chairs with Noah and Oliver on either side of me. Jax was seated across from me and Liam and James were seated next to him. When Jax saw the doctor, he stood up and allowed the doctor to sit across from me and he took a seat a few chairs down. The doctor sat down and looked at me. I could tell that he was trying to find the right words. 

 He extended his hand to shake mine, “Mr. Geno, my name is Dr. Jackson. I am the attending physician taking care of your daughter and Damian Blackman."

"Thank you. How are they?" 

"Sir, would you like to maybe speak in private?"

Noah sat up in his chair, "Fuck no. Whatever you have to say can be said in front of us, she's our sister. I want to know what the fuck is going on."

I snapped at Noah, "Control yourself son." 

Noah raised his hands and sat back in his chair, regaining control of his temper. 

"Excuse my son's outburst. We are all on edge right now."

The doctor shook his head, "It’s okay, I understand." 

"Whatever you have to say can be said right here. They deserve to know what is going on as well." 

Dr. Jackson shook his head and took a breath, "Sir. I am sorry I must tell you this... But your daughter has been through hell. She is very dehydrated and malnourished. She has extensive bruising over most of her body. She has marks across her chest, her neck, and parts of her back. She also has major bruising around her neck, indicating possible strangulation. Her face has severe cuts and bruises. She was...she was also raped, multiple times. I have started her on a high dose broad-spectrum antibiotic, and I have her on IV fluids. I would like to keep her for a few days, we need to run some more tests. We also gave her an emergency contraception to prevent any possible pregnancy." 

I covered my face with my hands as I listened to what the doctor had to say. I could not believe what they have done to my baby girl. I wish I would have found her sooner, maybe if I had I could have spared her the trauma she has endured. I dropped my hands and looked at my boys sitting there taking in what was said. The look in their eyes was one of anger, pain, sorrow, and pure fucking rage. I couldn't speak for a moment. I was in so much shock. How could I let this happen? 

The doctor sat across from me silent, as if he felt our pain. I finally managed to find words and speak, "What can we do?"

"I would suggest finding someone that she will feel comfortable talking to. She may need some time before she wants to share what happened with you all. All you can do is let her know that you are there for her and that she is safe. We do have support groups here at the hospital that she may like to join eventually. We also have several psychologists that she could speak with, if that is something that she wants to do. It will be up to her when she wants to speak about it. Sometimes victims do not want to talk about what has happened to them, and they prefer to keep it to themselves." 

As I listened to the doctor talk, I realized that my once happy girl was not going to be the same for a long time. It killed me inside to think of how much pain she must be in right now. 

"When can we see her," I asked, choking back tears as best I could.

"While we were examining her, she woke up and she was in a lot of pain, so I gave her some pain medicine and she is sleeping right now. We are going to be moving her upstairs to a private suite and we are also going to move Mr. Blackman upstairs." 

"How is Damian?" Jax asked. 

Doc looked at Jax, "Mr. Blackman is also dehydrated and malnourished. He looks like he took several beatings and has some cuts and bruises, cracked ribs, but for the most part nothing life threatening. We have him on antibiotics and IV fluids, and I would like to keep him under observation for a few days as well."

"Well thank you. I know these kinds of consults can't be easy for you but thank you."         

"This is the part of the job I hate the most. If you'll give us a little while longer, I'll have a nurse come get you when we’re ready to move Ophelia upstairs," the doctor said, as he stood up from the chair.

"Thank you." I said, shaking his hand.

I sat back in the chair and rubbed my hands through my hair. We all sat silent, no one knew what to say. I had no idea how to make any of this better. The one thing I promised my wife, I broke. I failed and now my daughter is paying for it. 

After another hour or so, a nurse finally came out and got us. We followed her back to the ER room where Ophelia was. Jax saw Damian being moved and he followed the nurse to the elevator to bring Damian upstairs. The poor boy had no family around here, so Jax wanted to stay with him so he felt as if he at least had someone. A few other nurses came in and unlocked Ophelia's bed and started to wheel her out of the room. We followed behind them before getting in an elevator to go upstairs. 

We got off the elevator and the nurse wheeled Ophelia down the hall before stopping at the private suite. Noah opened the door, and the nurse wheeled the bed into the room. 

"We need to move her out of this bed, if you all would like to give us a moment." the nurse said.

"No. Tell us what to do and we'll do it." Oliver said, walking over to Ophelia’s bedside.

  The nurse instructed Noah and Oliver on what to do and they carefully lifted Ophelia off the ER bed and placed her onto the bed in the room. 

She reconnected the monitors and hung the IV bags. "She is on pain medicine right now, so she will probably sleep for a while. Is there anything we can get you?"

"No. But thank you." I said.

The nurse walked out leaving us in the room. I grabbed a chair and moved it closer to Ophelia's bed. I held her hand and watched as she laid there and slept. The nurses had done a rather good job cleaning up all the blood. It looked like one of the nurses had tried to brush her hair and pin it up. Her face was so bruised and swollen, there was bruising around her neck and bruises all over her arms.

Noah and Oliver stood on the other side of the bed while Liam and James stood at the foot of the bed. There was nothing to be said, we all stood there and watched her. I wanted to grab her and hold her close, never letting her go, but I knew that was not an option. 

It was late afternoon, and we were all exhausted. 

"Why don't you boys head to the house. I'm going to stay here tonight with your sister."

"I'm not leaving." Noah said. 

"Yeah, me either. I want to be here if she wakes up." Oliver said.

I knew I would never convince them to leave, it did no good to even try. They were stubborn and when it came to Ophelia, they protected her like none other. 

"Liam, can you take James home." I asked.

"Dad..." Liam started to speak.

I interrupted him, "Liam. Take James home. You both can come back tomorrow." 

He wasn't happy about my request, but he did as I asked. He walked over, leaned down and gave Ophelia a kiss on the forehead, James did the same then left.  

Noah and Oliver set themselves up on the couches in the room and I sat down in the recliner. The boys made small talk between themselves and I pulled out my phone and made a few phone calls letting a few of the family know that we had found Ophelia.

I did not tell any of Ophelia’s friends that she was missing. I had told Ben to send out a mass email to all the guests, to let them know that it was cancelled for unspecified reasons. I didn't want people asking a lot of questions. 

Sometime during the night, we all finally fell asleep. I slept hard; I finally had my daughter back. I knew she was safe, and I was finally able to rest.

***

Damian

    I could hear gunshots ringing out all through the building. I didn't know if we were being rescued or if someone had come to kill the Russians and us. I got to my feet as I heard footsteps get closer to my cell. A gunshot blasted the lock and the door swung open. I was ready to fight whoever was stepping in the cell, then I saw Oliver. I dropped my hands and breathed a sigh of relief. I had never been so happy to see his damn face in all my life. 

"Damian," he said, as he grabbed me and hugged me. "You okay dude?" 

"Yeah, I'm good. Give me a fucking gun, we have to find Ophelia."

"Noah is already on it dude." He handed me a pistol and an earpiece then called out over the radio that he had found me alive. I heard Noah come across the radio saying that Ophelia wasn't in her cell. What the fuck had the Russian done with her? Please God do not let her be dead. 

A few moments later Mitch came across the radio saying that he had Anatoly and Ophelia in sight. Oliver motioned for me to follow him and we walked down the hall before coming to a large room with a catwalk. All teams had gathered below, and I could see Mitch pointing his gun at Anatoly and Anatoly pointing his gun at Ophelia. I started to walk over to the stairs to go up to the top of the catwalk, but Oliver stopped me, "Stay down here,” he said.

Noah and Oliver each went up a set of stairs, walking very softly as to not alert Anatoly to their movements. My blood boiled as I stood there looking up at Ophelia. What had they done to her? 

Mitch kept Anatoly's focus on him while Noah got into position. In one sudden movement Noah grabbed Anatoly and put that motherfucker in a choke hold. He stabbed him repeatedly, slit his throat and kicked him over the side. His body fell to the floor and he bled out. Mitch grabbed Ophelia as she fell, he held onto her and checked for a pulse, a breath caught in my throat as I stood there and waited to see if she still had a pulse. I let out a deep sigh when he told Noah he found a pulse. 

Noah picked her up and carried her down the stairs and out to the truck. He laid her in the back seat of the truck, and they covered her up. I stood frozen trying to hold my composure as Mitch walked over to me. I couldn't even look him in the eyes. I felt so much guilt over everything that had happened. Mitch could kill me where I stand, and I wouldn’t even fight it. I let him down, I failed Ophelia, and I failed to keep her safe. I was not expecting Mitch to hug me. He had every right to be pissed with me, but he wasn’t.   

I got in the truck with Jax and we followed Mitch to the hospital. When we arrived, there were nurses standing outside already waiting. They got Ophelia out of the truck and laid her on the bed. The nurses wheeled her back into the hospital and asked Mitch to wait in the waiting room while they examined her. 

Jax walked in with me and a nurse took me into a separate room and began to examine me. I had a couple of cracked ribs, cuts, and bruises across my face. I wasn’t worried about myself. I needed to know what had happened to Ophelia, but they weren’t telling me anything. The nurse told me that I would need to stay in the hospital for a few days. I wasn't happy about it, but I knew I didn't have much choice.

"Can I at least get an actual pair of pants or something? I am not wearing this fucking gown." 

The nurse laughed, "Yeah, I'll go see what I can find." 

As soon as she walked out, I jumped up and ripped the IV out of my arm. I snuck out of the room and walked to find Ophelia. I stood at the door and watched as the nurses cleaned the blood off her. The bruising and swelling on her face and across her body made me angry. The muscles in my jaw clenched and the veins in my neck became dangerously pronounced. I was furious. What kind of person would do something like this?

While I watched the nurses work, the nurse who had gone to find me pants came back, “Seriously? You ripped out the IV? You’re not supposed to be out of your room.”

“I don’t give a fuck about a damn IV. I had to see her. Tell me she’s going to be okay.”

She nodded her head and spoke softly, the sound of her voice revealed so much sorrow, “She’s been through a lot, and it’s going to take some time before she’s okay again.”

“What does that mean?”

“I’m really not supposed to say anything, the doctor hasn’t even talked to her family yet.”

“Tell me something. Please.” I begged.

“Only thing I can say for sure is that she is going to need some time.”

I dropped my head and went back to my room. The nurse had managed to find a pair of pants and a shirt for me to change into. I sat on the bed and thought about the events that had transpired over the past few days. I wished there were more that I could have done, I wished I would have been able to save her.

After a few hours they moved me and Ophelia upstairs to private rooms. When Jax saw the nurse bring me out he came with me. I had no family up here and I damn sure knew that the family I did have back in Texas had no clue what had happened.