ENDS

Iris’s p. o. v.

“Start up the car, we’ll be leaving soon” I heard Hunter’s voice from the outside of the cabin.

The sound of his voice in a little way settled my worry that he had gone without me.

Even though deep down, I prayed that I would wake up to my little girl staring at my face or wrapped up in a warm blanket fast asleep because at this point everything is already a lot.

But then it came to my realization that Hunter has no idea that I have woken up yet… so he’s leaving soon without me?

“What about Miss Jules?” a casual baritone voice asked and I’m glad that he voiced my mind before I could.

What about me?

“Dougy I cannot keep waiting for Iris to get up… in as much as I can’t wait for her to wake up, Louisa is out there and only God knows what they’re doing to her each second that goes by” Hunter replied his question and I’m certain that Dougy… whoever Dougy is, agrees with him cause all I heard next was a sigh and the sound of two footsteps in a parallel manner.

Within a few seconds, the door was opened and in walked Hunter.

His stubble was extremely prominent and I wasn’t even surprised… where exactly in this wooden shed would one store a shaving cream and some blades.

Asides that, his eyes look so tired like he hadn’t had a good night’s rest in days. Come to think of it, everyone had a similar appearance. I guess that’s what staying in the woods on the run from some men with guns can do to you.

“Diane I would need those files your father gave to you as soon as possible, Mrs. Adams have you checked in the blood sample Dougy brought in yesterday?” he started and walked straight into another room adjacent to the entrance and jammed the door shut behind him.

“The files are in the underground cabinet… along with the biography of the two men who picked me from the airport” Diane replied as she walked towards the room he went into.

Within a few seconds the sound of running water filled the room and Hunter had to increase the tone of his voice to respond.

“Did we find out who they were?”

“Yes, Sergio and Duncan… Ex aides of the Chief Adviser to the former President of Togo, retired seven and three years ago respectively.

There was a brief five seconds of silence in the room and Mrs. Adams looked to me like she was about to say something but at the same time she didn’t want to say it.

“With their pictures?” Hunter shouted again from the room and I believe he was still questioning Diane.

“Yes, everything you need except extended family relations is present in the files. Dougy and I would work on that as soon as we can and send the papers to you.”

With the little energy I had left in me, I sat up from my laying position and Mrs. Adams came running to my side to assist me.

“That was too fast, you could’ve collapsed” she said as she placed one of her hands behind me to help keep me steady.

“I know but you’ve been down for quite some time, ever heard of postural hypertension?”

She was actually right; I had learnt about that during my years of studying physiotherapy.

How easy it was to actually learn something and totally forget to apply it.

Suddenly the sound of the running water in the bathroom came to a stop and we all heard hunter speak again.

“Mrs. Adams what about the blood sample?” he said, now a bit lower than before.

“It’s been tested. Positive.” She replied curtly while still trying to help me maintain balance.

I do not know why, but that statement made Hunter bash against something in the bathroom as he exclaimed ‘fuck’.

“What blood sample?” I asked the two women who were in the room with me and both looked to each other briefly before returning their eyes in any other direction that wasn’t me.

At first I was confused because I asked a question and while I was expecting an answer, all I got was a weird exchange of looks before being ignored.

So I asked again.

“What blood sample?”

“Iris I think its best you ignore that information for now till when you’re a lot stronger” Diane finally replied but in actual honesty that only made me more curious.

Was it mine?

Some seconds later Hunter emerged from the bathroom and I took it as the best opportunity to ask.

“What blood sample?”

At first he was either shocked to hear my voice or he was confused that I was asking such a question.

“You’re awake” it came more of a statement than of a question from him.

“Yes I am, what blood sample?”

Why was everyone avoiding the question? Their reactions brewed and uncanny feeling in my stomach and I swear I didn’t want to believe it was whatever it is I was thinking.

Now all three of them exchanged looks and it was beginning to piss me off.

“Can someone answer me?”

“Louisa” Mrs. Adam said silently to my hearing and I could swear I felt a cord cut in my chest.

“Louisa?” I asked looking at Hunter to confirm if this statement was true or not, indepthly wishing it was not.

“I swear she’s okay Iris, please calm down”

Calm down?All text © NôvelD(r)a'ma.Org.

He’s telling me to calm down?

“That red liquid in the bottle… it was her blood?”

He didn’t answer, no one did but the reactions on their faces gave the answer away.

It was.

“She’s okay??? How the fuck do they get blood from someone who is okay???”

“Iris please calm down; I know this is a lot to take in but if you keep up like this your blood pressure might not be friendly in a few minutes.” Mrs. Adams said while gently rubbing circles on my back to help calm me down.

“How long?” I asked Hunter again expecting he would at least say something this time around.

But instead, it was Diane who spoke.

“Since she was kidnapped”

I couldn’t help the vomit that hurled out of my guts immediately.