The sterile white lights in the hallway of the hospital stung my eyes that were dry from crying. Declan had drove me from The Atlantic to St. James Hospital as quickly as he could. He had dropped me off at the front of the hospital and told me to text him where I was while he parked the car, not wanting to keep me from my dad. The nurse at the reception desk told me he was in the emergency room at the back of the building and after what felt like an unnecessarily long time, she scribbled my name on a visitors pass and pointed me in the right direction.

I texted Declan where I was going but from the fresh tears in my eyes, I'm not sure what I sent was intelligible, despite autocorrects best efforts. My stomach was in knots. Isabella was short on her phone call earlier, all she said was that dad was in a serious car accident and the doctors are saying he's going to need surgery. She had a flare for the dramatic but something in her voice seemed different, like she was actually upset.

At the end of the hallway was a sign with an arrow pointing to the left saying 'Emergency Room'. I followed the arrow and came to an opening. A large round desk was in the middle of the space, crowded with nurses and all along the walls were either more halls or doors into private rooms for the patients.

"Excuse me?" My voice cracked as I tired to get the attention of one of the nurses. "Excuse me!" I said more sternly when they didn't acknowledge me.

"Yes?" The brunette asked, turning on her heal, annoyed that she was being interrupted mid conversation with another nurse

"Patrick Murphy? He was brought here, he was in a car accident."

She walked around the desk to an empty computer, a few clicks later and she told me what room he was in. Before I could ask what direction, she was already back into her conversation with the other nurse. Frustrated, I looked around at the room numbers to get my bearings and then headed in the direction of room 1064.

"Scars!" I heard Declan call from somewhere behind me. "Hey, I'm here. Have you found your dad yet?"

My lower lip quivered, more tears were well on their way. "R-room 1064." Was all I could manage.

He put his arm around my shoulders and started walking. "Come on, we'll find him."

Isabella was standing outside of the door to the room. The lights inside were dimmed and the curtain was drawn across so I couldn't see inside to see if dad was still in there. Her arms crossed over her chest, mascara running down her face. Her eyes were narrow slits as she glared up at Declan, who's arm was still around me, her lip curling up in disgust.

"It's about time you made it." She snarled in her eastern European accent. "They're about to take him for surgery."

"Wha-what happened to him?" Using the back of my hand, I rubbed the tears from my stinging cheeks.

"He came to visit my brother, see how things were going at the dealership. They went out to dinner, he was on his way home and now we're here." Her tone of voice was dripping with disgust, like I was some toxic thing she couldn't stand to be around.

"Why are they waiting, he was in an accident. They should have taken him right in to surgery as son as he got here. And you weren't with him?" I asked.

She scoffed. "No, thank God. He said it would bore me, that it would be all about business."

Declan had to hold me back as I lunged for her. How dare she? Thank God she wasn't with him? I would give anything to have their places switched. She stepped back in shock, scoffing before she started to laugh watching Declan have to put his other arm around my waist to keep me from her.

"You vile piece of shit!" I yelled, my fingers inches from being able to grab her hair so I could pull her towards me.

"What the hell is going on here?!" Alex came from around the corner holding two cups of hospital coffee. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw me being held back by Declan so I couldn't assault his mother.

The tension was doubled now. Alex's eyes went wide and then a smug expression washed over him.

"Funny seeing you trying to stop violence from happening. Have you told her what happened, you fucking Mick?" He questioned before sipping from one of the cups. The bandage still around his hand from when Declan had apparently stabbed him.

Ignoring Alex's attempt at getting under his skin, he pulled me back against his chest.

"Scarlet, you need to calm down." Declan whispered in my ear, his voice low and gravely.

"You'd better keep your whore in check." Isabella laughed, looking me up and down in my low cut dress. We had left The Atlantic in such a hurry we had never summoned the boy from earlier to grab our coats from the coat room.

I elbowed Declan in his ribs so that I could break free of him. His grip loosened for a split second when his breath was knocked from his lungs and it was enough for me to move closer to the witch that was my step mother. I sunk my nails into the skin of her cheek and dug in as hard and as deep as I could manage. She shrieked and jumped back, clutching her bleeding face.

Declan's grip came back tight around my midsection making it almost impossible for me to breathe, hauling me back and off of my feet. He turned his back on Alex and Isabella, putting me back down and pushing me up against a wall, pressing his nose to the side of my head.

"This is what they want. They want you to make a scene so you'll be arrested." He growled. "You need to calm down."

"Is there a problem here?" A middle aged doctor approached us, looking at Declan who was craning over me as I took in deep, shaky breaths and then to Isabella and her bleeding cheek. "Am I going to have to call security and escort you all out of here?"

I shook my head. "No. Sorry, doctor."

He looked back to Isabella who mumbled a sorry.

"Which one of you is Scarlet Murphy?"

Declan finally let go of me. I pushed past him, making sure to hit my shoulder into his when I walked away. "I am."

He looked back to Isabella and shooed her off so she could go and clean her face up in the bathroom while we spoke. Alex followed her.

"And who is this?" He asked, using the pen in his hand to point to Declan.

I looked behind me at Declan who was watching Isabella and Alex as they retreated down the hall. "My boyfriend." I answered, begrudgingly.

"Right." The doctor said in a flat tone, shaking his head at the drama he had just seen. "Your father is in critical condition. We are still waiting on his bloodwork but he will need surgery."

It felt like my breath was stolen from my lungs. "Do you know what happened to him?"

"I shouldn't be saying this, but since your his daughter, according to the police report we received he was t-boned by a semi truck. He may have been speeding because his car had flipped over and he was ejected." The doctor informed.

My heart shattered. His car rolled... he was ejected? My hands flew up to my mouth. I couldn't tell if I was going to throw up or faint. A huge weight settled on my chest and I found myself gasping for air.

"Hey, hey..." Declan came to my side, cupping my face with is hands. He lifted my head so that I was looking into his eyes. "Breathe Scarlet, breathe."

The pager hanging on the doctors scrubs sounded, making him check it. He noted something on his clipboard and then pulled out his hospital issued phone. "Bloodwork is confirmed, call for Patrick Murphy to be moved to surgery. Tell everyone to prep."

Putting his hand on my shoulder, the doctor told me to go into the room and talk to my dad before he has to be taken but assured me that he would be in good hands.

"I'll be right here with you. Come on." Declan said, rubbing my arms.

Pulling the curtain back I was met with the horrifying image of my dad laid out on a hospital gurney. His neck was wrapped in a neck brace, an oxygen mask strapped to his face, contusions and deep, weeping cuts all over his face and arms. There was still debris from the road littering his face. They had already stripped him of his clothes leaving him in a hospital gown that was stained with blood. Dozens of wires were hooked up to him and connected to a loud beeping machine at the side of the gurney.

I blindly reached for Declan's hand, squeezing it as hard as I could. "Oh God."

Declan squeezed back, reassuring me that he was here.

"Look at him, why didn't they take him right into surgery? Why are they making him wait?" I whispered, choking back tears.

Dad coughed, wheezing for air while tiny blood droplets splattered against the inside of the oxygen mask.

"Dad! Dad, I'm here. It's me, Scarlet." I cried, rushing to his side. I didn't know if I should touch him, he was wincing in pain already, I didn't want to cause him any more.

"Suh... S-Scarlet?" His voice was so raspy it was unrecognizable. His eyes opened enough for him to look at me. The pain in his eyes was enough to make my heart feel like it was tearing in half with every beat.

I shook my head and smiled as best as I could even though thick tears were spilling down my face. "I'm here, dad."

"Leave." He strained, screwing his eyes shut in pain.

"But dad-"

"Le-leave the c-city." He rasped, clutching his abdomen. "Leave the city. Get away from them."

Before I could even ask him what he was talking about he gasped out. Blood was starting to spill from his nose and his mouth. He coughed again but this time he couldn't catch his breath. A horrifying gurgling, choking sound came from him. A sound I'm sure I'll never forget.

"He's drowning in his own blood." Declans' voice was panicked. He turned fast and started to yell for a nurse or a doctor, anyone.

The machines' beeping started to become irregular and a new alarm started to ping. All of this was so overwhelming. I grabbed a hold of dad's hand and squeezed.

"Daddy, you'll be okay, I promise. Hold on, for me, please!"

"I'm s-sorr-" he choked, "I'm sorry."

The machine flatlined, filling the room with a loud constant tone while another alarm sounded. The nursing staff descended into the room, pushing Declan and I out while they started CPR.

"We have to move him!" One of the nurses shouted.

A male nurse came with a defibrillator while another was already cutting open his gown to bare his chest. His stomach was distended and swollen looking and there was a massive bruise covering his right side.

"Miss Murphy, please come with me." The brunet nurse from earlier said in a soft and compassionate tone. "We need you to go to the waiting room."

I couldn't take my eyes off of the scene unfolding in front of me. No matter what they did they couldn't get a heart beat. No matter how many times they shocked him with the paddles or when they plunged the syringe of adrenaline into his chest.

Declan pulled me in front of him, urging me to walk down the hall and away from the chaos. I felt numb. The walls were starting to close in on me and the feeling of something sitting on my chest was getting heavier to the point that I was fighting to take in a full breath.

I already knew. I didn't need to wait in the waiting room for someone to come and make it official. To give me their scripted condolences. When we got through the doors into the waiting room, I turned to Declan who looked so concerned for me.

"Please, take me away from here." I begged in a whisper.

I had no idea where we were headed and I didn't care. The searing images from earlier, the sounds my dad was making while he was drowning on the blood that was filling his lungs were haunting me. I had no tears left cry, my eyes were so dry that it stung every time I blinked leaving me feel disconnected and numb.

Declan parked the car on the lowest level of some parking garage. Before he moved to get out he turned and spoke something to me but I couldn't tell you what he said. There was a loud ringing in my ears making everything around me sound muffled and distant.

We walked through a utility tunnel and came out in a kitchen. The staff all in matching uniforms of black pants and white jackets were bustling around, calling out for ingredients or the names of dishes.

Our fingers were laced together as we continued through the kitchen and into another corridor with built in shelves along the walls. He grabbed a blanket from one of the shelves as we walked until stopping at a set of silver elevator doors. I could see my distorted reflection on the metal. My mascara stained my cheeks that were a dull shade of red either from the cold or from me constantly wiping at my tears. Red smears of my lipstick were around my lips and chin. I had a distant look in my eyes, like I was looking past everything out into a void.

The elevator took us up to the top floor of the building. When the doors opened it was another grim looking corridor. Declan led me to the end of it and opened the door. A rush of cold air swept across me making me close my eyes from the shock.

He tugged me forward and when I opened my eyes I saw we were on the roof of some tall building. Snowflakes fell all around us while the lights from the buildings glowed below us.

"Where are we?" My voice was low and monotone.

He wrapped the blanket around my shoulders. "The Atlantic."

The tops of the glowing letters came up over the ledge of the roof leaving a soft blue glow over us. He took a pack of cigarettes from his coat pocket and a lighter, puling two out and putting them between his lips. He lit both and then took one from his mouth and offered it to me.

"I come up here to be away from everything. To clear my head." He said with his cigarette between his teeth.

I closed the space between us, taking the cigarette from my lips and wrapped my arms around him in a tight hug. "Thank you."

He hummed in response, only putting one arm around me while he used the other to take the cigarette from his lips, blowing the smoke out above my head.

I pulled away, wrapping the blanket tighter around myself.

"Why didn't they take him right to surgery?"

"Hm?"

"My dad." I clarified, inhaling more smoke. "Why did they wait?"

"I don't know, Scars. But I can investigate the doctor." He answered, rubbing his hand up and down my arm.

Why did they wait? I must have asked myself that a thousand times since getting to the hospital. I'm no doctor but just looking at the horrid state my dad was in, I could tell that he needed medical attention right away. So why did they wait?

"You're going to stay here tonight. I need to keep an eye on you." He said, walking a few steps closer to the stone half wall around the edge of the building.

"Okay." I didn't want to go home, I didn't want to be bothered by Joe and the guys or have to deal with Jay.

"Your not going to fight me?" He chuckled, turning around to look at me while he leaned against the stone half wall.

I shook my head no, finishing my cigarette, letting it fall to the ground and putting it out with my shoe.

"What did Alex mean when he asked if you told me what happened?" I finally looked him in the eyes.

I watched his Adams apple bob in his neck as he swallowed hard.

"Did you know what happened? Did... did you plan this? Was this you?" I demanded, walking towards him. My fists clenched tight around the blanket.

He sighed, finishing his smoke and throwing it over the side of the building. "No, I didn't know this was going to happen. The only thing I knew was that your dad was seen in the city tonight with Mikhail."

"And then he just so happens to get into a fatal accident." I snapped, it wasn't a question.

"Scarlet I had nothing to do with this." He answers firmly.

I scoffed. "How can I believe that? You want the Russians out of the city, you told me tonight at dinner. My dad is the owner for the shipping company that they use to traffic kidnapped people and Z. It's obvious he'd be one of your targets too." I shook my head, laughing sarcastically through my nose. "I'm just a fucking idiot for not seeing this sooner."

"Scars," He said, pushing off the stone wall and closing the space between us. "I promise you, once I found out he was forced into this I put the order out to have him protected. He was not one of our targets."

"Stop the lies!" I screamed, turning to walk away.

He grabbed my wrist, holding me in place. "It's not a lie. Believe me. The marriage between your dad and Isabella was forced."

I glared up at him. What the hell was he even talking about?

"They wanted a local business, one that was small because it is easier to go by unnoticed. They forced your dad to marry Isabella and made him legally name her as the heir to the company once he passes away."

"Shut up!"

I twisted my wrist in a way that he lost his grip on me. When I was free, I jammed my heal into the top of his foot making him hiss in pain. I took the opportunity and ran the best I could in heals towards the door.

Declans' arm hooked around my waist. "No! NO!" I screamed, kicking my feet and flailing my arms. "Let me go!"

"No." He growled in my ear. He spun me so that I was facing him. I tried to lift my knee into his groin but he moved out of the way.

Rage filled his eyes. His hand latched around my throat, squeezing until I felt pressure behind my eyes. I dug my blunt nails into the skin of his hand in hopes that the pain would make him let go but it only made him squeeze harder.

He walked forward making me step backwards until my back hit the brick wall behind us. The freezing brick bit against the bare skin of my back and arms making me shiver. He was so close I could feel his hot breath across my face.

I slapped him across the face, not breaking eye contact with him. His head moved in the direction of my slap then slowly turned back to me. The pressure around my neck didn't change even though his nostrils flared.

"You will listen to me." He growled. I sunk back into the wall, relaxing slightly. When he felt that I surrendered he too relaxed, loosening his grip.

"The Russians forced the marriage. They demanded that he make Isabella the owner in the event of his death. They threatened to kill you to make him obey. Why do you think Mikhail offered you the job at the dealership? It was to keep an eye on you and to make sure your dad knew you were under their thumb." His hand loosened even more, moving around to the back of my neck so his fingers could tangle into the hair at the nape of my neck. His thumb brushing my jawline.

"Mikhail and the Pakhan, Anatoly Litvinenko, met with your dad this evening at one of their clubs. They threatened your life because they know your working with us."

"I'm being forced to!" I snarled.

"Your dad, the brave fool, told them he had years of documentation against them. If they would do anything to harm you he would go straight to the police. Good for us, since we own them." The last part was a side note.

I jerked my head out of his grasp, crossing my arms as I glowered up at him. "So my dad's dead because of you."

He scrunched his brows in a confused look. "What?"

"My dad was killed because they found out about you forcing me to work with you." I explained, my words slow and sarcastic.

He didn't have an answer. There was no way he could explain it away. It was the truth after all. I closed my eyes, my head was starting to pound and I was both physically and mentally exhausted.

"I'm leaving." A shiver raked over my body. Now that the blanket had fallen off of me I was very aware of how cold it was.

Declan let out a defeated sigh. "Wait, you'll need your room key."

"I'm not staying here. I'm going home. I don't want to be anywhere near you."

"I'm not letting you go home." He replied, moving closer to me, rubbing the back of his fingers on my arm. I flinched away from him. For a second, it looked like he was hurt that I recoiled from his touch. His eyes fluttered shut and I could see the tiny snowflakes that had landed on his lashes. "Jay could still be there. And we don't know if the Russians will be after you now. Patrick threatened them."

"I'll get an Uber." I turned and pulled the door open storming inside the building, Declan on my heals.

"Stay here where I can keep you safe!" He yelled after me.

"Like you kept my dad safe?!" I smashed the side of my fist against the elevator button.

"He wasn't my responsibility to keep safe, Scarlett, you are. I know your heart is broken right now but please, be smart." Declan's phone started to ring in his pocket. He quickly pulled it out, looking at the screen. He muttered a "fuck" and then silenced it.

The door to the elevator creaked open. I moved inside and quickly pressed the button to close the doors while he was still preoccupied with his phone. His hand slammed against the inside of the door, stopping it. Moving into the small space he glared down at me.

"Don't make me do this the hard way. Stay here for tonight. I'll be able to have one of my guys install cameras at your apartment so you can have your space but I can still keep an eye on you." It almost sounded like he was begging.

"You've ruined my life!" I screamed at him, pacing back and forth in the small space of the elevator like a caged animal. "You destroyed the relationship I had with my step brother, you're the reason my dad is dead and for all I know I'm next! Fuck you, Declan, I hate you!"

Declans' arm snaked around my shoulders and gripped my arm tightly. Before I could say anything, I watched him bring a capped syringe up to his mouth, using his teeth to uncap the needle.

"Wait, no. Please!"

Declan's head shook no. His eyes void of all of the caring emotions they had earlier. I closed my fist and punched him in the stomach. His top half crumbled over and his grip loosened just enough for me to be able to escape but the doors to the elevator had already closed and the cart was descending.

He straightened himself, his lips turning down into a scowl while he breathed out through flared nostrils. He took the two steps to me, pressing me into the corner of elevator.

"Declan, no."

But he had already sunk the needle into my arm and was pressing against the plunger. A static pressure feeling swirled around my head. My arms and legs became weak and it was getting increasingly hard to keep my eyes open.

"D-declan... plea-" my head lulled back and in in instant I was in pitch black silence.

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