Chapter 91 Jason's Recovery
JASON'S POV
Pain was the first thing I felt when I woke up. Sharp and burning in my shoulder. Dull and throbbing everywhere else. I tried to open my eyes but the light was too bright.
"Easy," a voice said. "Do not move too fast. You lost a lot of blood."
I forced my eyes open slowly. A man was sitting next to the bed I was lying in. He looked familiar but I could not place him at first. Then I remembered. Rourke. Detective Marcus Rourke.
"Where am I?" I asked. My voice came out rough and weak.
"Hospital," Rourke said. "You have been here for three days. The doctors were not sure you were going to make it."
"Three days," I repeated. My mind was foggy. I tried to remember what happened. The cabin. The attack. Caitlyn screaming. Being shot.
"Caitlyn," I said trying to sit up. "Where is Caitlyn?"
"Lay back down," Rourke said pushing me gently back against the pillows. "You will rip your stitches."
"Where is she?" I demanded. "What happened to her?"
"Hayes took her," Rourke said. His face was grim. "By the time we got to the cabin she was gone."
"How long ago?" I asked.
"Three days," Rourke said. "Same time you were shot."
"Three days," I said. "She has been with him for three days. We have to find her. We have to get her back."
"We are trying," Rourke said. "We have been searching for her since we found you. But Hayes covered his tracks well. We do not know where he took her."
"The estate," I said. "He took her back to the estate. That is where he would go."
"We checked the estate," Rourke said. "It is empty. Hayes is not there."
"Then check again," I said. "Check harder. He has her somewhere."
"We are doing everything we can," Rourke said. "But Hayes has resources. Safe houses. Connections. He could have taken her anywhere."
I tried to sit up again and this time I made it. Pain shot through my shoulder but I ignored it. "How bad is it?"
"The gunshot?" Rourke asked. "You are lucky. The bullet went clean through. Missed the bone and all the major arteries. You lost a lot of blood but the doctors say you will make a full recovery."
"How long until I can leave?" I asked.
"The doctors want to keep you for another week at least," Rourke said.
"I do not have a week," I said. "I need to leave now. I need to find Caitlyn."
"You can barely sit up," Rourke pointed out. "How are you going to find her?"
"I will figure it out," I said. "I just need to get out of this bed."
The door opened and Tommy walked in. He looked relieved when he saw I was awake.
"About time," Tommy said. "You had us worried man."
"How long have you been here?" I asked.
"Since they brought you in," Tommy said. "The whole crew has been taking shifts. Making sure you were not alone."
"Thanks," I said. "But I need your help with something else now."
"What?" Tommy asked.
"I need to get out of here," I said. "And I need to find Caitlyn."
"You just woke up from a coma," Tommy said. "You are not going anywhere."
"It was not a coma," I said. "It was just unconsciousness from blood loss. And I am awake now. So I am leaving."
"The doctors will not let you," Rourke said.
"Then I will leave against medical advice," I said. "I do not care. I need to find her."
"We do not even know where to start looking," Tommy said. "Hayes could have taken her anywhere."
"So we start with what we know," I said. "We know he wants her dead. We know he wants it to look like an accident or like she disappeared. Where would he take her to do that?"
"Somewhere remote," Rourke said. "Somewhere he could kill her and dispose of the body without witnesses."
"He has property all over the state," Tommy said. "Warehouses. Storage units. Land in the middle of nowhere."
"Then we check all of it," I said. "Every property. Every location. We do not stop until we find her."
"That could take weeks," Rourke said. "And we do not have weeks. If Hayes is going to kill her he will do it soon."
"Then we work faster," I said. "Tommy get the crew together. Tell them we need to search every Hayes property we know about."
"What about the cops?" Tommy asked looking at Rourke. "Are they helping?"
"We are doing what we can," Rourke said. "But we need probable cause to search private property. We cannot just break into every building Hayes owns."
"Then I will do it," I said. "The crew will do it. We do not need warrants."
"That is breaking and entering," Rourke warned. "I cannot officially condone that."
"Then do not officially condone it," I said. "Just do not stop us."
Rourke looked at me for a long moment. Then he nodded. "I did not hear any of this conversation."
"Good," I said. I swung my legs over the side of the bed. Pain shot through my whole body but I gritted my teeth and stood up.
"You should not be standing," Tommy said.
"I am fine," I lied. The room was spinning and I had to grab the bed to steady myself. "I just need a minute."
"You need a week of rest," Rourke said. "At least."
"I do not have time for rest," I said. "Every minute I am lying in this bed is another minute Caitlyn is with Hayes. Another minute she is in danger."
"You cannot help her if you are dead," Tommy pointed out.
"And she will be dead if I do not help her," I said. "So I do not have a choice."
A nurse came in and saw me standing. "Mr Cross you need to get back in bed right now."
"I am checking myself out," I said.
"You cannot check yourself out," the nurse said. "The doctor has not cleared you."
"I am leaving anyway," I said. "Just bring me the forms to sign."
The nurse looked at Rourke and Tommy like they could help. They both just shrugged.
"Fine," the nurse said. "But you are leaving against medical advice. You could die if that wound reopens."
"I understand," I said. "Bring me the forms."
The nurse left shaking her head. She came back ten minutes later with a stack of papers. I signed them all without reading them. Did not care what they said. I just needed to get out of here.
"You are going to need clothes," Tommy said. "Your old ones are covered in blood."
"I will wear these," I said looking down at the hospital gown.
"You are not leaving in a hospital gown," Tommy said. "I will go grab you something from the gift shop."
He left and came back with sweatpants and a T-shirt. I got dressed slowly. Everything hurt. My shoulder screamed with every movement. But I did not care. I had to find Caitlyn.
"Where do we start?" I asked once I was dressed.
"The estate," Tommy said. "Even if Hayes is not there someone might know something."
"Rourke said they already checked the estate," I reminded him.
"They checked it legally," Tommy said. "We will check it our way."
"What does that mean?" Rourke asked.
"It means we are going to break in and search every room," Tommy said. "Find anything Hayes might have left behind. Any clue about where he took her?"
"I definitely did not hear that," Rourke said. But he did not try to stop us.