Chapter 63 - Back Home

"Can you call Andy and have him go to the station before the captain does anything to help Jon?" Dorian asked, looking at Dennis.

"Yes, I'll call him now." He stepped out of the waiting room to call Andy. Natalia watched him leave with a heavy heart. She knew it was too good to be true. Even when they had him cuffed and taken to the station, he was going to get out of this. She turned to Krista, who was sitting next to her, holding her hand.

"Thank you for being here with me. I appreciate not going through this alone." She gave her new friend a small smile.

"I wouldn't be anywhere else." Krista squeezed her hand, and Natalia looked toward Dorian, who was watching them with worry on his face. He didn't like how close Jon had come to killing all of them.

"Dorian, I want Jon dead. I don't care what you and your men have to do, but I want him dead." She looked him square in the eye, and he nodded. Nothing else needed to be said. He would find a way to kill Jon before he had the chance to hurt anyone else.

Natalia went back to staring at the door. Dennis came in a few minutes later and said that Andy was headed to the station. After that, all they could do was wait. About thirty minutes later, a doctor in green scrubs came into the waiting room.

"Natalia?" He asked. She took a deep breath before answering.

"That's me," She said weakly.

"Hayden is doing okay. We cleaned the wound and sewed him up. He's awake and asking for you." Dr. Nevin smiled when he saw her sigh in relief.

"Are you sure he's alright? He lost a lot of blood." Natalia pointed to her clothes, which were still covered in Hayden's blood.

"I'm positive. Can I take you to him? He's threatening to walk out of here if he doesn't see you in five minutes." Natalia couldn't help the smile that spread across her face.

"Yes, take me to him." She smiled at Dorian and Krista as the doctor pushed her chair out of the waiting room. She heard Hayden's voice as they went through a set of double doors.

"The only thing I need to do is see Natalia. Where is she?" Dr. Nevin pushed her to the room where an angry Hayden stood next to the bed glaring at a young nurse.

"Hayden, I'm here," Natalia said, and he walked over to her with one arm in a sling. He leaned down, hugged her with his good arm, and kissed her forehead.

"I was so worried about you when I woke up, and you weren't here. Are you okay? Did that bastard hurt you?" Hayden saw all the blood on her and felt rage coursing through his body. He was still a little drowsy, but he didn't care about anything other than making sure she was alright.

"No, this is your blood. I wasn't hurt, and neither was Dorian or Krista." Natalia held onto him tightly as her fear faded away. Now that she saw he was okay, her chest didn't feel so tight.

"What about Jon? Did they arrest him?" Hayden saw her look away, and he felt like something was off.

"They arrested him, but there's a problem." She said as she rubbed her hand over his cheek.

"What is it?" He asked, looking into her eyes.

"Captain Clifton has him. Dorian told Dennis that the captain was working with Jon, so he called Andy to go to the station." Natalia thought it better not to say anything about what she asked Dorian to do until they were out of earshot of everyone else.

"So, after everything we went through today, this still might not be over?" He asked as he buried his face in her neck.

"Mr. Sumner, please lay down before you open your bandage." The nurse said, trying to take him back to his bed. He moved out of her reach.

"Don't touch me. We're leaving. Now get this IV out of my arm." Hayden held his arm out, and the nurse looked at Dr. Nevin.

"Go ahead and take it out. I'll sign off on the discharge. Hayden, I need you to follow up with a doctor tomorrow to check your wound. I'm going to order you some pain medication to take as needed. You need to rest, and you can't lift anything heavy, or it could re-open your wound." He knew Hayden and Natalia were wealthy, and if Hayden wanted to leave, he realized nothing would stop him. Besides, he figured he could probably have any doctor he wanted to come to him for a nice price.

The nurse quickly removed the IV from his arm and wrapped it with a bandage. She wasn't happy for two reasons. He refused to listen to her when she told him to lie down. Also, he was really handsome, and she had hoped to flirt with him, but he hadn't given her a second look. When she was done, she walked out of the room in anger.

Once they had the paperwork and everything needed for discharge, Hayden pushed Natalia out of the hospital. The nurse had tried to have Hayden get into a wheelchair, but he refused so he could push Natalia. It was slow, with only being able to use one arm, but he managed.

When they got to Dennis' car, the detective, Dorian, and Krista were waiting for them. Hayden acted like he was going to try and lift Natalia, but Dorian stopped him.

"You can't do it; let me," He said. Hayden was going to argue, but he knew his cousin was right. He couldn't risk hurting Natalia by lifting her with only one arm. He got in the car and had her sit on his lap while her legs rested on Krista. Dorian sat in the front with Dennis.

"Where do you want to go?" Dennis asked before driving away. He assumed they wouldn't want to return to the hotel.

"I don't know. I guess you can take us to our apartment. The cameras are gone, so we can return home, but we'll do it with security in place." Hayden was in pain, but he refused to take any pain medication. He felt he deserved to feel every bit of pain because he hadn't been able to keep Jon away from Natalia. He kissed her head that rested on his good shoulder.

When they got to the apartment building, Dorian lifted Natalia into her chair. He insisted on pushing it and told Hayden to hold her hand as they went. Krista and Dennis followed them. The detective wasn't too keen on the idea of leaving them alone yet. Not until he got word from Andy that Jon was secure.

"Dorian and Krista, you can stay in the extra bedroom. You don't mind staying here for now, do you?" Natalia asked. She was hoping they would help her and relieve Hayden a little.

"Yes, we'll stay here with you," Dorian said, understanding why she was asking. He knew Hayden would try to do everything he could with one arm. Natalia mouthed thank you to him and smiled.

"Dennis, have you heard anything yet?" Hayden asked as they got inside. The cleaning service had still been coming once a week, so it was clean and smelled fresh.

"I'm trying to get a hold of Andy now to see what the status is. I still can't believe the captain was dirty. He's the last one I would have suspected." Dennis said as Andy's phone continued ringing before going to voicemail. Where was he, and why wasn't he picking up?

"I've met him a couple of times, and I agree. I didn't think he would work with someone like Jon. I wonder what motivated him? Why would he sacrifice everything for a serial killer?" Hayden asked.

"I don't know, but I promise I will find out." He looked down when his phone started ringing. It was Andy.

"Andy, what's going on?" Dennis asked, putting the phone on speaker so everyone else could hear as well.

"Dennis, I was too late. When I got here, Jon had killed Captain Clifton, and he got away. He snuck out without anyone seeing him, and we have no idea where he went."