Chapter 8: The Safe Place

Xavier’s Point of View

She suddenly fell to the ground and screamed, holding her head tightly.

“Scarlet!” I shouted as I kneeled down and tried to talk to her but she fainted within seconds, her eyes moistened because of the pain.

I breathed heavily as I exhaled. “What the fuck just happened?” I whispered to myself. It wasn’t a normal seizure, it was suspicious—it was something artificial.

I could have taken her to the hospital but my conscience told me to do otherwise. It could be a plan; anyone who did this must think that I would take her to the hospital.

I took out my phone immediately and called Harry immediately.

“Hey, Xavier. Didn’t think I’d hear from you this soon.”

“I know,” I replied and sighed. “Can you arrange a quick—a quick med session with the team?”

“Med session? Did—did something happen? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Harry. It is an emergency. Type me the details and make it fast, yeah?”

“Anything for you, mate. Cheers.”

I ended the call and looked over at Scarlet. I carried her in my arms and kept her on the bed, trying not to wake her. I took off any electronic devices on her and kept them away safely. I soon received a message from Harrison.

“Four miles. Would work just fine,” I whispered to myself as I carried her outside. Mostly I wouldn’t want to use a vehicle around here because my trainees would get lazy if they got the fortune of luxury: and they would want it if they saw me using it, but I didn’t have a choice right now.

I took out my car—the one I had arrived here with, in a completely new appearance and a fake plate, and drove to the written address.

…

I parked the car around the place in a secret–hidden–protected garage and swiftly went inside, with her still in my arms. When Harry saw me, he rushed up to me and took her to the emergency room.

“What happened to her?” He asked as a few medical professionals entered the room.

“She just—just fainted with a sharp pain in the head,” I said, “It wasn’t—it wasn’t natural. It didn’t look natural. I think it was induced, so look for suspicious particles.”

They nodded. “I am going to ask you to leave the room for the time being, sir.”

“Fine, I am out. Find what’s wrong with her, okay?” I said in a peaceful yet domineering attitude which made them nod their heads immediately.

I walked out of the room and decided to get some fresh air.

_________________________________

Jazelle’s Point of View

I opened my eyes and it was 2:31 AM. I smiled as I looked over at Shawn. He was sleeping with a comfort on his face, but he looked so cute that it seemed unbelievable.

I turned towards him and kissed him on his lips but he opened his eyes and looked at me. “Hey Jazz.”

“Shawn,” I smiled.

“You wanna leave New York?” He suddenly asked me as he turned me around with me over him.

“Uh… why?” I asked him with a chuckle.

“You have an amazing… voice, Jazz and America—the industry, I don’t want you to get caught up in this shit,” He whispered. “It would be better if we just went to like—like Britain or something.”

“And you own Cooper Textiles whose headquarters are right here in NY, Shawn,” I said with a smile. “I can’t make you choose me over that.”

He sighed and kept me down. I looked at him with a smile. “Hey, where’s the smile on that pretty face?”

“I’m handsome, not pretty, you dumbo,” He looked at me and rolled his eyes.

I laughed. “You’re every definition there is for anything good.”

He laughed too and shook his head.

“Hey Shawn, I’ve been meaning to ask you something.” I asked slowly.

“Yeah?” He looked at me. I sighed. “Scarlet, she—she contacted me a while ago. I mean, even if she didn’t, I would’ve asked you this.”

He exhaled and ran his hand through his hair. “You don’t want me to sue Mr. Valencian or be against him.”

“Yeah,” I whispered.

“I’ve never mixed personal life with my work life, J,” He turned towards me and said calmly. “If I back off now, they will question my decision. What will I say?”

“I mean—you’re like an amazing—the best businessman,” I chuckled. “I am sure you can come up with something. Just this once, Shawn?”

He looked at me as I made puppy eyes and he laughed. “Fine, fine. Just this once, you pretty woman.”

I smiled and kissed him. “I love you!”

________________________________

Xavier’s Point of View

I came back to the place after ten minutes. They were still performing—whatever—on her so I had to wait outside.

The door opened after five minutes and I hurried inside.

“How’s she now, doc?” I asked.

“We’ve found certain nano-tech in her brain. It was—”

I didn’t let them complete their sentence and picked up the small tech pieces kept by the bed. I knew they weren’t experts on technology so they would know little to nothing about this.

“Thanks. Just keep her stable while I research. And—Harry, call me when she’s awake.”

He nodded before I left the place in a hurry to my research lab situated nearby. It had all the records, machines and clean space for my technological experiments and research.

I used a lot of my devices to rule out all the possible current inventions and discoveries, reaching to the conclusion that this nano-tech was something new. I used my knowledge to get a vague description for the device which also was right: “Messes with the neurological signals in the brain and causes sheer pain in the neurons by making it highly sensitive.”

There was one part of the tech that I didn’t know the function of. However, this information was enough to know that the pain was definitely induced and ofcourse, I knew Max was behind this.

That son of a bitch. Time will come, and it will come for him brutally. I messaged Harry about my research and findings as I headed back.

I wandered back to the place and she was still unconscious. “When will she be awake?” I asked Harry as I looked over at her on the bed.

“She should be awake soon. The doctors don’t know exactly but if the effect of the tech wasn’t chronic, she should recover in a few hours.”

“I don’t have that kind of time,” I sighed. “I need to take her back.”

“You can’t take her right now, Xavier,” He stopped me. “She should be under observation for at least twenty four hours—or at the very least, till she’s awake and feels fine. You can’t risk her if you care so much about her.”

I shook my head. “I have to. Ask the doctors to send in—”

“Xavier, it is not about the doctors. It is about her. She needs rest, for sure. I mean—they don’t–don’t even know if or when she’ll make complete recovery. I mean, I don’t wanna say it but her neurons might have permanently become super sensitive. That would mean extreme pain, like, all the time. And you don’t want to do the best for her right now?”

I exhaled. “She’s not safe here.”

“Well, she has to stay. So?”

I nodded. “Fine. She’ll stay. I have to go though.”

He nodded and I left the place. If that place is not safe for her and she can’t leave, I will just have to make it safe for her.