Nicholas was seated in his living room, going through some documents when his bodyguard burst into the house. Because of the general unrest that day, his heartbeat seemed to stop for a moment.
"What is wrong?" He asked his bodyguard. He knew that panic could be heard in his voice, at that moment, he really didn't care.
"There is somebody at the door," the man said. Nicholas did not stop the analyze the statement as he rushed outside.
"Is something wrong?" He could hear Sarah ask.
"Come outside," he simply said and rushed outside with the body guard.
"There were cars before, they are gone," the body guard said. He was looking confused at the almost empty balcony.
"Theo!" Sarah shouted and raced outside. Nicholas followed her line of view and saw that Stephanie was holding Theo in her arms. She was just standing at one point. The both of them looked tattered.
Sarah rushed to her and carried Theo in her arms. His nephew started crying immediately. Even his tears did not sound like they used to. Nicholas put his attention to Steph as he heard her made a tired humph.
Nicholas rushed to her and held her in his arms, she almost fell down, she was clearly very weak. She looked malnourished and Nicholas wondered what they had done to them over there.
He held on to her and helped move into the house.
"Astra," Stephanie said. It was barely audible. Her voice sounded coarse.
"Astra is fine, you are not," Nicholas said and looked at her very well. He then saw blood trickling down her leg.
"What the hell? Are you okay? Do you feel pain anywhere?" Nicholas asked her but Stephanie did not say anything, she just collapsed on him.
"Get me my keys, we are going to the hospital," Nicholas said to his bodyguard. The man immediately ran into the house. Nicholas hoisted Steph into his arms and carried her to his car.
"Come on Sarah, we are all going. Theo needs to be checked out," Nicholas said to Sarah. The body guard had already come out and started the car. They all rushed inside the car.
"Oh my God! Is she bleeding? She might be losing the baby," Sarah said as she saw Stephanie. She did look like life was seeping out of her veins. It was not a very favorable look, not one that Nicholas liked.
"Hurry!" Sarah shouted at the driver. They got to the hospital fast enough and paramedics immediately came to attend to them as they screamed that it was an emergency.
"Oh my God!" Sarah shouted as they carried Stephanie from Nicholas leg. There was so much blood. She had lost a lot of blood.
"You both should stay back," the paramedics said as they rushed Stephanie inside the hospital. Nicholas felt like he was about to go crazy.
"Is Theo okay? We need to get him checked out," he managed to say.
"I will go myself, just stay this way in case there is any news about Stephanie," Sarah said. Nicholas wanted to go, but he figured that Sarah was right. He could not be in two places at once.
"Okay," Nicholas said and watched Sarah walk into the hospital.
Nicholas was nervous. He left like he would go crazy from all the suspense. He was still standing in the reception when his phone began to ring. While he was not in the mood to talk to anybody, he brought out the phone to see who was calling, it was Jared. Nicholas frowned, wondering why Jared was calling. He figured he had gotten back to the house with Astra and no one was home.
"Hello, where are you?" Jared asked. He sounded frantic.
"I am at the hospital. What is wrong?" Nicholas asked He could hear Jared moving around, he was pacing.
"What the hell are you doing at the hospital? Astra is missing. I am sure it is that bastard Ray that took her. I would have stayed, I should have, it would have never happened," Jared said. Nicholas was not sure of what he was hearing. But he did not like it either way.
"What? Calm down Jared. Please just come to the hospital, Stephanie and Theo are here," Nicholas explained. He heard Jared halt in his steps and let out a breath.
"That is a relief at least. I am on my way," Jared said before disconnecting the call. Nicholas' mind began to travel as Jared disconnected the call. Astra was gone. She was kidnapped. Jared was right she was with Ray. Seeing the state that Stephanie was in, the woman that Ray was with for years, Nicholas did not want to imagine how Astra would be. He needed to get her out of there and fast, but how. He did not even have evidence that he was the one who kidnapped her. What if she went willingly? Nicholas was not sure what to do.
It did not help that the paramedics had not returned to say anything, neither had Sarah. Jared was still on his way to giving him the full story of Astra's disappearance. It felt like he was waiting for a dead sentence at three different angles.
"What are you thinking about?" Sarah asked and Nicholas looked at her. She looked tired but relieved. Theo was looking a lot cleaner, but he was still wearing his old clothes. He was resting his head on his mother's shoulder and his eyes were dropping. The poor child was tired. He was the one that dragged her into the mess, he needed to get her out as soon as possible.
"What did the doctor say about Theo?" He asked instead. It was a much safer topic.
"Oh, he said that he was a bit malnourished and there was little scratches on his body that he treated but he will be fine. He just needed food and rest," Sarah said and Nicholas was relieved. He took in a breath he did not know he was holding. He needed to get that bastard Ray, he was causing too much pain to his family and the people he loved. Nicholas could not tolerate that.
"Did you hear from Astra and Jared?" Sarah asked and Nicholas sighed. He was not sure he wanted to tell Sarah what happened, he did not want to worry her, but he was also sure that she would find out eventually.
"Jared called me, Astra is missing," Nicholas said, not missing a breath. Sarah frowned and held her son just a little tighter.
"What the hell? I am sure it is related to how Stephanie and Theo are back. The bastard took her," Sarah said. She sounded very angry, which was a bit weird since Sarah did not like Astra at all. It seemed that much had changed with time.
"I am waiting for Jared. He will give us all the details," Nicholas said.
"I am trying not to overthink. Anything could have happened," he continued.
"You are right," Sarah said.
"And to think Steph was asking about her. I figured she knew something was wrong with Astra," he said.
"Yes, what about Steph? Have the doctors said anything yet?" Sarah asked and he shook his head.
"Why not? It has been a while," Sarah asked. "We should talk to the nurses and ask," she continued.
"We should," he agreed. They went on to ask about her with a nurse.
"We rushed her here. She our friend," they told the nurse.
"She is still in the woods to be honest. She lost a lot of blood and she is pregnant. I cannot be sure if she will be fine. You have to be patient," the nurse said.
"We are at the reception then, we will wait," Nicholas said and walked with Sarah in that direction.