Chapter 7 - Running away
Los Angeles, 1 year earlier.
Letty had small pieces of glass in her hair. There was blood dripping down her forehead from an open wound at the top of her head. It oozed down her face and into her lips, making her taste her own blood.
Letty was in pain. Every inch of her body ached. She forced herself to mentally count every step that she had to take to continue moving forward. She felt cold because her body was entering into shock, but she couldn't give up now.
She'd already escaped from certain death, and she'd continue to fight for her life, until the absolute last moment that she couldn't anymore. She wasn't there, yet.
The pain in Letty's abdomen was unbearable, and as she trudged through the swamp it became more and more unbearable with every step. Letty felt that her body was breaking apart inside.
The pain was so unbelievable that she wanted to scream…but she didn't have the strength. She knew that she was bleeding to death. She could feel her jeans were soaked with blood…and it wasn't stopping. She was losing her baby. Dom's baby!
"No!" Letty moaned as she leaned up against an old tree. She held her tummy with her bloody hands in a desperate attempt to avoid the miscarriage that seemed inevitable.
Letty checked her cell phone again, only to discover the "no signal" flashing back at her. It was like slap in the face. She groaned and tucked the phone back into her jacket pocket.
Why had she been so stupid as to continue on that mission after she'd discovered that she was pregnant? She could have told Brian that she was quitting! But Letty knew deep down that she would never have given up, because it was her last hope to bring Dom home.
Letty had no strength left to continue walking. She slumped down to the ground at the base of a tree. Her body was trembling, uncontrollably. So this was the end?
She was going to die… all alone… in a dark swamp… in the middle of the night with her unborn child. Nothing to be proud of, Letty ironically thought!
Suddenly, Letty heard footsteps approach her from somewhere in the darkness. "Fenix!" Her mind screamed in desperation as she panicked, trying to think of a way to escape again.
Instead of being ambushed by Fenix, Letty heard a woman scream. "Oh My God! Jason! It's a woman!" Letty was deathly still as she heard the voice say. "Is she dead? I told you that I didn't want to come out here!"
"Stay calm Ella!" A man's voice said this time. "I think she's still alive…" He came closer to Letty and whispered…almost afraid. "Hey! You okay?"
Letty took in a deep breath and relaxed when she realized that these people weren't going to hurt her.
For some strange reason, Letty thought that maybe they were a couple looking for a private make out spot. They definitely weren't Braga's people.
"Please! Help me…" Letty begged, but her voice was too weak and it came out as a muffled whisper because of the pain.
The man kneeled down beside her. "What happened? Are you hurt?"
"Jason? I think we better call the police!" The woman suggested.
"Shut up, Ella!" He said concentrating his attention back towards Letty. "What happened, girl? Were you robbed or something?"
"Car crash….please… help me…. I'm pregnant…my baby…" That was all that Letty could say before losing complete consciousness.
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Letty woke up to the sound of an irritating noise. She asked herself, where the hell it could be coming from. Her head was spinning.
When she tried to move, she felt someone's hand gently restrain her arm. She heard a man's voice tell her to remain still.
"Hey! Don't move." A soft spoken male voice said to her.
Letty slowly opened her eyes and weakly asked. "Where is that damn noise coming from?"
"It's the headache, but you'll feel better soon. The medication will help. You're a very lucky woman!" The man stated.
"Where am I?" She looked around, confused.
"You're in the hospital. You're still in the emergency department." He explained. "I'm Doctor Larson. A couple brought you here. They said they found you in the swamp.
"What happened?" The doctor asked. "Can you remember?"
"I…think I had a car accident!" Letty stammered.
"That makes sense!" He said. "I found glass in your hair. You've got a deep cut on your head that I stitched up, and your arm is broken." Letty looked at the cast on her left arm.
"You have some lacerations on your legs, too. But I'm most concerned about your pregnancy. You were bleeding a lot." Dr. Larson stated.
She blinked still feeling groggy and quietly asked. "Am I still pregnant?"
The doctor smiled and said. "Like I said… you're a lucky woman. The couple that brought you here mentioned that you were pregnant. I was called immediately. I'm an obstetrician. I took care of the bleeding. Luckily, I managed to stop it. Even so, you need to remain in the hospital, on bed rest for a few days. You need to be careful until the baby is born, but you'll both be fine!"
Letty wanted to cry. She was still pregnant! She would still give birth to her baby. It was a miracle!
"I need to know your name so that I can take care of the paperwork for the hospital. Do you have health insurance?" Dr. Larson asked.
"No, but I can pay for my expenses. I just need to contact my friend." Letty stated.
"What's your name?" Dr. Larson nodded and asked.
Letty thought for a moment. Braga told Fenix to kill all of the drivers… but Letty had survived. Now they wanted to kill her because she knew the truth about them and their organization.
But this wasn't just about her life anymore. She was carrying a baby and she needed to protect this baby from any harm.
"My name is Maria Fernandez." She finally said.
"Okay Ms. Fernandez. If you call your friend then I can start the appropriate paperwork…" Dr. Larson explained.
"Can you call my friend for me, please? Her name is Mia Toretto. Her phone number is 555-342-701." Letty weakly asked.
Dr. Larson jotted the phone number down and then left. Letty rifled through the pocket of her jacket that had been sitting on the foot of her bed and found her cell phone. She was relieved that it was still there. Once the doctor had left the room, Letty called Brian.
"Letty! Where the hell are you?" Brian's voice sounded desperate. "We lost contact with you hours ago and…"
"Brian I quit!" Letty simply said.
"What? I'm afraid I don't quite understand." Brian asked becoming agitated.
"The situation has changed. I have to leave Los Angeles." Letty said.
"What do you mean….you have to leave LA?" Brian snapped.
"Brian! I couldn't find anything to help you arrest Braga." She lied. "You need to find somebody else… because I quit!"
"Letty, you can't quit now!" Brian shouted. "We're so close to getting Braga and clearing Dom's name!"
"No Brian! It's over! Please forget about what I asked you to do…and forget about me, too." Letty quietly said.
She hung up the phone and removed the chip from inside. She wasn't going to use that phone ever again. She'd do whatever it took to make sure that Braga's men would never find her.
She knew that if they ever did… they'd kill her…and Dom's baby.
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Mia thought it very strange when she received a phone call from a hospital saying that her friend Maria Fernandez was there and needed her help. Mia soon understood what it was all about because she hadn't seen Letty since the night before.
Mia asked herself why Letty would be using a fake name. Maybe this was about Dom! Mia needed to know…and she had to help Letty.
When Mia arrived at the hospital, she was immediately taken to the room where Letty was hospitalized. There was a nurse there changing the I.V. bag that was dripping into Letty's arm.
Mia waited until the nurse left the room, before talking with Letty.
"What the hell's going on, Letty?" Mia whispered in a scared voice. She was very worried seeing Letty in that hospital bed, looking like she did. Her arm was in a cast and her face was all cut up and bruised
"I had a car accident!" Letty answered. "I was driving too fast…"
"You had a car accident? You were racing? But why were you racing if you're…" Mia trailed off.
"Pregnant?" Letty quietly finished Mia's sentence. "Don't worry…the baby is ok."
Mia sighed in relief and pulled a chair closer to Letty's bed. "So you are pregnant! What's going on? Why are you using a fake name?" Mia asked her.
"Because I got involved with the wrong guys, Mia" Letty abruptly answered.
"What do you mean?" Mia asked puzzled.
"That's all you need to know, Mia. The real reason that I called you here, is because I need to get money from my account to pay for my medical expenses. I have to stay a few more days here because of the baby."
"Yes sure." Mia said. "When are you going to tell Dom about the baby?"
"I have no idea where he is, so it doesn't matter!" Letty bitterly said.
"I can contact him Letty. He needs to know…" Mia started to explain, but Letty quickly cut her off.
"No! He doesn't need to know! It's none of his business!" Letty snapped.
"Of course he needs to know! He's the baby's father!" Mia protested.
"Don't be silly, Mia! Dom won't come back here because of the baby. He's gone forever!" Letty said.
"Letty, he…" Mia stammered.
"He made his choice…and I'm making mine. I'll stay in this hospital until the doctor says the baby is ok… then I'm leaving Los Angeles." Letty firmly stated.
"And where will you go? What about the baby?" Mia asked.
"I'm going to a place where my baby will be born safe!" Letty quietly said.
"No Letty! You have to stay here. I can help you with the baby." Mia begged.
"It's not safe for me and my baby here, Mia. Don't you understand?" Letty said.
"There's something you're not telling me!" Mia raised her voice.
"Mia… we've been friends for a very long time. We overcome many obstacles, like the phase of us both competing for Dom's attention. Mia…for the sake of our friendship… I'm asking you not to tell Dom that I'm going to have his child."
"I can't do that, Letty! Dom needs to know…" Mia was pleading with Letty now.
"You swore a loyalty to him and I respect that. Now I need you to help me. Trust me, Mia. I know what I'm doing." Letty was firm.
Mia agreed. She had no choice. "Do you know where you're going to go?"
"I have no idea." Letty said. "But I'll be fine!"
"I'll get you the money for your medical expenses. Just promise me…promise me that you'll write and tell me about you and the baby. I need to know that your both ok." Mia asked.
"I promise." Letty quietly said.
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Four days later, Doctor Larson told Letty that the baby would be ok and that she could leave. She arranged for an airplane ticket back to The Dominican that day, via phone, but she didn't share her plans with Mia.
Letty thought that when she arrived in The D.R., she'd find a small town and get a job until the baby was born. Then she'd think about what to do next. Her flight would be leaving that night.
Letty was just waiting to say good-bye to Mia. Brian hadn't found her, yet. He probably didn't know where start looking…especially under her assumed name, so it would better to leave before he did find her.
Letty had decided that she'd made the right decision… to not risk her life or the life of her baby. She waited for Mia to arrive at the hospital. She was ready to go, sitting patiently in the reception area with her backpack between her feet on the floor.
Finally, her friend came to the hospital. Mia was holding a package and a small bag in her hands. "What's this?" Letty curiously asked.
"It's a snack for later, for your trip." Mia showed Letty the package. "You know airplane food isn't the greatest."
"Thanks chick!" Letty said examining the small package and discovering a turkey sandwich and orange juice.
"And this…" Mia showed the little bag. "This is the first gift for the baby."
"Really?" Letty said smiling and looked inside the bag. It was a white teddy bear with a big green ribbon wrapped around its neck. "Oh, it's so cute!" Letty beamed. "Thanks, Mia."
They hugged each other. "Please Letty… send me news soon!" Mia begged. Tears were forming in her eyes.
"Yeah, I will. Don't worry!" Letty assured her.
"You know, I was thinking… that if you had a baby girl…. I could see Dom acting all goofy towards his little girl…" Mia giggled.
"I'm sure it's going to be a girl!" Letty said pretending she didn't hear what Mia said about Dom. She smiled and caressed her tummy.
"Take care of yourself Letty!" Mia pleaded.
"I'll be just fine, Mia." Letty reassured her once again before she finally left the hospital and took a taxi to the airport.
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The trip to the airport was quiet but when Letty arrived, she felt sick to her stomach and she needed to rush to the ladies room before checking in.
Carrying her backpack, she hurried to the ladies room and entered the first stall and vomited everything she had managed to eat that morning.
"Damn it!" Letty cursed. She washed her mouth, face and hands in the sink. Her backpack was at her side on the floor. Her handbag containing some of her money, the snack and the gift that Mia had given her, was on her shoulder.
Suddenly she heard the door of the room open and through the mirror she saw Fenix standing right behind her.
"Hello, Chica. Did you miss me?" He asked with a malicious smile on his face. He held a knife in his left hand. Letty felt sick again, but this time it wasn't because of the pregnancy. She was terrified.
"This time I'm not going to shoot you, baby. Oh no…" He said as he slowly approached her.
Letty looked at the door behind Fenix, imagining a way to escape but focused on him again when he said. "I'm going to cut you into little pieces. What do you think about that? Braga doesn't want you alive…neither do I!"
Letty took in a deep breath, and then she quickly turned around and kicked Fenix hard in the abdomen before he could grab her. The knife dropped from his grasp. They fought for a few minutes. Letty was small, but she was faster than Fenix.
He punched her in the face, splitting open her lip and making it bleed. Letty managed to kick him in the groin and he released her from his bone crunching grip. He fell down moaning in pain. Letty took advantage and ran out of the ladies room as fast as she could.
However, during the struggle, Letty was unable to grab her backback from the floor, that contained all of her clothes… and most of her money! She was only able to grab her handbag.
As Letty ran, the teddy bear that Mia had given her fell to the ground. She wasn't able to go back and get it.
Letty tasted blood in her mouth. She was out of breath, but continued running as she thought about saving the life of her baby.
Fenix wasn't a stupid man…he had backup. A man and a woman spotted Letty running and started to chase her. They relentlessly pursued Letty through the terminal and one of them took a. shot at her.
They didn't seem concerned about witnesses seeing them…or shooting a gun in a public place.
Letty finally arrived at the check-in. She had lost the bad guys.
Perhaps they had changed their minds before they got to the security gate and given up on her? She didn't care why… she was just relieved to have gotten away from Fenix…again!
Letty knew that she was still in big trouble when she realized that she had lost most of her money that Dom had left her in that backpack. Her clothing was in there, too.
Everything was in that backpack. How would she survive without that stuff? Life would be a lot harder now. She knew she couldn't go back for it…Fenix would kill her for sure.
All Letty had was the little bit of cash in her handbag with her fake documents. Well at least she had those! She was sad that she had lost Mia's teddy bear as well.
She really was starting all over….a new life….from scratch….all alone.
No money. No clothes. No friends. No Dom.
To be continued…
I just wanna say thanks to all reviews. Seems a lot to me!!!
