Chapter 7 - Oh Father, where art thou?

Ana

I hope things went well between Christian and Emily. I can't even imagine how he must feel right now. With a lot of therapy and talking to me he accepted that his biological mother was a very sick person who couldn't protect him or herself. But as his hate for his mother faded the hatred towards his father has grown.

The fact that he knows nothing about him wasn't any help... and now he had to find out that this man was or is closer to him than he ever thought possible. He fathered a child with one of Christian's former subs and maybe he is still involved with her and had his hands in the kidnapping... I don't want to think about it.

I just hope that Christian will be accepting of his sister. He doesn't have to move her in with us, but I want them to have a relationship. Having an older brother was life changing for me and maybe it will be the same for Emily, because if anyone needs something good in his or her life it's Emily.

"Ana!" I hear Emily's voice when the door opens and she hurries to the bed.

"Be gentle with Ana, Emily, she is still very sore." Christian says immediately when Emily climbs on the bed to hug me.

"Okay... can I hug you?"

"Sure you can, sweetheart." I say and wrap her in my arms.

"I'm sorry, Ana."

"Sorry about what, darling?" I ask her when she avoids to look at me.

"I wasn't a good help when you had your baby." She says sadly and I stroke her cheek.

"Emily, you are a child, I'm sorry I scared you in the car. But nothing that happened was your fault. It wasn't your job to help me deliver Aria, still you did wonderful when you held her for me. You kept her safe for me and I am so very thankful that you were there with me. You can be very proud of yourself, because you helped me wonderfully."

"I did?"

"Yes, you really did." I say and she nods.

"Maybe I can hold her again. I like her." She says after a while and it makes me smiles.

"I'm sure she will like that." I reply while suppressing a yawn.

"Are you tired, baby?" Christian asks.

"These days I'm always tired." I answer honestly. I don't know what they have given me to put me to sleep, but I feel like it is still in my system making me sleepy all the time.

"Sleep, I'll bring Emily back to her room and be back in a little while." He says and just a few moments later I am asleep again.

When I wake up, it is dusk outside and here Christian talking to who I assume is Taylor outside.

"We need to find him... I want any information we can get on him. This fucker has done shit to protect me, he has beaten my little sister and I'm sure he had his hands in Ana's kidnapping... just fucking find him!" He snaps and a moment later he steps back into the room.

"Hey, your up. I've talked to your mom while you were asleep, she is coming over with the kids tomorrow morning." He says and I smile. I have missed my babies so much, but Christian has insisted that I wait to see them until I'm a little better.

"Are they okay?"

"Yes." He says but it came out too quickly.

"What is wrong?"

"Sam he... he blames himself, because you got kidnapped while searching for his soccer ball. Teddy had some temper tantrums because you weren't there to kiss him good night and Phoebe had a fever because her molars are coming in." He says and sits down in the chair next to my bed.

"Soon I'm home and all will be fine." I reply.

"Yes... baby, there is something we need to talk about. When you were brought in... it was a very close call. You had already lost so much blood and in order to save your life the doctors had to... they had... fuck!" He says and runs both hands through his hair.

"They had to perform a hysterectomy on me, I know." I say and he looks at me in surprise.

"What? I don't understand, who told you?"

"No one had to tell me. I just knew and it's okay."

"It is?"

"Yes, we have four beautiful children and getting pregnant with Aria was a risk I was willing to take. We knew it was a possibility and while the thought of not being able to carry another child is sad, I'm just happy that I am still here to see our children grow up. If we are supposed to have another child it will find us... just like Sam did."

"Have I already told you that you are the strongest woman in the world, Ana Grey." He says and kisses my forehead.

"I'm sure you did before... but there is more you want to talk about, right?"

"Yes, it's about Emily. Ana, I can't have bounce through foster homes. She needs a stable home... a family and while she isn't my daughter and things might get complicated... I really want to try to become her legal guardian. We have enough room in our house and she can grow up with our kids... I just want her to have a normal childhood from now on. I have talked to my Dad and he thinks it will take some time to get all the legalities done... so we would have to stay here longer than planned. I know it's not ideal with Sam and Teddy having to return to school, but we could hire a private teacher for them until we can go back to Seattle. I just don't want to be another family member for Emily who lets her down."

"Okay, then we stay. I can get in touch with some of my contacts in CPS here to fasten up the process, but yes, I want Emily to live with us too. Have you considered calling John, maybe he knows a good child psychiatrist, because I'm sure Emily is in need of therapy after everything she has been through. I can make some calls too."

"No, you need time to recover. I know you, baby. You put everyone else first and think of you last, but just this once I need to take things slow and recover in peace. I will handle this... she is my sister." He says and just when I am about to reply something when Taylor steps in.

"Sir, I need to talk to you for a moment." He says and I can tell from the look on his face that it is serious.

"I'll be back in a moment." Christian says to me and follows Taylor outside.

Christian

I follow Taylor into the hallway and close the door to Ana's room before I turn to look at him.

"Sir, I would like to advise you to make arrangements for Mrs. Grey to be released as soon as possible."

"What? Are you kidding me? Ana still needs medical attention."

"I do understand that, Sir. However, we have reason to believe that your biological father was here today and as long as we don't know what he looks like, he is an immediate threat to your wife's safety."

"He was here?" I ask horrified, shit that fucker could dress up as doctor and get to Ana... to Aria or Emily without us knowing it.

"This was left at the nurses desk." Taylor says and points to the flowers, which are placed in a vase on the floor.

I take the card Taylor hands me and read it.

Dear Anastasia,

I wish we had met while you were staying with Susannah, but don't worry, we'll meet soon and it is going to be a family reunion to die for.

Yours,

Daddy

"FUCK!" I yell and rip the note into shreds.

"Sir, please, I need you to remain calm."

"Calm? First that son of a bitch left me with my drug addicted mother, than he abused my little sister and now he threatens the life of my wife? I am anything but calm, I'm going to kill that fucker with my bare hands. Get the fucking security tapes of the hospital, if he left that at the nurses desk there must be evidence on the tapes." I hiss and take my phone out to call Gideon.

"Hey Chris, what's up?"

"Call your contacts at CPS, I'm bringing Ana and Aria home today, I won't leave my sister here. I don't give a fuck whom you have to bribe or threaten, just make sure I can take her with us."

"Wait... what? Ana needs to stay at the hospital!"

"Don't you think I fucking know that? She is not safe here, my fucking biological father left flowers for her and they came with a death threat, we have no fucking clue what the son of a bitch looks like, so I'm not taking any chances. I'll hire nurses for Ana and my mom is there too. Just help me, so I don't have to leave my little sister here."

"Fuck, okay, I get right on it, but it might take an hour or two."

"Sure, just call me when it's done, I'll make arrangements for Ana and Aria in the meantime. Ask Mia or Ireland to buy some stuff for Emily, she needs clothes, some toys... you know."

"I'll take care of it, do you want me to send more security over to the hospital."

"Yes, that would be good."

"They'll be there soon." He hangs up and I start to make arrangements for Ana and Aria to be brought home. Her doctor wasn't happy about this to say at least, but I'm not taking any chances with my family's safety and if it means to set up a whole intensive care unit at my home then that's what I will do.

Finally, after almost two hours I have everything arranged and go back to Ana's room.

"What is going on, did something happen? Are the kids alright? Why is no one telling me what is happening?" Ana says as soon as she sees me. Fuck, she is worried and upset, that's not good.

"Baby, I have everything under control. Now, you have to listen to me, because I am not going to argue about this. I have made arrangements for Aria and you to come home today. A nurse will be here shortly and to give you a mild sedative. It will make the transport more comfortable for you."

"Christian, what is going on. I know you, you wouldn't allow me to leave if everything was alright."

I close my eyes trying to figure out what to tell her and in the end decide to go for the truth. Ana won't be cooperative if she doesn't know what is going on.

"My biological father left flowers for you and a threat, we still have no idea what he look like, we couldn't get a shot of his face on the security tapes and because we don't know what he looks like, it is too dangerous to stay at a place where we can't control who comes in."

"What about Emily?" She asks worried.

"Gideon is working on it, her case worker will be here shortly, I have to sign some paperwork and then I can take her home with us. I have hired two private nurses for you and my mother is there too. I'm sorry baby, I wish you could stay here until you are better, but it is not safe."

"It's okay, I want to go home, but do I really have to take a sedative?"

"Yes, the doctor insisted, because you are barely in a state where transporting you to a different location is an option. It will be way more comfortable for you this way, please don't argue about it."

"Okay." She says and I know it's not because she agrees with me, but because she hates hospitals and would do just about anything to go home.

"Good and because I have to stay until everything is arranged for me to take Emily home, I have asked someone else to ride with you and Aria." I say and open the door.

"Luke!" Ana exclaims with a big smile, but frowns when she sees his face. I know Ana sees him as a good friend, more like a brother maybe even and while he sure as fuck is not going to be her CPO anymore, he can't fuck anything up by just sitting in the paramedics car with her.

"Christian, what have you..." Ana is about to ask me, while still staring at Luke's roughed up face, but Luke stops her.

"Ana, it was my job to protect you and I failed, hell I really fucked up. Don't blame your husband for losing it, I deserved it." Luke says and Ana purses her lips.

"Baby, once the nurse was here I will leave to get Emily, I'll see you at home. And Luke, you fuck up again and I will fucking end you. Don't make me regret this decision." I tell him and he nods. He knows he is damn lucky to still have a job and even more so that I still allow him anywhere near my wife.

The nurse arrives a few minutes later and injects something into Ana's IV line, within a minute her eyes starts to flutter and soon she is asleep. I kiss her forehead and leave to get Emily, the sooner we are all out of here the better.

After signing what feels like one hundred pages worth of paperwork for the case worker, I am finally allowed to take Emily home. I'm just about to enter her room when a nurse stops me.

"We always stock up some extra clothes for the kids who come in and have nothing. I know Emily doesn't need it any longer, but her release was kind of rushed, so I wasn't sure if you had time to get anything for her." She says a little flustered and hands me underwear, a dress and some flip flops.

"Thank you, I appreciate it and I know my sister will too." I reply and make a mental note to donate some money, toys and clothes to the hospital.

I enter the room and my heart stops when I find it empty, leaping out again I grab her security by the shirt.

"Where is she?" I snap and he stares at me wide eyed.

"Your sister hasn't left her room, Sir. A doctor came in a bit earlier, but she was still in there after a he left." He says and I run back inside.

"Emily, it's me Christian. Where are you sweetheart?" I call out and here a soft sniffling sound from underneath the bed, so I get onto the floor and look under the bed where I find her curled up into a ball under the bed.

"Emily, what are you doing under the bed?" I ask gently and she looks up at me.

"I saw him, Christian... Daddy is here." She whispers clearly scared and my heart starts to race. Fuck, this is not happening!

"Where have you seen him?"

"He looked into the room through the glass wall." She says and I hold out my hand to her.

"Come, we are leaving this place, we need to get you dressed." I say and her eyes widen.

"Where are we going?"

"To my place, Ana and Aria are already on their way. It's not safe here, Emily."

"And Daddy can't come to your place?" She asks.

"No, he can't." And if he tries, it will be the last fucking thing he ever does. I hand her the clothes the nurse has given to me and turn around to give her some privacy to change.

"Ready." She announces after a minute or two and I look at her. Christ, she is too fucking thin, the dress she is wearing is way too big even though it has the right size for a girl her age.

"Here, let me help you." I step forward and make a knot in each of the straps, which are holding the dress in place so it doesn't expose her chest and I'm surprised, when she takes my hand the second I open the door.

"He can't hurt you, Emily. I won't let him." I tell her and followed by the security we start to walk towards the elevator when Emily suddenly seems to panic.

"Hey, what is wrong? Is he here, Emily?"

"There by the door to the stairway." She says, but all I see is the door which is slighty open before it snaps shut.

"Prescott, Raul!" Taylor snaps and both hurry to the door. "Sir, you need to follow me. Time to get the he... time to go home." He corrects himself and I hesitate for a moment. I want to follow him myself and kill him... but I can't. I can't scare Emily by leaving her here with Taylor whom she doesn't know, when she is already scared. More so, the whole thing is screaming trap. The bastard is either desperate or insane, neither of which options makes him less of a threat. So, I go against my instinct to hunt him down myself and follow Taylor and Emily into the elevator.

"Has Sawyer texted?" I ask and Taylor nods.

"They have almost reached the house, Mrs. Grey is still out of it and your daughter is sleeping as well. The nurse has arrived and everything is ready and set for them to arrive."

"Good." I murmur and watch Emily pulling at her dress, which is obviously a nervous habit.

"Hey, remember, he can't come anywhere near you ever again. I won't allow him to hurt you."

"What if you are not there?" She asks after thinking about it for a moment.

"See this guy here, that's Taylor he makes sure we are all safe and there is not just him, but many more men who are with us all the time. So, there is nothing to worry about. Soon, he will get caught and then you never have to be scared again." I tell and deep down, I still feel that this is the calm before the storm. As long as this son of a bitch is out there, we are not safe, but I'll be damned if I allow him to hurt my family. I will hunt that fucker down and if it is the last thing I do...