Again, sorry for the late updates, I've been pulling outrageous amounts of overtime at work, along with my other responsibilities, I find it hard to find the time to write. Thanks for keeping up with my story. I've decided that I am not going to do alternate endings. It would be months before I get them up, and I am satisfied with one ending.

Many thanks to everyone that follows and reviews me :)

Chapter 26

"Hey wake up," a voice whispers as they lightly shake me. I feel the cold bite of water on my face, where am I?

My eyes open and I sit up in panic. My breathing quickens and I find myself hyperventilating. They found me, I'm going back to that prison, they're going to kill me, they're going to wait until this baby is done and then kill me.

Four faces back up to give me room, three females and one male. I'm dead, they're going to turn me in once they realize who I am. The man squints at my body, "you're the one they were looking at on the flight from America?"

"No," I shake my head. They can't know.

"Yes she is," one of the females reply, answering the mans question. She's the one that guy was looking for. Why do they want you so bad? They say your a criminal."

"Criminal?" I scoff. "I'm a criminal? Well if being kept in a prison for my gender and being sold as a sex slave is a criminal then yes I am that. I am a criminal for them selling me out to people, and then when I don't get enough attention because I'm not good enough and I have a poor attitude they pay someone to knock me up so they can use my baby for god knows what. If that's a criminal act then sure I'm a criminal. But please don't send me back there, I can't let them kill me."

They all stare at me in horror. Then finally a brunette speaks up, "America is fucked up country, do we really need to send her back?"

The man looks at the brunette, shakes his head from side to side as if to try and decide, the others look to him as a direction, they all must follow him. Even in free countries the women must not have full authority.

"Please," I beg as tears run down my face. "I can't go back there, I'm not a criminal. I haven't done anything wrong except flee from that awful place."

"Who helped you get over here?" A blonde asks.

"The man they are paying to get me knocked up, he is helping me, he feels bad for me. He doesn't want our baby to grow up there, if it even makes it that long. Who knows. If they would get me back, and I have the baby there they may use it for experiments, they could do anything to it and I wouldn't know because they will take it from me and then they will kill me because I ran away."

"Wait," the other brunette says. "You are with child right now?" she asks pointing to me. I nod my head yes. Please don't let them send me back, please don't let them send me back, please don't let them send me back.

They all look at each other. Then the blonde excuses herself and the rest of her friends, they walk together into another room and I can hear them whispering. Nothing audible, but I know they are talking about whether or not to send me back.

My hands are shaking, I feel like I'm going to throw up. I'm so weak, I need water, I need something to put into my stomach. I start involuntarily swaying slightly as I sit on the floor. I'm going to pass out again, soon. I just hope I don't wake up in handcuffs on my way back to America.

"Whoa!" The blonde yells as she opens the door to the room in which they were discussing. She catches my head as I pass out again, and that's the last thing I remember before waking up in a brightly lit room. Shit, they sent me back. The bed is hard and it smells of antiseptic, I must be in the medical wing again. This is where I imagine I'll die too once I have this baby. There is no way they are going to keep me since I ran away.

I sit up in bed, something beeps. My arm has a needle in it, there is an IV pole standing next to my bed. I struggle with it to rip off the sticker that keeps it on and remove the plastic tube that resides in my vein.

"Hey don't remove that," the other brunette from that building is here. She is sitting in a chair on the other side of my bed. I turn to look at her, she notices my confused expression and explains. "You were severely dehydrated and in need of food. We had to bring you to the hospital, we couldn't help you on our own."

"Does that mean once I am well that the hospital will send me back?" I ask.

"On the contrary, they don't even know who you are, they don't know where you came from, they only had a name we gave you so they wouldn't ask questions. "

"So what name did you give me?"

"Marrah Seigler, it's my friends name, you look the most like her and the bill will go to her then and her insurance will pay for it. What is your actual name by the way?"

"Adley," I say. She prompts further for a last name, but I don't have one, I'm lucky to have this name and not just a number.

"Well okay then Adley, my name is Vailey. The others you met were the other brunette, that was Marrah, and the blonde, her name is Latilla. The man that was with us, his name is Calen."

"Okay, so what is going to happen to me?"

"Well we don't know yet, We have decided to help you, but we don't know anything about you other than you come from America, and you are with child. Where were you going?"

My eyes widen. Shit. "Shit, my bag, where is my bag, I need it. All my stuff is in there."

"Calen has it, he is keeping it at his house for safe keeping. I will get him to bring it later. What is it that you need?"

" I need a um - a piece of paper, it had the directions on it. The directions I needed to get to where I need to be."

"You have place in mind?"

"Yes, it's in the Boreal forest, just on the edge of it, he told me. I need to get to a cabin there."

"Oh that is not far from here, only few hours, we can get you there no problem."

"Okay, we'll leave this evening," I tell her. She looks at me like I'm crazy, then shakes her head sadly.

"No, we can't just leave, you need to be discharged, you have to have the doctors permission to leave so we know you will be in full health. You suffered dehydration and hunger on plane, you need to build strength up again."

"I know, but I can walk, I feel better, I'm not dizzy or weak, I feel better again."

"Does not matter, you need to eat. You have not eaten in long time, dinner will be here soon. You eat, I eat then we see doctor. See what he wants to do, then we go when he tells us we can. "

"I need to go now, I don't know when Brea will get there, I need to be there before he comes, that was the plan."

"Well I have news for you, you are probably staying until at least tomorrow, you aren't going to be able to leave, I stay with you, but you need your health."

There is a knock on my room door and a woman with brown hair enters carrying a tray of food. She takes the cover off to reveal Salisbury steak and mashed potatoes, steamed broccoli and vanilla pudding.

"That is my cue to leave, I will go eat now, I will be back after I finish. I call Calen, he will bring your bag, then we will start planning trip."

"Okay, thank you so much," I tell her, she heads out the door without acknowledging my thanks. I am so thankful she did not send me back to America, back to that horrible place. I eat my dinner in quiet, no one bothers me for a while, so long in fact that I start to panic, thinking that Vailey has left me and Calen has ran off with my bag.

A knock on the door some time later reveals a blonde female, I don't recognize her, someone knew. She walks over to a computer that is in the corner of the room and stands in front of it, scanning her badge in front of a light, she opens the cabinet next to the computer and starts pulling out bags of liquids and capsules of god knows what.

"Nice to see you have awakened, I am your nurse. I'm just here to give you your medications. Can you give me your name?"

"A-Marrah Seigler," I stumble. The nurse doesn't look twice and scans the medications with a scanning tool. She walks over to me and holds out her hand.

"I need your hand," she says and I offer it to her, unsure of what she will do. "Other one she says," I give it to her and she turns my wrist slowly, then pulling at the bracelet on my arm she scans the bars on it.

"What are you doing?" I ask.

"I'm just giving you more medication to help you get better. These bags will go onto that pole, and they will drip into your arm and vein through that needle. There are also some pills I'm going to need you to take."

"What are they for?"

"Mostly vitamins. This one is to prevent blood clots, which you are more at risk for since you are with a child and this big one is an assembly of vitamins, all that you will need to make sure that your baby grows big and healthy in that belly." She places the pills in a small cup and hands them to me with a glass of water. "Try and swallow them whole and then take a drink," she says.

"I can't chew them?" I ask. She shakes her head no. I lift the pill cup to my lips and try to swallow them, it's awful, I try to swallow them but they end up getting stuck in my throat and I cough them back up. It's so humiliating.

The nurse, who has watched this whole horrible event tells me to stop and wait in my room. She leaves for a few minutes, which seems eternal, and then comes back in with a small device.

"Throw those away, I get knew," she says and gets out two new pills of the same kind and puts them into a little round shaped box. The lid to the box is big, in fact it is cone shaped as is the inside of the box. She places the pills inside and screws the cap on, the pills are crushed my the cone shaped lid. She then takes the crushed pills and puts them in some type of food, I think. "Here is some dessert," she says, taking A spoonful of the mixture and waving it near my mouth.

I take the spoon from her, I won't be fed like an infant. I take a bite of the vile pills and the taste of creamy chocolate fills my mouth along with the pebbly texture of the pills. "Another bite, finish that whole thing," the nurse says and continues to watch me eat the pudding. I take bite after bite until there are no more pieces of pill and no more pudding left. Satisfied the nurse nods and leaves, promising to check on me later in the evening.

I'm all alone, so I decide to shut my eyes for a moment. I don't know how long it takes, but it seems that shortly after I shut my eyes there is another knock on the door, and Vailey opens it. She is back, along with Marrah and Calen. Calen is holding my bag that Brea had given to me.

"Vailey said that you had needed this," he says handing it to me. I take it and root through it, digging out my phone and the piece of paper that has Breas number on it. I press the buttons, I hit the green send button like he told me to. A loud ringing sound screams in my ear and then there is a voice talking to me on the other end, but it isn't Brea's.

"What does this mean?" I ask giving the phone to Vailey, who gingerly takes it and holds it up to her ear.

"Oh, it means that who you are trying to call is not available, or not answering their phone. They may not be able to get it, too busy, or maybe they ignore you. Or maybe they just don't hear it, we don't know."

"He could be ignoring me?" I ask. She looks curiously at Calen and Marrah and then nods her head yes.

"Most of the time it's just because they don't hear their phone ringing, I wouldn't stress about it," Calen says. I try not to worry, but what if Brea really is ignoring me and he sent me over here just to get rid of me? What if he's not coming?

"But I need to speak to him, I need to know that he's coming!" I exclaim. I feel on the verge of tears. I hope that he wouldn't do that. I hope he didn't send me here to get rid of me and fend for myself.

"Well maybe we try again later," Vailey says and takes the phone gently from my hand. I think we all need a little time to talk anyway. We need to get to know you a little better if we are going to help you. We need to know where you are going and how we can get you there.

"I told you I was going to the edge of the Boreal forest, there is a cabin there that I need to be at, that is supposed to be my new home."

"Yes, that is alright, we can help you get there, we will drive you, but we have other questions as well," Marrah says.

"Okay, like what?"

"What was it really like in America? Is it that horrible? We are not allowed to fly there, too dangerous is what our boss says."

"It is very dangerous. It's awful, they keep you in a cell like a dog, they feed you well so you look nice, they keep you in there until some pervert comes along and wants sex, then they dress you up and parade you around like livestock. If you're chosen then they take you home, or into a special room there, have their way with you then bring you back like nothing. It's all a game to them. It's all for their pleasure because they are on top, they control the world. We get no say. Isn't that how it is over here?"

They all shake their heads. "No, over here that is illegal, that is called prostitution. When a woman or a man tries to do that over here they are sent to prison. It still happens, but only to a small amount. You can't eradicate crime all together, but you can reduce it."

I look at them like this is a new planet. They can't possibly be serious. "I know, it's different," Marrah says, "but it's so much better. Women contribute so much to society. There are things males do better than women and things women do better than men. There are differences between us, but we can contribute to society too. Without women there would be no children, no one to take care of them. There would be less nurses and there would be no love."

"I wasn't sure that was even a thing," I say.

"Well, this guy that sent you here, he is breaking your country's law, he must love you to break the law to send you over here and set you free."

I scoff. "He doesn't love me, I haven't the slightest clue as to why he hasn't sent me back. He said he loved me, then this baby came and everything changed. He says he feels differently about me now, like he still cares about me, but he really doesn't love this baby. I don't know why he didn't send me back."

"Sometimes we do things that sacrifice ourselves for the people we care about. He may not love you the way you expect him to, but there is something there, something in him cares enough about you that makes him not want to give you up. There is something in him that wants things to work otherwise he wouldn't have sent you here."

"I guess you're right," I shrug. "everything is just so different now, I don't know what to do. I don't know the first thing about raising a child, let alone trying to survive over here on my own without help. I lived on the streets before I was captured and turned into a slave, but that was different. That was easy, there were tons of scraps to live off of if you dug enough. Here is is clean, and I have a destination to get to. There are no dumpsters in the woods."

"You aren't going to eat out of a dumpster, we are going to help you get to this place, we'll make sure you have the food and materials you need."

"Okay, so when can I go?"

"They say you may be discharged tomorrow morning, but with hospitals you really never know when. They may say three o clock, but it may take until five. Time is of no value here. We'll be able to take you whenever they decide you are ready to go though. As long as you take your medicine and allow them to do what they want they'll let you go. Just remember, they are here to help you, they want what is best for your health, they aren't going to hurt you in any way that isn't beneficial to you, ok?"

"Okay," I say wondering what they mean by hurt me. The needle in my arm hurts, I bet I probably wouldn't have liked it if I was awake they put it in, that's what they probably mean.

"We're going to go now, hopefully they will discharge you in the morning, until then get some rest," Calen says. "Do you want me to take your bag back to my house for safe keeping or do you want to keep it here?"

"I'll keep it," I say. The rest of them say their goodbyes, Marrah hugs me, and they walk out the door promising to return in the morning.

I fiddle with the tv remote and call bell, after accidentally calling the nurse a few times I figure it out. I watch some crap on tv for a little while, then retire, adjusting my bed to be flat instead of upright, and I fall asleep.

Tonight, I dream of Brea, how he felt against my skin, how he smelled after a shower, how his lips felt against mine as he said goodbye, the taste of him and the taste of salt from my tears as they rolled down my face. I think I see our future together, the small cabin, the sight of me cooking him dinner, as he has begun to teach me, and the patter of little feet running through our house. A child with no face and no gender, but a mix of Brea and I, my brain decides. Dreams are so unclear.

My sleep is disrupted by the nurse shaking me awake. She has medicine to give me again, more I.V fluids and a few pills. She then tells me that I will be let go around lunch time, and asks questions of where I plan to go and how I plan to get there. I answer them, and she lets me know where we go from here, as far as my health and my baby's health is concerned.

I eat my breakfast, some food I don't know what it is, food must be differently prepared around the world, because I don't recognize much of what they serve here in the hospital. I sit and wait.

Waiting for something to happen. Waiting to be let go, waiting to hear more of my discharge instructions, waiting for the flight attendants to return. I want to get out of this place, it reminds me of that facility back in America. They regulate everything and don't allow much other than food and medication. They won't even allow my to walk in the hallway or leave my room.

"Adley, we're here to pick you up," Latilla comes in the door and is followed by the rest of the flight attendants. "We're taking you to the cabin, we just need to wait for the nurse to give you discharge instructions and then you are free to go."

"Okay, are you sure you want to take me?" I don't want to ask, but I feel bad that they are helping me, they didn't need to, but I would never be able to get to where I'm going without someone's help. I can't even really read well yet. How am I supposed to follow Brea's instructions.

"Of course," Vailey says. "It gives us something good to do on our time off before our next flight."

"Alright, I have your discharge instructions," the nurse says as she walks in the door. "You need to stay off your feet for a few days as much as possible to get your strength fully back. I need you to drink water if you don't want to come back. And eat a lot of fruits and vegetables, healthy food. I know the sweets and cravings are tempting but you shouldn't be eating them right now. I'm prescribing you a prenatal vitamin as well, you need to take it once a day, with food. Stay healthy, and we won't be seeing you back again okay?"

"Okay." The nurse then proceeds to take out my I.V line and hands me a packet of papers to sign and briefly explains each ones content as I sign them. Once the stack is signed and copies are made the nurse tells me I am free to go and a volunteer will be up with a wheelchair shortly to take me out.

"I will go get the car," Calen says, "you girls stay with Adley, you can walk her out and help her into the car when I pull up."

Calen tucks his hands into his pockets to be sure he is the one with the car keys and then heads out the door to retrieve the vehicle. Latilla follows Calen out and I am left alone with Marrah and Vailey, who are oh so excited to get out of here.

"I hate hospitals," Marrah says as the volunteer arrives and sets up the wheelchair outside my door. "Too many needles."

"Yeah I wasn't to happy about having one in my arm full time," I say.

"I know," Vailey says sympathetically. "But we needed to take you here, you were in bad shape. You are healthier now. You will be able to live better where you are destined to go. Now, do you have the address?"

"Yes, it's on this paper," I say digging through my bag and handing Vailey the paper with Brea's instructions, directions and phone number."

"Ready to go?" the volunteer asks. I nod my head yes and walk over and sit in the wheelchair. Marrah tells the volunteer she will push me out, and the volunteer leaves to go back to whatever she was doing. Marrah takes the volunteer's place and pushing the wheelchair to elevators, down the hall and out the front entrance. Calen is waiting in the vehicle.

Vailey opens the door and helps me in while Marrah returns the wheelchair and then climbs in the vehicle with us. I'm off to my new home.

"So where is this place, at the edge of the Boreal forest? What is the address?" Calen asks.

"Here it is," Vailey says presenting to him the paper that I gave her. Brea takes the paper and types it into a screen that is attached to the dash on his car. Once he is done copying the address he hands the paper back to me, I fold it and tuck it back into my bag, my only possession.

"It will be a couple of hours Adley, you might want to rest," Calen says as he pulls out of the hospital parking lot.

"How can I rest when the beginning of my life is about to happen. How can I sleep when I am so close to freedom."

"I guess it would be hard," Calen chuckles. "Just try and relax at least, that baby doesn't need any more stress than it already has."

We begin our journey, down winding roads and through city streets, any time we get outside the city limits, any city limits, my heart thumps. Every wooded area looks like home.

"How much longer?" I ask. The girls all look at the driver, Calen, and he looks at his electronic box that squawks at him every time he needs to turn in a different direction.

"According to this thing we're almost there, about another twenty minutes." I sigh. This drive is taking so long, I want to get there so I can be at peace.

"Hang in there Adley, twenty minutes isn't that long."

"Then why does it feel like an eternity?"

"Because your anxious, because you have never lived as well as you will here, even though you have no idea, you're ready to begin your new life."

"I'm just happy to be out of that facility, that's enough for me, I-"

"No, that's not enough, you want to be safe, you need to be and feel safe. That's not something you hve felt before, and you wont feel it until you get there, that is why you must feel so anxious, that and the whole new life thing."

"Yeah, I guess." There is a long period of silence, very long. Pretty soon the city fades and the suburbs too. The houses all vanish along with the small businesses. The world becomes less and less crowded the longer we drive, until finally we run out of pavement to drive on. There is nothing left but dirt to drive on, the houses and buildings replaced by trees. My heart races, we are close, we must be close.

Finally, the little remains of a desolate cabin shows up. It is small, it is tiny, but it is home.

"Here we are Adley, your knew home," Calen says as he pulls into the driveway. It's beautiful. It needs upkeeping, it looks abandoned, but it is mine.

"What do you think Adley?" Vailey and Latilla say in unison. I fight the urge to cry. It's perfect here, secluded, away from people, serene and peaceful. I open the car door and hop out, it's so beautiful out here. The front of the house is invisible to everyone on the main road, no one will find me here. The backyard has a small stream that runs through it. I wonder if the water is safe to drink.

"Adley, you ready to go inside?" Marrah asks. She pushes on the door and it opens, it has a lock but it remains unlocked at the moment. I don't have a key for it. Brea must have it, or someone here must. How would Brea obtain a key from here?

I walk inside behind her, it's beautiful inside as well. The first room I see when I walk in is the kitchen, a beautiful sight. Then the living room connects to it, all of it is empty. There are three bedrooms, one is bigger than the rest, and I suspect that will be the one that Brea and I will sleep in.

"Adley, are you going to be okay if we leave you here?" Marrah asks. I nod my head yes and she moves closer into me, wrapping her arms around me and squeezing me tight. "Be strong," she whispers and lets go. We walk back out to where everyone else is, in the kitchen.

"Adley, there is no food here, how will you survive?" Calen asks.

"I have some money, I'll make it last until he gets here," I say.

"But do you know how to get to the nearest market?"

"I will find it, it's a walk but I think I can manage."

"Okay, if you're sure," Calen says raising his eyebrows. "We'll bring you some basic food back, it will be faster and easier for me to drive and get it rather you walking for an hour."

"Okay, sounds good. Here is some money," I say handing it to them, hoping they don't just take it and run. I just hope it's enough for them to get me something. They all say goodbye, hug me, and then walk out the door, I am left alone.

I find my phone around all the things in my purse and fish it out. I need to speak to him. I need to hear his voice. I dial the number on the bottom of my paper and there is a ringing tone that it yells at me. I wait, I hope I'm doing this right.

"Baby?" I ask. I need to know for sure it's him.

"Yes it's me Adley. How are you? Are you lost? I thought you would have made it there by now."

"No," I say, tears running down my face. "No I'm not lost." My voice is shaking, it's pathetic, but I am happy, so happy.

"I'm home."