Chapter 28

When she walked into his hospital room, Hoagie was asleep. The nurse had been kind to let Eva see him, for visiting hours had just ended – she was allowed five minutes with him. Eva moved closer to her ex, taking in his appearance. He looked so…unlike him, with the IV and other wires connected to him. She felt a tear sting her eye, and it fell before she could stop it. This was all her fault; that much she knew. But it wasn't supposed to be like that. That's not what should have happened. Kensei was simply supposed to kidnap Abby – discreetly even – and then she would show up and tend Hoagie's broken heart. Before he'd realize it, he'd be falling for her all over again. The auburn haired girl gingerly brought her hand to his face and cupped it. She bent towards him and planted a little kiss on his dry, chapped lips. She hovered over him for a moment, and he began to stir.

"A–Abs, Abby?" he called drowsily.

Eva swallowed hard, and the lump in her throat felt extraordinarily large and particularly bitter at the mention of that girl's name. She stood up straight and laughed humorlessly. Even now she still haunts me, she thought as she looked down at the slowly awakening boy.

As Hoagie opened his eyes, his pupils adjusted their size as they tried to put the person before him into focus. He smiled when he recognized her. "Eva," he said quietly. "Hi."

She smiled back and felt her tears fall again as she gave a choked out laugh. "Hi. How are you feeling?"

"I…feel like crap." He replied as he shut his eyes. "Thanks for coming," he said, his eyes still closed.

"Of course I'd be here," she said as she brought her hand to his face again. The action caused him to smile, or was it what she had just said? She wasn't sure. She looked into his eyes when he opened them, and she saw tears welling in them. "Hoagie?" she said quietly, alarmed.

"He took Abby. The guy who shot me, he took her. What if…" he trailed off as he began to sob. He might not have been so emotional if he was talking to someone else. But this was Eva, his ex. They used to be close, so he could be himself and not care; as himself as he could be anyway. He definitely was 'more' himself with Abby, but Eva was the next closest substitute, figuratively speaking.

"Shh," Eva said as she bent over to give him a hug as best she could given he was lying down. "It'll be ok. She'll be ok," she said so convincingly even she might have believed herself.

"You don't know that. If he could do this to me, what can he do to her? Abby isn't going to let him have his way with her if he wanted, God forbid." He was quiet for a moment. "I'm scared Eva. If something happens to her…" he gulped, "…I dunno what I'll do…I can't be without her…I just can't."

"You can be ok without her, you know. It won't be easy but–"

"No," he said forcefully. "I have no life without her. She has to be ok. If something happens to her I might just die," he said as he gently pushed her away from him. He sighed deeply as he wiped away his tears with the back of his hand. He gave a choked laugh. "Sorry. Bet you never thought you'd see me in a whiney position."

She looked down at him and nodded slowly. "Yeah, you can say that." So he'd rather die than be without her. And when I said I was gonna die when he left me he said I was being stupid? She let out her breath audibly. "You really love Abby, huh?"

He nodded and pressed his hands to his face as he got rid of the last of his tears. "She…completes me," he said as his cheeks flushed in embarrassment. "Ow ow ow," he hissed as he brought his hand to his abdomen.

"What's wrong?" Eva asked in alarm as she came closer to him again.

"Stings a little," he said in reference to his bullet wound. "I think the drugs are wearing off."

"Should I get a nurse?"

"Nah," he said with a wince that betrayed him. "It'll be ok. I just wanna get out of here and find Abby."

"Just concentrate on getting better, and let the cops deal with finding her, ok? OK?" she pressed when he didn't answer. He nodded with a pout. "Good. You rest now. I'll call a nurse for you." She bent and kissed him on the cheek.

As she walked towards the door she felt her ears prick and stopped when Hoagie called out, "Eva." She turned around. "Thanks, for everything."

She bit her bottom lip and nodded. She continued to the door and spoke under her breath. "Right."

xxx

David woke up very early the next morning. Technically, it was still night. The digital clock on the nightstand displayed 3:15, yet he was up. But really, it felt like he hadn't even slept. As he continued to lie in bed he turned his head to the right to look upon the sleeping figure of Genviéve. She had called him late the previous night, crying hysterically. He had not understood most of what she was said, but he managed to decipher the words 'Abby', 'missing' and 'gunshots' from her French-laden hysteric speech. That scared the heck out of him, and he had quickly grabbed a jacket and jumped into the taxi closest to the hotel entrance.

When he got to his wife's place she jumped into his arms and wept bitterly. Jamie had been seated quietly on the couch as he watched his parents embrace. He looked stunned, not by them in particular, but probably because of what had got his mom crying so much. David led her into her bedroom where he let her cry as much as she could before pressing her for more information.

Once she could speak, Genviéve had recounted how Nigel and the other kids had come by her house. Their faces were melancholy, and she automatically knew something was wrong, and with whom, given that both Abby and Hoagie were missing from the group.

…

"What's wrong?" she had asked with trepidation before she even invited the kids over the threshold. Pauline had then walked into the house and held her by the arm, directing her towards one of the kitchen stools. Mrs. Lincoln swallowed a lump as she looked at the young Kenyan's sympathetic face, and she braced herself for whatever would be said. As the other kids came into the kitchen, Nigel spoke.

"I'm sorry…Abby was kidnapped this morning."

Genviéve gasped. "What do you mean kidnapped?" she asked, her accent suddenly becoming much stronger than usual in her state of alarm. Before he could answer, she shot him another question as she rose to her feet. "And why I'm I only finding out about this now if it happened this morning?"

"W-We didn't know she was missing, Miss, Mrs. Lincoln," Wally replied somewhat timidly.

"We only found out this afternoon after Hoagie woke up. He's in the hospital," added Kuki.

Mrs. Lincoln's eyes grew wide. "Qu'est-ce que c'est? W-What, why what's wrong with him?"

"He was shot ma'am, by the kidnapper. He shot Hoagie so that he could escape with Abby," said Pauline.

"No!" Mrs. Lincoln brought her hands to her mouth in shock. "Is he ok?"

The group of friends nodded, and she felt relieved but just for an instant. Just then Jamie, who had been listening in on them from inside his bedroom walked into the kitchen. "And where's this guy, the kidnapper? Who is he? Are the cops even out looking for my sister?" he harshly asked the group of young adults.

"The cops know. They're trying to find her," Nigel reassured.

"The kidnapper is my cousin," Kuki said. "I…I'm sorry," she added with her head hang low. "This is my fault," she said quietly.

"What?" Wally and Genviéve asked simultaneously. "You were not responsible for his kidnapping Abigail," Mrs. Lincoln said.

"Yeah, it's not like he told you what he was planning to do, did he?" Wally asked as he looked into her eyes. Kuki shook her head in response. "So don't blame yourself," the Aussie added as he held his girlfriend close to him.

Looking around in a sort of a daze, Mrs. Lincoln said, "I need to tell your father, Jamie."

"Why? He doesn't–"

Mrs. Lincoln cut off her son. "He is your father, Jamie," she said with a raised voice. "No matter what is going on between us, he deserves to know about this. Now…please bring me my phone," she yelled as her tears began to flow down her cheeks. Turning to the group before her, she addressed them again. "Did the kidnapper want any money? What does he want from us so that he can release Abby?"

"I'm afraid he just wants Abby," Nigel said quietly. "He is 'in love' with her."

The group of young adults then excused themselves when Jamie handed his mom her cell phone. But before Pauline followed the rest of her friends out the door, she approached Mrs. Lincoln. "I'm really sorry about this," she said as she gave the distraught woman's hand a firm squeeze.

"I know," Genviéve said with a sniff.

Lowering her voice, Pauline added in barely a whisper, "Hoagie wanted me to tell you he's really sorry about this too."

Mrs. Lincoln couldn't help but laugh a little bit. "Silly boy. He got shot. He obviously tried to protect Abby."

…

Once David had calmed her down and tried to reassure her that everything would be ok, he let go of Genviéve as he rose from her bed. It was late, but he was sure he could still find a cab. He cupped his wife's face. "I'll go down to the station tomorrow to find out what progress they've made, ok?" She nodded. "I'll get in touch with you as soon as possible. Now try to get some sleep," he instructed. He withdrew his hand from her face and turned to leave, but he was stopped by a tug on his jacket. He looked down at her hand on his jacket before shifting his gaze to her face.

"Stay here…with me," she asked quietly as her eyes swam in fresh tears.

How could he deny her request?

xxx

Kuki could not sleep that night. Her heart was so heavy with guilt she felt like she might suffocate. Her heart beat would be erratic from time to time, and she would have to work on breathing exercises to get air into her lungs appropriately and thus prevent hyperventilating. She was glad Wally was asleep for she knew he would worry about her. That was not the time to worry about her; their best friend was in the clutches of her brother. Their location? Totally unknown. It could be days, maybe even weeks before the cops can find them. Kuki was afraid to imagine what Kensei might be doing to Abby at that very moment.

The young Asian sat up suddenly as she thought about her aunt. Maybe Aunt Suzuka might have heard from Kensei, or maybe she might know something that could help find Abby. Gah, how could I have been so dumb? Kuki wondered. I should have gone straight home from the hospital to see her. "Dammit," she swore loudly enough to wake her boyfriend who had been asleep beside her. Kuki had been so down when they got to campus from Mrs. Lincoln's that the blond had insisted on staying with her to keep her company. He had promised to be quiet if silence is what she was craving.

"Wh-what's up babe?" Wally asked drowsily as he saw the seated silhouette of his girlfriend in the darkness. He propped himself up on his shoulders and spoke again when she didn't respond. "Kuks?" She turned her head to face him but she remained quiet. Now the Aussie sat up too. "Babe, what's the matter?" he asked as he raised his brow.

"I can't sleep. I feel like I should be doing something more constructive than sleep. She's out there…and she's all alone. She must be so scared."

"I know," he said empathetically, "but there's only so much we can do. And we do need to sleep so that we can be alert in the morning…so we can think things through." Wally wrapped his arm around her waist. "Don't beat yourself up, ok? There's nothing you or any of us can do right now."

Kuki sniffed as her sorrow and guilt bubbled to the surface. "It's because of me that nothing can be done," she said as she rested her head against his shoulder. "If I had done what was necessary none of this would have happened. If I wasn't such a scaredy-cat…" she let out a sigh.

"What are you talking about?" Wally asked with concern.

Kuki began to hyperventilate as she felt the weight of the world on her shoulders. She gasped as her lungs stung due to a lack of air, and Wally quickly got out from under the covers and knelt before her, holding her firmly by the shoulders.

"Kuki!" his voice was stern. "Listen to me," he said as he tried to make out her face in the darkness, his green eyes roaming from side to side. "Breathe!" he ordered, and brought his hands to either side of her neck. "Follow my rhythm, ok?" he asked as he breathed out audibly at regular intervals so that she could imitate him.

Her hair was falling down on either side of her face and it trapped heat like a thick veil. She could feel beads of sweat form on her forehead, under her hair on her scalp, on her neck and even on her chest. Kuki's eyes were bulging and tears ran down her face before she heard Wally bark an order at her.

"Breathe, dammit!"

He breathed out audibly again, as he grabbed her hand desperately and brought it to his lips so that he could breathe onto it, hoping that she would follow his rhythm as she felt the damp air on her hand. It seemed to work. Kuki's wheezes began to die down as she held onto his hand for dear life.

"That's it," he encouraged as he continued to breathe audibly for her to follow.

They worked on that exercise for another two minutes until her breathing was back to normal. She collapsed against Wally, and he held her as he placed is chin on her head. "You're ok," he whispered as she began to cry into his chest. "You're ok."

"He r-raped me. If I told my dad…they would have been sent away…and Kensei wouldn't have been here today to take Abby…It's my fault…"

"Shit," he swore under his breath. "Shh," Wally soothed as he stroked Kuki's damp hair. "It's not your fault. Your actions have nothing to do with what he did." He held his girlfriend even tighter in an attempt to comfort her. "I love you," he whispered as he planted a kiss on the crown of her head. "This is not your fault." Deep down Wally cursed himself for having vouched for Kensei. It's no wonder Kuki had been upset whenever he did so. He then remembered what Hoagie had said some time back – 'I just don't trust him…I've got my reasons…'

Shit, Abby's in trouble.