CHAPTER 3

Ana was floating in blackness. She was rising up to consciousness. She heard a beep of a heart monitor. Ana was all alone in the room and it was dark. She saw the monitor and the IV pole connected to her arm. She looked to the left and saw the silhouette of someone in a chair sleeping next to her. She closed her eyes and fell asleep again.

When she woke up again, it was daylight outside and the sterile white ceiling was a blur of refracted light through a veil of tears. Her eyes were watering from the brightness and the sandpaper feeling scratching her eyes inside too. The antiseptic smell and the feeling that her mouth was dry filled her senses until she tried to sit up. Pain shot through her chest and back, pinning her to the bed and nausea rose into her throat. She swallowed hard. She was alone in the room with an incessant beeping of the monitor would speed up and slow down. She reached down on the bed and pressed the nurses button.

A nurse came in the room and said smiling, "Well hello, Ms. Steele, I'll go get the doctor for you now that your awake."

Ana asked, "How long have I been here?"

The nurse said, "Three days. I'll be right back to get your vitals." The nurse left out the door.

Ana wondered, 'Geez, three days. It's almost feels like a dream.' The nurse came back in the room and Ana noticed a man with dark brown hair dressed all in black facing away from her outside the door.

The nurse said, "The doctor will be here in a few minutes." She started checking Ana's vitals and the monitor. A older balding doctor walked in and he asked for a the chart that the nurse was filling in the data on.

He smiled up at Ana and said, "Seems your a lucky young woman in many ways. You were brought in privately, almost bled out in ER and they were able to bring you back. They gave you a transfusion of blood before they could get you stable enough for surgery. You punctured your lung with a broken rib. If you had waited for the ambulance you probably would have died before they got to you here in time. The seven inch laceration on your back has been stitched up and the drain was removed yesterday. It was pretty deep but after a few inner muscular stitches the plastic surgeon did the closing procedure on your face and he did your back also. You should have minimal scarring."

The doctor looked at the chart and said, "Seems your guardian is Christian Grey. He's a big benefactor of this hospital."

Ana said, "He's my guardian?"

The doctor said, "I assume it's temporary. That's what it says here. Other than that, you need to drink lots of fluids, eat a soft diet and increase if tolerated. Your chest and back may be uncomfortable, as well as you may suffer severe headaches. The nurse has orders to give you pain shots as needed, so just ask. You can take a shower with assistance, but do not get the incisions wet. I will have the nurse remove your catheter tube also."

The nurse said, "Your benefactor, Mr Grey, had your clothes sent over from your home over there in a suitcase. You might feel more comfortable in a clean nightgown after a good shower. We will just avoid your back incision and cover your small front one and face incisions with a waterproof tape covering."

The doctor said, "I'll leave you to it then. I'll stop by at the end of the shift to check on you again."

Ana said, "Thank you, Dr. Laramie." It was written on his doctor's coat in embroidery. He smiled at her and left.

The nurse asked, "Would you like a tray from the cafeteria sent up first? We can do your catheter and shower after, if you like?" She handed Ana a menu. Ana took it from her and started reading it. She told the nurse what she wanted being it was lunchtime, she got a soup, a side of mac n cheese and a coke. The nurse explained to her when dinner time came, that she could call when she was ready. The number was on the menu.

Later on, Christian came into the room surprised to see Ana was eating her dinner of spaghetti, garlic bread and salad with tea. She was bathed and in her nightgown instead of the hospital garb.

Christian said, "Hello, Anastasia. How are you? You look much better than the last time I saw you. She had black bruises on her cheek and forehead.

Ana said, "I saw myself in the mirror and I looked like I got in a bar brawl. My half face is black, swollen and tick marked with cuts. I could barely move to take a shower and not get the incisions wet on my face, back and chest. But, I'm lucky to be alive, I suppose, thanks to you. Thank you, Mr Grey, for you and your security guard saved my life. I know I'll heal but I'm a mess until then and feel crappy. I'll need to make arrangements for a visiting nurse when I get out of here or I'll be miserable trying to bathe."

He asked sitting down in the chair next to her, "Did they say when you might be discharged already?"

She shook her head and said, "No, I didn't ask because I had just woken up when the doctor came in. I haven't seen anyone in a little while. I woke up around one o'clock. The doctor said he'd be back at the end of his shift. Just guessing it will be soon."

He said seriously to her, "When you get released from here, I want you to come to my place until you're completely healed. I am setting up personal security for you when you leave here. I have security on your door here for twenty four hours."

She looked at him with her fork full of salad about to go in her mouth and she set it down on the plate. Ana asked directly, "Why are you doing this? I can go to my apartment at The Emerald and get a visiting nurse, food delivery and such. I'm not poor and I'm not helpless either. They told me you put me under temporary guardianship too here at the hospital. Mr Grey, what's going on?"

Christian said calmly, "You told me before you went unconscious in the SUV and that you thought your brake line was cut. I had your wreck retrieved and had an investigator look it over. His report said that indeed your break line was cut. I had the security guards at The Emerald look through the video tapes. On last Monday at around 3 AM, they found a man in your apartment garage, checking license plates, going in-between the cars and lying down on the ground in front of your car. He then got up and walked out of the garage. Their supervisor was notified and the guard on duty was fired. I want you close because you are in danger and my place has an entire security detail with a house manager and cook. You will be more secure and comfortably taken care of, so you can heal in safety. We can get you a visiting nurse vetted for you if you wish. I just want to protect you." She had flinched when he said they saw the brakes tampered with.

Ana asked, "Was there a clear picture or any picture of the perpetrator?" Christian scrolled through his phone and pulled up the pictures of the man. He handed his phone to her.

He said, "Swipe it up. There are three pictures." She was looking hard at them all, and used her fingers to zoom in. She turned white as a sheet and gasped. Ana handed him back his phone.

Christian said, "What did you see? Who is it?" She shook her head no. She pushed her rolling tray with her food on it away.

Ana said, shakily, "Will you send the three photos to my phone? When I get one?"

Christian said, "Of course, but what's the matter?"

Ana said stoically, "I don't want to put you in danger. I have to figure out why now he would do that to me. I left him completely alone and haven't seen, heard or even mentioned him in years. He has no reason to come after me."

Christian growled, "Damn it, Anastasia, who was it or who's behind it?"

She said, "Not here, trust me, you might understand later. The walls have ears. He is connected everywhere. I refuse to say anything to you. He could pay off anyone or threaten anyone to do work for him. I won't risk it. I have to keep this quiet. If he is tipped off, I'm dead. You hear me. He can infiltrate your people too. I need to get out of here and make a secure call to the only people that can help me and I have to follow procedures my way."

Christian was looking at her funny wondering what she meant and who. She was acting so paranoid. He said, "If I can get you to my place, will that be ok then? Can you tell my security chief who you saw? He was driving us in the SUV, remember?"

She shook her head no and said, "I have to make my call in complete privacy first and they will tell me if I can tell you or not. They are the only people I can trust next to my father. I need a burner phone from the store shelf when I get outside. It must still be sealed in the plastic. I cannot have a traceable phone in any way compromised. Your place may have CCTV, video or recording devices for your security. No tracking of any kind." Christian wondered why she was so meticulous about this like a secret agent.

He said, frustrated and getting upset, "You won't be safe out there on your own! You're vulnerable, hurt and need assistance. You're in pain too."

Ana said magnifying her voice with authority, "There is no other choice! I have to do it my way! I was trained to be this way under these circumstances, so cut the shit, Grey! I have to be on my own away from you and everyone else for a little while. I'm protecting you by not getting you involved in this. Do. You. Understand?!" He thought she sounded like a dominant or Drill Sergeant.

Christian said huffing, "Fine have it your way. Do you still have my card?"

Ana said calmer, "Yes, on my desk at home. Look Christian, I'm sorry I can't just tell you and get you involved but this person is… egregiously perilous. I just can't and won't involve you. I will be going to my own home and have my own vetted nurse. I'll call you when it all cleared up."

Christian said non demonstratively, "Ok, I leave now. Please remember to call me afterwards."

Ana said, "I will, promise." He left the room upset. She knew he was a controlling dominant but she was in deep shit and had to distance him then get to her father's ex-military friends.

—--

The next day, she had the nurse wheel her down to the hospital's pharmacy and gift shop. It was a nice one. They even had burner phones like a convenience store. She bought two phones and the minutes cards on her bank card.

—--

Three days later, Ana went home against doctors orders. When she got up to her apartment, she got out her bug detector and went over the entire apartment. There were six cameras and four microphone bugs. She took them all and put them through the blender.

Next she made her call sitting down on her big chair in the living room.

It rang and picked up with a series of tones. She said, "DAS64270-R", The voice said, "Identity received."

She waited for the person to connect. The voice said, "Destination."

Ana responded, "Department of Classified Resources, Agent CR3876-3."

The voice said, "State Reason."

She said, "Emergency 957-A"

A man picked up the phone and said, "Agent CR3876-3."

She said, "Danny? It's Ana. 957-A surfaced and almost got me."

Danny asked, "Where are you now?"

Ana said, "At my apartment in The Emerald, Seattle. Danny, why would he surface now?"

Danny said, "Because your twenty fourth birthday is came up for the inheritance of the offshore account, little one. You are only about three weeks away. He is hoping to get you out of the way and he can take possession of the money from your mom. I wish your mother never ran across this son of a bitch. He's fucking diabolical."

She said, "It's not worth it, Danny, as long as he is alive. Nobody needs that much money anyway. Two and a half billion dollars is insane. He must be crazy to think he will get it. He's not even blood related. He's my fucking stepfather."

Danny said, "Baby girl, he even tried to forge the death certificate, swindled a judge who went to jail afterwards for aiding and abetting him, altering court documents and uttering and publishing."

She said, "He didn't find this out until after her killed mom. Stupid asshole. Mom never told anyone because they would marry her for her money not who she was. Besides, it's my biological father's inheritance for me. How are we going to stop him? I had my brakes cut and was put in the hospital for a week. I died once and they brought me back. I found the condo surveillance garage pictures of his thug Vigo cutting my brake lines in my supposed secure garage."

Danny asked, "Who got the surveillance footage for you?"

She said, "Christian Grey. I met him a while back when I was working on my thesis. I made him back off in the hospital and distanced myself from him when he showed me a picture of Vigo. He had temporary custody of me and was in my apartment. I found bugs everywhere before I called you. They took a trip through my blender. I went all over my apartment with daddy's bug detector when I got here and found six cameras and four microphones. It could have been Grey or him that installed them. I'm going through my CCTV tomorrow. I'm exhausted and came home with pain pills. I'm putting my metal chair under the door and setting the alarm on it."

Danny asked, "Do you need anything setup before I get on this?"

Ana said, "I checked out of the hospital against doctors orders earlier than recommended. I had a punctured lung, a nine inch laceration down my back, and cuts on my face with bruising on half my face now. I need help I can trust. You know, like a visiting nurse to help me bathe every other day for a little while, a locksmith to change my steel door, a regular secure unbugged phone with all the bells and whistles and a food delivery location that's safe. My phone is toast whenever it is from the wreck falling off that cliff. Once I have a new one I can get the pictures of Vigo sent to my phone and I can forward them to you."

Danny said, "Wait on contacting Grey. We need to get on 957-A first and see how deep the rabbit hole goes on him. If we can get him and wrap it up quickly, then before filing charges I'll get you to get them from him because Morton will be in custody. I'll call and set all three of those up for you. Is the afternoon starting tomorrow ok?"

Ana sighed and said, "Yes, thanks, Danny."

Danny said, "You know, you're my favorite retiree, niece, and Ray's baby girl. I will do anything for you, Baby Swan. Be safe and I'll get back to you on this phone. Love you kiddo."

She smiled and said, "Love you to Danny." They hung up. He called her Baby Sawn because when she was four years old, he babysat her and she danced her version of swan lake in pointed toe ballerina shoes and a little tutu.