Until I Met You

” Emergency! Someone’s getting a panic attack!”

The voice is muffled and I barely can hear anything. I lay on a stretcher as I’m pushed down the hospital’s hallway. I watch the ceilings pass by as I try to breathe.

I can’t breathe. Everything is blurry as the stretcher continues to move. Two paramedics surround me , talking non-stop and giving me promises that I’ll be fine.

The next minute, I’m in a room with doctors and nurses trying to give me treatments. Gray’s been shot. I can’t even think of losing Gray without telling him he’s gonna be a father soon.

” What’s happened to Gray?” I choke out as a nurse tries to press me back down to steady my breathing.

” Someone get her an oxygen mask!” The doctor yells.

” She needs a tranquilizer…” The doctor mutters and snaps at another nurse.

I feel my hands tremble as the nurse holds me down.

” Calm down Miss and please take deep breaths.” The doctor assures me.

I can’t speak. It’s been a long time since I had a panic attack and I never thought I would ever have this again. The nurse sent to fetch the tranquilizer returns as the doctor injects me with it. I begin to breathe gently as everything starts to darken. I fight to open my eyes but it doesn’t work, I already blacked out.

***

” She’s still sleeping. She had a panic attack earlier and we had to sedate her. She needs rest…” I blink my eyes to the unfamiliar voice.

The brightness of the room make me squint my eyes as I open my eyes to a familiar room.

” She’s awake.” Someone says.

I shut my eyes and reopen them again. Alexa stands close to the door with her arms crossed. She looks like someone who’s been crying earlier. She gives me a faint smile and walks to my bed. A female doctor stands at the left side of my bed with a big smile on her face. Aisha sits close to me on the right side and none of them seem happy except the doctor.

” What happened?” I ask. My voice sounds croak as I look between the two familiar women.

” You need to rest. You’ve been stressing yourself out and the baby and you need to rest. And eat a lot of food too.” The doctor says.

Aisha nods at the woman as she leaves. Now it’s just Aisha and Alexa.

” Never knew you were pregnant.” Aisha says. Her voice sounds low because of crying I think.

” Is Gray aware? That you’re pregnant?” Aisha asks.

” I didn’t tell him. I wasn’t prepared for it and now this.” I sob.

” What happened? I passed out after he was shot the third time.”

Alexa sniffles as she wipes her eyes. Aisha sighs too.

” Your dad was admitted. He’s in this hospital and I hope he will be fine.” Aisha says.

” And Gray? Nick, what about Carl?”

” Ariel…” Alexa walks to me as she sits on the edge of my bed. She holds my hand in hers as she weeps.

” What happened?”

” A lot of things happened. I went out with Reid this morning…”

” Morning?” I ask, confused. It’s dawn already.

” Yes dear. Whatever happened, happened yesterday’s evening.” Aisha says.

” So what happened?” I ask.

I don’t wanna think negatively or I’ll start panicking again.

” Reid was shot today when we went out.”

” What?”

” Yes.” Alexa answers and continues.” Yes. Luckily he was wearing a Kevlar vest, hopefully the bullets didn’t do a lot of damage. It was the Russians, they said they wanted to end Summit, for good.”

I sigh and nod. Reid is fine, not dead but also hospitalized and safe because he wore a Kevlar bullet proof vest. What happened to Gray?

” And…”

” Nick’s dead Ariel.” She says as she tries to muffle her tears.

” No.”

” Yes. Nick’s gone. It was a headshot Ariel. Carl died too. A lot of bullets were found in his body. I don’t know what’s going on, this is getting messed up.”

Oh no.

I killed Nick.

” Ariel, breathe. Oh , God, not another panic attack.” Aisha says as she slowly taps my cheek.

” He took a bullet for me. Nick died because of me. I killed him. Oh my God. Where’s Gray?” I wail loudly.

The door opens as Manny, Cage and Ace walk in.

” What the fuck is happening?” Manny asks and rushes to my side.

” Panic attack?” Ace asks as he holds my wrist.

” Ariel, breathe. Calm down. Take deep breaths and you’ll be fine.” They assure me.

I nod and start to inhale and exhale. It worked as I take in a deep breath.

” How could they kill Nick and Carl? What happened to Gray?” I ask the guys and no one’s willing to speak.

” We don’t know if he’s dead or alive. Gray’s missing Ariel.” Alexa answers.

” What! Is that true Manny?” He nods.

” He couldn’t be found. Not a trace, just his blood. Someone called 911 when the shootout happened. They came as fast as possible. They couldn’t find Gray.” Manny explains.

” And the NYPD was here.” Aisha states.

” What for?” I ask.

” They are trying to investigate what’s going on. The police think this is an illegal war and they are suspecting Gray is into narcotics. They need proof.”

” This is the second time Gray’s been shot at the minimum of two weeks. They think something is up. One of the Russians was shot , police made a chase and captured the bruised guy. Checked his body and saw the Russian Mafia symbol. A tattoo.” Manny says.

” This is stupid.” I mutter and try to sit up. They helped me up.

” How are you feeling?” Cage asks. He hadn’t said a word since.

” I’m not fine at all. I don’t know how to explain it.” I say. My voice is trying to fail me again.

” This shit needs to end.” Manny says as he blows out his breath.

” How are you willing to end this?” Ace asks.

” This is a Mafia fight. We are gonna need a lead. Gray’s nowhere to be found. He’s the boss here. Can’t even tell if he’s dead or not.” Manny says as Alexa slaps his arm.

” You don’t have to say that in front of her. You don’t wanna give her a panic attack again. I believe he’s fine.”

” He was shot thrice. He was barely healing from the first shot before this three shot again. I can’t lose Gray.” I say and sob.

” It’s okay.” Aisha assures me as she confronts me.

The door to my room opens as two NYPD officers walks inside. One of them wears a black dress shirt in his grey colored slacks and the other wears his uniform.

” Good day everyone.” The man with the dress shirt greets.” My name is inspector Collins and this is my assistant, officer Baron.”

” Nice to meet you.” only Aisha responds.

” We’d love to speak with the patient please.” Baron says and smiles at us. I roll my eyes. Why are they here? To ask me if Gray is into illegal drugs and arms or what?

Everyone looks at me for approval to leave. I nod and give them a small smile. They turn around and begin to leave one after the other.

” You’ll be okay, right?” Aisha asks and I nod.

” Thanks.” I voice out.Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

She smiles, squeezes my hand a little, and leaves too. Once the door is shut , inspector Collins walks to my bed.

” I’m really sorry about what happened.” He says and sits down on the chair Aisha was occupying earlier. I don’t respond.

” Hope you’re getting better?” He asks again. I turn to look at him and nod curtly.

He sighs and nods.” We are here because of what happened yesterday. At the diner.”

” What happened?”

” You guys were shot at. Do you know who?”

I shake my head sideways.

” Just a vehicle and hands tucked out of the window and started firing a gun. I don’t know what you want but I’m not in the mood to talk about this.”

” Gray went missing Ariel.” He says it like it’s nothing. I sniffle and draw back my tears.

” We want to help look for him.”

” We don’t need your help.”

” You care about him, don’t you?” He asks and I don’t answer.

” We found out among the shot victims was Mr Sinclair Daxton, CEO of Sinclair and Co. Found out yesterday he was your father and you were having dinner with him and Gray outside a diner. We chased down the car of the gun-men and we managed to catch one of these guys. He works with the Mafia, Ms Ariel. Do you know if Gray got involved with illegal people and they went after his life.”

” No.” I answer dismissively.

” What makes you think they are after his life? This is his second shot in less than two weeks.”

” I know right? I don’t know who wants him dead and why the Russian mafia wants to kill him. I think maybe his business rivals sent a member of a Mafia to come after Gray. Gray doesn’t deal with illegal people. I can’t speak more than this. I need a nap.” I say and shut my eyes hoping this officer leaves and thankfully they did.

•••••

I stand on my balcony and absently stare at the city. It’s been four days since I got discharged. No news from Gray or where he is. My dad’s in a coma , Reid’s taking treatments and he’s hospitalized and Nick is dead. The news of Nick dying because of me hurts me a lot. If he didn’t take that bullet for me, nothing would have happened. And to think about Gray’s disappearance, I’m slowly starting to feel depressed.

I lost my appetite and I can’t eat. I’ve been throwing up lately each time I try to eat something because of the baby and it’s fruitless. My stomach hurts a little as I rush to the bathroom to throw out my nerves. I stare at my reflection on the mirror above the sink as I throw up again. I can’t even remember when I last ate something. I think it’s almost two days now. Alexa was always around making sure I’m fine and doing okay. I told her not to tell Brandon and Piper about what happened. I can’t explain to them the man I fell in love with works with the Mafia. That’s a total disaster.

I turn on the tap to wash my face. I wipe my face with my hand and go to my bedroom. I walk past the full length mirror in my room as I stop to stare at my reflection. I walk toward it and look down at the pendant hanging down my neck. I’ve got bags underneath my eyes and sigh.

” Tinkerbell.” I read out the name he usually calls me on the pendant.

A tear slip out of my eyes as I rush to my nightstand. I squat and pull out the drawers to look for the ring he gave me. It’s like he knew things like this were gonna happen. He knew he was gonna get shot to the extent of going missing. He knew it. I twirl the ring between my forefinger and thumb as I stare at the diamond. He promised he was gonna be back. That no matter what happened and he’s gone for now, he was gonna come back.

I smile at the promise ring Gray gave me as tears slide down my cheek. He will be back. Angels don’t die, right? He can’t just leave without knowing about his son. Our son. I wipe my eyes and slide the ring down my middle finger. I raise my hand up and admire the ring. Moskov really went far. They took my mom and now my lover and my dad. To the extent of taking the lives of people I cared about. This is ending and I’m gonna end it.

The doorbell rings as I get up to open the door. Alexa stands outside looking sad as always. It hurts her a lot about Nick’s death. It’s like a dream to her. Despite the fact that they had a relationship before Reid, Nick was one of the best guys she has ever met. And he was a good friend too, to me as well. She walks in holding bags of take out. She drops the food on the counter at the kitchen and comes back to the living room. She wraps her arms around my shoulders and embraces me. I cry in her arms as she caresses my hair.

” It’s okay. Everything will be fine.”

I nod in her embrace and pull back. She wipes my tears as we sit on the couch. I pull my knees to my chest and hold my head in my hand.

” What are we gonna do?” Alexa asks.” Manny and the others want to start a real war with the Russian mafia but they need a lead. I don’t even know what to do right now. They still can’t find Gray.” Alexa says.

” We need to end this. If we don’t , they won and they can’t win.” I say and turn to look at Alexa.

She chuckles sadly.” It’s not as easy as you think. We can’t just start a fight with them. Nobody knows where the fuck that retarded bastard is hiding.”

” You dated Vladimir right?”

” We fucked, there was nothing romantic about it.”

” What was his best underground club?”

” What?” She looks at me and stares at me in disbelief.

” There are many of them.”

” He’s got a favorite. There must be this favorite club where he likes to hang out when there is trouble. Probably for hiding.”

She taps her fingers on her thighs like who’s thinking.

” There might be one.”

” There might be?”

” Ariel, yes. He’s got one. He owns a club and Moskov took over from his brother.”

” We’re going there.” I say at once. She darts her head to look at me like I’ve gone insane.

” No, you’re not.”

” Yes we’re.” I gesture to the both of us with my finger.

” No Ariel.” She stands up at once.” Babe, you’re pregnant. With Gray’s baby. There might be a probability with Gray’s disappearance. What if he’s dead and the baby is the only thing you’ve got of him. You can’t risk the baby. And going to a Russian club to fuckin shoot at Moskov is impossible. That’s a suicide attempt.”

” First , we’re not going to shoot Moskov in his club. You and I know he can’t be there. Vladimir’s right hand man is Moskov’s present right hand man. I believe when you were dating slash fucking Vlad, his right hand man hangs around.”

” Yes. Alejandro. That’s his name.”

” Vladimir’s right hand man?”

” Yes. What’s your plan Ariel? You’re trying to risk your life.”

” And I don’t mind. I have lost enough people already. They took my mom Alexa. My father’s in a coma. My boyfriend is missing after being shot thrice and now what, Nick is dead. You want us to sit back and let them kill us one after the other?”

She opens her mouth to speak but closes them.

” Reid’s also in the hospital. Every single person that we love is hurt and I’m not gonna sit back and do nothing.”

” What’s your plan? Storm into their club?”

” Yes and find Alejandro. He’s gonna tell us where to find moskov.”

” And what if he doesn’t say a word?”

” Stop being a chicken. Who’s the closest person in his life?” I ask.

” He’s got a son. He’s ten years old.”

” Good. We’ve got a bait then. What does he like his bitches to be?”

” Strippers. He likes strippers a lot and the club is a strip club too.”

” Then strippers we shall become. We’re going shopping. We need more guns and a good disguise…”