Too late

Nowhere to run

Jack's point of view

"Is she awake?" Alishia asked me as she burst through the door. I shook my head sadly. And turned back to holding Haley's hand.

"I can't believe she is alive after all this time." Kian wondered. He was right it was a miracle, but I wouldn't praise the lord before I knew what mental state she was in when she woke up.

"I've called Tristan, he is on his way," Alishia told me as she took her seat on Haley's other side making my browns furrow. I knew it was silly of me in a situation like this but I didn't want him near her. I didn't want him near me either but that was another thing. When he found out I had handed her to them over he went all attack-magi on me, Kian had to knock him out.

"Didn't he move to Mexico or something?"

Alishia smiled a small smile. "No, he lives just 2 hours plane ride away."

The door opened again and Brandi, Haley's mother, and Frederick Steinfield stepped in.

"Oh my, my baby." Haley's mother sank down in a chair beside me and looked concerned at her daughter's sleeping form.

"When the doctor called we didn't believe our own ears," Frederick explained, and I wondered what his connection to Haley was. I knew Frederick. He had an international shipping company and was hugely wealthy. Before I could ask, the machine that measured her heartbeat started freaking out and the doctor came running in. Haley's eyes were wide open, franticly taking in the room.

"I need everyone to go outside!" the doctor yelled as he started checking on her and tried to calm her down. After a while, he met us out in the hallway. He put his flashlight in his front pocket and sighed.

"I need to inform you all. Haley has been through a lot of trauma and she might need some time to adjust." We all nodded understanding, none of us had expected her to just be her normal, smiling, self.

"So I need you to be careful and calm when you talk to her, no quick movements or raised voices okay?" We all nodded.

"Good we will need to question her later but right now I think it would help her to have friends around her." As soon as he said it his alarm went off, and he ran back to her room with all of us after him only to discover the bed empty and the heart monitor flat-lining, the window was open and the curtains were wavering in the wind. He held his work phone to his ear.

"I am calling security we have a run-away patient on our hands, I repeat: A patient has broken out." There was only one word for what we were all thinking at that moment: f**k.

***

"Tristan, it is so good to see you! Haley broke out, and we have no idea where she is," Alishia greeted a flustered-looking Tristan, looking between her and the door, while the rest of us were waiting in the waiting room for news on Rose.

"I know, she ran past me on my way here," he said, all confused.

I jumped up. "Where?"

"Down near the mall. She was heading towards the border looking out of it, I tried to follow but lost track." I ran in the direction he had told, eager to get to her before she did something stupid. I stopped near the mall looking for any sign of her when I saw a figure with long hair waving after her out of the corner of my eye. I set after her and followed her, only to see her stopping and stepping into a small café where she greeted a friend. Not her.

I continued running around in the area looking for her when suddenly, a figure running full speed for the gates caught my attention. That had to be her. I set after her, which she apparently noticed, cause she changed direction, but after three years away she had no idea where she was going, and I ended up chasing her into an ally. She turned to face me and backed up frightened against the wall, taking a fighting stance, though we both knew she didn't stand a chance. It was obvious she hadn't been able to train in the three years, but I had to give her credit for trying. It was the same thing that made me fall for her back in the day: She never stopped fighting, even when the fight was lost.

Her eyes flickered before she glared at me. I don't think she really saw ME, just a figure standing in her way for freedom. I tried to held my hand out to calm her, as I had done back then, but it didn't work this time either. She tried to get past me, but I caught her around the waist and lifted her off the ground. She was screaming and kicking, I noticed her hospital gown was gone, replaced with a man's shirt and a pair of jeans - probably the best she could find.

"Shhhh! Leah, it is me. It is okay your safe." Her kicking didn't stop. But angry tears had found the way to her eyes and I had to get a hold of her arms to keep her from punching me. I sighed and started carrying her back to the infirmary with her awkwardly in my arms, still screaming and kicking. I smiled awkwardly at the people we passed, trying to convince them I wasn't trying to kidnap her, they just looked at us funnily.

***

Back at the infirmary, Alishia gasped as she saw me carry her through the door, but two strong male nurses quickly took her from my arms probably to sedate her. The doctor came down shortly after, looking flustered as well.

"Yes, well, as I told you: She probably needs time to adjust, but I think you've guessed that. I am sorry who are you?" He asked Tristan who was standing awkwardly.

"I uhhm... I was uh kind of her boyfriend before- well."

The doctor's eyes flickered to me but he quickly shook his head. "She is defiantly going to need some time before getting confronted with that. I am sorry, I have to tell you this, but don't expect her to fall right back into your arms. She has been through a lot, and from what I've seen so far it'll probably take time before she even let anyone get near. You can see her now if you want, but she isn't herself at the moment - we are giving her some meds." We nodded and he left. I stayed behind while Alishia and Brandi hurried off to her hospital room. After about twenty minutes, I finally found it in me to go back in there. She was lying in the bed looking sleepy, yet her eyes were burning with hatred.

"She has tried to talk, but we can't tell what she is saying," Alishia told me when she noticed me in the doorway. She and Brandi were each holding one of her restrained hands. Haley's eyes landed on me and her glare intensified. I wondered if she remembered me from when I captured her, or if she actually knew it was me. The man who broke her heart.

We had been kicked out of her room while a phycologist talked to her. Alishia and Kian had gone home to get some sleep and some food, Dawn left with them. Brandi had been hesitant about leaving but Frederich had convinced her she needed rest. Left in the waiting room were Tristan and me. No need to say the tension was clear.

"So uhm.. I thought you moved?" I asked him trying to break the awkward silence.

He nodded not looking at me. "I did."

"But you came back?" He looked at me with almost as much hatred as Haley had earlier.

"How could I not? I think you're forgetting, she was MY girlfriend before this happened, and I actually cared about her!" That hurt. We fell back into silence.

Suddenly the doctor from before came in. "Haley Wright?"

Tristan and I jumped to our feet at the same time. "How is she?" he asked before I got the chance.

The doctor sighed and rand a hand over his face.

"The phycologist said that she was hard to talk to at first. She had no idea, that she had been rescued. It took about an hour to get her to talk, and we have yet to convince her she is actually at the court."

"And?" Tristan asked eagerly.

The doctor sighed again. "And she is still very unstable, but she isn't trying to escape anymore, which is good. There was a lot of crying and screaming and crashing, we gave her something to help her sleep. She will be awake in about 8 hours, so I'll recommend that you two go home and get some sleep as well. She will be put into therapy as soon as possible, but there is a chance that you'll be able to talk to her tomorrow." And with that, he left us. We cast one look at each other before leaving in different directions. No point in staying if we couldn't even see her.

***

I was the first to see her in the morning, visiting hours had just started, but I couldn't sleep anyway. She was laying on the side facing the wall. I went to sit beside her, assuming she was asleep. When I sat, I looked at her face to find her eyes open, watching me.

"Hi." Her eyes narrowed, but she didn't respond. "How are you?" I tried again, but she only glared at me. I sighed. "Are you going to talk to me?" She lazily rolled her eyes and stared at the door instead of my face. "Haley please talk to me. Please!" I begged but she didn't even look. I gave up on getting a response out of her and just put my head in my hands.

"I am trying to figure out if you have come to me, or they have brought me to you." I jumped in surprise and it took me a moment to realize she had been the one to speak. Her voice once cheerful and alive, sounded cold and for some weird reason strategic.

"What do-do you mean?" I stuttered, afraid to say something wrong. She still didn't look at me.

"And I guess to get a real answer, I have to ask you," she continued ignoring my question. "So which one is it? Am I here or are you there." She finally asked looking at me at last.

I took in her words for a second before realizing what she meant. "You are here." I finally said, expecting her to relax and… I don't know what I was expecting. For her to run into my arms? Hardly, but a part of me was still disappointed she didn't.

"Why?" her voice was hard and her eyes narrow again.

"Why?" I repeated not getting her question.

"Why am I here? How did I get here and WHAT are you planning to do to me?" She demanded to know, and I am sure I must have looked as taken aback as I felt.

"What do you mean? We rescued you, brought you back so you could be with us again."

She scoffed. "Forgive me if I find that a little hard to believe, considering you were the one who gave me to them." I furrowed my eyebrows.

"Wha-"

"I saw the recording, Jack. YOU. GAVE. ME to them." It dawned on me then. One of the vampires had taped it, they must have shown it to her.

"Haley I- you don't get it, they had Alishia! I had no choice."

She rolled her eyes. "You really expect me to believe that. Even if it is true, you did have a choice, you just chose the easiest option."

No, no how could she ever think that. Because you told her you didn't care about her anymore i***t! "Haley, I would nev-"

"Stop. Just get out, it is too late to apologize anyway." I didn't move, I was too desperate for her to believe me to just do as she asked.

"GET OUT!" She yelled. And I finally pulled myself together enough to leave. No, she couldn't be right, she was just angry and hurt. She couldn't be right, she just couldn't. I couldn't be too late again.