When the scratching and knocking stopped suddenly, Bailey tried to lift her head. No use. And what was the point? She closed her eye again, and that’s when she heard it. Barking. Even the fly was quiet, waiting in suspense to hear something else, just like her.
More barking.
It was getting closer. Bailey tried to call out, but her throat was so dry, she could hardly make a sound.
Voices and barking. Still getting closer. She tried to lift herself up, but the rough rope wrapped around her wrist shifted and dug at the rawness, reminding her why she hadn’t tried to move sooner. Where was she? God, she was so confused. Barking. Whose dog is barking?
Voices. Couldn’t they be quiet? She was trying to rest. She needed to rest. She was so tired. Knocking. The knocking was back, but louder now.
She closed her eyes again when the knocking stopped. More voices and lots of barking. What was all the racket? A loud bang and noise erupted around her so abruptly, she couldn’t understand what was happening. Squeezing her eyes closed, she tried to block out the beam of light when it hit her eyes.
Then she felt cool hands touch her face.
“Ms. Morton?” asked a nervous and very loud man’s voice.
Bailey shook her head, trying to get out of the light. “What?”
“Ms. Morton? Bailey Morton?”
“Shh…” she said, because it was the easiest thing to get out of her dry mouth, and she had a vicious headache.
She heard radio static, followed by a man’s voice. “We’ve found her.”
* * *
Ryan wanted to be sick. His knees nearly buckled when his eyes rested on her. She was covered in bruises. Every inch of exposed skin was black and blue. Her hair was matted and dirty, and she was covered in vomit. Those were just a few of the details he could see from the glimpse he got as the paramedics loaded her into the ambulance.
Someone grabbed him by the upper arms and pulled him away as the paramedics slammed the doors. “She’s dehydrated, Ryan. I’m sure that’s the worst of it,” Vince said.
“What?” His voice cracked, but he didn’t care. “Did you fucking see her?”
“Yes. I also paid attention to what the paramedics said.” His dad frowned at him, rubbing his hands up and down Ryan’s upper arms in comfort. “Her pupils were constricted, her breathing shallow, and she’s overheated. I think he drugged her. Probably an opiate. That would keep her calm, but she’ll be fine, son. We got here in time.”
Ryan gave in and dropped to the ground. He didn’t know what to feel first. Fear of the unknown or relief that she’d been found. He tried to talk to her, but she was too out of it. Damn, he prayed she heard his voice. He rested his head in his hands and gave in to the despair for a moment. He just needed a moment.
He felt a hand on his shoulder. “Ryan, she really is going to be okay.”
Ryan nodded and took a deep breath. Okay, moment of weakness gone. Time to get to her.
* * *
Bailey woke to the sound of beeping. What the hell was that? She tried to lift her head, but it hurt. Every inch of her hurt. The room wasn’t completely dark. Glowing lights were coming from a couple of different places. She tried again to lift her head and sit up, but there were things attached to her. What the hell? She leaned up on her elbow and realized she had no idea where she was. Something started beeping louder, and several lights came to life in front of her.
She forced herself up and looked around, fear pulsing through her, giving her strength. As soon as she sat up, she heard a voice.
“It’s okay, Bailey. You’re okay.”
“Ryan?” Her head swiveled around and focused on the outline of his face in the dark. “Ryan?”
“Yeah, Bay, I’m here.”
The overhead lights flashed on, and she had to close her eyes tightly against the burn. Bailey blinked away the light and tried to focus again. A woman in purple scrubs approached her with a confident smile.
“Good morning, Bailey. Can you lie back down? I don’t want you to get dizzy.” She leaned forward and gently pushed back on Bailey’s shoulders. “There you go. How do you feel?”
“Confused.”
“Do you know your name?”
“Yes, of course. Bailey Morton.”
“Okay. Good. Do you have any pain in your head?”
“Yes, serious headache,” she said, squinting from the light
“I’m sorry about the light. Your heart monitor went crazy. I’m sure that has to do with waking up in a strange place. I’m Marissa, your nurse.” She smiled. “You’re going to feel a little pressure on your arm from the blood pressure cuff. I’m going to leave that on for a while so we can monitor it for the rest of the morning. Do you need anything?”
“Yeah, I need to know where I am.” She looked over at Ryan. His eyes were black from obvious exhaustion, and his hair stood on end. He scowled, forcing a clear crease between his brows and his mouth into a frown.
“Is there something…” She looked down at herself then met Ryan’s eyes. “Is there something seriously wrong with me?”
“No, nothing you can’t recover from,” Marissa said. “You just need some rest.”
“You’re going to be fine, babe,” Ryan said, his mouth finally turning up at the edges.
She reached out to touch him. “If that’s true, why do you look so worried?”
“I’m just glad you’re okay. I’m glad we found you when we
