Chapter 60：Walk Me Home

By the time they got to Preston's apartment, it was closed off as a crime scene and no one was allowed to go inside. Jordan told the officer in charge that he was the one that made the call and explained his relationship with Preston. The officer finally relented and gave him a briefing of what happened before they arrived. Preston had escaped again and they had put out an APB for him.

"If he contacts you please let us know. Miss Winters is in a bad state-she has multiple stab wounds-the doctor's not sure she will make it through the night," the officer reported.

"Oh no!" Lana expressed dismay and Jordan put his arm around her.

"Do you know which hospital they've taken her to?" Jordan asked for the sake of Lana. He knew she wouldn't rest until she saw Bella with her own eyes.

"She should be at Northfields. Hope she recovers," the officer patted Jordan on the shoulder and went his away.

They drove to the hospital in silence with Jordan's hand joined to Lana's the whole time. They didn't know what to expect and Jordan couldn't understand why Lana was even concerned about Bella, but he kept his thoughts to himself. Walk Me Home by Pink was playing on the radio and he laughed to himself at the irony of the song that just came on at this exact moment.

When they arrived he jumped out of the car and went over to open Lana's door. "You're okay baby?"

"Yeah," she nodded and grabbed his hand as they hurried into the hospital.

"We're here to see Bella Winters?" Jordan said to the nurse at reception.

"You can go and take a seat in the waiting room with her parents-the doctor will be with you shortly," said the nurse in a tone of sympathy. Jordan nodded and they wended their way to the waiting room. Bella's parents looked up expectantly when Jordan and Lana came through but quickly looked away.

"Mr and Mrs Winters?" Lana asked and they both nodded. "My name is Lana-I-I'm a friend of Bella's."

"Jordan Carter," he held out his hand to Mr Winters.

"Wish we could have met under different circumstances," Mr Winters said, his arm around his wife's shoulder.

She responded by raising rather a teary face. "I know this is the wrong time for this..but I'm sorry for-you know-what our daughter did to you both."

"Thank you for calling for help..you didn't have to.." her lips trembled as she spoke.

"People make mistakes Mrs Winters. We all do," Lana held her hand and spoke to her in words of consolation.

She squeezed Lana's hand as she replied, "My daughter made one too many.."

"Mr and Mrs Winters?" The doctor entered in with an air of somber and vexed exhaustion.

"Yes.." They jumped up and waited anxiously for the doctor to give an update on their daughter's condition.

"Your daughter lost a lot of blood and suffered internal injuries-"

"How is she? Is she okay?" The mother asked as she put her fist in her mouth.

"We did all we can. Right now it's fifty-fifty..if she makes it through the night then-"

"Can we see her?" Mr Winters asked.

"Yes but only for a few minutes. She's in a lot of pain so we sedated her. The medication should knock her out soon." The doctor relayed. "You can follow me." He escorted them to see their daughter while Jordan and Lana waited for their turn.

"Do you think she'll be okay?" Lana narrowed her brows as she looked at Jordan.

"I don't know baby," he replied and pulled her into his arms again, "we can only hope right?" He led her back to the couch and they sat down.

"You must think I'm a special kind of stupid?" She said as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"Not really..you just can't help caring about other people," he shrugged, "it's just who you are. That's one of the things I love the most about you." He kissed the top of her head and she snuggled closer to him.

"Scott wanted to help me escape." She sniffed once more, gulped, and then blurted forth the explanation. "He told me that he would get Preston high and then he would let me out when-you know-he passed out-"

"And you believed him?"

"He even unlocked the room and told me to wait for his signal-"

"What if it was a trap?" Jordan countered.

"I don't think so..he said he wanted to make up for what he did to me-"

"He could never!" Jordan burst out and Lana moved away from his embrace. "If he hadn't died I would have probably done the deed myself."

"You're so cute when you're angry," Lana tried to make light of the tension that was clearly building up.

Jordan rolled his eyes and his lips twitched into a smile. "You're cute all the time Bambi," he stroked her cheek with the back of his hand and she blushed. They looked up as Bella's parents came back in the room.

"She wants to see you-both of you.." Mrs Winters said, wiping fresh tears from her eyes. Mr Winters was crying silently and didn't say anything.

"Okay..we'll be right back," Lana hugged her and took Jordan's outstretched hand.

Bella's eyes were closed as they shuffled closer to her bed. There were tubes protruding from her body and she was hooked onto a ventilator. Her once beautiful, flawless face was bruised, battered and barely recognizable. Her eyes fluttered open and she was trying to speak, but her swollen lips could scarcely make a sound.

"Don't say anything. We just want to let you know that we're here for you okay? " Lana held her hand and looked at her intently as silent tears slid down her face.

"I'm-s-s-orry," she said in barely a whisper. Her eyes shifted and settled on Jordan, in a silent plea for his forgiveness.

"It's okay Barbie. We're good," Jordan winked at her and she gave a ghost of a smile.

"Th-ank you.." she squeezed Lana's hand and gave her a final smile as she took her last breath...