Alyssa didn't know what to feel relief that the kids were now safe or angry at her father for having them watched, admittedly she'd dismissed the idea of her or Michael, Liam and now Sally being in immediate danger yet that is just what happened. The road was almost devoid of cars despite being a weekday like everyone else instinctually felt her distress and decided to give her a free pass. "One thing is for sure this is all your fault, Dad!" Bitterly she pressed down on the gas pedal her Honda almost leaping off the road.
St. Anthony's hospital's white pillars gleamed in the distance the school informed her that the kids were taken there after the bus was found, another call from one of her father's trusted personnel somebody Lancaster informed her that Michael was fine, but Sally had been hospitalized. it'd taken all her strength to form a coherent sentence amid all the curses she uttered telling him sternly to bring Michael to St. Anthonys and that she could give a rat's ass what her father's orders were, making it clear that if he didn't then he can count himself jobless if not outright criminally charged for abduction she needed to vent and this person whoever he was would serve just right for her needs.
she hung up before he could answer.
The doctor a tall man in a blue shirt and khakis, standing at six feet Alyssa had to slightly look up at those sympathetic green eyes behind black-rimmed thick glasses Alyssa suspected he couldn't see without. He wore a long white coat a small metal plaque pinned on his left breast; a strand of his graying black hair touched a lined forehead. Doctor Hernandez did not know what to make of this situation, from the report initially thought the patient would at the very least need surgery yet other than a mild bruise she was completely fine he had them run the CAT scan three times everything presented as fine as it should be comparing it to the initial report it didn't make sense, the patient's recovery rate almost bordered regeneration.
A few years past someone had offered a very luscious offer involving an unlimited budget for research for something purported to have incredible healing properties at the time being a man of medicine it was too preposterous an idea but maybe dismissing the idea was too rushed a decision.
"Well is she going to be fine?" the woman looked impatient
"Well Ms. Bailon we need to do a few tests but besides needing a little rest she will be just fine." 'Miraculously' though he kept that last part to himself
"Can I see her."
"Yes"
As she went into the room The doctor glimpsed at Sally's unconscious face "Yes we do need a few more tests don't we" he murmured, curiosity tugged at him there were calls he needed to make, his eyes glimmered eerily Alyssa dismissed the weird guy a mistake she would later regret.
Sally decided that would be the last time she woke up in the hospital completely oblivious of what had transpired before, the last thing she remembered was falling hitting her head hard onto the floor of the school bus. Now in the hospital, she wondered if this was what the universe had in store for her heavy impacts nearing death then awake though it being the second time if it happened a third time she would be so "lucky" not that it was a word she would use to describe her situation.
She lay on a comfortable white hospital bed white sheets covering her body from the mid-section downwards. Her left hand connected by a tubular kind of wire to a large white boxlike machine with a black screen green zigzag lines moving generating a beep sound her right hand connected to an IV drip half-filled with transparent fluid that dripped slowly down its thin tube. Her head numb and heavy, dizziness clouding her consciousness the moment she made the mistake of moving it, she touched it ignoring the ache on her right hand due to a syringe injected into it, a woolly dressing had been plastered onto her forehead probably where she'd hit it.
On her right Alyssa sat on an arm chair she wore her usual work attire, then it dawned on her "Michael!" she groaned rather than spoke "Michael is in danger!" she tried to speak louder but by the time Alyssa heard her consciousness was already dissipating "Please go find him..." she could hear her aunt's voice in the distance calling for the doctors but then everything went completely dark.
******
Avion Lancaster had a background in special operations and more than seven years of military service, he was better than the cream of the crop, one of the best. He quit the military to take care of his dying mother preferring private contracts that paid for her hospital bills for the cancer that would eventually kill her. After her death he decided to stay private the exact place where he met Simon Bailon, Avion's moderately attractive appearance did not attract much attention, nor did his role as a chauffeur for Mr. Bailon, at least on paper.
He was among the top agents working for Simon Bailon receiving a salary that put most people's day jobs to shame not for what he did officially but for what he did behind the scenes; spying, information retrieval, the occasional disappearance of whoever was dumb and not important enough to anger Simon Bailon, but most of all his main job was to protect the family behind the scenes where he could see everything more clearly he´d been put on Alyssa's and Michael's protective duty ever since she was announced the next heir. the family patriarch ordered him privately on his own not to let anyone especially Alyssa find out as she adamantly cast out the idea of one of her father's goons spying on her and her family. Simon had easily relented and then secretly ordered Avion right after, his daughter did not yet understand the burden that she just inherited but soon she would, it's better to be prepared he'd thought smiling at her apparent naivety.
It hadn´t taken Avion too long to discover Michael was missing in retrospect he was tasked with watching the whole family not just Michael but when the bus didn´t arrive home on time he started to get suspicious, fortunately, the school tracked all its vehicles it was not public knowledge, nor did they just let anyone see them Avion was just that persuasive. The man and woman Marcus Morey and Janet Conway were professional assassins, Avion knew them from their meticulous reputation; a body count that astonished even him not because of the high number but because most of them were high profile people not easily taken out he suspected the only reason Michael and Sally made it out was that they underestimated the job had they known about the tracker in the bus things could have gone very differently.
'Something doesn't add up though they should have drugged them unconscious, yet the kid looks perfectly fine, maybe they got sloppy?' Avion seriously doubted that, One thing's for sure someone very rich and powerful wanted to clip Michael from the Bailon dynasty line could be due to his mother, grandfather or something else entirely Avion hated assumptions he needed to take a step back investigate and make a new game plan before reporting to Simon Bailon.
He glanced at the rear view mirror his dashing ocean blue eyes settling on Michael whose gaze was glued to the window, he didn´t look like a kid who just barely escaped a kidnapping, seeing his friend bleeding and surviving gunfire, on the contrary, the boy was calmer than he felt at the moment "Want anything to eat?" he asked "No" Michael answered coolly not looking in his direction preferring to keep his attention on the moving figures outside Avion felt anxious "that was a hell of a situation, sure you want nothing, Ice cream maybe?"
"I am sure"
Avion focused on the road. kids were a puzzle he´d never figure out.
His phone buzzed he picked up the call, Alyssa Bailon's angry voice came from the other side.
******