Chapter 10
744 Words
The morning sun slipped through the hospital blinds, warm and gentle against Ella’s face.
She stirred slightly, smiling to herself when she felt Nathan’s arm wrapped securely around her.
"Morning, beautiful," Nathan murmured, his voice still thick with sleep.
Ella snuggled closer, cherishing the safe, quiet moment.
"I have to head out later," Nathan said after a while, brushing a kiss along her shoulder.
"My friend's having a small birthday get-together. It's just a few guys — nothing big."
Ella tensed slightly.
Ever since the scare with the text message, every mention of Nathan being away filled her with a gnawing fear.
But she forced herself to smile.
He had been so good to her, so present.
She couldn’t let her insecurities ruin everything.
"Go," she said softly.
"You deserve a little fun."
Nathan leaned up on one elbow, studying her.
"You’re sure?"
Ella nodded.
"I'll be fine. Besides..." She patted her belly. "We have each other."
He laughed quietly and kissed her forehead.
"I'll be back before you know it."
---
Nathan left around six that evening, leaving Ella curled up with a book and the TV playing quietly in the background.
The hospital was unusually quiet.
The halls outside her room echoed with the occasional squeak of rubber soles and the hum of distant voices.
She dozed off, drifting between sleep and wakefulness.
That was when the door creaked open.
Ella stirred, expecting a nurse.
But the figure that entered wasn't wearing scrubs.
Two men — dressed in black, their faces partially hidden by caps — slipped inside, silent and quick.
Before Ella could scream, a cloth was pressed over her mouth.
The scent was sharp, chemical.
Panic exploded inside her.
She fought wildly, kicking and thrashing, desperate to protect herself — and her baby.
But the drug was too strong.
Her limbs grew heavy, her vision blurred.
The last thing she saw was the sterile white ceiling spinning above her, and the distant, muffled sound of alarms.
---
Nathan clutched a beer at his friend's house, laughing half-heartedly at a joke he barely heard.
Something felt off.
He checked his phone again.
No new messages from Ella.
Maybe she was sleeping, he told himself.
Maybe the baby was making her extra tired.
Still, a knot twisted in his gut, tight and painful.
He tried calling.
No answer.
He tried again.
Straight to voicemail.
Nathan’s heart pounded against his ribs.
He tossed the beer onto a nearby table and grabbed his jacket.
"I have to go," he said abruptly to his confused friends, already heading for the door.
---
The drive to the hospital felt endless.
Nathan barely remembered the red lights he ran, the angry horns blaring behind him.
When he finally burst into Ella’s hospital room, his worst fears were realized.
Empty.
Silent.
The sheets were crumpled, the IV stand tipped slightly, as if knocked aside in a struggle.
"Ella?" he shouted, panic clawing up his throat.
He yanked open the bathroom door — empty.
Checked under the bed — nothing.
Nathan's mind raced.
Had she gone for a walk?
Gone to the nursery?
But his gut screamed the truth: something terrible had happened.
He bolted for the nurses' station.
"Where's Ella Bennett?!" he demanded, slamming his palms against the counter.
The nurses looked up, startled.
Confused.
No one had seen her leave.
No discharge papers.
No witnesses.
Security was called.
Cameras were checked.
Nathan paced like a caged animal, running his hands through his hair, barely able to breathe.
The security footage showed a grainy, heart-stopping image:
two masked figures wheeling a slumped figure out of the hospital under a blanket.
Ella.
His Ella.
And she was gone.
---
Nathan's heart shattered into a thousand pieces.
He sank onto a nearby chair, head in his hands, trembling.
He had promised to protect her.
He had sworn she would never be alone again.
And now, because he had gone to a stupid party, she was missing.
Gone.
He pulled out his phone with shaking hands and called the police.
Then he called his private security team.
Then he called every contact he had.
He would move heaven and earth to find her.
No matter what it cost him.
No matter who he had to destroy.
Nathan closed his eyes, whispering a desperate prayer into the sterile hospital air.
"Please," he begged.
"Please bring her back to me. Bring both of them back."
He couldn't lose her.
Not again.
Not ever.
- Writer
