I Want All of You

Episode Four

Jason’s POV

The flight from New York to Toronto was a quick one. It lasted for approximately three hours. Before I boarded the plane, I tried calling James to get more information but his line was unreachable which was super weird—James was known for being reachable 24/7.

“Any news from James yet?” I asked my assistant as soon as we landed in Toronto.

“None sir, he didn't leave a message or anything. It's very unlike him sir.” Stella said behind me as we walked to my car.

“Okay, you know what, don't stress yourself any further, James will come around. We have information of the hospital that Anthony was rushed to and that's enough. In the meantime, focus on making sure none of it gets to the news.”

“Yes sir, I'm on it.”

To keep a low profile, I didn’t go with any bodyguard and only had Stella come with me, although a driver was waiting for me in the car.

As the car drove past the beautiful city of Toronto, my mind drifted away to how life would be if Anthony didn't recover from this. His daughter would be unconsolable and my life would be a living mess. Anthony and I had been close since we were kids and he had been like an older brother figure to me since we were five years apart in age. We never did things separately until he got married at twenty, had Anastasia and had to move to Toronto for safety... No no, let me just focus on the positive, Anthony is a fighter and he will survive this.

“Mr. Sterling?” Stella’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts back to reality. "We are at the hospital already, you seem lost in your thoughts, anything you want me to help you with sir?”

“No, let’s get going.”

As soon as I stepped down from the car, I was swamped with the flashes and the clicks of cameras. It was unexpected and sudden, I didn't expect that anyone would be informed about my movement.

“Stella, what is this?” I muttered underneath my breath and simultaneously feigned a smile.

Stella looked equally confused, going through her phone and contacting every popular media house.

“S-sir I don't understand either, I made sure to keep everything a secret. I don't know how the information got leaked…”

“Mr. Sterling, Mr. Sterling we didn't expect you here in Canada, what's the reason for the surprise visit?

“Mr. Sterling, why are you here at WestRidge Hospital? Did any of your relatives get hurt?”

“Mr. Sterling we heard that you have finalized your divorce, now that you're a free man, are you planning on going back into the dating scene.”

As they asked these questions, I tried to push through and find my way into the hospital. Suddenly, an SUV arrived and a group of armed bodyguards jumped down and started controlling the crowd. “Finally, I guess Stella was able to handle that.” I said in my head as I now walked freely into the hospital.

“I really apologize for what happened out there sir. I swear, I did make sure to keep our movement a secret.” Stella apologized as she hurried to catch up with my fast steps.

I ignored her apology and asked instead, “who disclosed my whereabouts to the media houses?”

“Sir, unfortunately, they all said they were tipped anonymously.”

“Darn it!” I shouted, gaining the attention of some nurses around. I didn't care and moved on to say to Stella, “ make sure you figure out who tipped those media houses and bring them to me, you have until the end of the day.”

“Okay sir.” Stella replied shortly and confidently.

I soon arrived at the floor where Anthony’s room was situated. Anastasia was there, looking all anxious and worried. It broke my heart to see her that way, my little girl, I would do anything to protect her and make her happy.

I wanted to just hug her and tell her everything will be okay but I stood there unaware of what to do or say. We hadn't seen each other since her mother's funeral four years ago and I wasn't sure of how she was going to react to me being here. I took a deep breath then finally decided to call out her name, “Anastasia.”

She turned to look at me and I was taken aback by how beautiful she had become. She had grown more mature over the years and I couldn't help but take notice of how stunning she was. Even though I made sure to watch all the videos and look at all the pictures on her social media handles, none of those could do justice to picture her beauty. My face broke into a smile and I stretched my hands out, gesturing for a hug. Although I wasn’t expecting her to react positively, She ran towards me and gave me a warm hug. I was shocked but still, I was relieved.

We stayed still for some minutes before she pulled away.

I looked down at her, she looked tired and stressed.

…“Dear, tell me— what happened?”

“I-I don't know, J-James told my dad…”

And before I knew it, Anastasia’s voice was choked with tears. Seeing her cry did something to me, it broke me beyond what I could comprehend. I immediately pulled her into another hug and wrapped my hands tightly around her.

“hush now dear, I'm here, take your time. Everything’s going to be okay…I will make sure of that,” I promised.

I didn't know where James was; didn't know what made Anthony fall into a coma; didn't know who tipped off the media houses about my whereabouts, but one thing I knew was that I will protect Anastasia. And to protect Anastasia, I will find anyone needed to be found and kill anyone needed to be killed.

*****

But here was James, lying down dead in a pool of his own blood. I looked sideways and saw the life drain out of Anastasia’s eyes, she was traumatized.

I immediately used my hands to cover her eyes. “ You shouldn't be seeing that”

She pushed my arms away and ran towards James's lifeless body. “No, no, call the doctors, he must still have a pulse, please call the doctors. James can't leave, no no…”

My heart broke.