HURT HER (FIVE)

"You're too hard on her. You scared her."

Wren rebuked Rafe who had been pacing back and forth in his room. Rafe's face was wrinkled and filled with anger. He unbuttoned three buttons of his shirt to get rid of the heat that was bothering him so much. Even though the air around him was currently extremely cold, he actually felt extremely hot and stifling. The girl messed him up. Especially with her attitude that shows that she doesn't want to be a mother to his baby. And the girl looked at him with disdain.

"She deserves my wrath. She threatened to kill my baby. You think I'll just shut up if she does such a cruel thing to my baby-to-be."

“Lexie couldn't have done it. She was just shocked and scared. You should have given her a chance to think clearly and accept her new condition. That's normal for a girl like Lexie."

"Not. I still don't agree. You said she was the right woman to conceive my baby. You should also make sure that she is really willing to carry my baby."

Rafe growled. His knuckles clenched against the surface of Wren's window, which had a view of the deserted hospital grounds. Rafe tried to neutralize his anger by pressing his forehead against the surface of the window and watching the people down there who were busy with their own business.

“I'll talk to him again after lunch. He must be feeling better after being left to think for a while.”

“What if she still refuses to bear my baby? I'm sure she'll find a way to abort the baby someday."

"We will prevent it from happening. You have to calm your anger.”

Rafe still had his back to Wren. He didn't say anything and just stared at the people downstairs who had just come out of the lobby. Three women just came out of the lobby. They walked in groups and looked very familiar with each other. Rafe even wondered what they were talking about, that they were huddled together like that. Then she saw a woman walking at a slower pace behind the three women. She thought the woman was a bit lousy because she was ignored by the three women in front of her. But the woman didn't seem to be from the gang because they parted ways when the three women turned right to retrieve their car, while the woman walking alone continued straight to the hospital exit.

Rafe furrowed his brows for a moment. He had never been this detailed for something he should have had nothing to do with. But he always had a sharp instinct. It could be that something that looks trivial is actually something very important to him.

"What color is Lexie's hair?"

“Her color? Why are you suddenly interested in her hair color?” Wren narrowed his eyes in surprise. He put down his glasses, staring at Rafe's back which was still facing him.

"Just answer me. What color is her hair? Brown?”

“Brown like almond. Unique hair color. She said it was a natural hair color she got from her grandmother."

"Shit!"

Wren jumped in surprise when suddenly Rafe threw himself from the window and ran out of his room like he had just seen a ghost.

"Hey, what's wrong with you?"

Wren tried to catch Rafe who was running very fast towards the fire stairs. He was even horrified at how brutal Rafe was as he ran out of his room. He recently had a postoperative wound on his chest. Rafe shouldn't have moved that fast.

"Explain to me, what's wrong!"

Wren shouted from the fire stairwell door. His breath was ragged, and he had to kneel down, holding on to the door frame to calm his racing heart. Rafe was already a long way above him—seven steps above him, and he didn't seem to want to stop.

“That girl ran away, damn it! She ran away."

"No way. She must still be in her room.”

"Then I'll make sure of it."

Rafe shot up, finishing the remaining six steps before she reached the floor where Lexie's treatment room was. The place seemed deserted. Rafe didn't even find anyone passing by around the hallway other than himself who was now creating a commotion.

"Sorry sir, please don't be loud, our patient is resting."

To hell with them!

He ignored the warning from a nurse who was standing near the nurse station. He just kept running towards Lexie's treatment room. And then when he pushed the door hard, he was greeted with an emptiness and a chill that rattled his skin. The room was empty and the gurney was very messy. There were bloodstains on the blanket. Meanwhile, the infusion fluid dripping on the floor has become a bright green puddle. The woman did run away. The cupboard in the corner of her room was wide open and the blue pajamas she had been wearing lay on the floor with two wooden hangers.

"Rafe... what are you doing?"

"She ran away. That damn girl ran away!”

Rafe roared like a beast. He pushed Wren hard until his back hit the wall. Then Rafe pulled his shirt collar so tightly that Wren almost choked.

“You recommended that girl to be the mother of my child. But look what happened, she ran away? She ran away with my future child, you bastard!”

"Relax Rafe, we will find Lexie. She couldn't have gone far. She doesn't have the proper clothes to hang around in the freezing cold outside."

"Don't try to calm me down!" Rafe growled.

The nurses started arriving outside Lexie's treatment room. They are all shocked to see Rafe's brutal actions and they try to separate Rafe from Wren. But Wren calmly ordered them all out of the way back to the nurse station because Rafe was his business.

“Please leave us. I'm fine. Just close the door."

Although reluctant, the last nurse to leave the place closed the door behind her quietly, then she walked briskly towards the nurse's station as if there was no fighting going on in the room.

"Please Rafe, calm down. We will find Lexie.”

“How are you going to find that damn woman? We don't even know where she lives."

"She's not going to her house. She's been kicked out by her mother."

Rafe really wanted to punch Wren in the face hard and brutally. This man was the source of all his troubles today. If he hadn't recommended the girl, he couldn't have been this angry. His whole pulse was throbbing with heat. He just wanted to get angry and explode.

“Please let me go. Please."

“No matter what, that girl must be found. And I'll take it straight to my house."

Rafe violently stomped on Wren's neck and let him groan in pain on the floor after his frail body crumbled like a string puppet.

“I saw her coming out of the hospital gates in jeans and a maroon sweater. You gave her clothes?”

"That's for her home from the hospital tomorrow."

With difficulty Wren got to his feet. He patted his tight chest, then smoothed the collar of his shirt which was wrinkled by Rafe's strong hands. He would remind himself not to get into trouble with Rafe. This man is destructive. He could have died at Rafe's hands if he didn't quickly calm his emotions.

"We'd better look around the hospital. We'll split up."

"I agree. Let me know asap if you find her. Don't try to hide the girl."

Wren furrowed his brows in confusion. He walked out of Lexie's silent treatment room and followed Rafe's wide stride.

When he reached the nurse's station, six nurses stood tensely behind the desk staring at him strangely. They all looked really worried about him, and he was quite touched by their actions, that he gave them a sweet smile that showed he was okay.

"Did you just think I had betrayed you."

Rafe smirked. "You might. Why did you prepare her clothes before she actually got out of here. I was thinking, you seem to be doing that on purpose.”

“What kind of ridiculous idea is that? I gave her clothes from a few days ago because I couldn't bear to see her always wearing hospital pajamas. In addition, the clothes she wore when she first arrived at the hospital were not proper. I told a nurse to throw it away. That's why I gave her clothes."

"Well, I'll trust you this time."

The elevator chimed softly. Rafe stepped out with hasty steps towards his car. He didn't have to wait for Wren at all. His focus now was only on how he could find Lexie as soon as possible and lock her in his house. He would not let Lexie escape while under his supervision. He would lock Lexie all day in his house until the time for the baby was born.

-00-

She had cried so long and so much. People passed by in front of her, one after another, but no one cared about her. They ignored her to cry alone until her eyes were red and swollen and her nose was stuffy. All of that is a bad combination in the midst of freezing cold weather. She could barely breathe through her nose. Her mouth opened and closed like she was a koi fish deprived of water. But in her case, she was deprived of oxygen. In addition, her sweater could not protect her body from the freezing cold air that pierced her bones. She shivered pitifully in the cold in front of the shop. Still don't know what to do after this and where to go next.

Lexie wiped the remnants of her tears roughly, then got up from the bench to continue the journey to the east. Don't know, to be honest she wasn't too sure of the direction she was taking. But she would just walk and walk until she found an idea about her life.

But sometimes plans don't go the way we expected. It happened to Lexie when she had walked about five hundred meters from where she was sobbing in front of a shop. Suddenly the sound of a long horn startled her who was walking dreamily. At first she thought it was just the honking of a car driver who had just made a carelessness. But it turns out that the sound of the car horn was aimed at her. And a man— Rafe Wilder, suddenly jumped out of the driver's seat to grab her arm roughly. Rafe pulled her hand forcefully to get into his car.

Lexie's eyes widened. Her thoughts were interrupted and replaced by intense panic when Rafe began to force her into his car.

"You hurt me."

"Don't fight or scream," he whispered hoarsely in her ear.