Chapter 6

When Holly finally regained consciousness, all she could see was a blinding white. Tyler was sitting beside the hospital bed, his eyes closed to catch some sleep. He looked beyond worn out with dark circles shadowing his eyes. He hadn't even shaved. When he saw Holly opening her eyes, he immediately shot out of his seat and pulled her into his arms. "You're finally awake, Hols!" She froze before struggling to push Tyler away. All Holly felt was despair when she recalled how the same pair of hands had rejected her desperate calls for help. She said nothing to him, merely staring blankly at the ceiling as she thought of ways to escape the hospital to lodge a police report. But in the days that followed, Tyler acted as if he were a man possessed. He refused to leave her side. He wiped her down, fed her, read to her, and told her jokes, trying to coax a smile out of her. Yet Holly no longer smiled—she'd completely given up. She looked up coldly at Tyler and said, "You don't have to stay by my side anymore. I'm fine now." He froze, voice hoarse as he said, "I'm sorry, Hols. I was in a meeting then, so I couldn't take your calls." Holly started laughing to the point she teared up. It wasn't that Tyler couldn't take her calls. It was that he wouldn't. "Oh?" She reached out to wipe away her tears. "What are you planning to do to compensate me then? How would you deal with Nancy?" Tyler frowned when he heard that, looking troubled. "Nancy's just new to the real world. She didn't know any better. Hols, for my sake, can you let it slide this time? I promise she won't ever hurt you again." Holly stared at him in disbelief. She wondered if he was actually joking. She almost died in the hands of Nancy, yet Tyler was actually pleading on her behalf? "So…" She was frowning hard. "The reason you've stayed by my side for the past few days was to plead for her?" Tyler froze before he started denying it. But Holly knew that was what he actually came for. "Leave!" she yelled loudly. "I don't need you here by my side. Leave!" Tyler immediately rushed forward to pull Holly into his arms, yet she pushed him away. The force ripped her wounds open again, and fresh blood quickly soaked through the bandage, dripping down. She was drenched in sweat from the pain. Although she couldn't move around, she still yelled, "Leave! Get out of here!" Helpless, Tyler could only leave the ward. He decided to wait until she calmed down before they talked again. Holly was the only one left in the ward. She lay slumped on the bed, gasping for breath as her chest tightened in great pain. After she managed to calm down, she pulled out her phone with trembling hands. She wanted to give the police a call to ask about the updates on her missing child. At that moment, a call from the police station happened to come through. "Hello, Ms. Steward? We have good news. We've managed to locate where your child is being held, and we're currently preparing to rescue him." "Really?" Holly asked, overjoyed as she hurriedly wiped her tears away. The call was like a shot of adrenaline, pulling her back from the brink of death. Ignoring the pain in her body, she quickly called the embassy and Nathan. The call to the embassy was to arrange an emergency visa for her child. Meanwhile, she called Nathan to ask him to gather evidence of Nancy kidnapping her.