Chapter 2 - The Exit Without Permission
The fluorescent lights hummed with a monotonous vibration that seemed to match the erratic pulsing of Audrey's bruised and battered temples.
Adrian did not wait for the attending physician to return with discharge papers,
nor did he care about hospital protocol,
liability waivers,
or bureaucratic administrative hurdles.
He knelt down beside the low metal gurney,
his movements deliberate,
controlled,
and infinitely precise as he gently scooped Audrey into his arms.
Audrey let out a sharp gasp of surprise mixed with pain,
her uninjured hand instinctively grabbing the lapel of his dark wool overcoat to steady herself against his broad chest.
Put me down,
Adrian,
she whispered weakly,
her voice trembling with a mixture of shock and lingering terror.
I can walk to the cab,
I still have my purse,
and the nurse said I needed to wait for the final prescription sign-off.
You are not taking a cab,
Adrian replied flatly,
his voice vibrating with a dark,
resonant authority that brook no argument whatsoever.
You are coming with me,
and anyone who thinks otherwise will have to answer directly to the entire weight of the Cross Syndicate.
He carried her effortlessly past the nurses' station,
ignoring the startled gasps and protests of the midnight shift staff who wisely chose to look the other way when they caught sight of his stone-cold expression.
The freezing Chicago drizzle had turned into a steady,
unforgiving sheet of rain by the time Adrian pushed through the automatic glass doors and strode purposefully toward his idling Audi.
He opened the passenger door with one hand while shielding Audrey's head with the other,
carefully settling her into the plush leather seat before tucking a heavy wool blanket around her shivering shoulders.
The interior of the car was instantly warm,
smelling faintly of expensive leather,
cedarwood,
and the faint metallic tang of rain.
Adrian closed the door softly,
walked around the hood,
and slid behind the steering wheel,
his jaw clenched so tightly that a muscle twitched rhythmically along his sharp jawline.
He shifted the gear selector into drive,
pulled away from the curb without turning on his headlights until he cleared the hospital zone,
and merged seamlessly into the deserted,
rain-slicked lanes of Michigan Avenue.
Audrey leaned her head back against the headrest,
her eyes closing as the rhythmic swish of the windshield wipers lulled her into a fragile,
restless daze.
Adrian glanced sideways at her bruised face every few seconds,
his hands gripping the steering wheel with such immense pressure that his knuckles turned completely white.
The engine of the Audi growled in the darkness,
May you like
a mechanical predator gliding silently through the sleeping city,
heading straight toward the towering glass fortress where the real reckoning was about to begin.
