A Hurt So Sweet Volume Four - Isabella Starling Page 0,30

is she?" I manage, finally waking up, even if I'm slowly losing consciousness again. "Where is Lily Anna with the baby?"

Dex pulls back and smooths my hair off my face, but I know it's just a distraction tactic.

"Where are they?" I roar.

"We don't know," Dex admits brokenly. "We're trying to find them."

"You have to go after them." I trip over the words in an effort to get them all out as soon as possible. "She left with the baby in a car seat. It must have been ages since she left. Go, Dexter, go... Please..."

"Emilian went after them," he mutters, holding me close. "He'll find them."

"You have to help him." I'm crying again. Whether it's out of relief that he found me and I'm alive, or out of fear for my baby, I don't know. "You have to find my baby."

"I have to help you," Dex mutters. "Did you see this place? It's a fucking mess..."

I take a look around, only then realizing I'm still on the floor atop a mess of once white sheets that are now drenched in blood. My blood.

"I called an ambulance," Dexter goes on. "And I'll go with you to the hospital."

"No, no, Dex. Please, don't do that!" I grab him desperately, clinging on to his jacket. "You have to go after Lily Anna, you have to stop her!"

"If I have to pick, I'm picking you," he mutters. I don't even know if he's aware he said that out loud. He looks pale as a ghost.

"Pick the baby, Dex," I whisper, but he shakes his head silently and pulls me onto his lap. I feel his fingers caressing my cheeks as the darkness creeps in with its dark, shadowy fingers. This time, I give in gratefully, because even the fucked up dream I had before would be better from my messed up reality.

12

Dexter

I stay by Pandora's side, holding her hand, until the paramedics arrive. She drifts in and out of consciousness, her accusatory eyes on mine every time they fly open.

I know she thinks I should've gone after Lily Anna. But I can't bring myself to leave my toy alone. She's in danger. I know it the moment the paramedics arrive and I see the grave expressions on their faces. They pry her hand away from mine and load her onto a gurney. They allow me to get in the ER van after I insist I'm not fucking leaving.

The ride to the hospital takes ages. With every second that passes, the nurse riding in the back of the van with me looks more concerned. Pandora looks deathly pale. Her lips are almost blue, translucent. I can barely make out the rise and fall of her chest.

"Am I going to lose her?", the words escape my lips before I even realize I asked the question.

The nurse gives me a long look. "I'm not going to lie to you, Mr. Booth. It doesn't look good."

My hands tighten into fists. I spent the rest of the ride in silence, thinking about Lily Anna and what I'm going to do to her when I get my hands on her. They're going to have to hold me back so I don't fucking kill her. I have a feeling the only thing that will dissuade me from putting a bullet in her head is the knowledge that I'll be locked up if I do. I can't leave Pandora alone again. Can't risk the distance between us. I need to stay by her side and do what's best for my toy.

We're rushed into the hospital while an alarm blares through the hallways. Despite my insistence to stay by Pandora's side, the doctors shoo me out of the operating room. I pace the hallway outside when my phone buzzes with a call from Emilian Oakes.

"Did you fucking find her?" I bark into the phone. "Tell me you have that bitch."

From his long pause, I can tell he doesn't have any good news for me. "I'm sorry, Dexter. We did our best, but she's just... gone. Gone without a trace."

"Unacceptable." I want to fucking punch something, but there's a kid with his mom in the same waiting room, and I don't want to scare her, so I force myself to hold back. "You got someone trying to find her? People tailing her? Eyes all over town?"

"We do," Oakes reassures me. "I'm coming to the hospital now. How is Pandora?"

"She's not doing well." Admitting it out loud threatens to break me. But I hide the