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“Oh, poor thing. That eye doesn’t look so good,” the nurse said, making notes on Sophie’s chart. “Want me to take a look at it?”
“Would you?” Chloe asked. “She didn’t want to leave Sophie yet and we didn’t see how bad it was until now.”
The nurse walked over to me. I could tell she wasn’t fooled by Chloe’s story, yet she said nothing. She checked my vitals then took a small pen light out of her pocket to check my pupils. I glanced at Chloe, who sat typing away on her cell. The nurse said my lip would heal without stitches, but she would bring back some ointment to help stop the bleeding.
“You probably need a scan of the eye to make sure there are no fractures to the orbital bone, but I don’t see any signs of concussion,” the nurse smiled. “I’ll bring you an ice pack for the eye, the lip, and those ribs that you keep holding on to.”
She turned and left the room. I was thankful but terrified, at the same time, that she would report me. Sophie had fallen asleep and it was easy to see Chloe wanted answers.
“He’s the sheriff. I’ve tried to leave him before. He always finds me,” I said, pacing along the wall with the big window. “I appreciate this safe place for right now, but he’ll have someone at every exit. He’s relentless in his pursuit of me.”
Chloe sat quietly listening to me explain. Never once did I see a judgmental look. When I had run out of words to explain what I’d been through for the last year, she then spoke.
“You need to do the harry.” Chloe said “Not just here in the hospital, even though that is step one. Step two is to get you out of the area completely, so he can’t find you.”
“That’s correct. Except step one is going to be very difficult.” I leaned my head against the glass.
The nurse came back in with ice packs, two pillows, and a blanket. She seemed to know exactly what was going on.
“You’ll be safe in here tonight while I’m on shift,” she whispered to me. “Get some rest. I’ll let you know when my shift is over.”
Tears pooled in my eyes. How had I gotten so lucky? Maybe this was going to be my chance to escape Brice.
Who am I kidding? This is just a few hours of safety to heal.
“Imogen, I know you’re hurting, in more ways than one. But I have an idea if you wanna hear it?” Chloe went on without me answering. “You said that you needed to leave the area completely to be rid of Brice, right?”
“Yes, getting away is my only chance, but I have no idea how. I can’t even go to the hospital for help without him swarming the area.” I closed my eyes for a moment. “That’s why I know I’m not getting out of here.”
“I said I have an idea and I need you to hear me out before you say anything.” Chloe went on. “There’s an agency here that specializes in mail order brides to the rich and sometimes famous.”
“Crickey. You can’t be serious. That’s like something out of the 1900’s out in the Midwest,” I scoffed.
“Well I did say it was an agency that specializes, and I happen to know about it personally,” Chloe said getting excited now.
“The girl who runs it has become a true blue and she happens to have someone in mind for you right away. I messaged her earlier while you were washing up.”
“You want me to marry a complete stranger?!” I asked in shock. “I could be going from bad to worse.”
“Imogen, really? Bad to worse? Can it be worse than being beaten?” Chloe demanded. “This Brice isn’t going to be happy about not finding you. What do you think he’ll do to you when he does find you?”
I sat in silence for a few minutes, unable to believe that people still did mail order brides.
“Where?” I blurted out. “When? Do I get to choose? More importantly, how am I getting out of this hospital?”
“Great. Now you’re thinking.” Chloe pulled her chair closer and away from Sophie. “My sister became a mail order bride a few months ago to get money to pay for Sophie’s heart surgery.”
“Wow, that’s amazing. Is she happy?” I asked. “Where does she live?”
“She lives most of the time in the United States and her husband is from an extremely wealthy family,” Chloe said. “I just messaged with her and she’s the one who suggested this path.”
“Why would she want to help me?” I asked. “Is there a way to get me out of the hospital?”
“It seems a strange coincident, but the Hawthorne family happens to need a bride for one of their sons who has been in one too many scandals,” Chloe said, putting her finger to her lips when Sophie stirred.
“Did you say, ‘Hawthorne family’?” I wondered. “Like the big hotel downtown?”
“Among other things, yes,” Chloe said. “Mia spoke with Sienna, then Sienna called her best friend Poppy, who is also a mail order bride, and she said they will take you in at their hotel.”
