Chapter 238: AN ATTACK IN THE HOSPITAL (3)
Lyle pinned Hazel’s body down on the floor. He was using his knees to press her abdomen, which made her have a hard time breathing, while he was holding her arm.
Using her free hand, Hazel stretched out to find anything that she could grab as a weapon. She would pass out if this kept going on.
Thank her lucky star, she caught the plastic bag that she had kicked earlier. And when her fingers touched the cold steel of the gun, she yanked it and aimed it at his chest. Her first instinct was to kill him.
However, in a split second, Hazel changed her mind. She lowered the muzzle and aimed at his stomach instead. It was less deadly, but it was enough to knock him away from her.
The silencer muffled the gunshot, and Hazel pushed Lyle’s body before he collapsed on top of her, scrambling away from him.
She noticed Cam successfully subdue the other man and hurried to her side.
"Are you okay, Mrs. Leighton?" Cam asked. He took the gun from Hazel’s hand and pointed it at Lyle. He was ready to shoot, but Hazel grabbed his hand immediately.
"No. Don’t kill him," Hazel said. She felt conflicted. There were several people that Hazel wanted to kill in the McKennas and the Barlowe family, but Lyle was not on the list.
However, she knew that sooner or later, she would face a similar situation in which she would have to choose between killing him or being killed herself.
Yet, she wanted to delay that decision as long as possible.
"Take him away," Hazel said. She watched the blood that pooled around Lyle. He wouldn’t die, but if he didn’t get the right treatment soon, his life would be in danger.
Hazel didn’t remember she had seen the man with Lyle before. He could be a new recruit.
Lyle lifted his head; his gaze was inexplicable. His pale complexion told them that he was in pain, but he didn’t utter a single word when the other man helped him stand up, and they went away to get him treated.
The irony was they were in the hospital now.
Cam still held the gun, just in case they were trying something funny, and only lowered it down when Lyle and his man were out of their sight.
"Let’s go back," Hazel said, and patted Cam’s back. "Hide that." She nodded at the gun.
On their way back to the room, they saw Lucian, Ares, and Dunts running toward Hazel. There was a look of apprehension in their eyes when they saw the blood on the front of Hazel’s dress.
"Not my blood," Hazel said before they could ask.
"What’s going on?" Lucian demanded. He was called by Yara, who said that there were a few people from the McKenna family that wanted to harm Ranon. She had called for more backup, but it would take a while for them to reach this hospital.
Meanwhile, Lucian and Ares were still around the area; thus, they could get to the hospital faster.
"I’ll explain later. I want to check on Ranon first," Hazel said as she continued walking toward Ranon’s room. Yara gasped in relief until she saw the blood on Hazel’s shirt. "Not my blood," Hazel said before Yara could ask.
"Who are they?" Lucian caught sight of the two unconscious men on the floor. Ares furrowed his brows deeply when he saw that one of them was wearing a nurse’s uniform. "You attacked a nurse?"
"He is not a nurse." Hazel poured a glass of water for herself and then checked Ranon’s condition. He was fine; none of Lyle’s people had managed to get to this room.
Hazel then briefed Lucian and Ares about what happened. She saw the look on their faces, and before Ares could ask how she knew the nurse was Lyle’s man, Hazel beat him to it.
"I don’t know what or where Ranon will do to these people, but I assume this is not the first time something like this has happened, and you know what you should do," Hazel said with conviction. "Don’t forget about the CCTV."
"Why don’t we report it to the police?"
"How can it help?" Hazel raised her brows at Ares. "There are a few cops on McKenna’s payroll, too. We’ll only blow it up in the media without finding a solution. It will be a long court battle."
Hazel caressed Ranon’s face, and when she lifted her head to look at Ares and Lucian, her eyes were ablaze with rage.
"With these people, we don’t fight them in the court. That’s not the battlefield."
And after a few discussions, Hazel was glad that they knew what they should do. An hour later, a few men that Nolu had sent arrived, and they carried the two unconscious Lyle’s men for interrogation.
Hazel remembered the house at the outskirts; she thought they might get the two men there, but she didn’t ask. She was only interested in knowing the result of the investigation.
She didn’t want the headache of dealing with the details of how they did things. They knew what they were dealing with.
"You and Ranon are the same," Lucian said in the end with squinted eyes. "Both of you have a tendency to give me extra work."
"You can split the task with him, right?" Hazel nodded at Ares.
"This is not a household chore." Lucian rolled his eyes dramatically and then stood up. "I will handle the hospital first," he said.
Lucian didn’t know how to pull it out, since they didn’t have a connection in this hospital, but he would figure it out.
"I wonder how they have not yet noticed the fight in the corridor. The security here is awful. We need to move Ranon somewhere else."
"No, it’s better that he is here." Hazel disagreed with him.
Meanwhile, Ares went out with the other bodyguards who took away Lyle’s men. He glanced over his shoulder at Hazel as if he wanted to say something. In the end, though, he walked away, with Lucian following behind him.
He chose not to say anything, but Hazel’s focus was entirely on Ranon. Lucian was right; she kept Ranon safe, but he couldn’t help but think all of this extra trouble came from her.
Not to mention the fact that she was still holding a big secret about her relationship with River.
***
Hazel didn’t sleep for the rest of the night. She pulled a chair to sit next to Ranon’s bed and keep vigil the whole night.
Therefore, when Ranon finally opened his eyes close to dawn, she immediately leaned over. "Ranon?" His eyes searched the room before they focused on her. "How are you feeling?"
Hazel didn’t know why she was whispering, probably because Yara was dozing off on the sofa. Outside, extra bodyguards had been placed, and a few more people were around the hospital, just in case they were needed, and also to keep the area free from the McKennas’ men.
"Are you feeling hurt somewhere?"
Ranon furrowed his brows; he looked at her as if this was the first time he had seen her. "Who are you?"
Hazel’s eyes dilated when she heard the question. No way. This couldn’t happen. Her heart lurched in her stomach, but when she saw the smile that curled on the corner of his lips, she immediately knew what had happened.
"You don’t know who I am?" Hazel raised her brows. "It’s a good thing you are a patient right now, or else I am going to break your rib again, and you will need another surgery."
"Don’t make me laugh. It hurts."
"I don’t intend to make you laugh."
Hazel then called a nurse who came with a doctor to check on Ranon’s condition. Yara woke up when she heard someone come in. Her hand flew to the gun on her waist, but she stopped when she saw it was the doctor.
"I am sorry. I fell asleep," Yara said sheepishly.
"Go and find something to eat," Hazel said. She wanted Yara to leave because she needed to talk to Ranon alone. Yara understood that.
Once everyone else had left the room and only the two of them remained, Hazel approached the bed again and helped him drink.
"This is not Central Hospital." Ranon noticed that.
"Yes, I moved you from Central Hospital because that place is under Rafael’s influence."
Ranon nodded at that decision. "Good thinking," he agreed with Hazel’s decision. The car crash was also suspicious.
Lucian had caught the drunk driver. However, they couldn’t get anything out of him for now since the man was in police custody. Added to what happened last night, Lucian had more than enough on his plate.
"I think he is going to cry to you when he drops by."
Ranon closed his eyes. "I am still unconscious." Hazel laughed, and Ranon liked the sound of it. "How is Ashlyn?"
"Nolu is there with the other men," Hazel told him, assuring him that their baby was well protected. Ranon trusted her judgment.
Not long after, Ranon fell asleep again due to the medicine. Despite his situation, he felt at ease knowing Hazel was taking care of everything. She knew what to do.
And it was an understatement when Ranon said it was good thinking for Hazel to move him to another hospital.
Ranon used to take care of everything by himself, going over the details of what happened until he was sure there hadn’t been any mistakes. But with Hazel in control, he could relax a bit.