Page 59 of Quadruplets for the Vipers

To Brute her words are harmless assurances all nurses say to panicked patients, to me, they’re words of encouragement to keep doing what I’m doing.

Ashley proceeds to check me over, asking me questions to which I reply in the affirmative to all of them.

She turns to Brute, brow furrowed. “We need to get her to a hospital, I can’t treat her here.”

“The boss said she can’t leave,” he repeats.

Exasperated, Ashley points at me. “Look at her, Brute. She needs the hospital and she needs it now. Do you want her to die? Do you want four innocent babies to die?”

I look at him pleadingly, trying to make myself look as pitiful as possible.

“No, of course not,” he replies, aghast. “I wouldn’t want no babies to die.”

“Well then, help me get her to my car. I’ll drive her to the hospital, we don’t have time to wait for an ambulance.”

He nods but doesn’t move to touch me. “I should tell the boss…”

“You can afterward. First, I need to get her out of here.”

I think we’re going to have to continue to argue but Ashley adds another sharp, “Now!” which finally jolts Brute into action.

To my surprise, he hoists me into his meaty arms, cradling me like a baby. I want to protest but, to be fair, this is the quickest option as he easily strides down the corridor carrying me as if I weigh nothing.

“It’s okay, lady, your babies will be okay,” he tries to assure me.

He might be a lumbering brute, but he seems to have a kind heart. I can only assume that Tony’s manipulated him into working for him and taken advantage of his almost childlike nature.

Thankfully, we don’t encounter anyone as we leave the building, and I realize that Tony must be out. That must be why Ashley chose tonight as our escape. With a limited staff and only easily manipulated Brute guarding me, it was our best chance of escape. It’s hammering down with rain outside, but Brute doesn’t seem to mind. The bright security lights guide our path to Ashley’s flatbed truck. Brute carefully seats me on the passenger side, going so far as to strap me in.

“Thank you, Brute.”

He opens his mouth to say something just as Ashley plunges a needle into his neck from behind. Confusion crosses his face as his jaw goes slack, and he crumples to the ground like a great oak tree being felled. In the dark, stormy night it’s like something from a horror movie. A terrifying thought crosses mymind, that it was a trap after all and Ashley is about to murder me for reasons unknown.

“What did you do to him? He was helping us!” I admonish.

“He’ll be fine, it’s just a mild sedative. I needed to buy us time. If he calls Tony straight away, which I know he’ll do, then Tony and his men could catch up to us before we reach the safehouse where we’re meeting the guys,” Ashley explains as she climbs into the driver’s side.

“We can’t leave him! He’ll catch pneumonia lying outside in the rain!”

“Pneumonia doesn’t work that way, it’s an old wives’ tale,” she mutters.

“Whatever. He’ll get soaked,” I protest.

“How am I supposed to move him? He must weigh about two hundred and fifty pounds and he’s dead weight.”

She’s got a point. But still, I’m not about to abandon the man who helped us like that.

“We have to try.”

“It will take time we can’t afford to waste.”

“Then we at least have to cover him or something. Do you have a tarp in the truck?”

With a sigh, Ashley unbuckles her belt and opens the door, bracing herself for the rain. “Stay there,” she commands as she gets out and goes around back.

A few moments later she covers Brute with a big, blue tarp before returning to the car wearing a raincoat that she must have acquired from the trunk. “Happy?”

“Yes, thank you,” I reply back, equally as snippy.

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