Scandal

Chapter 22

Peyton woke up in Tom's arms. She smiled being held by her fiancé. Then she remembered that Fey was still angry with her and that took the smile away. Her dream finally came true but at the cost of her best friend. She bit her lip so not to cry and let Tom see she was sad. At that moment, Tom rolled over, releasing her so she was able to get up. While brushing her teeth, she decided to get dressed and walk Bobby. She needed to think and walking always helped. Bobby always enjoyed his walks at Regent Park. Tom always took him there.

As they walked to Regent Park, Peyton though about the lengthy note she left for Chris. Has he read it yet? Will Fey forgive her when she finds out she told him everything? She had battled with herself to write it but he needed to know everything she went through. He was her North star, her guiding light. He needed to know how much she loved him. How she always loved him. Luckily, Tom was keeping Chris occupied so neither of them saw her writing. She just poured her heart out in that letter. Hopefully Chris was with Fey right now and they were making up as they speak. Fey deserved her happy future with Chris just like she was getting with Tom. Peyton needed to get everyone to forgive Tom. It broke her heart knowing his friends were angry at him. It wasn't his fault. Zawe was just pure evil. Her poison was spreading throughout the group.

Peyton was so lost in her thoughts; she didn't realize someone was following her. She turned a corner when Bobby started barking at something behind her. "What is it boy?" All of a sudden, she felt herself being grabbed from behind and thrown up against a tree. She tried to scream but a hand was put over her mouth. She dropped the leash, hoping Bobby would get away.

"Karma is a bitch," the voice said and then she felt a sharp pain in her stomach as she crumbled to the ground. Her hand immediately went to her stomach. She drew her hand back and saw it covered with blood. Then the pain started to throb. "Crap," was all she could say. She looked up but all she saw was a dark hooded figure. Her vision started to blur. She shook her head to clear it. The person reached for their phone, brought it to their ear and just said, "it's done" as they walked away.

Peyton reached for her phone but it slipped out of her hands from all the blood. She picked it up again and tried to call Tom but everything went dark. From a distance she heard Bobby barking.

Tom woke up and looked around the room for Peyton. He called out to her but heard nothing. When he walked to the kitchen, he noticed Bobby wasn't around and his leash was missing so he figured she took him for a walk. Tom tried calling her but it went to her voicemail. He found that weird since she always answers. He put his phone down, got dressed and decided to surprise her with breakfast.

After a half an hour of waiting, he started to worry. He called his sister Sarah to see if she met up with Peyton but she hadn't heard from her. He thought to himself this wasn't like her. She was never gone this long. He reached for his phone and called her again but this time, a female voice answered.

"Who's this?" he asked.

"This is nurse Johnson at St Thomas Hospital. Who is this?"

Tom felt his knees get weak. "This is Tom Hiddleston. Where's my fiancé? This is her phone. Her name is Peyton Richards."

"Mr. Hiddleston, we need you to come to the hospital right away. There was an incident regarding your fiancé. She is in surgery right now."

Tom fell to the floor and dropped the phone. At first his mind went blank but then he got up, grabbed his keys and ran out of his flat hailing a cab. The ride felt like it took forever but he barely remembered getting to the hospital. He threw money at the driver and ran inside to the front desk. "I'm Tom Hiddleston and I need to know about Peyton Richards."

Another nurse came over to him. "Mr. Hiddleston, we spoke on the phone. I'm nurse Johnson, please come with me." She led him to a room where Bobby was. "She was found in the park with him. She had no identification except her phone but we couldn't unlock it. It's lucky you called when you did."