Change of events (gxg)

Chapter 48

Naya POV

I finally had her back, I stayed up the whole night, just watching her, keeping her close to me. Her little snores were adorable, but mostly they reminded me of her being alive. Of her being here in my arms, close to me. Demi stayed the night in the hospital as well. As soon as Steffie had drifted off, I looked up at her. "How did you know what to do?" She scratched a line before looking up from her notepad, a small frown etched on her forehead. "What do you mean?" "The panic attack, how did you know so fast what it was?" "Like I told the doctor, I've had many of them myself, so I knew what I had to do. And before you ask why I did it, you're not the only one who cares about her Nay. I mean, I know what she means to you, even though it's been what a few months? I care about her, because she makes you happy, I can tell. You wouldn't risk so much for someone who you don't care about, Nay" A smile crept on my face, while I played with Steffie's hair, finding it soothing for me, it calmed me down. "How's your song going?" She sighed deeply, putting the pad away. "Geez, that bad?" I joked, earning a death glare from her. "No, it's just, I have the right words, but the song isn't about me, so I don't know if it's good enough. Well, it is about me, but not only about me, and I want this to be perfect you know?"

"Do you think she'd be able to tell her story tomorrow? We know it's been bad, but we don't know exactly what happened or who did it" I wondered out loud, not really expecting an answer. "We can only know that by tomorrow, she'll have a good rest tonight and maybe if we stay with her, it'll go easier, she'll have someone to hold her and let her know she's not alone. That she's here and not in that room with the high window and the mattress" Demi trailed a bit further, leaving me wondering if she's experienced something like this before, but I decided not to ask. She was my friend, but if something like this had happened to her and she wanted to share it, she'd do it on her own pace. Yet I took her hand, bringing her back to the here and now. "Dems, you're rambling" she gave me a weak smile, apologising. "Sorry, I don't know what happened" "Not to worry, but maybe you need to get some sleep to you know, it's been a long week"

She took a blanket, laying it over me and Steffie, keeping the both of us warm, before grabbing one for herself, wrapping herself in it. "Goodnight Nay" she whispered, closing her eyes, soon drifting off to sleep. "Night, Dems" I mumbled back, knowing she was already asleep. Even though I was exhausted, I stayed awake, I couldn't close my eyes. I knew if I did, I'd just have the same nightmare that's been haunting me the whole week. I tried my hardest not to fall asleep, but you know how it goes, when they tell you not think of a pink elephant,... It's just the same with this, my eyes finally shut tight. I guess being sleep deprived for almost a week, the comfortable position I'm in and my girl in my arms, may have helped to get there.

When I woke up the following morning, I was startled, the chair and bed were empty apart from me being there. Where were Demi and Steffie? Looking around I noticed a little note, which at first made me anxious, thinking it was another one from the kidnappers, but soon a smile came onto my face. The note was adorned with little hearts in the corners and even the "i's" were dotted with a little heart.

"Morning Naya, Demi and I went for a little walk outside the room, we let you sleep, because you needed it. Plus Demi said you'd be cranky if I'd wake you up. We won't be long, see you soon, beautiful.

Ps: Will you stay with me, when the police come back for the rest of the interview?"

Just when I finished reading there was a short, curt knock on the door. "Miss Rivera, good morning, where is Miss Vanmuysen?" the same officer from the night before asked. "They went for a walk. The note says they..." I got interrupted by another knock on the door, this time it was a rather cheerful one with rhythm in it. Demi and Steffie walked in, the latter trying to run toward me, but stopping midway, holding her head. "Apparently running makes me dizzy" she giggled, eventually walking closer to me, getting in bed.

"Good morning to you too and of course I'll stay, that is if I'm allowed to" I said holding up the note, showing her I've read it. "By the way, loved all the hearts" I added, giving her a quick kiss. She flashed a warm smile, then looked at the officer. "Can they stay, while I tell the rest of what happened?" "Sure, especially if you get another panic attack" he replied, getting in the same chair as the day before, pulling out his notepad.

"Alright, so you were in the room with the high-located window and just decided to stop exploring your whereabouts. Can you continue from that point? Take your time, and tell us if it's getting too hard" he read from the pad, then looked up at us. She nodded slowly, hesitantly but surely telling the story from where she stopped last time.

The way she described the events...it was like I was there with her. I could almost see Rick standing in front of me, doing those things she said, to me. That's when I realised how Steffie must be feeling, but surely she'll be seeing him and reliving the whole thing. So I held her closer to me, making sure she knew it was me. Trying to make her feel safe.

"Do you have any idea why you have been kidnapped?" Steffie shrugged her shoulders, taking a deep breath. "John and I, we once had a relationship. It wasn't really long or anything, but we broke up, my main reason was because he had a child. I mean I was nowhere near ready for such a responsibility, heck I barely went to my classes at the time. I suppose John took it badly, but they never told me anything when I was with them. So I have no clue as to why they took me. The only thing they ever told me was to either sit still or to shut up. Nothing on why me exactly" she told him.

"So no contact, but the phone calls?" it took me a while before I realised that question was addressed to me. "Well, eh...they left notes before they took her, after they did take her away, they started calling. First to say they had her and for the demand of a bargain. Later on they called with the transaction details, or at least that was supposed to happen, but instead they told me Steffie was here in the hospital. And then when I arrived here at the hospital a few days later, there were flowers standing on the little table, with again a little note. The note was in Dutch though, but I think I translated it correctly. It's an apology to Steffie, from John, to say he's sorry, he never meant to hurt her. But I'm positive that only one of the kidnappers felt guilty, especially hearing the doctors say the one was mad at the other" I concluded, "that being said, I'd like to take them to court when you find them" When those words fell, Steffie looked up at me, confusion written all over her face, but she kept quiet.

After the officers left Steffie turned back to me. "Why would you sue them? I mean John didn't do anything..." "Didn't do anything?! Steffie he kidnapped you, harmed you, broke the deal! You almost died and now you don't even want justice for all of this?" I interrupted her, nearly choking on my tears thinking about her dying. Didn't she have any idea of what she means to me, not at all? "Nay, I know what they did, but I'm pretty sure John never wanted this to happen. I mean look at that note he sent with the flowers" "How can you be so naïve?! Of course he would say that he's sorry, it makes him look better and probably makes him feel better as well!"

"Naya!" Demi called out, effectively snapping me out of it, "Stop yelling at her for Christ's sake" "You don't know John like I do Naya" Steffie said, as though no one was yelling at her. She turned on her stomach and pulled the blankets over her. "I'm pretty sure something or someone made him do this. It could have very well been Rick's idea, you don't know that"

Shaking my head I got off the bed, letting her rest. "You can't be serious about letting them go. They took you away, to some unknown location, held you hostage, tried raping you and you ended up in a coma" I tried staying calm, but she was making it very difficult for me. Why did she keep protecting him? She said they once had a thing, could it be she still loves him?

"Do you love him? Is that why you are protecting him?" the question barely came out as a whisper, afraid of what the answer would be. I don't think I could handle the truth if it were to be true. She turned around, slowly sitting up, a sad look on her face. "No, I don't and actually never loved him, not as a boyfriend at least. I've always seen him as a good friend, that's also one of the reasons we broke up. The main reason why I don't want you to sue him is because of his child. I don't want Jasper to end up in an orphanage or a foster care, just because of this. Jasper's mother has a severe condition of borderline and she's found incapable of raising a child on her own. I know it looks bad what John did, but I know he's a great father and Jasper needs him" she looked pleading at me, almost begging me. "Please Nay, don't do it" Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes for a moment. "Alright, maybe not John, but definitely Rick, since he's the reason you ended up in hospital, almost raping you..." When I looked up at her, she smiled faintly, opening her arms for me to hug her. "Thank you" was all she said, before lying down again, taking a quick nap.