When did I become so numb?

The risks are too high

The first thing Grace noticed when her eyes fluttered open was the time. As her eyes landed on her watch, she calculated how long she had been out. Oh no! She had been unconscious for at least six hours! The second thing she noticed was that both her hands were free. So someone had the decency to cut her hands loose, while she was unconscious.

'Wonder who that was'

She wasn't tied up any longer, so Grace instantly examined her wrists and saw that someone had patched them up. As her mind brought her back, she remembered how she had tugged at her restraints, causing the skin on her wrists to break.

It still burned like a bitch, but it was nothing compared to the splitting head ache she had right now. She felt as if her head was about to explode any minute now. While massaging her temples carefully, Grace felt a gut-wrenching pain shoot through her heart, the feeling so gnawing and unbearable, making her want to scream aloud...

"My babies..." she sobbed, as the image of Mia and an unconscious Elliot on the bedroom floor flooded her mind, plaguing her since Hailey had kidnapped her.

"I'm sorry" she whispered" Sorry I left you again"

She was locked up in a room without windows and only one door.

.

... Flashback... (The night before)

.

After Hailey and two of her thugs had shoved her into the room, they had tied her up securely.

"Why are you doing this, Hailey?" she had asked." Please, let me go"

But no matter what she said, Hailey only stared her down, not saying anything back.

"You don't want to do this" Grace tried, but it was in vain.

After that, they locked the door and left her alone in there. She instantly protested and began to yell out loud that she wanted out. However, they ignored her and she kept yelling until her throat hurt.

At one point, Grace cried for help." I'm thirsty, please... can I have some water?"

No one came to her aid, so she began to bang loudly on the door. At one point, they did acknowledge her presence.

The door swung open, and a big, scary man barged into the room. Her hands were still tied up, so he helped her drink from the bottle.

"Drink and shut up" were the only words he said.

As soon as she had her fill, the thug shoved her on the matrass and disappeared again, locking the door behind him.

It was then, when Grace broke down and cried. Will she ever see her kids again? Her beautiful girl, Mia, her handsome sons, Christian and Elliot? As loud sobs escaped her lips, the gorgeous face of Ana appeared in her mind.

Ana... the woman she accused of causing all of the gut-wrenching pain she and Christian had endured. Thinking back, and remembering that she had told Ana that she was just as disgusting and bad as her mother, made Grace feel sick to her stomach.

Tears streamed down her face, wishing that she had asked Ana for forgiveness before ending up here in this hell hole. Grace realized now that she had been wrong about her...

Ana wasn't the root of the problem. On the contrary, she was the one who from the start, had done everything in her power to protect the Grey family. After all that Ana had gone through, Grace admired her immensely...