"I wouldn't do that if I were you. I have the evidence that could ruin that doctor of yours."
Aurelia felt a wave of fear skate down her spine. "What do you want from me, Marcus? We aren't together anymore, I left you! I moved all the way across the country to get away from you! Why won't you leave me alone!"
"You belong to me. You've always belonged to me. I'm here to bring you home."
"What? No. I'm not going back to Portland! I'm not going back to you!"
"If you don’t, I will give the evidence to that lady doctor at the hospital and that doctor you've been seeing will be losing his license."
"I'm not seeing anyone, Marcus, so you can shove your evidence in your ass! I would rather die than go back to you!" Aurelia gasped out, her chest starting to ache. "I'm getting a restraining order, Marcus, so don't you dare come near me!"
"You do it and I will release that informa—"
Aurelia hung up the phone and grabbed her chest. She stumbled toward the wall, trying to catch her breath, but it was coming in pained gasped. She hit speed dial on her phone as she slid to the floor, her vision turning black.
"Hey, Lia, what's up?"
"Kel — help…" the phone slipped from her grasp as blackness took over and she slipped into unconsciousness.
She woke to Kelly patting her cheek, but the pain in her chest was still throbbing and she nearly slipped under again.
"Thank God, don't you pass out on me again," she muttered. "Come on, I'm getting you to the hospital!"
"N-no…" Aurelia started to protest.
"Don't even try it," Kelly warned as she put an arm around Aurelia and helped her to her feet.
Once Aurelia was in the car, Kelly went back and grabbed Aurelia's purse, phone, and keys. She locked the door and got in the car. She sped down the street and made it to the emergency room in minutes.
"Hey, we need help over here!" she called to one of the nurses.
Aurelia looked up as they rushed toward her with a wheelchair. Kelly explained how she'd found her and what had been going on with her and the Pericarditis. They immediately took her to an examination room and got her into a bed. Kelly stayed by her side the whole time. They didn't talk just sat there waiting for the doctor to look her over.
Dr. Song stepped into the little curtained room a few minutes later. "I see you're back." She smiled. "Had another attack?"
Aurelia nodded. The pain was starting to subside, but her stress levels were still high, she could tell.
"What were you doing right before this attack?"
"Phone call from my ex-boyfriend," she muttered.
"Ah. So, stress related. Got it." Dr. Song nodded. "Is he going to show up here?"
"He damn well better not because I won't be letting him anywhere near Aurelia." Kelly was seething.
Dr. Song grinned. "Glad she has you in her corner. Alright, I'm going to keep you over-night, ma'am. We're going to move you to a room, and you are going to rest and get that heart rate back down to a normal level, then we'll talk tomorrow."
Aurelia sighed. She was already feeling better, but she wasn't going to argue. "Okay."
Once she was settled in a room, Kelly joined her. She sat down in the recliner and folded her arms across her chest. "How are you feeling?"
"Better."
"Good. Now, spill it."
And she did. She told her everything that had been going on, from the investigator; to her and Daniel breaking up, sort of; to Marcus and his threats. "It was all just too much, and the stress overwhelmed me."
"Yeah I can imagine it would. Something's got to be done."
"I don't know what though."
"Can you give me Daniel's number? Maybe between the three of us we can figure it out."
"In my phone." Aurelia's eyes felt heavy as the sleeping pill they'd given her started to kick in.
"Get some rest. I'll be right here."
Aurelia thought she nodded, but the pill pulled her under, and she couldn't think anymore.
Chapter 15
Daniel
His phone rang from an unknown number and he was hesitant to answer it. He let it go to voicemail and as soon as he heard the ding that a message had been left, he pulled it up to listen.
"Dr. West, this is Kelly Southern, Aurelia's neighbor. She's in the hospital. We need to talk. Call me back, you should have my number now."
"Shit!" He quickly dialed her back. "Ms. Southern? It's Dr. West, I'm on my w—"
"No. Don't come here. I know you're her doctor, technically, but if you show up right now, you're going to draw attention to how you knew. Wait for one of the other doctors to contact you."
Daniel paused his frantic search for his keys and frowned. "You know about me and Aurelia, don't you."