Camila was awake and leaning back against the pillows and Bri was seated in the chair next to her. Camila had been watching the door expectantly, and smiled when she saw her mom, but then her eyes slid to him as he moved more into her line of sight and she gasped, “Samuel!” She took her hand from Bri and reached for him.
He hurried over to her bedside, and leaned down to hug her. He sat down on the edge of the bed. Camila looked happy to see him, of which he was glad. He carefully took her hand in one of his own, and stroked her hair back with his other hand. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I had to step out for a while. How do you feel?”
She cleared her throat, and her eyes shot to her mom and then to Bri. “I… feel… just fine, actually, aside from my lip and cheek hurting a little.” She reached up and touched her lip self-consciously. “I don’t think there’s anything really wrong with me, so…” she picked at the sheet over her waist and wouldn’t look at him.
“You don’t have to worry, love,” he cut in. “As soon as your test results are back and they clear you, you’ll be coming home with us. You just have to stay here for a short while, all right?”
Her brow furrowed and she frowned, but she nodded.
He felt a bit relieved, because she looked fine, other than the obvious, nothing like when he first saw her several hours ago. He kept stroking her hair, and she leaned into the touch, making him smile. Only, she tilted her head up, and he saw the collar around her neck again, and frowned at it. He was afraid he knew what it was, considering the doctor had mentions she’d been shocked. It looked like what an owner would put on a dog to train them. His stomach rolled at the thought that Adrien had used it to torture her.
“Camila… sweetheart,” he began softly. He kept his voice gentle. “What is this collar around your neck? It looks… like a dog collar, one used to train dogs to stay in their yards. Is it?”
Her lips flattened, her eyes lost their light, and became dull, replaced with a haunted look.
He wanted to kick himself for asking, until she told him what it was, and then he was just angry. Angry at Adrien for doing this to her. Angry at himself for not protecting her. Just angry. It was a useless feeling at the moment. Being angry wouldn’t fix anything. He took her hand in his gently and just waited for her to tell him what he already knew.
Her voice was soft, almost a whisper. “It’s a shock collar Adrien put around me after he drugged me. I didn’t know it was there until later, but I woke up in the trunk of a car with it on. He has a remote for it. It’s why I didn’t try to escape sooner.” Her eyes flicked up to his and he noticed they were filled with tears.
Samuel stroked her cheek, calming her. “How do we get it off?” he asked.
“It has a small padlock at the back… I tried to find a way to break it, but Adrien hardly left me alone. When he did, I couldn’t find anything useful to get it off.”
His jaw tightened with every word out of her mouth, and when he looked over at Morganna, he noticed her fists were clenched and the expression on her face was one of rage. Not needing to hear more, Samuel, said, “We’ll get it off. I’ll get someone here now.” He stood up and Morganna took his place on the bed.
Camila reached for Bri again, taking her hand with her right one while her mom held her left.
Samuel picked up the room phone and called Jacobs.
“You’ve got Jacobs.”
“It’s Kane. I’m in Camila’s room, 211. The doctor has finished her exam, and taken samples as well as blood work, she’s running tests now. I know you’re sending an officer to take her statement,” Samuel rolled his neck and turned his back to the women in the room as he continued. “The fucker put a damn shock collar around it her neck. It’s padlocked. Do you want to have your officer remove it, or can I have someone here get it off of her and give it to the officer?”
“Get that fucking thing off of her, I’m not gonna make her wait until Grimes gets there,” Jacobs hissed, “as you said fuck protocol. This whole case… damn dude, I remember you saying your brother was a train wreck, but fuck… this is some fucked up shit!”
Samuel shook his head. “I know. I had no idea he’d gotten this bad, if I had, you can believe I would have done something about it before all of this shit.”
“I know, Kane. I’m sorry. We still haven’t found him. Don’t know how he got away.”
“Keep me posted, and Jacobs?”
“Yeah?”
“Thanks.” Samuel hung the phone up and hit the call button for the nurse.
“Yes?” a voice came over the speaker in the headboard.
“Hi, this Samuel Kane in room 211, Camila Blake’s room. I need someone up here asap, with some bolt cutters.”
“Um, Mr. Kane, I’m not sure—”
Samuel interrupted her, “I don’t care if you have to call the fucking maintenance man, get some bolt cutters in here. Now. And don’t make me ask again.”
The speaker was quiet for a moment and then a voice said, “I’ll see what I can do.”
Samuel paced the floor in front of the wide span of windows while Morganna spoke softly with Camila. A few minutes later a nurse and a stocky, older man with salt and pepper hair dressed in a grey uniform appeared with a pair of bolt cutters. “About damn time.”
“I was told you need these?” The man held the cutters up.