Desolation

Chapter Thirty One

((thank you all for your reads, votes and comments! it really makes me smile when I read all of your awesome comments! i hope that you guys enjoy this chapter! and since I know that you are all probably worrying about Ian here is a picture of when he was with Tessa, so that you can remember him when he was happy! i am trying to make you guys feel better hahaha))

When I open my mouth to scream, Tristan presses his hand against my mouth, clamping it shut. He puts a finger to his mouth, raising his eyebrows at me.

It takes every bit of strength inside of me not to. I want to call out his name. I want to scream at the doctors to stop doing whatever sick operation they are doing on him. I want to jump down and save him. But I can't.

Instead, I watch in frozen terror as the doctors continue to operate on Ian. A large machine, standing upright beside his bed, is hooked to his head. Various wires connect to different parts of his head, and he appears to be out cold. The machine is humming, an ominous humming noise that sends chills down my spine.

I don't know what they are doing to him, but whatever it is, it cannot be good.

I swallow, trying to push down the large lump that has formed in the back of my throat. Angry tears fill my eyes, blurring my vision.

Tristan looks at me, a pained expression on his face. He must know how how hopeless and fearful I am feeling right now.

Just when I am about to look away, I hear a door open and watch as someone enters the room below.

My heart skips a beat when I see Hal slowly wheel into the room in a wheelchair. The leg that Ian shot is wrapped up in a large cast that is stained with blood. Instantly, one of the doctors presses a button on the machine, turning it off. The ominous humming noise is replaced by an unsettling silence.

The three doctors turn around, all facing Hal as he wheels into the room. 

"How is your leg feeling Doctor?" one of the doctors asks.

"Never better," Hal says, sarcasm apparent in his voice.

Just his voice sends chills throughout my entire body. Peering through the slits of the vent, I watch as Hal wheels himself over to Ian's bedside. Everything inside of me wants to scream, "Get the hell away from him!" I literally have to bite my tongue not to do so.

"Is the operation finished?" Hal asks, glancing up at the doctors.

"I believe so," one of them says.

Hal looks back down at Ian, who is still unconscious. My stomach flips when I see that his face is as white as a sheet.

"Excellent. This is the proper punishment for what he did to me."

My blood immediately runs cold.

"Your job is finished here," Hal announces.

The three doctors all nod, then file out of the room, leaving Hal alone with Ian. Once the door is shut behind them, Hal leans in close to Ian. I can barely make out what he whispers to him, but I do hear this.

"You'll regret that you shot me," he says coldly.

I recoil, and the vent moves slightly, making a small grating noise. Instantly, Hal looks up at the vent. My heart racing, I jump backwards. Tristan grabs me, holding me still. Hal slowly wheels himself across the floor until he is right underneath the vent. He looks up at it suspiciously.

For a few moments, Tristan and I stay as still and silent as possible, barely breathing. Then finally, Hal looks back down and wheels himself towards the door and leaves. Once he is gone, I let out a huge sigh of relief. 

"That was a close one," Tristan whispers.

I glance up at him and see a sheen of sweat covering his forehead.

"We have to go down there," I say.

"Tessa, we can't. What if they come back? We'll be caught and then who knows what they'll do to us," Tristan says.

I look at Tristan, locking my eyes with his.

"They did something to him, Tristan. I have to go down to him and see what happened," I say.

"Tessa..." Tristan starts.

But I cut him off abruptly.

"You can come or stay, but I am going down," I say flatly.

Tristan opens his mouth, then closes it.

"Okay fine. But only for a little bit. Then we should go back to our room before they figure out that we escaped," he finally says.

I nod, then carefully lift the vent open. I jump down first, crashing down painfully on the white tile floor. Then, Tristan jumps down, landing much more gracefully than I did.

Immediately, I rush to Ian's side. When I look at his face, tears well up in my eyes, slowly beginning to roll down my cheeks. He looks sickly and is covered in sweat. I take one of his hands in mine and feel that his is ice cold.

"Ian..." I sob quietly, looking down at him.

Then, I slowly lean down and kiss him softly on the cheek. I let my lips linger on him for a few moments, hoping that he will stir and wake up. But he doesn't. He is out cold.

What have they done to him?

I then rest my head against his chest and am relieved to hear his heart beat. Even though it is beating slow, at least it is beating.

I lean back, glancing at Tristan who is standing awkwardly across the room, looking at us.

"Hey, I'm really sorry, Tessa," he says.

I sniffle, wiping the tears away from my face. 

"We can go back now," I say quietly.

After taking one last sad look at Ian, I turn away and walk back towards Tristan. Before we climb back up into the vent, Tristan wraps his arms around me, pulling me into a hug. I cry onto his chest for a few moments, soaking his shirt. I wonder how many times Tristan has seen me cry. 

I don't want to know how many.

Once I pull away, Tristan jumps up, pulling himself up into the shaft. He holds his hands out and I jump up, grabbing them. Using all of his strength, he heaves me up until I crash down into the shaft. After placing the vent cover back on, we begin to crawl back through the narrow shaft. A few times I bump my head onto the ceiling, making a loud clanging sound on the metal. Each time I pray that no one hears it from down below.

I cannot get the lump in my throat to go away. I cannot stop thinking about Ian, wondering what they did to him. Hal's words echo in my mind,

This is the proper punishment for what he did to me...

I close my eyes, trying to push all of the bad thoughts out of my mind.

Finally, we arrive back above our room. I am relieved to get out of the cramped, claustrophobic confinement of the air-conditioning shaft. Tristan lifts the vent cover then jumps down, landing on top of one of the beds. He looks up at me, holding out his hands. I hop down and he wraps his arms around me, preventing me from losing my balance.

Once I land, he looks at me, his blue eyes meeting mine. For a few moments, we stand there with his arms wrapped around my waist. I realize that it doesn't feel right. I want Ian's arms to be around me.  

I want Ian.

Then suddenly, my thoughts are broken when I notice something behind Tristan that I didn't notice before.

Something that is out of place.

Someone that makes my heart stop.

There, sitting in his wheelchair in the corner of the room is Hal.