Jaded

Hi All...Here is the next installment...And boy is it a long one...So, I'm going to split them up into two parts...And post them back to back...Hope you have fun reading... :)

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Part 10 - A

They arrived at Roxy’s apartment house. Delilah parked the car haphazardly. She leapt out of the car quickly and sped around to help Lex with Chloe. Gently she held Chloe in her arms as Lex quickly jumped out. He scooped up Chloe and they ran to the front steps. She found the key to the apartment house quickly and let them in.

“Third floor!” Delilah yelled as she held the door for Lex. Lex rushed up the stairs. When he arrived at the door, he impatiently used his foot to bang on it. Delilah reached his side in seconds and she also banged on the door with her hand.

“Rox! Open up! Emergency!” Delilah yelled. Roxy who had stayed in due to stress and worry over what was happening at Eden’s, opened the door quickly upon recognizing Delilah’s voice. Delilah raced in with Lex following close behind her.

“What the hell happened? Chlo!” Roxy yelled.

“I’ll tell you all about it later. Where can we put her?” Delilah answered. Roxy motioned for Lex to follow her.

“Put her in my room.” Roxy as she led them into her bedroom. Lex followed with Delilah and Sin in tow. He gently laid Chloe on the bed.

“Delilah, what the hell happened? You were supposed to watch out for her!” Sin growled.

“Roxy, I have a doctor coming here. Can you let him in? His name is Toby.” Lex said cutting off Sin’s protests. Lex took a closer look at Chloe now that she was settled. What he saw made his rage rise to the point where he couldn’t breathe properly. Her face was covered in purple and black bruises. Her top lip was split from the force of the blow Apollo had given her. He tenderly brushed back her hair. His rage mounted as frustration settled within him.

Damn! This was not supposed to happen.

Roxy, who had left the room when Lex informed her about Toby, was back almost immediately. A short, balding, portly man followed her in. He nodded towards Lex but his gaze immediately went to Chloe.

“Goodness, Lex! What happened?” Toby asked as he moved immediately to Chloe’s side.

“Toby, she was fed a drug forcefully. The drug’s still in the experimental stages so its properties are still unknown.” Lex responded as he was sat by Chloe’s side.

“Does this drug have a name?” Toby asked, as he proceeded to examine the young blonde woman before him.

“Liquid Gold.” Lex responded as his hand softly touched Chloe’s cheek. Toby looked up quickly.

“The Gold! I know this drug. You are not the first person to call me on account of it. Highly dangerous.” Toby informed Lex. He quickly opened his medical bag and some supplies. He laid a syringe and some medicine on the night stand by the bed.

“What does this drug do?” Lex asked fear gnawing away at him.

“It’s a form of freefalling. The user flies higher and higher for about forty-five minutes to an hour. Then suddenly crashes at an alarming rate. Almost like jumping out of a plane. I was told it was the ultimate rush. The problem with this drug is for users who are not accustomed to the freefalling…the so-called rush causes to heart to pump almost triple its normal rate and leads to cardiac arrest.” Toby quickly filled the syringe.

“What I am giving this young woman is a medicine to counter the effect somewhat. It’s a form of sedative that works specifically on calming down the heart rate. But it’s still not a hundred percent. We’ll have to keep a close eye on her. How long ago was this drug given?” Toby asked.

Delilah checked the time. Thirty minutes have passed already.

“Thirty minutes.” inf informed Toby. Toby nodded.

“Toby, before you give her anything, could you draw a vial of blood from her? The drug is in her system and I want it analyzed in order to come up with an antidote.” Lex explained when Toby’s eyebrows shot up. Toby quickly agreed with Lex’s assessment. He found that he was receiving more and more calls for overdoses on Liquid Gold. He drew her blood then filled the syringe with the sedative and injected it into her.

“Lex, I suggest you get ready. She is going to need you when she crashes. Talk her through as she’s crashing. Keep your voice calm and steady.” Toby advised.

Roxy, Sin and Delilah looked at each as fear, worry and anger reflected in their gazes. The thirty minute wait was unbearable. Chloe’s body began to jerk uncontrollably when she started to crash. Her breath caught as pain twisted throughout her system. Lex held her down and began to whisper softly in her ear. Toby held Chloe’s legs down. She tried to cry out in pain but found that she couldn’t speak.

“Shhh…I’m here, sweetheart. It’ll be okay. Come back to me…” Lex whispered.

After what seemed like hours…Chloe’s body slowly began to relax. Her breathing settled and the pain abated somewhat.

“That’s it. Come back to me. We still have plenty of arguing to do. Come back to me my feisty hellcat. Please.” He whispered.

“That’s good, Lex. Her vitals are beginning to stabilize. In a few minutes her heart rate should have slowed down enough.” Toby softly informed.

But Lex was beyond hearing. Once he started talking he couldn’t seem to stop. Chloe couldn’t leave him. She couldn’t. He wouldn’t allow that. After fifteen minutes, Chloe’s body had stabilized a bit. Toby examined her one more time. Satisfied with the results, he started to pack his things.

“Keep an eye on her for the next five hours. If anything happens, call me immediately. She should be fine afterwards. She’ll be a little sore but for the most part she’ll make a full recovery in a day or so.” Toby said.

Roxy, overcome with emotion, threw her arms around Toby. Sin followed suit. Toby shocked by the action didn’t know what to do and just stood still.

“Thanks, doc!” Roxy’s voice was hoarse with emotion. Toby simply nodded.

“Rox, Sin, why don’t you let the man go.” Delilah said softly though she too wanted nothing more than to hug the man who saved her friend’s life.

“Sorry about that.” Roxy said trying to get her emotions under control. “Here I’ll show you the way out.”

Sin followed Roxy out and Delilah took the seat Toby had just vacated. Her violet eyes filled with tears as they gazed down at Chloe’s sleeping form. Lex lay down next to Chloe and held her body close to him. She was going to be fine. Chloe was a fighter. He had never felt so relieved in all his life.

Roxy and Sin came back in with three lounge chairs. As they silently set up the chairs, Roxy and Sin made themselves comfortable. Delilah soon joined them. Now they all waited for Chloe to wake up.

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Lex heard the soft groan first. He had dozed off for a few hours but her groan instantly awakened him.

“Chloe?” he whispered. She groaned again. Happiness swelled within him.

“Ladies, wake up! Chloe’s coming to.” He said hoarsely. One by one, Roxy, Sin and Delilah woke up. They all closed in around Chloe.

Her eyes opened slowly. The first thing she saw was shining blue-gray eyes filled suspiciously with moisture. Chloe smiled slightly. That can’t be. It must be her imagination. She tried to speak but Lex still her with his hand.

“No! Talk later. Rest now.” Lex said. Chloe slowly nodded her head. She looked around her and saw her three friends grinning down at her. Roxy’s grin widened as tears in her eyes threatened to fall.

“Hey, kiddo. Glad you’re okay but Lex is right! You rest up now.” Roxy said. Chloe smiled at them. She closed her eyes and quickly fell back to sleep.

“Excuse me.” Roxy voice was hoarse. Overcome with emotion, she ran out of the room. Sin and Delilah followed her out.

Lex softly kissed the woman in his arms. As she sleepily settled herself closer to him, he smiled down at her and felt his eyes closing. Within minutes he was instantly asleep.

Outside the room, Roxy was wiping the tears from her eyes. Anger, rage and the need for revenge burned within her. Sin and Delilah said nothing as they sat with her.

“Delilah…Tell me everything that happened. I want to know how this drug ended up in her system. Then we’ll see about some payback!” Roxy said in a steely voice.

Delilah nodded and proceeded to tell her of the night’s events

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