A selfish love

Now that Laila had handled the guilt Jake was most likely feeling for the role he had played in everything that had happened today, she addressed the second matter that needed to be addressed, his mentioning of the police station. Laila brought the topic back up saying, "Aside from that, what do you mean by 'what I heard at the station'? What were you doing at the station? Did you get arrested? At least I assume you meant the police station by the word 'station'." Jake nodded and they moved to a bench by the road to continue their conversation.

"When you and Maria ran out the door, I was still in a bit of a trance from my conversation with Harold and the thought of what might happen. I was feeling so helpless at that moment. That brute was rampaging through your house and I lacked the strength to stop him. At the same time Harold was carrying out his threat to Noah and Steve and there too I had no way of stopping it from happening. So, all I could see was all the ways that I would be losing you because of someone I had begun to consider a friend. Either you would be getting hurt and I would be losing you, your baby would get hurt because of the altercation and you would blame me or Noah would get hurt or killed and you would blame me for it. The thought of me potentially losing you forever because of my own stupidity and inability, had me kind of paralyzed."

Again Jake showed Laila a hurt smile, which revealed his disappointment in himself, before he turned away to stare off into the distance and continued to tell her what had happened after they had last seen each other. Jake's words and his hurt smile, made Laila feel a bit sad for him but because he had turned his face back to the front, he seemed to have not noticed the look in Laila's eyes. Being blissfully unaware as the words kept rolling out of his mouth. "I only woke up from my trance when I heard the door slam shut. I carefully got up and looked around the house to see if it was you who had left or if that brute had gotten his way and left after he had finished what he had came here to do. I noticed the open door leading to the library. I carefully walked inside and that is when I saw the man beaten up and tied to the table."

Jake smiled once more but this one seemed to hold relief and genuine happiness. "I sighed a breath of relief to know that you had gotten away but in my focus on finding you, I had not noticed the sirens of the police fast approaching. By the time that I did, it was already too late. The cops came inside the house and they found me in the same room as the brute. I tried explaining who I was and what I was doing there. But they couldn't verify my story then and there, so I was brought in for questioning.

By that time, everything at I.E. had already happened and everyone at the station was at an uproar about it. This caused my questioning to delayed for quite a bit. As I waited, I asked one of the officers if he could tell me anything but he said that since it was an ongoing investigation, everything was confidential. So, I told him that the people involved were my friends and that I only wanted to know if they had gotten away alive or not. That is when he told me after some hesitation and looking around that no one had died yet. That the owner had gotten away with a few scratches but that the vice president and co-owner, had to be rushed to the hospital. Since this is the nearest big hospital, I figured I would find you guys here. So, after they questioned me and they saw that I was speaking the truth, they let me go. That is when I came here and I ran into you."

Laila nodded. Having heard his story, she understood why he had only gotten here now. But hearing all of this, she was put in a difficult position. It didn't feel right to turn him away after all that he had said but she wasn't too sure if bringing him back to the hospital was the right idea either. After a bit of hesitation and going back and forth in her mind, she decided to at least invite Jake along as she got everyone some food. She would decide how to continue based on that.

"I was just on my way to get us all some food but I don't know many places around here. Maybe you want to join me as I look for something that would be good to eat but healthy enough for a patient?" Jake nodded and they started walking as Laila told Jake about Steve, about his surgery and how he was doing fine now. He told her about how Olivia had contacted him to tell him about what Harold had done and how she felt betrayed, just like he had felt. They had both acted out of a selfish love but Harold had acted purely out of hate, targeting the exact same people they in love with and were trying to get for themselves. Olivia had also told him about how Noah had visited her and how he seemed to know everything as well. How he knew that she was in cahoots with Harold and how they probably already knew his involvement as well. When Jake asked Laila about this, she could only confirm.