Chapter 23: Crossing Over

We got to the hospital and they quickly took us into the ward he was in.

"Dad!" Lee and I exclaimed, running to him.

"Will he be okay?" I asked.

"We have some good news for the both of you..." the Doctor said.

"But...?" Lee asked, knowing there was some bad news to follow.

"A bit of some bad news too," the Doctor added.

"We are listening," Lee said.

"His injury was a bit mild but close to severe. He obtained an injury to his left leg and an ecchymosis on his arm," the Doctor said.

"An ecchymosis?" I asked.

"What did you think?" Another nurse came in.

"It's just a bruise on his arm, no need for the scientific terminology," I said.

The nurse looked at me shocked, while I smirked.

"My fiancee has a certificate in medical studies," Lee jumped into the conversation. 

"Oh, Mr. Lee!" The nurse said, smiling.

"No need for the fake pretend," Lee said.

"But next time, know your place. Okay?" Lee added. "My Dad wouldn't call this hospital the best if he knew the staff were this puffed up."

"Oh yes sir, I apologize," the nurse said, walking away.

Lee turned to look at the doctor.

"Carrying on with our conversation, despite the bruise and injury, are there any meds he needs to take?"

"Yes," the doctor said, handing them to Lee.

"He must take the white and blue pills for the leg injury - acts as a painkiller," he said.

"How many times must he take them?" I asked.

"Twice a day, especially before meals," the doctor said.

Lee and I nodded our heads.

"I will take my leave now," the doctor said, leaving the ward.

Lee looked intently at the prescribed medication.

"May I look at them?" I asked.

Lee didn't hesitate to give them to me. I opened the container to see what kind of pills they were. I opened my eyes wide.

"What's wrong?" Lee asked.

Before I could respond, we heard some groaning from Dad. We both stood up from our chairs and looked at him.

"Dad!" we exclaimed once more.

"You are awake," Lee said.

"Sorry to scare you guys," Dad said. "Some car came into our lane and a collision happened."

I put a pillow behind Dad's back for support.

"It seemed determined to crash into us," Dad said.

"That wasn't good," I said. "Speaking of which, where is Liam?"

Dad's eyes grew wide.

"I lost consciousness quickly but the last thing I heard was a scream from Liam calling for help," Dad said. "Please look for him."

"I will Dad," Lee said, standing up to leave.

I took his hand.

"I'm coming with you," I said.

"No, you stay here okay?" Lee said firmly.

"Okay. Be safe," I said.

Lee for the first time since I met him smiled.

"I will," he said. "See you, Dad."

"Bye son," Dad said.

Dad turned to look at me.

"Liana, please have a seat," Dad said.

I took a seat and patiently looked at him.

"You know Liana, I don't think I have thanked you enough for sticking close to Lee's side despite his stubbornness," he said.

"That's okay, I mean we love each other," I said.

"Liana my child, please don't lie," Dad said.

I looked at him puzzled.

"I know you and Lee are not truly engaged," he added.

"Oh?"

"I could tell from Lee's facial expressions and body language that he was acting," he said.

"You know your son very well," I said.

I bowed my head low, not wanting to meet his gaze.

"I am sorry Dad for lying," I said. 

"Don't worry, I know it wasn't you - that boy likes forcing his way through things," he said.

"But Lee meant it on good terms though," I said.

"Oh? Are you defending him already?" Dad asked, laughing.

I felt myself shiver in embarrassment.

"Oh no! Not it that way! Well, I was just saying..." I said, trying to defend myself.

"Don't take it seriously, it was just a joke," he said.

He then softened his voice.

"You know Liana," he said.

"Yes, Dad?" I replied.

"I have never seen Lee so happy and free like this. He has never cracked cheesy lines before," he said.

"What do you mean cheesy lines?" I asked.

"For security reasons, the cars we have are installed with listening devices so I can hear what he says in his car and he can do the same with me," Dad said.

I opened my eyes in realization.

"So, when I asked him about having a relationship, he talked with Ace about having a fake fiancee - that's how I knew," Dad said.

"So you heard about our conversation in Lee's car?" I asked.

"You are getting it," Dad said.

I laughed.

"Does Lee know about this?" I asked.

"Not yet," he said. "He will catch up to the news soon, however."

"But seriously - he has never cracked such things especially..." Dad paused.

"Especially what?" I asked.

"After he and his ex-girlfriend broke up," he said.

I never knew he had a first love because it was a contract marriage - I had to mind my own business.

Maybe that was what made him grumpy? How was he in his first relationship? Does it connect with Liam?

I had so many questions about Lee's past that lingered in my mind, but I had to push those thoughts away.

"I know you have a lot of questions. Since I trust you, I know you won't spread them like Elaine," Dad said.

Today years old, I finally understood that I was the easiest person to read without asking me questions.

As much as I had these questions though, it felt good to learn more about Lee through his Dad...

"Thank you for trusting me Dad," I said.

"No, thank you for proving your trustworthiness," Dad said.

"Make yourself comfortable for this story," he said.

I adjusted myself and he then related to me everything about Elaine. For some odd reason, Elaine's name sounded familiar but I kept pushing that thought away.

"My imagination in the works I guess," I said to myself.

"Since the name sounded familiar, I also thought the person was familiar too," I thought to myself.

"Elaine was deeply loved by Lee but I had my suspicions," Dad said. "Not so long after they dated, however, it turned out that I was right. Elaine just wanted to wipe us clean and destroy our good reputation. That was the day Lee lost trust in women and love. I advised him to marry someone else," he continued.

"And that ended up being me," I said.

Dad nodded.

"I guess I pushed him too hard," Dad said. "But there is another side to the story in terms of his real motive for choosing you however."

"Really?" I asked. "What is that?"

"You have to ask Lee to find out," Dad said. "I have accepted you Liana, whether real or fake engagement. All I want is for Lee to be happy."

"Thanks, Dad," I said. "I want to make him happy."

"I know," he said. "But promise me one thing."

"Yes, Dad?" I asked.

"Promise me to help Lee heal from Elaine," he said. "I know he is stubborn but I know you will get through to him much better than me."

"I will try," I said.

"Thank you," Dad said.

Not too long after, Lee came through the door.

"Any news Lee?" I asked.

"The guards said that when Dad was brought to the hospital, they didn't see any sign of Liam," Lee said.

"Dad, can I talk to Lee for a bit?" I asked.

"My grandson is missing," Dad said.

"I know, and we are on it," I said.

"We?" Lee asked.

"Of course 'we!'" I exclaimed. "You thought you would be doing this on your own?"

"Let's go talk," Lee said.

"Coming back Dad," I said.

He nodded and we went back into the car. Ace was at the reception and gave Lee the car keys. We went into the car.

"For security reasons," Lee said.

"No problem," I said.

We sat at the back. Lee and I looked at each other.

"Is there something you wanted to tell me?" Lee asked.

"Yes, about Liam," I said.

"Tell me, does Liam have any spyware he wears perhaps?" I asked.

"No, but he does have a watch that has a tracker in it," Lee said.

We both looked at each other.

"Tracker!" We exclaimed happily.

Lee took out his laptop from underneath the car seat and opened it.

"Is your car so safe, that you can keep your laptop in here?" I asked.

"Everything is safe when you are with me," Lee said, winking at me.

I laughed.

"You are funny Lee," I said.

Lee laughed and smiled at me. He then gave me his laptop.

"What must I do?" I asked.

"Don't play dumb with me Liana," Lee said. "I know from your favorite hobbies and line of work, you are a great hacker."

I looked at him shocked.

"Seems like someone did their research," I teased him.

"So, you do agree," Lee said. "Got you!"

I then realized that he was asking me indirectly.

"Sneaky," I said.

"I'm the best, no question," he said. "Now let's see how much of a good black hat hacker my fiancee is," he said, smirking at me.

"Let's test her out," I said, smirking at him.

I hacked into Liam's watch and within minutes, we got his location.

"He is close to South Cybric's border!" I exclaimed.

"We can't tell Dad about this, it will stress him even more," Lee said. "I will get Ace and we can hit the road."

"But we can't leave him without telling him where we are going," I said. "He is going to find out sooner or later."

"I know, but not the right time as of yet," Lee said.

"Okay," I said.

We both ran back into the hospital, separating as I went back into Dad's ward room while Lee explained the situation to Ace.

"Dad?" I called out.

He was fast asleep.

We can't tell Dad about this, it will stress him even more.

These words echoed in my head.

"Let me write him a little note," I said to myself.

"Dear Dad,

We have found Liam. We are going to get him now. See you in the morning.

Love,

Lee and Liana."

I hid it nicely under his book so that no one could see it.

I left the ward. Before that, however, the nurse from earlier stopped me.

"Do you need something?" I asked. "You are blocking my way."

"You are Liana Rodriguez correct?" The nurse asked.

"Yes, why?" I asked skeptically.

"No, just such a pity you decide to get married to a rich man instead of building your career."

I laughed at her comment.

"Who said I wanted to become a doctor? I just took the courses for fun. It's way more entertaining hacking accounts like yours and wiping them clean," I said.

She looked at me with disgust.

"You don't know your place I see," I said. "Allow me to help you."

She rolled her eyes at me. I then placed my hand on her shoulder.

"Let me give you some life advice. You, Yolanda Millers, don't know the word, 'boundaries'. If I were you, I would keep my mouth shut and mind my own. Such a pity that... you got dumped three times by 3 guys... currently dating the doc," I said.

She looked at me horrifically.

"I told you, it's way more entertaining being behind the screen and hacking into people's accounts. You are a 23-year-old who is very extroverted. Man, why didn't you take journalism? Your attitude deserves that profession. Lucky my Dad also loves this hospital - if it wasn't for that, this hospital would have been shut down already," I said.

"Babe, we need to go!" Lee exclaimed.

"Coming babe!" I shouted back.

I looked at Yolanda once more. She looked more humble than she was a few minutes ago.

"Let me give you one more warning. Tell me, do you love your job?" I asked.

"Y-Yes I do!" Yolanda replied.

"Good. Then act like you do," I said. "And if you ever, disrespect me like you did today, I ensure you a happy unemployed life. You got that?" I asked.

She fell silent.

"Answer me," I said, looking at her straight into her eyes.

"Yes Ma'am! I'm sorry, I won't do that again!" She exclaimed, running away in tears.

All eyes were on us.

"Don't beat yourself too much okay?" I said.

I didn't realize that Lee was standing next to me and holding my hand. I looked at him.

"Oh, sorry," I said.

"No, that's okay," Lee said. "Let's go."

We walked out of the hospital, hand in hand. We got into the car and Ace drove off.

"You were right Lee," I said. "I couldn't tell Dad."

"That's okay," Lee said. "I guess you found him asleep?"

"Yeah, so I just wrote him a note explaining that we found Liam and that we will see him tomorrow morning," I said.

"Great, that will give us enough time," Lee said.

I wanted to know more about Elaine but I wouldn't want to bring back old wounds for Lee.

"What did we say about hiding our feelings?" Lee asked. "Tell me."

"You read my mind once more," I said. "I just trying to think about the possible suspects in Liam crossing over to the North."

"Do you have any enemies perhaps?" I asked.

Lee pondered over the question before responding.

"Not quite. You think a potential enemy could have been behind this?" Lee asked.

"Yeah," I replied.

Ace drove to the border. We quickly came out of the car and called out Liam's name.

"Liam!"

"Liam!"

We kept calling out his name. The border was jam-packed with people entering and leaving the South. We entered the building that had a queue of people leaving South Cybric.

"Liam?"

"Liam?"

Lee and I still kept calling out his name.

"Look who's here to save Lee's son," a woman behind me said.

I looked behind me to look at her. Before I could respond, Lee stood next to me.

"That's my wife you are talking to," Lee said.

"Oh, Mr. Lee Romano! We didn't mean any of the words I said!" The woman said.

"Did they respect you, babe?" Lee said, looking at me.

"Not at all babe, thanks," I said, smiling.

I haven't shown my other side yet.

"Okay," Lee said, giving the woman one last look before turning away.

I was about to join Lee when she spoke again.

"Wife wannabe."

I walked back to her and spoke enough for other people in line to hear.

"Ma'am, what have I done to be called a wife wannabe?" I asked.

Everyone looked at her shocked.

"If you want to know more about me, you can ask nicely, and I will answer," I continued.

People started giving her disgusted looks. Lee came back to join me.

"I knew this woman was up to no good," Lee said, standing behind me. "Don't forget what we do to people to disrespect the Romanos."

The woman bowed her head low.

"Yes sir," she said.

Lee took my hand and we walked away.

I felt my heart pounding. Lee stood up for me in front of everyone. His attitude towards me changed within two days. I looked at Lee.

"Thanks... for standing up for me," I said. "You know I could do that by myself you know?"

"I know, but it felt good standing up for my fiancee," Lee said.

"You can drop the act," I said. "Your Dad knows."

Lee looked at me skeptically.

"No, I didn't tell him, and yes, he found out through the listening devices that were in your car," I said.

"Slow me," I said.

"Don't beat yourself," I said. "Better for him to know than to keep up with a lie."

"Let's keep searching," Lee said.

Lee and I went to the officials and asked him if he saw a little boy with blue eyes. As Lee was conversing, I heard a little voice screaming.

"Mommy!"

"Daddy!"

I looked at where the voice was coming from.

"Mommy! Over he--"

I looked through the window. I could see a boy with blue eyes and black hair being pulled. He is in a hoodie, however.

"Liam?" I thought.

"Liam!"

I ran into the people exiting the building.

"Sorry."

"Excuse me."

I pushed through people that I didn't hear Lee calling out to me.

"Liana!"

I ran out to see Liam running to break free of the person's grip.

I looked at the road. The car was opposite the building, meaning I had to cross the road.

"Time to put my trauma behind me," I said to myself.

"Liana!" Lee called out.

I ran across the busy road, focusing my eyes on Liam.

"Get her boys!"

The person holding Liam was a woman. Two big men came out of the car.

"I'm out in one blow," I said to myself.

I walked back mindlessly, forgetting I was on a busy road.

"Mommy! You came!" Liam exclaimed.

"Yes, Liam. I'm here," I said.

I looked at the men who were advancing at me quickly.

"Just be a good boy okay?" I asked.

"He will be just fine with me," the woman said.

"Why are you doing this?" I asked. "Deal with us directly, not through him."

"We will see about that," the woman said, picking Liam up and putting him inside the car.

I walked to the car when the two men stood in front of me.

"Don't move," one of the men said.

I stood in place.

The men went back to the car and drove off.

I kept my focus on the car until it was out of sight until I heard a loud hoot. I looked to see that it was a large truck speeding!

I stood in place, frozen - not knowing what to do.

"Liana! Watch out!"

I felt my hand being gripped by shaky hands and pulling me back to safety.

I came back to reality. I looked beside me to see Lee looking at me worriedly.

"Are you alright?!" Lee asked.

Lee hugged me tightly, and I threw myself into his arms.

"I am okay, thanks," I said.

It felt as if life flashed in front of my eyes before returning to reality.

"I am confused though. What was doing on the road?"

"You were standing on the road, looking at the car that drove Liam away," Lee said.

We pulled away, and I covered my face with my hands.

"I am sorry for causing you all that trouble," I said. "I didn't mean to."

"Stop apologizing for everything will you?" Lee said, smiling a little.

I was about to respond when Lee put his finger on my lips.

"Don't respond. Are you feeling okay though?" Lee asked.

It took me a while to fully process what had happened before I looked back at the road.

"Let's get Liam!"

I was about to cross the road to the departure building when Lee gently pulled me back.

"I'm serious Liana. Are you sure you are okay?" Lee asked.

"It's not about me right now. Liam is in danger, and we have to get him. I will come in second, okay?" I said.

"You are important to me as well as Liam so I have a right to worry," Lee said.

"I promise, I am okay," I said. "May I have your phone?"

Lee gave his phone to me. I put Ace on speed dial.

"Lee?" Ace said.

"It's Liana," I said.

"What can I do for you both?" Ace asked.

Lee looked at me.

"Can you do something for us?" I asked.

"Anything," Ace said.

I looked at Lee.

"I need you to break a few rules," I said. "Drive to the North side of the border, we got a lead as to where Liam is," I said.

Lee smirked at me impressed.

"No problem, see you in 5," Ace said before I dropped the call.

"I'm impressed that Liana can pull off such a deed," Lee said, smirking at me.

"There are many things you haven't learned about me Lee," I said, smirking at him.

"Oh really? Can I see more of this?" Lee asked.

"Depends on how hard you work," I said.

After five minutes, Ace was stopped in front of us.

"Ready to go?" Ace asked.

I looked at the road ahead and then at Lee.

"For Liam, we are always ready," Lee and I said.

We got into the car and off we drove into the North.