The woman's expression turned frightened as she turned away and looked down at her desk. "I'm sorry ma'am, but she's not taking any visitors."

My heart sank. I was filled with mixed emotions. Happy that my mother was actually there, but sad that I wasn't even allowed to see her. I didn't understand. "Why not? Is she going to be okay?" I blurted out, not caring who was around to hear me.

The woman took a seat in her brown leather chair and nervously tapped her pencil on the desk. "I'm not allowed to give out that information," she said coldly. "Please don't ask any further questions.

I stepped closer to the desk. "But you don't-"

"Please leave." The woman cut in. She threw her arms up and then pretended to be busy. “I have work to do.”

I stood there frozen in place as she typed away on her little computer. I wanted to scream.

Jace stepped forward and placed his hands on the front of the woman’s desk. "Listen here ma'am," he said stiffly. "That woman that you are keeping from us is her mother. She has the right to see that she is going to live. Now why don't you just call for someone more important than yourself so that I can have a little chat with them."

The woman looked frightened as she reached for the stained phone and called for help. "I need some assistance please." She looked up at Jace and backed her chair further away. "Make it fast." She hung up the phone and stared and both Jace and I. "I'm only doing what I was told."

Jace let out a frustrated breath and smiled at the lady. "I understand that ma'am. What you don't understand is how important this is to her." He pointed back in my direction and grabbed my hand. "And myself. We must see her."

The woman's expression softened as she picked up the phone again. She stared between Jace and me before pressing the phone to her ear. "Cancel that please." The woman hung up the phone and stood up from her desk. "Please follow me. I shouldn’t be doing this."

Jace and I followed the woman down the brightly lit hall and stopped when she stood frozen outside one of the rooms. 328 was written in black lettering on the old oak door.

My heart sank as I looked to my right to see the door across the hall was fully open. A woman in about her mid-twenties sat in a chair with a cloth wrapped around her bruised and swollen face. She smiled weakly before I managed to turn my head away. I felt weak once again. Was that what my mother would look like?

The nurse placed her back against the door and huffed. "Look. I don't believe that you two had anything to do with this, but this woman was barely breathing when she arrived. We were lucky to get her steady. She has been here for three days and no one has come to visit or has called. I'm only trying to protect her, "she whispered. ”We have no idea who did this to her."

A tear slowly rolled down my cheek when I realized the pain and suffering that my mother had to of gone through. I wanted that animal to suffer for hurting her. No one deserved what my mother had gone through. "I know who did it," I barely choked out.

The woman's eyes went wide as she reached for the handle and shook her head. "And you're willing to tell us?" she questioned. "There's a chance that if this person gets caught that they can go to prison for attempted murder.

Jace looked at me and ran his hand over my cheek for support. "You both deserve this. You have to protect her… before it’s too late."

I reached up and gripped Jace's arm. "My father," I growled while gripping my hair in anger. "Henry Hale. He's a piece of shit," I sobbed. "I should have stayed. I could have helped-"

"No you shouldn't have," Jace cut in. "You did what you had to do. If you stayed, then this could’ve been you."

"No, Jace," I screamed. "I could have helped her. You don't understand. He did this to her to get me back. When I was around, he took most of his anger out on me. I left…" I cried out. "It's my entire fault."

The woman placed her hand over her mouth in surprise as Jace grabbed my face and pulled my forehead to his. "Don't you sit here and punish yourself," he growled. "Don't do this, Avery."

I pushed Jace away from me with all of my force. It didn't matter what he said. I knew that it was all my fault. His words wouldn't help this time.

I walked over to the door, placed both of my shaky hands on it, and stared at it. I felt helpless once again. "I was so selfish. She has to hate me now," I whispered mostly to myself. I ran my hand over the wooden door and choked back a sob.

I felt Jace's hand grip my shoulder before suddenly being jerked away from the door and pressed into Jace's chest. He wrapped both of his arms around me as he pressed his face to the top of my head. "I won't let you beat yourself up for this." He pulled my hair from out of my face and looked me in the eye. "What you did was brave. You did the best thing that you could do. You couldn't have protected neither one of you. He's a dangerous man."

The nurse stared at us both looking lost. Finally, she turned on her heels and started walking away with anger. "I'm reporting that man," she mumbled. “He’s not getting away with this.”

We both watched in silence as the woman hurried down the hall, almost tripping over her own two feet. I bet they'd be surprised to see that he got what was coming to him already. Most of it at least.

Jace reached down and pressed his lips to my forehead. They were warm and soft to the touch. It helped to calm the shivers that were running all through my body.  

"Are you ready for this? He nodded at the door. "We have no idea what's behind that door."

I swallowed hard and then reached for the brass knob. "No," I mumbled. I gently turned the knob and pushed the door open. What I saw in front of me was frightening. Almost unrecognizable.

My mother lay in the oversized bed full of bandages and tubes hooked up to multiple machines. Bruises covered her once beautiful face and half of it was swollen beyond recognition. Her raven hair curled around her bandages and you could still see traces of blood that never got washed out. The sight made me sick.

"Mother," I cried out.

Her eyes shot open, but she didn’t move.

My breathing became heavy as I stood there waiting for a sign from my mother. Her blue eyes, swollen and bruised, struggled to stay open as she lifted her head and groaned out in pain.