Chapter 16: You're All Dead

"Miss, you need to stop this. The..." Before Dan could complete his statement, Eric flipped the switch and Andrea dropped into the water, still bonded to the chair. At that very moment, the other door flew open, almost coming off, startling everyone in the room.

"Boss!"

Antonio looked around angrily in search of Andrea. He noticed the cable in the water with ripples forming at the surface and glared while approaching Eric with quite some speed for a walk. Eric immediately flipped the switch to pull her out but unfortunately it only managed to bring out her head before the cable snapped sending her back in. Antonio rushed in immediately to pull her out. He got in and tried to get her out of the seat but noticed she was handcuffed. He then pulled her out with the seat. She was already unconscious.

"Unlock her!" Antonio boomed as he dragged the chair out of the water. Lauren stood there, frozen with fear. Dan then rushed to her and grabbed the keys from her hand, unlocking Andrea at once, while Antonio performed CPR on her. After about four attempts, Andrea began to cough out some water. He lifted her in bridal style while Dan position the chair properly. Andrea groaned in pain while in his arms. He placed her in the chair gently, worry evident on his face. She continued to cough, covering her mouth. Once she moved her hand away from her mouth, little traces of blood could be seen. Antonio's hands instantly formed fists. He analysed the distressed little lady in front of him and noticed the bruises on her wrists, ankles and neck. The little parts of her tummy and ribs which could be seen due to the sports tube she wore over her high-waist sweatpants also exposed her bruised skin.

"Andrea," Antonio called her as she seemed to be zoning out. "Andrea look at me," he said, holding her cheeks gently to focus her attention on himself.

"A-A-Antonio?" she called looking somewhat unsure. Antonio confirmed and before he could assure her of her safety, she spoke. "I was right about the kidnapping after all," she said with a meaningful chuckle and coughed some more.

"No you're not. I..."

"Are you really that narcissistic?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper. Her eyes were filled with fresh tears as she looked directly into Antonio's eyes. "You should just kill me. You'd really be doing me a favour," she said with a chuckle but a sob escaped her lips as the tears run down.

Antonio was furious. In the blink of an eye, his hand was on Lauren's neck. "Please Lauren, remind me of the very minute I gave this order before I forget you're a woman," he said through gritted teeth. Lauren's face turn red and tears began to roll down her face. She didn't recall ever seeing him so upset except when he was betrayed by Rachel.

Arnold walked in that very instant. His eyes flew wide open at the sight before him. "Boss, please calm down. You're going to kill her," he said and Antonio let her go. However, he still needed to vent out his anger. Antonio then turned to Eric. Seeing the boss's heavy glare, he panicked even more. He looked pleadingly to Arnold who glared back at him. Both Arnold and Antonio were well aware of his excitement in the deed without consulting his leader, just because it's a woman. Antonio gestured Eric to get closer and the moment he hesitated, Antonio himself moved to him and punched him so hard that he landed on the floor. He stood over him and punched him some more, in the face. They were not permitted to touch certain equipments of which the lever was one. It hadn't been changed for that was Antonio's order to them, something Lauren was unaware of. Eric's face was suddenly swollen and bloody.

Antonio turned back Lauren who was trembling before him. "Next time I ask, I won't be so nice," he said even angrier.

"You said you h-had to deal with her so...." she paused, realizing he never really gave an order about her. Deep down, Lauren already knew he didn't give that order, but she didn't think he'd get so upset if anything happened to her. After all, he said she was someone he had to deal with. Her true reason for capturing her was because she was jealous. She chose to assume that Andrea was an ally of Rachel so that she could give her a resounding beating for getting so close to Antonio. She couldn't stand that everyone thought Andrea was Antonio's woman. 'No one would be good enough for him if not me,' she always said to herself. "I-I thought she was working for Rach..." Before she could complete her sentence, he punched the wall right beside Lauren, trying to control his anger. Dan and Arnold called out to Antonio. Andrea's pulse was weak and she was losing consciousness.

Antonio went back to Andrea, who was barely conscious and still in shock, seeing how he dealt with his people. Lauren was shocked to see the worry on Antonio's face. 'Who the heck is she?!' Lauren thought enviously. Dan had returned Andrea's hoodie to her yet she was still shivering. Her vision was blur as Antonio approached her. She couldn't help but panic and started to plead although her voice was barely audible, that he let her go home. Antonio picked her up in bridal style and immediately, she lost consciousness.

"If anything happens to her, you're all dead," he said in a creepily calm tone and left with her.

★★★

Andrea woke up the next day by noon. She was in a hospital bed on drip in an odd-looking hospital room. She assumed it was the VIP ward and thought to escape. She then noticed that there was a security man in a suit seated in the sofa near the door, focused on his phone. 'I need to find a way to escape,' she thought when an idea crossed her mind. Immediately, she began to act like she was having a seizure. The guard immediately got up and pressed the assistance button on her bed, hoping someone would appear soon. Andrea feared her plan wouldn't work and decided to intensify her act. The guard panicked and rushed out to go get some help.

Immediately he stepped out, Andrea removed the drip and tried to flee. However, in an attempt to run out, she landed on the floor. Her legs were in serious pain and she could barely walk. She then connected the drip once more and used the stand as a walking stick. The pain was intense but her desire to escape was worse.

She stepped out into the hallway and no one was around. At that point, she started to doubt it was a hospital. She moved all around,  careful to avoid being detected. An elevator came to sight and then a staircase. She decided to descend the staircase in case anyone was on the lower floor. It was difficult doing so in her condition and much less with the stick she had but that didn't stop her. Going further, she noticed that that staircase led to an even larger open staircase, one which landed in a huge living room. 'What kind of hospital is this?' she thought. She looked at the men and suddenly spotted a familiar one, Antonio.

"Find her," he commanded through gritted teeth and the men dispersed.

Hearing those words, she immediately rushed into a closet at the top of the staircase and locked it. She heard a few men aside the stairs. One tried to open the door but left when he realized it was locked, thinking it was already locked. When she could hear no more footsteps, she took a peek outside. Seeing that there was no one around, she left the stand behind and made her way down the stairs as quickly as her weak body could go. She took the hallway behind the huge staircase and saw a slightly open door. She slid the door to open up a little more. It was the kitchen. The best part was seeing another door on the other side of the kitchen, fully opened and leading outside. She smiled at herself and rushed to the open door.