Who am I kidding? This is just a few hours of safety to heal.
“Imogen, I know you’re hurting, in more ways than one. But I have an idea if you wanna hear it?” Chloe went on without me answering. “You said that you needed to leave the area completely to be rid of Brice, right?”
“Yes, getting away is my only chance, but I have no idea how. I can’t even go to the hospital for help without him swarming the area.” I closed my eyes for a moment. “That’s why I know I’m not getting out of here.”
“I said I have an idea and I need you to hear me out before you say anything.” Chloe went on. “There’s an agency here that specializes in mail order brides to the rich and sometimes famous.”
“Crickey. You can’t be serious. That’s like something out of the 1900’s out in the Midwest,” I scoffed.
“Well I did say it was an agency that specializes, and I happen to know about it personally,” Chloe said getting excited now.
“The girl who runs it has become a true blue and she happens to have someone in mind for you right away. I messaged her earlier while you were washing up.”
“You want me to marry a complete stranger?!” I asked in shock. “I could be going from bad to worse.”
“Imogen, really? Bad to worse? Can it be worse than being beaten?” Chloe demanded. “This Brice isn’t going to be happy about not finding you. What do you think he’ll do to you when he does find you?”
I sat in silence for a few minutes, unable to believe that people still did mail order brides.
“Where?” I blurted out. “When? Do I get to choose? More importantly, how am I getting out of this hospital?”
“Great. Now you’re thinking.” Chloe pulled her chair closer and away from Sophie. “My sister became a mail order bride a few months ago to get money to pay for Sophie’s heart surgery.”
“Wow, that’s amazing. Is she happy?” I asked. “Where does she live?”
“She lives most of the time in the United States and her husband is from an extremely wealthy family,” Chloe said. “I just messaged with her and she’s the one who suggested this path.”
“Why would she want to help me?” I asked. “Is there a way to get me out of the hospital?”
“It seems a strange coincident, but the Hawthorne family happens to need a bride for one of their sons who has been in one too many scandals,” Chloe said, putting her finger to her lips when Sophie stirred.
“Did you say, ‘Hawthorne family’?” I wondered. “Like the big hotel downtown?”
“Among other things, yes,” Chloe said. “Mia spoke with Sienna, then Sienna called her best friend Poppy, who is also a mail order bride, and she said they will take you in at their hotel.”
“But why?” I asked. “Why? No one has ever helped me before.”
“Maybe it’s just time for someone to help you, and you’ll be helping them too,” Chloe added. “You also get paid, which will be a nice chunk of money for later to restart your life somewhere.”
“So, you’re saying I can go on a walkabout whenever I want to?” I wondered. “I get to keep the money too?”
“Yes. You’ll have to move to the United States for at least a year though,” Chloe added. “They will get you out of this hospital too. The Hawthorne family has a lot of connections.”
“Brice will be watching the airports,” I said, trying hard to not get too hopeful.
“You won’t have to worry about that.” Chloe looked over to Sophie when she stirred again. “What do you think?”
I walked to the window and peeked out from behind a curtain. There were at least two police cars sitting at hospital exits.
“I’ll do it,” I said sitting down and placing the ice pack on my ribs. “Now, how am I getting out of here?
The last thing I remembered was Chloe tapping away on her cell. I woke to a lot of commotion with the overnight nurse checking in on Sophie, food trays being delivered, and a woman with bright red hair and crazy bright blue glasses staring at me.
“Good Arvo. I’m Sienna and I run the agency Chloe told you about.” She went on without waiting for a reply. “We have a lot to do. Your laughing gear looks painful.”
My hand immediately went to my split lip. “That’s a sure dinkum. Did I sleep all day?” I was confused by the good afternoon comment.
“Sorry, I was just making a joke. You looked like you needed the sleep, so I didn’t wake you,” Sienna said, still staring at me. “He had an open slather on your face.”
“I’d rather not talk about it with the ankle biter awake,” I whispered. “You said we have a lot to do. I’m ready to give it a burl.”
“Bonzer. Do you have any pictures of you without the injuries?” Sienna asked, pulling her chair next to mine and opening a laptop. “Victoria needs me to send a picture first, then when all the nurses rack off, we’ll talk on facetime.”
The nurses finished their morning routine. Chloe had laid down in the bed next to Sophie to watch a cartoon. I saw her motion to Sienna. I had no idea what was next. My nerves were on edge and I wasn’t going to be able to believe this would work until I was actually out of the hospital and out of Australia where Brice couldn’t touch me ever again.
“Okay, let’s get started. The overnight nurse that is helping us hide you will be off in about an hour,” Sienna said, logging on to her laptop. “Now say Hi to Poppy.”
A perky woman named Poppy was so animated it was comical. Sienna had explained that Poppy was her true blue.
“Here’s the plan girls: My driver is going to pull up to the west end fire escape stairway in about 15 minutes. Wait ‘til you see the driver holding the door open. All you have to do is get down the stairs and out the door. You’ll only have about six feet to go once you’re out the door.” Poppy chattered on without taking a breath. “You need to disguise yourself because Kellan made a few calls and there are police all around the hospital. He made up a story about secretly picking up a family member, so I don’t think the police will bother you.”
“Thanks, Poppy, I’ll follow in my car and meet you at the hotel,” Sienna said. “Hooroo.”
“No, Sienna, you need to ride with Imogen, in case the car gets stopped,” Poppy said.
I couldn’t move. This was all happening so fast. These people were like my own personal guardian angels.
“You ready?” Sienna touched my arm. “We have to move quickly now. I brought a pair of jeans and a t-shirt for you to change into. We need you to look completely different than you do now. They will be looking for that yellow dress you’re wearing.”
“Thank you,” was all I could say. “I don’t even know what to say other than thank you a hundred times.”
A little voice from across the room, that had apparently been listening the whole time, came up with a brilliant idea.
“You can get a disguise in the playroom,” Sophie said, clinging to Benjamin. “I like the red Ariel wig. I think you would look pretty in it.”