Empath's Angel - M J Marlow (easy readers .TXT) 📗

looking very uneasy. Emilia let him inand he waited for her to close the door. “Emilia,” he frowned,and she saw the regret in his mind. He was here on a duty he wished he didn’t have to perform. “I’m sorry to have to tell you this.” He paused a moment. “Stephen has been in an accident. I’m afraid he didn’t survive.” “No,” Emilia shook her headand sank down on the couch. “Który jest nie prawo. That’s not right.” “His car was struck by a semi, child,” Daniel continued his report. “His father identified his remains an hour ago.” “His father,” Emilia cried out in despair, “had him murdered!” She saw the man’s look of confusion,and could see in his mind that he didn’t understand why she was saying such a thing. “Professor Winslow is a monster!” “I understand that you are upset, Emi,” the man said to her gently. Poor child, he thought, she’s so deep in shock she can’t see the truth. “Your husband has been killed in a crash. Your father-in-law has made the funeral arrangements,and has sent someone for you.” “No!” Emilia shook her head. “I’m not going anywhere!” She went to the phoneand started to dial Mama Cross. Mama Cross would help her, Emilia’s shocked mind told her. Daniel took the receiver out of her hand and hung it up. “What are you doing, Lieutenant?” she demanded as he led her to the couch. “I have to get out of here! I can’t let him get away with this!” “Calm down, child,” the man told her. “No one is going to hurt you.” There was a knock on the doorand he went to answer it. “She’s ready for you, Doctor.” “Thank you, Lieutenant,” Doctor Ethan Randall smiled as he came into the penthouse. He was cold, Emilia thought, taking in his ice blue eyes, his impeccably coifed white blond hair,and his pale skin. He was even dressed in white. It was like having the lord of Winter walk into her home. She felt a chill course up her spineand struggled to fight the fear the sight of him awoke in her. “I’ll take it from here.” He stepped in with two men in whiteand smiled at Emilia. “Hello, Mrs. Winslow. I am Doctor Ethan Randall. Your father-in-law has asked me to help you.” She looked at the paper Ethan handed to herand shook her head in disbelief. Samuel had committed her? She looked at the menand they did not look at all amused. Her husband’s father had gone to a judgeand convinced the man that she needed to be placed under observation for an undisclosed period, to insure that she did no harm to herself, or her unborn child, in her grief. She couldn’t believe even he would go so far to have his way. “This is a joke,” Emilia snapped, as she ripped the document in halfand let it fall. “I’m not going.” “The committal papers were filed in a court of law, Mrs. Winslow,” Ethan said as he came closer. His eyes were kind as he looked at Emilia through his wire-framed glasses. “I’m afraid that it is all quite legal.” He saw her refusaland frowned. “Please don’t fight. I would prefer not to use the straightjacket on you.” “I’m not going anywhere with you!” Emilia snapped. She backed away from himand ran, only to find her way blocked by the orderlies. They grabbed her armsand brought her back. “Let me go!” She looked over at Daniel for help,and he looked away from her. “Please don’t let them do this, Lieutenant! It’s not right!” “This is all for the best, Mrs. Winslow,” Ethan said as he looked at the angry girl. “You have suffered a horrible shockand need time to recover. We are going to give you that.” “It’s all a lie!” she sobbed, as the shock wore offand the full horror of what had happened hit her. “Stephen; on nie jest martwy! He is not dead!” “Don’t be afraid, Mrs. Winslow,” Doctor Ethan Randall told her. “You will receive only the best care at Faringdale. Your aunt will make certain you are treated well.” “My aunt?” Emilia asked him, confused. “I don’t have an aunt.” “Doctor Vanessa Stanford is your mother’s older sister,” Ethan nodded. “Your father-in-law asked her to oversee your case.” He frowned as she went white. “Is something wrong, Mrs. Winslow?” “She works for him!” Emilia cried out in dismay. “She isn’t interested in treating me well. She’s going to do whatever that monster tells her to do!” She grabbed the handleand tried to open the door. “Pozwalane ja udaje się! Let me go! I am not going with you!” “Calm down, child,” Ethan told her. “You’ll make yourself ill.” He saw the stubborn set of her jawand knew he was in for a fight. “I had hoped to avoid using a sedative on you; given your condition,” he said as he opened his bagand prepared a syringe. “You obviously need help calming down.” “No,” Emilia protested as the orderly nearest her grabbedand held her arm. “Pozwalane ja udaje się.” “I’m sorry, child,” Ethan said as he gave her the shot, “but you are too emotional. You will hurt yourself if you don’t calm down.” He pulled the needle outand returned it to his bag. “Just enough to help you relax.” He caught her as she collapsed against him. “Poor little thing. Her father-in-law was right; she needs to be looked after.” Emilia bit back a sob as the men forced her to come with them. Daniel just stood thereand let it happen. She could see the anguish he was feelingand knew he had as little choice as she did. She sat in back with the doctorand the two orderlies. She could not believe Samuel had done this to her. It was wrong! Was he going to make this doctor brainwash her into believing his lies? She looked at the man warilyand he just smiled back at her pleasantly. They drove away from the houseand she could feel the tears pricking her eyes. She had been happy here with Stephen. Why had it been taken away from them? She jumped as the doctor laid his hand on hers. “You’ll receive only the best care at Faringdale, Mrs. Winslow,” Ethan told her as he patted her hand. “Once I am certain you have recovered sufficiently from this shock, you will be joining your father-in-law at his home.” Emilia sobbed as she realized that her own behavior had trapped her further. There was no way she would ever be able to convince this man that she did not need to be in a sanitarium; not after this.And once this Vanessa got her hooks into her, Emilia knew she would be lost. She flinched as Ethan wiped the tears off her cheeksand pulled as far away from him as she could. When the car arrived at the sanitarium, she looked at the building gloomily. Were all such institutions so gloomy, she wondered as she was helped out of the carand up the stairs. A nurse came towards her with a wheelchairand she was taken to the Director’s office. A woman who resembled her mother was seated behind the desk. “We had a little tantrum on the way here,” Ethan told her candidly. “I’m afraid I had to give her a mild sedative.” “Emilia has been through a great deal of trauma,” Vanessa nodded. “She’ll settle down once she sees we mean her no harm. Thank you, Ethan.” “You’re welcome, Vanessa,” Ethan replied. “You didn’t tell me she was Polish, Vanessa,” he said as he turned to go. He smiled at the girl. “She was lapsing into the language every time she got upset.” “Her father’s family is Polish,” Vanessa nodded. “He obviously taught her the language.” The man left after a moment. “Now, Emilia,” Vanessa smiled as she got to her feet as the door closed, “we are alone. Just youand me.” She cupped Emilia’s chin in her hand and raised the girl’s eyes to hers. “You look so much like your grandmother. You have those same beautiful eyes.” “Why are you doing this to me, Doctor Stanford?” Emilia asked the woman. “Please call me Vanessa, dear.” The woman smiled at her warmly “I am your aunt, after all.” “Then why are you a part of this, Vanessa?” Emilia asked, confused that her own relative would help Samuel. “You know he’s only doing this so he can keep me under control.” She tried to get to her feet, but her legs were too weakened from the sedative she’d been given. “I won’t let him do this to me, Vanessa! On ma żaden nie prawo! He has no right!” “You’re getting yourself upset for nothing, Dzieckcko,” Vanessa smiled tenderly, ignoring her comment. “You are here so we can help you deal with the shock of losing your husband.” She stroked Emilia’s cheek. “We’ll take a blood testand make certain about the baby, all right?” “You can’t keep me here,” Emilia protested weakly. “My friends will find a way to get me out…” “After your little temper tantrum,” Vanessa broke in with a sad smile on her face, “no judge in this county will rescind the committal. You’ve proven how unstable you are in front of a medical professional.” “I am not unstable,” Emilia protested. “I am just angry at being forced to do things I don’t want to do.” “That’s a part of life, Dzieckcko,” Vanessa told her. She got a syringe out of the supply cabinetand unwrapped it. Then she took a blood sampleand marked Emilia’s name on it. “We don’t always get what we want.” She looked up as a knock sounded on the door. “Come in.” She nodded as an orderly came into the office with a wheelchair,and went to sit behind the desk. “My niece is ready to go to her room now, Justin.” “Vanessa, please…” “You’re here now, Emilia,” Vanessa broke in stiffly. “Get used to it.” Emilia couldn’t say anything to that. Her aunt was right; she was here now. But there was no way she was going to get used to it. She was going to do everything in her power to find a way out of this place.And then she was going to make Samuel pay for doing this to her. Vanessa saw the fire blaze in Emilia’s eyesand knew she would have a challenge on her hands. Her daughter had obviously inherited her temperament, not Dominik’s. Like her, Emilia would never lie downand let life roll over her. Vanessa would have to devote the time they had been given in teaching her daughter how to channel her emotions properly. “Justin,” Vanessa told the orderly as he turned the chair. “Tell Ginny that Emilia is to be kept under surveillance 24/7and strapped down if she becomes too belligerent. She is in too delicate a state right now to be trusted not to run.” “Yes, Doctor.” Emilia looked at her aunt in utter disbelief. How dare she! Emilia waited until the chair was out of the officeand then she tried to get to her feetand run. But her legs did not obey her, she fell to her knees almost immediatelyand Justin had no trouble getting her back into the chair. He strapped her arms down so she couldn’t do that again, muttering under his breath. They went out a back doorand along a portico to another building. Justin unlocked the doorand took her inside. “Ginny, this is Doctor Stanford’s niece, Emilia,” Justin told the nurse waiting in the living room. “She’s having a little trouble behaving, so the Doctor wants her kept under observation 24/7.” He took Emilia along a hallwayand into a bedroom with an iron grate on either side of a sheet of one-way glass instead of a door. Ginny released her from the chairand helped her sit on the bed. “Her aunt is afraid she’ll hurt herself if she’s left on her own.” “Thank