Out Foxed by Fox novel Chapter 11

As Ander and Ella compared notes, it quickly became apparent to him why Ella was so frightened. Laying on her side on the bed, watching him eat, the tears had dried on her face but he could still see her shivering with fear while she told him about the ordeal that Dr. Wolcott had put her through. It made Ander want to punch his hand through the wall, just hearing her voice shake as she talked about it. To see how scared she was of the doctor.

He felt almost ashamed, feeling that she'd been through much worse than he had. Although he couldn't take her soldier's advice to heart the way she had.

"It doesn't matter if we obey, don't you see?" he said, waving the roll of bread he had in his hand. Which was a bit awkward, but he kept forgetting that his hands were cuffed together and trying to gesture with them. "Fox still controls everything, he can decide to do whatever he wants to us, no matter whether we do as he says or not."

"I don't want to be punished, Ander," she said, her bright eyes becoming even brighter as the sheen of tears covered them. "Maybe you're stronger than I am... but I just, I can't take. Fox always lets his victims go, eventually."

"And I don't want to wait around for that. Who knows when or what he'll do to us in the meantime? He could send you back to the doctor just for fun if that's what he decided to do!" He hated to see the way her face paled, but she had to see what he was saying.

"So it's better to do something that will get us punished? And what about the trackers? I'd rather behave and not make things worse for myself than do something that I know will have awful consequences!"

She sounded just as convinced of her argument as he felt of his own, and unfortunately, he could see some of the sense in her words. The problem was that he was right too.

"I don't know, Ella," he said tiredly. "I can't even think straight right now... I don't think we should just passively sit by until he releases us," he held up his hand to stop her next words, "but I do see your point. I just don't know what to say."

Ella bit her lower lip and then nodded. "I see what you're saying too. I'm just... I'm scared, Ander. And I hurt. And I don't want to be sent back to the doctor."

Her voice shook and he inwardly cursed himself for causing her more distress. Going over to the bed, he sat down next to her head and stroked her hair, hoping that it might comfort her. While she accepted it, she didn't look at him, she seemed lost in her thoughts.

"By your admission, Ander, what you went through with Nurse Mendel wasn't anything like what Doctor Wolcott did to me... and I could tell he wanted to do more. If we tried to escape and were caught... Besides which, what about Emilia? Can we just leave her here?"

"You're right. And I didn't mean we should escape today... but Ella, I'm not going to stop trying to plan. I'm not going to stop looking for a way to make it work. If I figure out a way that should work for all of us, will you at least listen to it?"

The shudder that went through her wasn't reassuring. Her voice was soft when she spoke again. "I'll listen, Ander, but that's all I can promise."

Sliding onto the bed beside her, Ander hesitated and then relaxed as she rolled over and snuggled into him. It took a moment or two of arranging for them to get comfortable, her head pillowed on his arm, his cuffed wrists around her body. The sheet was still wrapped around her, but he preferred to have her naked body pressed up against him.

Unfortunately, despite the circumstances, his attraction to her remained.

Feeling her breathing slow and then steady, he was grateful that she felt safe enough to fall asleep there, with his arms around her. Although he knew that his presence didn't give her any real protection, she needed to sleep. He did too. After all, who knew when Fox would call for them again and it's not as if they could escape today.

He didn't know where they were in this building, much less where in the world the building was located. And were Jackson and Emilia also still in this building? Ella was right on one aspect there was a lot of planning to be done before they could escape.

~~~

Fox's men came for them sometime later, awakening them as the door opened with a bang. Ella shrieked and quivered, pressing her face into Ander's chest as if to hide from reality. His muscles tensed all over, ready to fight, but he was tangled up in Ella and the sheets. Which was probably a good thing; there were four men, far too many for him to overcome even if his wrists weren't in cuffs, and they all looked like fighters.

"Get up, it's time for dinner," one of them said.

Carefully pulling away from Ella, Ander stood, completely unabashed by his nudity. In stark contrast, Ella seemed to be trying to stand while still covered in the sheet. One of the men snorted, stepping forward and ripping the scant covering away from her as she let out a cry of dismay and surprise.

Without even thinking, Ander lunged for the man, only to be caught by two of the other men who chuckled.