Saturday, September 30th, 2017

1:00 pm

Aiesha's POV

I marched right back inside the restaurant and did not care if I was about to go to jail! I hate Jay Thomas for what he did to my sister!

"You see what your freaking bet did to my sister!!!" I stood there and punched both of them in the face!! "You better pray my sister doesn't die!!"

"I-I-it was a harmless bet!" He had the nerve to scream out.

"My sister is on the way to a freaking hospital! There is nothing harmless about that!! I hate you! I freaking hate you!!"

"Aiesha baby, let's go. Niko sent me a text that they are taking Tati to Memorial General Hospital. And, we need to call your parents."

Matti picked me up and carried me out of the restaurant. I screamed, "You are going to pay! You hear me!!"

As soon as we stepped outside, Matti held me in his arms for a few minutes and let me cry.

"Sweetheart, I need you to calm down for me. Then, we need to call Jarvis and Pandora. Niko is not going to let them get away with this. His bodyguards are waiting for them to leave the restaurant, which they are trying to do now. They are the biggest bunch of cowards I have seen."

I turned around and saw what Matti was talking about. I have never hated someone more than I do now. "I hope Niko punishes them severely, and I want to watch!!"

It took me another 20 minutes to calm down. "Okay. I'm calm enough. Let's go." We got in Matti's Range Rover and headed to the hospital. On the way, I called my mom.

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Aiesha: "M-m-mom, Tati was rushed to Memorial! And, it doesn't look good for her to make it."

Pandora: "She was what?! What the heck happened to my child?!"

Aiesha: "Matti says he better tell you. It really hurts, mom."

Pandora: "Aiesha baby, it's okay. We are on the way!"

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Niko's POV

When the ambulance arrived at the hospital, Tatianna's old boss and several nurses were waiting. The paramedics gave Tatianna's vitals as she was rushed inside.

"Mr. Kostopoulos, we will make sure Tatianna gets the best care. We will have one of the nurses take you to the private waiting room."

"Thank you."

"Mr. Kostopoulos, I am Tati's friend, Yuri. Please follow me."

I followed Yuri to the waiting room.

"It's right in here. If you need anything, please let me know."

(Imagine it is daytime.)

"Aiesha and my brother are on the way."

"Okay. I will wait for them out front."

The nurse then left the waiting room. I scanned the room for a blank wall. Once I found it, I punched it. Heck yeah, it hurt, but I didn't care. Tatianna should not be in a hospital on the verge of dying. She could have already been in my arms - married and pregnant with our babies.

Jay Thomas and his crew are dead meat!!

"Niko, don't do it!!" Matti screamed as they entered the waiting room. "Jarvis and Pandora are on the way."

I punched it again anyway. "I'll pay to have it fixed. Matti and Aiesha, Tatianna can't die. I want a chance to make Tatianna happy and treat her like royalty. I hate that Jay character!! He is going to pay for this!!"

Within the next 20 minutes, Jarvis and Pandora ran into the waiting room.

Aiesha's POV

"Aiesha baby, what happened to Tati?" My parents asked.

I was so upset that I couldn't form a sentence.

"I'll tell you what happened. Aiesha, Tati, and I were going out to lunch. We saw Tati's supposedly boyfriend all cozy with another woman. The three of us confronted him about it. He said that he was only pretending to date Tati for a $20,000 bet. He used Tati's self-consciousness about her skin for a freaking bet! Tati ran out of the restaurant. We heard a screeching car and ran outside. We didn't see the whole accident but by the time we got outside, Tatianna was laying on the ground, bleeding profusely. The lady that hit Tati said she ran in the street. Niko came to the hospital with Tati."

"Thanks, Matti because it hurts to say it. It happened exactly the way Matti said it, mom. I'm sure Tati is in surgery."

"Wait until I get my hands on Jay Thomas' neck!!!" My dad was livid!

3:00 pm

"Aiesha? Mr. & Mrs. Reid? I came to inform you that Tati is still in surgery. Tati suffered from a traumatic brain injury. Also, she had broken ribs, a broken leg, and a broken right arm. She will have to have surgery for each injury. It's going to be a while. I'll keep you posted. Does anyone need anything to drink or eat?"

"Thanks, Yuri. Can you get some water, please?"

"Sure. I'll bring some for everyone." Yuri then left the room. Niko punched the wall again.

My mom burst into a fit of tears. And, so did I. "This is not fair, Matti. Tati's injuries are very serious, especially her brain. What if she gets Amnesia and forgets us? I can't lose her. Tati is the only sibling that I have. She can't die!!"

"Aiesha sweetheart, Tati is not going die."

"We are not getting married until my sister is out of this darn hospital!!"

"Of course. We don't have to rush. It's okay. I sent a text to Cassi and my father. They are coming to the hospital."

"Thanks, Matti. I'm sorry."

"Sweetheart, you don't have to apologize."

"Niko is waving you over."

Niko's POV

"Matti, my bodyguards have captured Jay Thomas and that witch that was with him. Can I drive your Range Rover to the location where they are being kept?"

"Sure, Niko. Here are my keys. But, don't punish them yet. Aiesha wants to watch them suffer."

Matti gave me his keys, and we walked over to Aiesha.

"Sweetheart, once everyone that participated with the bet is captured, I will personally come and get you. You will have a seat, front and center. Count on it. Every single one of them is going to pay."

"Thank you, Niko."

"You're welcome, Aiesha. You are my family and I will do whatever it takes to protect you, Tati, Jarvis, and Pandora. Count on it. I'll be back in about an hour. Where are you parked, Matti?"

"The hospital actually kept Tatianna's spot from when she worked here. It is near the front of the building."

"Okay. I am coming back." I left the waiting room and made my way to Matti's Range Rover. Once I started up the Rover, I took off for the location.

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This is definitely the address my bodyguards gave me. As I pulled up, I saw Andras and Demetrios standing outside.

After putting the Rover in park, I stepped out and locked it.

"Where are they?"

"Right inside, boss." I followed Andras and Demetrios inside. The two idiots were tied up tight in two chairs.

I walked up to Mr. Jay and punched him right in the face.

"I knew I should have stopped Tatianna from dating you when I had the chance. Now, because of your little bet, she is now in surgery and fighting for her life!!" I punched him again.

"Who are you?!" He had the nerve to ask.

"I am your worst nightmare!! You didn't care about Tatianna's feelings, so I don't give a hoot about your feelings. What gives you the right to judge Tatianna because of her skin color?!!! You're the most despicable person ever!!! Now, before you disappear, who else was involved in that freaking bet?!!!! I want names now!!!"

"I'm not telling you anything. I don't know even know who you are!"

"Oh, you are going to tell me who was involved. You and your pathetic crew are going to pay severely. I have a grieving mother, father, and sister at the hospital, waiting to find out if Tatianna is going to live!" I punched him again. "Now, where is your freaking crew? Your little girlfriend will be the first one to disappear. You have five minutes to give me names!!! And, quit it with those crocodile tears! You didn't shed any tears when you were hurting Tatianna with your freaking bet!! So, don't do it now!! And, you are down to three minutes. My bodyguards are ready to make your girlfriend disappear!!!"

Andras and Demetrios pounded their fists together, ready to twist the life out of these two.

It's really sad that he is even thinking about giving up those names. He doesn't even care about his girlfriend.

"Hurry up and give him the names, Jay!! Are you seriously sitting there thinking about this?!!" The girlfriend whines. If she thinks she will see another day after this, ha!!! They already signed their death warrant the day they made the bet!!

"Your time is up!!!" Andras was about to drag the girl out of the room until,

"Alright, alright!! I'll give you the names." He finally says.

"By your actions you just displayed, you don't even care about your girlfriend. I want names and numbers now!!" I motioned to Andras for pen and paper so the fool can write them down.

"You have another five minutes before your girl is gone. Do not delay." I had Demetrios stand right behind the girlfriend.

He finished writing within two minutes and handed me the list.

"If I find out these names and numbers are fake, you are a dead man!!" The list consisted of three guys and two girls. He is a dead man anyway.

"Andras and Demetrios, do whatever you want with them. Make sure they stay alive, for now. I am going back to the hospital."

I got in one more punch, then left the house to go back to the hospital.

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6:00 pm

Tatianna is still in surgery. I am not leaving this hospital until I hear otherwise. Aiesha had fallen asleep. So did Cass and Pandora.

"Niko, did you find all of the people that are involved in the bet? It is unbelievable what people do to others nowadays."

"Andras and Demetrios are holding two of them, dad. There are five more to be caught. I have names and numbers. I just can't understand what the heck is wrong with people! Tatianna did not deserve this. And, what makes it worse is they are the same race. Why can't people just respect one another - regardless of race, skin color, etc.? When Tatianna recovers from this, because she is not dying, she is never going to want to be with another man again."

"Now I know you are not one to give up on something you want."

"No way am I giving up. Tatianna is the one that I want. It's just going to be harder to make her mine."

"Excuse me, Mr. Kostopoulos, I noticed Tatianna's parents are asleep. Tati is still in surgery, and it will be a while. The President of the hospital has authorized that the family can stay for as long as they want. I am about to leave for the night, but my relief will come in to give you updates. I will be back tomorrow."

"Okay. I will let them know when they wake up. Thank you, Yuri, for your help. And, have a good night."

"You're welcome. And, thank you, Mr. Kostopoulos."

"Niko, is Tati still in surgery?" My sister asked while rubbing her eyes after waking up.

"Cass, Tati is still in surgery."

"Aww, okay. I'm going to head home. I'll come back tomorrow."

"I think I am going to go with Cass, son. I'll come back tomorrow as well. Text me with any updates."

"I will. Good night, Cass and dad." My father and Cass stood up from their seats and walked out of the waiting room.

12:00 am

Everyone is now awake, but no news on whether Tatianna is out of surgery. Suddenly, Doctor Lawrence entered the room.

Aiesha' POV

"Good morning, everyone. Tatianna is now being taken to a private room in the ICU. Each surgery went well. The biggest concern was the head trauma she suffered. That was the longest portion of the surgeries. We almost lost her but was able to pinpoint where the bleeding was coming from and stopped it in time. Tatianna is in a coma and was placed on a life support machine. We will place a nurse in her room to monitor her. The next 24 hours are critical. I will have the nurses report to me, as well as check on her myself."

My dad asked, "When can we visit her?"

"I don't have the room number just yet, but I will take a look now to see which room she is in and come back to let you know. She will be hooked up to a bunch of wires and we put casts on her arm, leg, ribs, and we wrapped up her brain injury. Fortunately, we didn't have to wrap her in a full body cast. I'll be right back with her room number."

My mom then said, "Thanks, Doctor Lawrence." Then, he left the room.

"I am not leaving until Tati wakes up."

Niko's POV

"There was a total of seven people involved in the bet against Tatianna. I have names and numbers of all of them. They are not getting away with this. I will see to it that they all suffer. And, don't worry about Tati's medical care. I will take care of it."

"We can't let you do that, Niko. Tatianna is going to need months of therapy too."

"Listen, I love Tatianna very much, Jarvis and Pandora. By the time I was going to ask her on a date, she became his girlfriend. She looked so happy, so I didn't want to mess with her happiness. Now, I wish I did. I want to marry her and make her my queen. I love everything about her, from head to toe. So, please let me pay for her medical care? Like previously stated I wish I could have stopped her from dating that character because I was always suspicious of him."

"Niko's right, mom. Jay didn't even kiss Tati once. Several times I saw him cringe when he put his arm around her. And, you know what he had the nerve to tell me while I punched him in the mouth at the restaurant yesterday? He told me and I quote, 'It was a harmless bet.'" Aiesha said to everyone.

"A harmless bet!! My child is fighting for her life!!! Where is he so I can throw him in front of an SUV and let him see how harmless it is!!! I know his parents and later today I am going to have a chat with them to talk about their worthless son!!" Aiesha's father was pissed, and rightly so. I need to let him know about my plans for Jay and the idiots.

"Somehow, I could always tell that you had feelings for Tati. Thank you for taking care of Tati's medical expenses because we were ready to sell our house and move to a smaller place. We are glad to hear that someone loves our daughter for who she is. It is going to be hard to get her to see that she is loved, but you have my blessing."

"Thank you, Pandora. Jay and his associates are not getting away with anything. I forced him to give me the other names involved with the bet. They are all going to pay severely."

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Narrator's POV

As promised the doctor came back with Tatianna's room number. Jarvis and Pandora went to visit her first. They were devastated to see their oldest daughter in her current state.

Aiesha and Matti visited her also. Aiesha had the same feeling as her parents. She hated Jay more than she already did.

When Niko visited her, he felt hurt and livid. He stayed the longest in her room.

Niko also received a message from his security team that all of the individuals involved with the bet will be gathered by the end of the week.

Tatianna made it through the 24hr critical period but still is not out of the woods yet. And, there is no sign of when she will wake up.

Niko took the week off so he could stay at the hospital with Tatianna. And, he also told Jarvis his plans. Jarvis agreed and wanted to be a part of it.

By Friday, Niko got word from his security team that everyone has been rounded up. So, Saturday morning, the plan starts.

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Saturday, October 7th, 2017

Niko's POV

Aiesha is riding with Matti. Surprisingly, Pandora joined us, so I have Jarvis and Pandora riding with me.

We pulled up to the house and I parked my Escalade. Matti and Aiesha parked next to me.

"Let me know when you want to leave if it gets to be too much for anyone. And, be careful walking inside the house." Everyone then followed me in.

Once we made it inside, "Stay here for a minute so I can make your introduction."

Matti and I then walked into the abandoned living room where the 7 stooges were tied up.

"Well, Matti. Look what we have here before us."

"Looks to me like everyone is here, Niko. So, let's get the party started."

Both of us had the coldest expressions on our faces.

"Introducing Mr. & Mrs. Jarvis and Pandora Reid. And, Ms. Aiesha Reid. Oh, if you didn't know who they are, meet Tatianna's parents and sister."

They entered the room and the seven idiots suddenly became nervous. "Too late to be nervous now. You weren't nervous hurting Tatianna's feelings with your bet, so spare me. You seven are about to learn a very valuable lesson about messing with my family."

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