Chapter 7

"Fiona... I'm sorry. I really don't know why Joe went down to the morgue and somehow got himself locked inside. I was only joking when I told him I'd left his things there for him to find. I never thought he'd actually go."

Xavier's voice was filled with anxiety.

"Now the police are saying I could be charged with unlawfully confining Joe in the morgue. What am I supposed to do?"

There was a brief silence before Fiona answered in a low voice.

"I already spoke to the police as his family and told them we don't intend to press the matter. You'll be fine. Don't be afraid."

Joe lay on the cold table inside the morgue, listening to their conversation through the door.

His heart felt like it was being ripped apart.

Xavier had nearly gotten him killed in this freezing morgue, and Fiona had simply decided to let him off the hook?

Rage surged through him.

Joe grabbed a glass medicine bottle someone had left nearby and, using what little strength he had left, hurled it at the door.

The door opened soon afterward.

Fiona walked in with Xavier.

The moment she saw Joe's pale face, her brows drew together.

Joe struggled upright and stared directly at her.

"He locked me in here and almost froze me to death, and you told the police to let it go?"

Something complicated flickered through Fiona's eyes as she took in his condition, but she still defended Xavier.

"Joe, Xavier was just being immature. He thought he was playing a joke on you. He didn't expect you to actually take him seriously."

"A joke?"

Joe let out a cold laugh.

"You know me, Fiona. I'm not letting this go."

Fiona studied his cold, stubborn expression and realized he was truly furious this time.

She rubbed her brow.

"Fine. What do you want?"

Joe didn't answer her.

Instead, he turned to the soldier standing nearby.

"Get me a forty-five-pound weighted vest and some ankle weights."

The soldier hesitated and looked at Fiona.

She nodded.

Before long, the equipment was brought over.

Joe led them downstairs to the hospital's outdoor track and pointed at the gear.

"You."

He looked at Xavier.

"Put that on and run six miles. Finish the run, and we're even."

"What?"

Xavier stared at him in disbelief before turning helplessly to Fiona.

"Fiona, I can't do that. You know what kind of shape I'm in. The doctors told me I'm not supposed to do strenuous exercise."

Fiona immediately turned to Joe.

"Joe, enough. You know about Xavier's condition. Making him do this could kill him."

"And when he locked me in a morgue, did he stop to wonder whether that might kill me?"

Xavier looked at the weighted gear, his face turning white and his eyes filling with tears.

Finally, Fiona drew a deep breath.

She took off her jacket and began fastening the weighted vest and ankle weights onto herself.

"Fine. If this is what you insist on, I'll do it for him."

"Fiona, no! You're still injured!" Xavier cried.

"I'm fine."

Her voice was calm, as though it were nothing worth mentioning.

Joe stared at her.

She was really willing to go this far for Xavier.

It felt as if something had pierced straight through his heart.

So she really loved him that much.

Once the weights were secured, Fiona looked at Joe, exhaustion and warning in her eyes.

"I'll run in his place. Once I'm done, I expect you to leave Xavier alone."

Joe said nothing.

He merely stared coldly at her.

Fiona turned toward the track.

But the instant her back was turned, Joe suddenly grabbed Xavier and dragged him forward.

Then, using every ounce of strength he had, he kicked him straight into the partially frozen pond behind the hospital.

"Ah!"

Caught completely off guard, Xavier plunged into the freezing water.

Fiona spun around at the scream.

Her expression changed instantly when she saw what had happened.

"Joe Kingston! What the hell are you doing?"

Joe stood at the edge of the pond and looked at her, his expression cold and resolute.

"He liked the freezing morgue so much, I figured he could see how he liked an ice bath."

Fury flashed in Fiona's eyes.

But she had no time to confront him.

She immediately jumped into the icy water.

In her rush, her elbow slammed hard into Joe as she went past him.

Joe wasn't prepared for the impact.

He staggered backward several steps before the back of his head struck a large landscaping rock with a sickening thud.

Pain exploded through his skull.

Warm blood immediately began pouring from the back of his head, staining the cold stone beneath him.

His vision flickered in and out.

Through the darkness closing in around him, he watched Fiona swim desperately toward Xavier.

She carefully pulled him into her arms, calling his name over and over in panic.

She never once noticed Joe on the shore, bleeding heavily from the head.

Clenching his teeth, Joe pressed a hand against the wound.

Despite the pain and dizziness, he forced himself to his feet.

Then, one unsteady step at a time, he turned and walked away.

Later, he ended up in the ER and needed seven stitches.

As a nurse bandaged his head, she sighed.

"How did you manage to hurt yourself this badly? Where's Major General Spencer?"

Joe closed his eyes.

He didn't answer.

Even while he remained in the hospital, he could hear the nurses whispering about Fiona and Xavier.

About how Fiona barely left Xavier's side after he developed a fever from falling into the freezing water.

About how gentle and attentive she was with him.

Joe listened without reacting.

His heart had gone completely numb.

He couldn't even cry anymore.

He discharged himself before the stitches were even removed.

Over the next few days, he quietly packed up his belongings at home, one by one.

He was getting ready to leave for good.