Chapter 3

After the surgery, they moved me into a hospital room. I kept my eyes closed and pretended to be asleep.

I didn't want to face Janice.

My head was a mess. I was exhausted.

She came anyway. I felt her sit down beside me, then a drop of something cold hit my face.

Her tears.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I won't ever let you get hurt like this again."

Before, seeing her like this would've been enough to make me sit up, pull her close, and tell her it was nothing.

Now, it just made my stomach turn.

There was a sound at the door.

"Hey, Janice, are you hungry? I grabbed breakfast for you."

It was Tim.

Janice let go of my hand and answered without turning around. "I'm not hungry. You eat. In three hours, you're getting on a plane and heading back. It's not safe here."

"I don't want to go alone. I'm scared. Can you come with me?" His voice softened, almost pleading, thick with a kind of spoiled sweetness.

"No. I need to stay with my husband." She didn't hesitate.

"But I'm really scared…"

Janice went quiet. A few seconds later, she gave in.

"Fine. I'll go talk to the team."

She always said I was the only one she loved.

But when it came to Tim, she never had the heart to refuse him.

The moment Janice stepped out, Tim's expression changed. He walked over to my bed and slapped me, hard.

"You're awake, right? Drop the act. We all know they gave you something to keep you conscious." He looked down at me, smug and satisfied. "So? Not fun, is it? Getting turned into half a man. I heard they wrecked your arms and legs, too. That's rough."

I forced my eyes open and stared at him. "Even like this… Janice still won't divorce me and marry you."

Tim was obsessed with her. Anyone could see it.

Too bad she never felt the same.

His face darkened for a second, then he let out a short, mocking laugh.

"Don't get so proud. Let me tell you something: Janice brought me back here so I can take credit for this mission. The fugitive your team caught is going on my record now."

Rage burned through me. I dragged a few words out of my throat.

"You…are despicable."

This operation was supposed to be ours alone.

Janice said she was worried about me and insisted on coming along.

As it turned out, she wasn't worried. She brought me here to be destroyed.

And now, even the credit for capturing a fugitive, something two of our men died for, was being handed to Tim.

Tim picked up a syringe and pushed it straight into my vein without hesitation.

"You should just die," he said lightly. "Look at you. Living like this isn't living. Better to step aside and let Janice and me have our happy ending."

He smiled, cold and sharp.

"This is a septic agent. Janice didn't want you screwing things up, so she told me to give it to you. Goodbye. Maybe next time, you'll actually beat me."

He laughed and walked out as if nothing had happened.

Less than five minutes later, the machines around me started screaming. Alarms blared, sharp and nonstop.

Doctors and nurses rushed in, the room exploding into chaos.

"This is bad! His vitals are crashing. The clotting function is failing. If this keeps up, the infection will kill him. We need to transfer him back home now. They've got the medication there."

"There are no outbound flights right now."

My teammates all started talking at once, panic spreading fast.

Then someone suddenly shouted, as if they had just remembered something.

"Wait! Janice applied for a helicopter. She can take Samuel back herself."

Hope flickered in my chest.

I wanted to live.