Chapter 4

"If you really think he only cares about you, why do you need to call and warn me to feel safe?" My words made Elaine so mad she snapped, "Well, we'll just have to see if he believes you or if he's going to stand by me, no matter what."

I was still trying to figure out what she meant when she quickly ended the call.

A second later, my phone buzzed with a video stream from the camera at my front door: Jeffrey had furiously kicked the door open and stormed into my house, a wooden stick in his hand, looking everywhere for me.

He was shouting my name through clenched teeth, going crazy and breaking my furniture.

"Carol Hoffman! Come out, you worthless witch! How dare you kidnap Elaine! Do you have any idea how much you've hurt her?

"I'm your senior, and I’m going to make sure you learn your lesson today!”

As he ranted, I finally understood what Elaine was hinting at.

I turned on the camera's speaker and argued back, "How can you be so sure I took her, and not that she made it all up?"

Jeffrey got even angrier and stared right at the camera. "Do you still want to argue? Elaine hates pain. Do you really think she'd inflict serious injuries on herself just to blame you? Who else would go after her if not you?"

He threw the stick, and it smashed the camera's screen to bits.

I stared at the cracks on my phone screen, feeling an icy fear slice through me.

If I had been at home, there was no telling if I would still be alive after that stick hit me.

I ignored Jeffrey's meltdown and turned off my phone.

Maybe he would regret his actions and forgive me in three days’ time at the goodbye ceremony, when he found out that Elaine was safe after all.

Jeffrey stared at the ruined house he had wrecked, a wave of regret washing over him.

However, his thoughts were cut short by a phone call. It was Elaine, the woman he could not stop thinking about.

On the day Elaine was meant to leave the hospital, there was a big send-off for the Doctors Without Borders volunteers. Jeffrey, who worked as an armed escort, got there early, scanning the crowd for Elaine. However, she was nowhere to be seen. Worried, he broke away from his post to ask the leader, "Isn't Dr. Brown from Cromwell General Hospital in the capital supposed to be here?"

The leader, puzzled, asked, "Who's Dr. Brown? She's not on our list."

Before Jeffrey could react, another leader recognized him and pulled him aside with a smile. "Dr. Brown's our new hospital chief. You're looking for Dr. Hoffman! She's been in Garvos for three days now. No need to worry."

Jeffrey was confused. "Dr. Hoffman? I thought Dr. Brown was going."

He should have been relieved, but instead, he felt a sharp ache in his heart.

"Dr. Hoffman took her place a while back. She wanted to surprise you, so we all kept it quiet. Didn't Dr. Brown tell you? She was in on it."

Suddenly, Jeffrey felt like he was being choked by a pair of invisible hands. A few short sentences had broken him completely.

Elaine, who had just become the new chief, ran toward Jeffrey. However, before she could reach him, someone pointed a gun right at her forehead. "You knew Carol was going to take your place. Why didn't you tell me?"