Chapter 66: The Shadow Clinic

 

Casablanca. The Old Medina. Rue des Anglais, No. 7. 7:00 AM.

The sign was barely visible under layers of dirt and graffiti: [ Veterinarian ]. Harper stared at it. A vet? Sebastian hung on her shoulder, his breathing shallow and rattling. He was burning up, his skin grey and clammy.

"This is it," Harper whispered. She kicked the door. Thud. Thud.

A slide-slot opened. A pair of suspicious eyes peered out. "Closed. Come back tomorrow for the cat food."

"I'm not here for cat food," Harper said in English, holding up the soggy piece of paper with the address. "I'm here for Dr. Braun. Louis sent me."

The eyes narrowed. The slot slammed shut. Locks clicked. One. Two. Three. The heavy steel door creaked open.

A man stood there. He was huge, bald, with a thick grey beard. He wore a stained butcher's apron over a surgical scrub top. Dr. Braun. The disgraced German surgeon who fixed people the world forgot.

He looked at Sebastian. "Junkie?" Braun asked, seeing the tremors.

"Genetic withdrawal," Harper dragged Sebastian inside. "He needs a stabilizer. Synthesized dopamine and opioids. High dose. Now."

Braun raised an eyebrow. "You know your pharmacology, Fräulein." He pointed to a metal table that looked ominously like an operating slab. "Put him there."

---

[The Price]

Harper heaved Sebastian onto the cold metal table. He groaned, his back arching in a spasm. "Harper... run..." he mumbled deliriously.

"Shh," Harper brushed his wet hair back. "I'm right here."

Braun walked over to a cabinet. He pulled out a vial of clear liquid and a syringe. "This will stop the seizures," he said, tapping the needle. "But it costs five thousand euros."

Harper froze. "I... I don't have cash." "We were shipwrecked. We lost everything."

Braun paused. He didn't put the needle down, but he didn't inject it either. "This is not a charity, Liebling," he said coldly. "The cartel taxes me. The police bribe me. I need money." "No money, no medicine."

He started to put the vial back.

"Wait!" Harper screamed. Sebastian let out a choked gasp, his body seizing up again. His heart rate was skyrocketing. He was dying.

Harper frantically searched her pockets. Sand. Salt water. Nothing. She looked at her hands. Her fingers were swollen from the cold water. But there, on her left ring finger, was a flash of light.

The Ring. The massive, flawless diamond engagement ring Sebastian had put on her finger months ago. It was a prop. A lie for the media. A symbol of her "sale" to the billionaire. But right now, it was a lifeline.

She yanked it off. It was stuck. She pulled harder, scraping her skin raw, until it popped off.

"Here," she slammed the ring onto the metal tray next to the bloody scalpels. It spun, glittering in the dim light. "Five carats. Flawless clarity. Custom setting from Tiffany's." "It's worth two hundred thousand dollars."

Braun picked up the ring. He held it up to the light bulb. He whistled. "Beautiful," he murmured. "And stolen, I assume?"

"Does it matter?" Harper snapped. "Is it enough?"

Braun looked at the ring, then at the dying man. He pocketed the ring. "It's enough."

---

[The Cure]

He didn't waste another second. He injected the serum directly into Sebastian’s neck. Hiss.

Sebastian’s body went rigid for a second, then slumped back onto the table. The convulsions stopped. His breathing slowed. Deep. Even.

"He will sleep for twelve hours," Braun wiped his hands on his apron. "When he wakes up, he will be weak. But alive."

He walked to a mini-fridge and tossed Harper a bottle of beer. "You look like you need this more than water."

Harper caught the bottle. She didn't drink it. She just slumped against the wall, sliding down until she hit the floor. She looked at Sebastian’s peaceful face. Then she looked at her left hand. The finger was bare. A pale tan line marked where the ring used to be.

She felt lighter. The contract was gone. The billionaire's wife was gone. All that was left was Harper. And Sebastian.

---

[The Awakening]

10 Hours Later.

Sebastian woke up. The pain was gone. Replaced by a dull, heavy numbness. He blinked. The ceiling was cracked and stained with water damage. A fan whirred rhythmically. Click-whir. Click-whir.

"Harper?" his voice was a rusty croak.

"I'm here." Harper was sitting on a stool next to him. She was wearing a clean (but oversized) men's shirt she must have borrowed from the doctor. Her hair was drying in messy waves.

Sebastian tried to sit up. "Where..."

"Dr. Braun's clinic," Harper handed him a cup of water. "You're safe. He stabilized you."

Sebastian drank greedily. His brain started to clear. He looked around the dingy room. "Braun doesn't work for free," Sebastian said sharply. "How did you pay him?" "Did you... did you promise him something?" He looked at Harper with panic. He knew what desperate women sometimes had to trade in places like this.

"I paid him," Harper said calmly.

"With what?" Sebastian grabbed her hand. "Harper, tell me."

He looked at her hand in his. He froze. His thumb brushed over her ring finger. Empty.

He looked up at her face. "The ring," he whispered.

"It was just a rock, Sebastian," Harper pulled her hand away gently. "It was heavy. I didn't like it anyway."

Sebastian stared at her. He knew what that ring meant. It was the Vance family heirloom. It was worth a fortune. But more than that... it was the symbol of his protection over her. And she had sold it to save a broken man.

"You sold your marriage," Sebastian said, his voice breaking.

"No," Harper leaned forward. She touched his cheek. "I sold a contract." "The marriage..." she kissed his forehead. "...is right here. In this room. Alive."

Sebastian closed his eyes. A single tear leaked out. He didn't say thank you. Thank you was too small.

He opened his eyes. The golden fire was back. Duller, perhaps, but steady. "Dr. Braun," Sebastian called out.

The giant German walked in, eating a sandwich. "You're awake. Good."

"The ring," Sebastian said. "Keep it safe."

Braun laughed. "It's already in a pawn shop, my friend."

"Get it back," Sebastian said. His voice wasn't weak anymore. It was the voice of a CEO. "Give me a week. I will bring you double its value in cash." "But if you sell it... I will dismantle this clinic brick by brick."

Braun stopped chewing. He looked at the man on the table. Crippled. Broke. Hunted. But still commanding.

"You have three days," Braun grunted. "After that, it goes to the highest bidder."

Sebastian looked at Harper. "Three days," he said. "Time to go to work, partner."