CHAPTER 25

'Could he be thinking of ways to get the most from me?' Ren slowly blinked to slow down his raging thoughts.

Soon, the elevator stopped moving and Axton once again scanned his thumb before the doors hissed open.

"Stay with me," Axton's cold voice said to Ren before walking into the long, white passage.

"You should really stay close to him, Renault," Corvin said and gently pushed Ren toward Axton.

Ren shrugged Corvin's hand away from his shoulder, "Okay." He muttered and walked faster to walk behind Axton.

He walked along the smooth, shiny floor, the smell of antiseptic surrounding them, he knew they were in some sort of hospital floor.

'Why have they brought me here?' He wondered as they walked toward a double-glass door.

Axton halted, standing beside the door. "Detail," he said to Corvin.

Corvin nodded, "We're here to confirm if Renault's touch really does have some sort of relief to an infected -"

"You're throwing me in a room filled with Beast-bounds?" Ren blurted out.

"You might just have forced him on this one,' he frowned.

There was no way he was willingly walking into his death, promise or no promise. He would be torn into unrecognisable shreds before he could even fully cross the door.

He could feel Axton's gaze on him, but he didn't want to look at him; he didn't want to see the anger in them.

Corvin chuckled lightly, "No, Renault. The Beast-bound are not held in this building..." Corvin walked forward and pushed the doors open to reveal a large infirmary filled with people lying on the beds and doctors walking to and fro with either medications or files in their hands.

"It is an infirmary with infected patients who have maximum chances of recovery and becoming survivors. You should know, the captain doesn't keep anyone with a 50% chance of survival, it might decline to 49% in the next second, we don't take that chance," Corvin explained.

"Proceed, Corvin," Axton said and walked into the infirmary.

"Good afternoon, Captain," An older doctor with a bald head came to greet Axton as he walked in.

"Dr. Helz, bring me a 60% patient," Axton ordered, not acknowledging the doctor's greeting.

Dr. Helz nodded, pointing right the bed beside Axton.

Ren was behind Axton, observing everything.

He saw how everyone was staring at them, at him, as if they knew why he was here, his purpose.

His eyes fell to the patient the doctor had pointed to, it was a young man, sleeping tiredly in the blue patient's uniform, his lips and face looking pale.

"Thank you, Dr. Hekz, I'll take it from here," Corvin said to the older man.

"Of course, Dr. Corvin," Dr. Helz nodded, bowed to Axton, and went back to his duty.

"Come forward, Renault," Axton placed a brief hand on Ren's back and immediately retrieved his hand.

Ren obeyed, staring at the sleeping man with apprehension.

"Sit," Axton pointed to the bed.

'Great,' Ren gulped and slowly lowered himself to the bed beside the sleeping patient.

"All you have to do is touch him, Renault," Corvin instructed.

Ren nodded, clenching and unclenching his hands. He turned his body so he could fully face the patient, then, cautiously, he reached for the patient's face since it was the only place visible for his touch.

Axton's eyes sharpened, staring, observing, analysing. He didn't want to miss any reaction or information.

Very slowly, the patient leaned into Ren's touch, a soft sigh escaping his lips.

Corvin grinned, he could sense that his theory was about to become fact.

Ren felt a smile curling up his lips, he didn't know why, but he suddenly thought of his sister.

If his touch was really a relief to an infected, it would all make sense why his sister loved to hug him and how she would always sigh in relief each time he touched her.

Axton's brows creased slightly as he saw Ren's faint smile. He'd never seen him smile, and, he wondered if the smiling was required in this experiment.

Gradually, the patient fluttered his eyes open, squinting as he tried to focus on Ren's face.

Ren saw that the patient was awake and tried to remove his hand but the young man gently held onto his hand, shaking his head.

"No, please... You feel good," The patient whispered hoarsely.

Ren sighed, "I think you're right, doc." He glanced at Corvin, feeling sad for the young man.

Corvin looked at Axton, surprised to find his face looking displeased. He thought this confirmation would bring pride and accomplishment to him, but why was he looking so displeased?

"Captain?" Corvin called.

Axton didn't take his eyes off Ren, "Code," he called quietly.

The young man slowly turned to Axton, realisation watching over him as he saw that the captain was right beside his bed.

"Captain?" His voice was weak as he tried to sit up.

Ren saw him struggling to get up and helped him sit upright on the bed, however, he never expected to be dragged into a tight, warm hug.

"Oh..." Ren gasped in shock, not knowing what to do.

Axton's jaws tightened the moment Ren was pulled into a hug, "Is this what you mean, Corvin?" He turned his darkening gaze to Corvin.

"This is the affinity I mentioned earlier, Captain. Like I said, they can't help it, they want to be saved -"

"Enough," Axton's cold, threatening command reached the right ears.

Code slowly released Ren, his head bowed in apology, "I'm sorry, Captain. , He makes my headache go away." He confessed.

"Get up, Renault," Axton ignored Code's apologies and faced Ren.

Ren wondered what he had done wrong. He was simply following instructions—Axton's instructions.

"From now on, I decide who you speak to, touch, or..." he balled his fists and stepped away.

"Corvin," Axton pushed his hands into his pockets.

"Yes, Captain," Corvin replied.

"Find Rhys, move Renault to the last floor," he instructed, gazing heavily at Ren, and then, he sauntered away.