Chapter 436
[ 495 words ]
Chapter 436:
A low, weak moan, coming from directly beneath the rubble he had just saved her from.
Their eyes met. For the first time, the mockery was gone from his, replaced by the same sharp, focused intensity she felt in her own chest.
“There’s someone down there,” she breathed, scrambling forward and pressing her ear to a crack in the debris.
Sterling’s expression turned serious. The game was over.
𝗥𝗼𝗺𝗮nс𝖾 a𝗇𝖽 p𝗮𝘀𝗌i𝘰n o𝗻 𝘨а𝘭ո𝗼𝗏𝖾𝗹ѕ.сo𝘮
Without a second’s thought, Caroline began clawing at the smaller pieces of rubble with her hands. Sharp edges of broken concrete tore at her already raw palms, and thin lines of blood welled up, mixing with the dust. She didn’t feel the pain.
“Hang on!” she yelled into a small opening. “We hear you! We’re going to get you out!”
Sterling stood for a moment, watching her. He watched her work with a frantic, selfless desperation, completely oblivious to her own injuries. The cynical amusement in his eyes vanished completely, replaced by a look of stunned disbelief. He’d spent his life surrounded by people who would step over a dying body to close a deal. He had never seen anyone like this, someone who would willingly bleed to save a stranger.
Something deep inside him, a part he thought had died long ago, stirred.
He stopped being a spectator.
“Move,” he said, his voice short and rough.
He strode forward, grabbed her by the arm, and pulled her to her feet, moving her aside. Before she could protest, he braced himself and began to lift. He strained, the muscles in his back and shoulders cording under the fine fabric of his shirt, and heaved a massive slab of concrete that she could never have budged.
He had become a participant.
Caroline stared at his back, at the sweat soaking through his expensive shirt, a flicker of shock running through her. Together, they worked. He moved the heavy pieces; she cleared the smaller debris. In minutes, they had opened a narrow tunnel.
They pulled a young woman, no older than a teenager, from the darkness. Her leg was broken, but she was alive. Caroline immediately went into nurse mode, assessing her injuries, applying a makeshift splint, and speaking to her in a low, calming voice.
Just then, Captain Hayes and his squad arrived, drawn by the noise. They took over, carefully placing the girl on a stretcher.
“Thank you,” the girl whispered, her eyes wide with gratitude as they carried her away. “Thank you both.”
The immediate crisis was over. The adrenaline that had been flooding Caroline’s system drained away, leaving her utterly exhausted. Her legs gave out, and she sank to the ground, her whole body trembling.
Sterling walked over and stood above her, his shadow falling across her. The mocking tone was back in his voice. “See? Not so invincible after all.”
She looked up, ready with a sharp retort, but then she saw it. A long, deep gash on his forearm, beaded with blood. He must have cut it on a piece of rebar while lifting the concrete.
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