Chapter 1593
[ 607 words ]
“It’s nothing.”
Stephen waved it off, genuinely unbothered.
He had spent years taking fire and walking through hell. A scrape like this was barely worth mentioning.
But the moment the words left his mouth, his eyes rolled back, and he collapsed.
“Stephen!” Claire lunged forward, catching him before he hit the ground.
Because he was so tall and solidly built, the sudden dead weight nearly dragged her down with him.
Dane, standing right behind her, caught her by the waist.
“Careful!” Dane steadied her as one of the officers rushed in to take Stephen’s weight.
“Captain!” The officer’s face was pale with panic.
“Let me look,” Claire said, checking Stephen’s vitals.
The young cop looked highly skeptical.
Everyone knew a girl had been grabbed by Sundara operatives, but very few actually knew *why* she had been targeted.
Because of that, no one had any idea she possessed elite medical training.
“We need to get him to a hospital right now.”
Knowing she was the captain’s cousin, the officer didn’t want to be disrespectful, but he was terrified she was wasting critical time.
Claire read the doubt in his eyes. After checking Stephen’s pulse, she stepped back.
It was a severe concussion. He had likely been running purely on adrenaline and sheer willpower.
The second the mission was complete and the adrenaline crashed, his body shut down.
Two or three days of rest in a hospital bed, and he’d be fine.
“Alright, let’s move him,” Claire agreed, stepping aside.
She was physically drained. Faking being unconscious for two days had kept her in a state of high-alert exhaustion.
If she hadn’t needed to coordinate with the local authorities, she would have been back on a flight to Cabinda for her classes by now.
Actually, even if she went back, she probably wouldn’t go straight to class. She needed a few days to decompress.
With Stephen hospitalized, she couldn’t just abandon him anyway.
Even if he didn’t need her hovering over him, she had to stay and check on his recovery.
Stephen was rushed to the Ridgeview hospital, with Claire right beside him.
The doctors ran a battery of scans, confirmed the severe concussion, and admitted him to an inpatient ward for IV fluids.
It was a standard double-occupancy room.
Since the town’s hospital rarely saw
high traffic, and most inpatients were just there to fulfill insurance, requirements before going home, the second bed was empty.
Claire didn’t hesitate to crash on it.
Dane sat on the edge of the uncomfortable companion cot.
Claire let out a dry laugh. “Does this “count” as a continuation of my
emotional recovery?”
She had been in the middle of unwinding when she was kidnapped. Now she was
right back at it.
Dane glanced at her. “No.”
Huh?
Claire blinked, not following his logic.
“The environment is unacceptable,” Dane stated matter-of-factly.
Claire choked back a laugh. She had
grown up comfortable, and evens
though Octavia had tried to sque
her finances she had never truly wanted for anything.
But her standards were nowhere near Dane’s.
In a border town like this, a hospital just being clean was a victory.
“Fine, when we get back, I want a luxury resort to properly decompress.”
Claire didn’t bother arguing. Dane nodded with utter seriousness. “I’ll have it arranged.”
Claire ran a hand through her hair. After two days of playing dead in the dirt, it was heavy with grease.
“Right now, I just really need to wash my hair.”
The grime clinging to her scalp was driving her insane.
Even beautiful girls couldn’t stand feeling this filthy.
“Let’s go find a place. Your cousin has pushed himself to the absolute limit. He won’t
be waking up anytime soon.”
Claire swung her legs off the bed. “Deal. Let’s go.”
High-end salons didn’t exist in a place like Ridgeview.
The streets were lined with run-down barbershops.
Dane wouldn’t be caught dead in one, and he absolutely wasn’t letting Claire step
foot in them either.
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