Can’t Win Me Back

The hospital corridor was eerily silent in the dead of the night.

The lone nurse on duty drowsed at the nurses' station, oblivious to the flashing red light from the malfunctioning surveillance camera down the hall.

A figure clad in a white doctor's robe and mask darted past the station, his movements purposeful.

He carefully scanned his surroundings before pushing open the door to Natalie's ward and slipping inside.

The patient lay curled up in bed, seemingly fast asleep.

The intruder crept closer, a glint of steel catching the dim light as he drew a dagger from his sleeve.

He raised the weapon high and stabbed the person on the bed.

All of a sudden, his vision went dark.

Unexpectedly, the person on the bed leaped up and threw the blanket over his head! Panic surged through the assassin.

He flailed wildly with the dagger, ripping the blanket free.

But before he could react further, the cold muzzle of a gun pressed against his forehead froze him in place.

"Don't move.

Not unless you want your head to be blown off." Under the dim light, Axel's eyes glinted with a dangerous glint.

A cynical smile played on his lips, sending shivers down the assassin's spine.

The ward door burst open, revealing Sean and Xavier leading a team of men who quickly surrounded the intruder.

"Are you alright, Mr.

Axel?" Sean inquired, his voice laced with concern.

Axel clicked his tongue.

"I didn't even attack him.

All it took was a blanket to take this fool down." With a practiced ease, Axel disarmed the assassin.

He sneered.

"Sir, you can barely fight, yet you're trying to be an assassin? Try harder next time.” The assassin's face was drained of color.

His knees buckled, and he crumpled to the floor in a heap.

nudging the man's head

and you'll

a decade or two in prison, you

can't guarantee that you'll be able to walk out of this ward with all your limbs intact

spoke to him over the phone! I've never met him in person!"

"But...

his number and our message history! He wired a million to my account two days ago and promised another after the job! We

searched the assassin for his

it to Axel

him to the

a way to unlock this phone." Sean

"Thank you, Mr.

was escorted away, the silence returning to the ward as if the commotion

of unease lingered in Axel's gut as an oppressive premonition weighed heavily on

then, his phone vibrated, making

as he read the words

a text from

words were a gut punch, sharp

his vision blurred, and he nearly

She wrote, "Goodbye, Axel.

I'm leaving Solana City.

to

me or you manage to find out where I am, I won't

as he typed and retyped a frantic

you, Amber? Tell

was

He wasn't satisfied.

tears, Axel

as if he

me! I know you're there!" "Who do you think I am? Can you avoid seeing me just because you don't want to? Do you think you can control me?"

love me?

and sharp knife that sliced through his

"I don't

were just a ray of light that happened to appear in my

showed me what the light

simply gave me a feeling that I've

never disappear, but

anything

is all that

really love me, don't approach me