Chapter 3

I lightly touched my wound and gave a little smile. "It's fine, really. You guys have been through a lot because of me."

The moment I found out Rory Banks wanted my kidney, I alerted my comrades right away.

They pulled out all the stops and finally found a matching kidney donor. The doctor, whom I'd saved before, was totally in and had my back.

Seeing I was telling the truth, Jerry handed over the folder to me. "This is the flight route through the wilderness. It's insanely dangerous.

"If you're thinking about faking your death to get out of here, it's going to be next to impossible."

I scoffed. "There's still a sliver of hope. If I stick with Rory, I'll disappear without even a body left behind."

As soon as I finished speaking, Rory came back. "You talking about vanishing without a trace?" he asked, narrowing his eyes.

I quickly shoved the folder under my pillow and replied calmly, "It's nothing. Just talking about that task—back then, it almost left nothing of me behind."

Rory pulled me into his arms, his tender voice and full of affection. "All those missions you threw yourself into were just too risky.

"From now on, relax at home and let me pamper you as Mrs. Banks."

I just smiled and said nothing.

Rory didn't notice anything unusual about me. He gave my cheek a gentle kiss and said softly, "The director just told me the hospital's packed, so he asked if we could add a bed to your room. I said yes."

I just nodded, whatever. But I was stunned to see that the person they wheeled in was Mona.

My teammates pushed me out so we could talk over the wilderness mission, and when I got back, I overheard some familiar voices drifting from the room.

"Rory, are you sure it's okay for me to stay here? Won't Madge get upset?" Mona asked hesitantly.

"Let her be mad if she wants. Mona, you just got out of surgery, so quit worrying. All you need to do is focus on getting better—and I won't be at peace unless you're recovering right here where I can see you," Rory replied.

Rory's voice was unbelievably soft, filled with a kind of tenderness I'd never expected from him.

I gripped the armrests of my wheelchair so tightly that my nails split open, blood seeping from the cracks—I barely even felt the pain, just the anger surging in my chest.

A nurse walking by caught sight of my bloody hand and let out a gasp loud enough to turn heads, making everyone in the room whip around to look at me.

Rory nearly stumbled in his hurry to step away from Mona, like they'd been caught red-handed.

Rory's face flashed with guilt, but he covered it up fast and strode over to me. "Madge, when did you get back? What happened to your hand?"

"Just now. I squeezed the chair a little too hard, split a few nails. No big deal," I answered, shrugging it off.

Rory visibly relaxed, the tension draining from his shoulders.

He wheeled me into the room, and Mona, lying in bed, waved at me. "Madge, sorry for barging in," she said.

I couldn't bring myself to smile back like she did. I just lay down in my own bed, silent.

Seeing that I wasn't happy, Rory pressed his lips together and gently squeezed my hand in his palm. "Don't start overthinking things. The director arranged this—not my call," he said.

Rory was deliberately keeping his distance from Mona.

He just didn't want me kicking her out. It's the only way he can really look after Mona right after her surgery.

I pulled my hand back, forcing a weak smile. "Yeah, I get it."

Just like that, the coldness in Rory's eyes vanished. Maybe he thought he was rewarding me or something, because he said softly, "No greasy food for you yet. I made some soup myself—hang tight, I'll go get it."

Rorydidn't say anything else, just headed out of the room with that long confident stride of his.

Mona sat up, giving me a defiant look full of challenges. "Madge, so I heard you've lost your kidney? Is that true?

"How pathetic—if it's not your hearing, now it's your kidney. Guess fate really wants you to be disabled, huh?"

Her shrill voice was like needles in my ears. Instinctively, I pulled the blanket over my head.

The very next second, the blanket was ripped away from me with brutal force.

Mona was at my bedside, her expression dripping mockery. She slowly lifted her shirt and pointed to the scar on her waist. "Take a look—doesn't this match yours?

"I bet you didn't know, huh? My kidneys failed, and Rory went out of his way to get yours switched into me."

Before I could react, she grabbed my wrist and slammed my hand against her scar. "Can you feel it? This is your kidney."

Annoyance roared up inside me—I jerked my hand back as hard as I could.

Mona's face suddenly drained of color; she staggered, nearly collapsing backward. "Rory, help!"

Rory had barely stepped through the door when he rushed over and caught Mona in his arms.

Without missing a beat, he hurled the food container straight at me. Scalding hot soup drenched me, burning my skin.