Chapter 2

The cold handcuffs snapped shut around my wrists with a sharp click.

Like a prisoner, I was handcuffed to a support pipe in a basement thick with toxic gas by the very man I'd loved for three years.

"Michael." I whispered.

I parted my cracked lips, my throat thick with the metallic taste of blood.

"Shut up!" he snapped.

He loomed over me, his eyes full of impatience, "It'll take the rescue team at least ten minutes to break through. You're staying right here and thinking about what you've done! And when the gas clears, you're apologizing to Em immediately."

Apologize?

My vision kept going dark, and the red light on the filter of my gas mask was flashing like crazy, a piercing alarm blaring in my ears.

Beep-beep-beep-. The sound felt like it was drilling right into my skull.

The chemicals in the tear gas were searing my eyes, and tears mixed with a burning sensation poured down my cheeks.

My lungs felt like a sponge soaked in acid, and every breath made them feel like they were being ripped apart.

Emily was right behind Michael, hiding behind his broad back. She gently tugged at his sleeve, looking all fragile and helpless.

"Captain Stone, maybe we should let it go. She might really be suffering. Why don't you give the filter back to her? I can tough it out," Emily spoke in a soft voice,

but her actions betrayed her, for her fingers were gripping the edge of her mask so tightly that her knuckles were white.

"Why would I give it to her?" Michael snapped.

He grabbed her hand, his voice gentle and full of concern, the kind of tenderness he'd never shown me.

"This is the only special filter left. If you take it off, you'll breathe in the gas. She's built like a tank. You know she's been shot before and didn't even complain. Just the gas won't kill her," he said.

Built like a tank, huh?' I scoffed inwardly.

I closed my swollen, burning eyes, a sarcastic twist pulling at my lips.

Yeah, that's me, rough and unbreakable,' I thought.

Three years ago, during a drug bust, I took a bullet to the lung to shield him.

The doctors told me my lungs are way weaker than average. One more bit of strain and I’m done for.

And he knew all of this.

But now, he was the one who shut down my last hope only to protect Chief Warren's niece, Emily.

Michael turned to check the nearby blast-proof door lock, trying to contact the outside world.

As soon as he walked away, Emily suddenly turned and crept over to me, moving as quietly as a cat.

Through the thick smoke, the fear and fragility on her face vanished in an instant, replaced by a winner's venom.

She crouched down, leaning in close to my ear.

"Sarah, you're so pathetic," she whispered.

Her voice was soft, but every word cut straight to the bone.

Emily sneered, "You really think busting all those cases and racking up achievements would make Michael notice you?

"He's been venting to me for ages. He says that you're way too controlling, like some cold-blooded machine obsessed with those tedious rules. Being around you only makes him feel suffocated."

She tapped the spare filter on her mask, her face full of triumphant smugness.

"See? All it takes is a couple of tears from me, and he'll toss your life aside like it's nothing. So what if you're the hero's daughter? You're still chained up here like a dog, just waiting to die," she whispered.

I wanted nothing more than to wipe that smug, fake look right off her face.

But the handcuffs dug into my wrists, and even the slightest movement made the metal bite deep, drawing blood.

I didn't bother to struggle, but just shot her a cold, dead stare.

She had no clue that the green light on my body cam was blinking steadily and covertly in the smoke, catching every second.

I hacked violently, the sound echoing inside my mask.

Frothy blood burst from my mouth, splattering across the visor.

My body jerked in uncontrollable spasms, and the world blurred into a warped crimson nightmare.

And my corneas were at their breaking point.

Emily recoiled in disgust, then put on her best fake panic. "Captain Stone, Sarah's not looking good. She's having a seizure!"

Michael stormed back over.

He saw me curled up under the support pillar, coughing up blood behind my mask. For a split second, panic flashed in his eyes, but it vanished as quickly, replaced by anger.

"Sarah. Stop with the drama." he snapped.

He kicked the fire axe I'd dropped earlier out of the way, yanking at his tie in frustration.

Michael snapped, "Let me make this clear. Don't think faking it is going to get you out of trouble. You sabotaged the scene and tried to hurt your teammate. I'm writing you up for this.

"If you keep acting like this, you can kiss your badge goodbye, and as for our engagement, that's over!"

So that's it? We're really done?

I pushed through the agony in my chest, using every bit of strength I had left to lift my head.

Through the blood-streaked visor, I looked at the man I once wanted to trust with my whole life. Whatever hope I had left inside me just burned out. Gone for good.

BOOM!

The explosion was deafening.

The basement's blast-proof steel door finally got ripped open, a huge hole blasted through it by the fire rescue team's precision charge.

Fresh air and blinding sunlight flooded in all at once.

Several rescue workers in heavy hazmat suits burst into the room.

"We've got someone hurt over here!" one of them shouted.

A rescue worker spotted me handcuffed to the pillar and yelled,

"Grab the oxygen bag. She doesn't have a filter and she's suffocating!"

Just as the rescue worker was about to rush over, Michael shoved him aside.

"Forget about her. She's got a strong set of lungs and can tough it out." Michael snapped.

His eyes were eyes were bloodshot as he roughly shoved Emily behind him into the rescue worker's arms, his voice trembling with urgency.

"Get Emmy out of here first. She's Chief Warren's niece, and this is her first time in the field. She inhaled some gas and she's really weak. Get her to an ambulance, now!" Michael shouted.

The rescue worker hesitated, pointing at my convulsing body. "But Captain Stone, that cop's coughing up blood, and she's still cuffed."

"I'm the commander here. Follow my orders!" Michael barked.

I slumped against the icy pipe, blood mingling with stinging tears rolling down from the corners of my eyes.

Through the haze of blood clouding my vision, I watched Michael guard Emily, completely unharmed, as if she were some rare gem, rushing out of the basement surrounded by rescue workers, never once glancing back at me.

He never looked my way, not even for a second.

He even forgot to leave the key to my handcuffs behind.

Smoke engulfed me once more.

My consciousness began to fade, and my breathing grew faint until the world faded to black.