Click. Silence followed.
Radit, who had been lounging on the sofa, stood up. "Zinnia's right. Focus. Tonight, we're getting Kaivan out of the hospital."
The decision rang through the room like a battle bell. Everyone moved at once, their hearts racing with the ticking clock.
Streetlights cast pale reflections on the hospital's somber walls. Parked ambulances stood like empty shells, and the quiet atmosphere felt unnatural, too calm, holding something underneath. Two cars stopped near the ER entrance. Every member took their position with practiced precision.
Felicia and Thivi walked toward the main entrance, their steps steady, unremarkable. Raphael and Ethan watched from a distance through their comms.
Once inside, Felicia used a hospital map stored on her phone. She glanced at the receptionist's monitor, then whispered, "He's in the last VIP room." She sent the message directly to Raphael.
Outside, Raphael, Ethan, and Radit slipped down a side corridor toward the emergency stairwell. Radit carried a small bag filled with lockpicking tools, while Raphael led with sharp eyes and measured steps.
Livia's anxious voice crackled through the communicator from the car. "Be careful… someone else is heading toward the VIP wing. He got out of a black car, wearing a suit." Her breath trembled, but her words stayed focused.
The VIP hallway loomed silent and tense. The scent of disinfectant mixed with the cold draft from the old AC, creating an atmosphere both sterile and unnerving. Pale neon lights reflected on the polished floor, stretching shadows far down the corridor. Two police officers stood guard outside one of the rooms, their posture firm, their eyes scanning with sharp vigilance.
From around the corner, three figures crouched low. Radit peeked out first, taking a quick look before pulling back with a held breath.
Radit whispered a hoarse curse. His voice nearly cracked, not only from caution, but from the pressure coiling inside his chest. "Damn it… there are two officers right in front of that door."
Ethan stood behind him, jaw tight, tension etched across his face. He leaned against the wall and pinched the bridge of his nose, as if steadying the storm in his mind. His voice came out low, restrained, yet overflowing with unease. "They know Kaivan's important. This isn't normal security."
Raphael said nothing. He remained completely still, eyes sharp as a blade as they traced every corner of the corridor. His fingers tapped lightly against the holster at his waist, a soft rhythm that echoed the rapid calculations in his head. He absorbed every detail: the angle of the CCTV, the distance to the officers, even the erratic flicker of the overhead lights. A vein pulsed faintly on his neck, marking his absolute focus.
Footsteps echoed from another direction. All three reacted instantly. Ethan slipped the lockpicking tool deeper into his jacket. Radit sat down on a waiting-room chair, pretending to be an exhausted relative of a patient. Raphael lowered his hoodie, shadowing his face, then took a calm seat beside Radit, smooth, practiced, natural.
A stranger appeared from the far end of the hall. His steps were firm, deliberate, leaving behind a faint echo that carried an unsettling air through the tense corridor.
Raphael murmured under his breath, barely sound at all. "Who is he?"
Ethan replied just as quietly, without turning his head. "He's handing them something… maybe an ID card."
They watched from a distance. The officers examined the man's card, exchanged a brief glance, then let him in. The door clicked softly behind him.
Silence returned, thick and uneasy.
Radit clenched his teeth. "I know that face… but why is he here?"
Inside the room, Kaivan sat on the hospital bed, his body slumped. Cold steel cuffs locked his ankles to the frame. His hands were free, yet limp. His eyes were empty, like someone who had already lost everything.
The door opened with a slow creak, the hinges whining like a faint lament. A man in a dark suit stepped in, moving with calm precision before closing the door without a sound. His gaze was sharp, deep, and unreadable as he approached Kaivan with the quiet confidence of a predator evaluating its prey.
Kaivan lifted his head. The pale hospital light reflected off his drained face, his hollow eyes, and the bruise on his left cheek.
"How are you, Boy?" The man's voice was low and heavy, like a stone rolling across the ground. There was no warmth in his tone, only judgment disguised as concern.
Kaivan exhaled softly, the corner of his mouth twisting into a tired smirk. "Bad. But fascinating, meeting a stranger who seems more eager to bother me than help."
A faint smile touched the man's lips as he sat beside the bed. His hand slipped casually into his suit pocket. "I can get you out of this place," he said calmly. "But you will have to leave this country."
Kaivan turned to him slowly, his eyes narrowing with quiet suspicion. "Why? Why would someone like you care about someone like me?"
The hospital corridor remained eerily silent. Only the ticking of a wall clock and the low hum of the ventilation system echoed faintly above them. Pale neon light cast long shadows across the polished gray floor, reflecting faces filled with anxiety and unspoken truths.
Felicia walked briskly, her footsteps tapping sharply against the tiles. Each step carried the weight of a storm she tried to bury. Her eyes, still faintly red, glimmered with burning resolve. The automatic door slid open before her, and her gaze immediately locked onto the group waiting there.
Radit sat at the long metal bench, leaning forward with his hands clasped tightly, as if bracing against a blow from the past. Raphael stood against the wall with arms crossed, watchful and still, like an old lion waiting for a signal. Ethan stood farther away, chewing gum with an air of boredom, though his sharp eyes scanned every inch of the corridor.
Thivi lingered behind Felicia. Though irritation lined her face, her eyes betrayed a deeper restraint, something she forced herself to hold back. She looked down briefly, then glanced at Felicia, who had already stepped forward.
Felicia approached Radit without a single wasted breath. Her posture was straight, her presence pressing down on the air. Her voice cut through the corridor like a blade scraping against skin.
"Why haven't you saved Kaivan yet?" Her demand echoed, sharp and resonant.
Radit didn't answer. His eyes were fixed on the VIP room at the end of the corridor. His stare was hollow, his body rigid, yet unmoving.
Felicia stepped closer, her face inches from his. "Hey. I'm talking to you."
Still no response.
And then, with a voice so faint it almost vanished into the hum of the hospital lights, he whispered, "My first meeting with Kaivan… that night…"
Silence fell like a curtain. Raphael glanced at him, frowning. "What do you mean?"
Slowly, Radit lifted his head. His eyes were shadowed yet soft, carrying the weight of a memory carved deep into him.
"My first meeting with Kaivan was when I tried to steal."
A faint, painful smile touched his lips, the smile of a soldier remembering the night he was saved.
"After Kaivan stopped me, he told me to chase down another pickpocket. I caught him, beat him, took the suitcase, and returned it to its owner. That night changed my life."
He drew in a shaky breath.
"That man helped me. He paid my school fees. He said I was a good person and should leave the dark path behind. His name was Levan."
The corridor froze. Even the ticking of the clock felt heavy.
Ethan scratched his head, confused yet alert. "So the man inside… is the same person?"
Radit nodded slowly. "Yes."
Felicia crossed her arms, her eyes locked on the VIP room with a storm of anger, doubt, and fear swirling within them. Her frustration morphed into something deeper, an instinctive suspicion she couldn't yet explain.
"That only makes me even more curious..." she murmured, her voice low, like a whisper meant to kill. "What does he really want from Kaivan?"