Chapter 20
“I’m sorry” Claire said softly, her eyes fixed on the festering wound on Frank’s back. Guilt weighed heavily on her. If not for her, Frank wouldn’t have been injured this badly.
“What’s with that face? It’s not like I’m dying,” Frank teased, plucking a blade of wild grass from the ground and sticking it between his teeth. “It’s just an infected wound. As a doctor, are you really scared of something like this?”
Claire didn’t respond. Instead, she focused intently on changing his dressing, her silence speaking louder than words.
Noticing her mood, Frank decided to ease her worries. “Don’t be stressed. I’ve already arranged for a helicopter to take me back
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tomorrow for proper treatment. My life’s at stake here, you know, and trust me, I value it even more than do.”
The next morning, Frank was airlifted out on the helicopter.
“Who would’ve thought, after all these years of running wild in such chaotic places, I’d end up getting injured like this,” he mused.
For the past few days, Claire had been tirelessly tending to his wound, and in that time, her diligence and care had captivated him. Frank realized he had developed feelings for her.
As the helicopter climbed higher into the sky, he suddenly shouted down toward Claire. “Claire! Wait for me to come back!”
He didn’t know if she could hear him over
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the roar of the blades, but he kept waving enthusiastically anyway.
Below, Claire stood silently, her expression unreadable. She had heard him clearly, but she didn’t know how to respond.
Claire preferred the simplicity of her current life spending her days treating. patients and working with medicine. She. had no desire to be trapped in the graveyard of love again.
“Looks like our long–single Team Leader Adler has fallen for you, Claire,” teased one of the other doctors.
“Yeah, Claire. Don’t tell me you’re not tempted–he’s pretty charming.”
Gone was the shy Claire of the past. With a serene smile, she dismissed the teasing.
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“Don’t be ridiculous. Team Leader Adler was addressing everyone, not just me““”
Despite her words, her hand
subconsciously touched the medal in her pocket–an honorary token representing peace, given to her by Frank before he left.
Elsewhere, when Frank’s helicopter landed, a familiar scent of medicinal herbs lingered in the air.
The aroma immediately triggered Allen’s memory of the night Claire saved him in the pouring rain. She had carried him on her back to a small mountain village, where there were no proper medical facilities.
He vividly recalled the bitter herbs she chewed to a pulp before carefully applying them to his wound. When he awoke from
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unconsciousness, her lips were stained a deep purple from the herbal juices.
The memory hit him like a boomerang, striking his heart with overwhelming force. He couldn’t afford to hesitate any longer.
With bloodshot eyes, Allen stormed up to Frank. “Where did you just come from? What was the location of your last mission?”
His sudden outburst startled Frank, who froze for a moment, confused by the intensity in Allen’s gaze.
“Answer me!” Allen demanded, grabbing Frank by the collar.
Snapping out of his daze, Frank’s expression turned cold. “That’s classified information. I don’t owe you an explanation.”
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His tone was calm but firm, his stance unwavering despite Allen’s desperation.
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