Calhoun was no doubt worried about his soldier's condition. The mission in Pantar was the third that he lost his men and more than handful at that.

Not only that, a man considered as family, Gabriel Colton, lost his leg. Winter Avery lost her sense of hearing. This was just too much for him.

When he agreed to Gabriel in faking his death, he didn't really know to what extent his problem was but, looking at him right now made him feel so guilty in sending him to Pantar.

"For Gabriel's part, we can have a prosthetic leg replace for the missing limb if you want. Of course, we no longer ask you to serve in the field but you can still work in the base to be a strategist and support the team." Dr. Anderson spoke while examining his wound. "But the last decision will be coming from Calhoun and you. That is just my opinion on this matter."

Winter was sitting on the side watching them in silence. She didn't know what they were talking about but looking at the expression on their faces, it certainly wasn't good.

She watch Dr. Anderson wrapped a new gauze around Gabriel's wound while Gabriel remained silent, listening to what Calhoun was saying.

After tending to Gabriel, Dr. Anderson came to Winter's side.

"Sigh. This woman sure has it hard." Dr. Anderson mumbled while looking helplessly at her.

"Hey doc, are you badmouthing me?" Winter grinned evilly at him even though he knew Dr. Anderson wasn't that type of person.

In the whole military compound under Calhoun's team, Dr. Anderson was the calmest and sensible person -only if nothing happens to Brown and Valkyrie. It's known to everyone how important these two to him. Everyone would even say that Brown was more important to Dr. Anderson because they could understand each other when it comes to medical field. Only few people know what Dr. Anderson looked like when he got angry.

For example, when Valkyrie took his first mission, a bullet scraped his thigh making him unable to move, letting Brown carried him all the way to Travis' mansion. When Dr. Anderson heard about this he was so angry that he took over the mission and killed everyone inside the drug den.

That was the first time Avery saw him got angry. From then on, they would make sure that Valkyrie came home unscathed or Dr. Anderson will take over their job, leaving them no merit.

After that incident as well, Dr. Anderson stopped taking mission and decided to focus himself on his medical projects. No matter how many times they try to persuade him, he wouldn't just do it.

"When did you notice that you lost your sense of hearing?" Dr. Anderson wrote this question so she can read it instead.

"Yesterday morning." Winter answered softly.

"Did you get yourself checked?"

"Nope. It doesn't matter to me if I can hear or not."

Dr. Anderson sighed and looked towards Gabriel. "Did you guys fight?"

Gabriel nodded his head faintly, admitting his fault. "I said something to her when she arrived. She fell on a cliff. When night came, I said something awful again and made her fall in the cold river."

"You're horrible! Did you know how depressed she was when you fake your death? I even had to put her on a vacation leave just to make sure that she won't let herself die from over fatigue." Calhoun scolded Gabriel which made Winter raise her eyebrow.

"Uncle, why are you shouting at him?" Winter asked with a face full of confusion.

"How do you know I'm shouting at him?" Calhoun answer her question with a question.

"Is it so difficult to figure out? You were just sitting silently after talking to him earlier. Now, your face is really red and your veins are popping from anger."

"You woman! I'm angry in your behalf!" Calhoun scolded her which didn't affect Winter at all. She couldn't hear remember?

Dr. Anderson just listened to their banters while he inserted a small tube on Winter's ears. He checked on a small monitor and found that her eardrums were fine.

Thus, he came with the same conclusion as Brown. It was a psychological defense after all the trauma she experienced. He explained everything to them so that they would understand her situation.

"So, there is still a chance that she can hear just like what Brown said." Shein asked since he was there watching and listening to them with everyone else.

"Yes. But that depends on her willingness. In this matter, only Gabriel can help her since he caused this to happen." Dr. Anderson answered bluntly with out sparing Gabriel from his honest evaluation.

"In this case, I'd really have to extend her vacation until she's fully recovered. As for you Gabriel, I will lift your record in the system and put you on vacation as well to help Winter. Let's talk about your work once everything's settled." Calhoun informed him. "I'll talk to the higher ups about your current condition."

"Okay." Gabriel murmured his answer unhappily.

"How about you Winter, should I let your parents know?" Calhoun turn to Winter but didn't get a response. With a helpless sigh, he wrote his question on the same paper that Dr. Anderson used.

Winter read it and her face turned cold. Since she broke up with her fiance, she didn't have a good relationship with her family, which was the reason that she'd come home to the hacienda instead of her own home.

"No need to let them know. It's enough that Uncle Thomas and RV know about me." Winter responded before she stood up and left everyone.

"Does she hate her family?" Shein asked curiously.

"You aren't so subtle, are you?" Savannah chuckled at Shein's honest thoughts.

"Sorry. The words came out before I could stop myself." Shein apologized and bowed his head to everyone.

Dr. Anderson laughed at him since it was rare to find someone so honest with his thoughts.

Honest? Shein can be honest and blunt when he wanted to. However, he could become a scheming evil when his family was hurt, too.