Miya staggered out of the hospital, breathless as the drug began to take effect. Her head hurt savagely, and even though she had bandaged the scratch, she sweated profusely as a sharp pain went through her arm, and directly hurt her brain.

She had managed to send Chenric to Raven High to check up urgently on Ben. She had also asked him to get her another drive. Though the young man wasn’t able to tell that she had been injured, he followed orders, guilty that he had gone behind her back by informing Jim. Miya of course, couldn’t have risked seeing Ben when she knew exactly how Kaali’s darts worked. She didn’t want to freak out the child.

She would be losing consciousness soon.

Once Chenric had left, she waited for the car to arrive, the atmosphere of the hospital suffocating her in the meantime. Barely catching her breath, she struggled out, hoping the fresh air would clear her mind. The pain in her head intensified though, and she almost collapsed at the bottom of the staircase.

Beads of sweat covered her forehead and dripped down her chin. She clutched at the railing, looked around for the car, her eyes turning bloodshot. The vision of the road in front blurred, then danced before her eyes. The image of a young girl flashed before her. And then, she saw a lot of blood.

Hallu – Hallucination…

The conscious part of her tried to remind herself that it was just a hallucination, that she had just been attacked by t-that man…

Suddenly, her phone buzzed.

The distraction was enough to drive Miya to momentary consciousness, as she saw it was Chenric’s call. She picked up, and he reported that Ben was alright.

Alright…

“Mmm. Hmm.” Miya could barely breathe while answering the phone, and images of Kasu, Ben, his mother danced before her. She gasped, then finally let go.

She did try to mutter “Help” before she fell to the floor.

Jimmy’s hands were shivering.

As the young master made his final call for the day, he couldn’t imagine what had been going down back at his house. Miya…

She –

He had just received news of her falling unconscious, and that she had been injected with some strange substance. Only a half hour ago he had received Chenric’s call – and the guard had informed him of an attack that had been made on her. Jim had been quick to jump to his feet and make a call to her. But Chenric had insisted she was fine, and that Jim not contact her since she had requested him to not inform Jim of the matter.

Jim had complied then, waiting for her to get back home safe, before he reached back too and gave her a piece of his mind face to face.

Thirty minutes later, he had received another call.

She had lost consciousness on the street, and was being carried back home.

Jimmy had frozen in his place, the worst entering his mind. And then, in a panic that tore down his insides, he cancelled the meetings for the day and flew back home.

Only, his flight was delayed due to bad weather. And as lightning crashed against the sky and rain began to pour, Jim could barely breathe. It was as if it was all a premonition, especially how fast night fell and how black and mooring it was. It was midnight before he could get home.

All this while, Hunter manor was in turmoil.

Simon Hunter sat by Miya’s bedside, his face grim as he seemed to have aged fifty more years. Beside him, a doctor was carefully monitoring the girl, as she lay, sweating on the bed. She was unconscious, but only minutes before she had been awake it seemed. Only, she couldn’t see anybody around herself. No one knew what she was hallucinating about, or what she saw for she screamed her gut out, rocking up from the bed. The doctor had settled her down with the help of a nurse, and given her another shot of the antidote.

It was in her unconscious moment that Jim entered the room.

His face was haggard, his eyes dull. He looked like a haunted ghost.

“Miya – “ he panted, rushing inside.

Simon was inside, as were Mr. Park, Charlie and Ben.

Before Jim could reach the girl, however, someone took his name. Jim froze mid-way once he heard the voice.

As soon as Ben saw Jimmy enter the room, the little guy couldn’t help himself. He didn’t know what had happened to mommy, nobody would tell him. Aunty Charlie would keep taking him out, but Ben could hear screams from the room whenever he left. When he was allowed to see mommy, mommy was asleep. But she looked weak and pale.

Ben had tried not to cry, and he wanted Jimmy to come back.

He could take care of his mommy! Ben knew that.

So when the child saw Jimmy enter the room and call out his mother’s name, Ben couldn’t help himself.

He launched himself at the man’s feet, hugging his knees as he called out, “Jimmy, mommy…”

Jim immediately held the boy, then picked him up. Despite the desperate, low threatening drum of his heart, he said, “Champ… you’re here.”

Ben clung to Jim’s chest, wrapping his small hands around his neck as he buried his face into the crook between Jim’s shoulder and neck. Jim supported the child awkwardly, putting one hand around his shoulders, and the other beneath him.

“Quiet, my boy,” he soothed, glancing over at Miya.

She was deathly pale, her face seeming like it had been drained of blood. Her lips looked charred, and she was trembling. Her eyes were closed, but she was definitely not asleep.

Jim wanted to rush to her side, but he calmed Ben down, looking at his father in appeal. Simon was watching Ben and Jim when his son raised his brows at him.

Senior Hunter nodded slightly, indicating that she was alright.

Jim nodded back, then took Ben outside. Mr. Park followed behind him. While the butler indicated Jim to hand over Ben, Jim agreed, but let the boy go only when he had calmed him down.

“Ben,” he then told him seriously, “I need you to stay with uncle Park for tonight. Have dinner and go to sleep. Do you trust me?”

Very slowly, the boy nodded.

Jim landed a quick peck on his forehead.

“Good. Remember, I’ve told you before, haven’t I? I’ll protect mommy for the both of us.”

Ben gave Jim a tight hug again, then went away with Park and Charlie.

Whilst Charlie appeared before Jim, wanting to say something, a storm brewed in the young master’s eyes. He recalled the picture of Miya and his mother that he had been sent from an unknown number.

Jim had recognized the number within minutes of receiving the text. It was Charlie’s.

She used it for the most secretive of reasons, even Park didn’t know it was a number of hers. She obviously thought nobody knew, for it was even registered under one of her researcher’s names. But Jim wasn’t a nobody. He knew. He had known for a long time now. And even though he didn’t understand why she would send Jim a picture that was so obviously doctored, he was nevertheless furious.

Charlie seemed to be set against Miya!

Why else did she keep doing such dubious things?

Jim had yet to confront her on this – but the matter wasn’t of more importance than his wife. Once Park had left with Ben, Jim rushed back into Miya’s room.

The doctor was monitoring her pulse when he did.

Jim put a hand through his hair roughly, looking at Miya like a mad man. He turned around at Simon Hunter, and asked, “How did this happen?”

The Chairman let out a deep sigh.

“She was injected with a hallucinogenic of some kind. It’s rare, doctor Kern says and the antidote to it doesn’t take immediate effect. She does wake up in parts, but she’s not conscious. She’s having hallucinations – nightmares, actually.”

Jim’s throat dried. His chest hurt, his stomach twisted.

“H-How long will –“

“She should be alright by tomorrow. The screams have lowered in scale. She’ll be okay soon.”

“S-Screams?”

Jim’s face was horrified when he said the word. The Chairman gave him a deep look, and then sighed again.

“When she has the nightmares, she wakes up screaming. When doctor Kern hadn’t arrived, Chenric had to put a towel in her mouth. She was going to bite her own tongue.”

A cold chill ran down Jimmy’s spine. His eyes glazed, and he clenched his fists.

“This incident… it happened on Chenric’s watch?”

“Don’t think about firing him. I would have, but your wife sent the guard a voice text before she completely collapsed. Here.”

With that, old Hunter played a voice record on low volume.

A very weak voice that was undoubtedly Miya’s resounded in the room.

“H-Help…” it seemed to trail away, before she said again, “T-Tell J-Jim you’re… under my… prot…” The voice then faded away

Jim closed his eyes. He knew, by instinct, what she had been wanting to say.

‘Protection’.

Damn it, Miya. Damn it.

He remembered how during her face off with Carver, she had bandaged the wrist of the man she had slit and then sent him off to the hospital. Thanks to that, he had lived and wasn’t dead at Sheng’s hands.

And how she had married Jimmy only because she had thought she owed him Ben’s life.

Jim’s head throbbed, and he felt drained.

Simon Hunter patted his son’s back.

“She’s alright, boy. Rest. I heard you caused quite a commotion when you cancelled the meeting today. About the hacker… should I clear that mess up?”

Jim looked into the cold, grey eyes of his father, that seemed tired. His reply was a reflex.

“No. I’ll take care of it in the morning. I’ll take it from here. Go to bed, father.”

Simon nodded at Jimmy and began to leave the room. He did however, stop and turn around. He seemed hesitant for a second, before he muttered to Jim, “Jimmy… even the best of us have dirt on our hands.”

Jim gave Simon Hunter a peculiar look, then said firmly, “I’m not afraid of her past.”

The old man nodded again.

“I know… don’t be afraid of any part of it, then.”

With that, he left the room.

Jim stared at his father’s back for a second, then turned around to face his wife. He quickly went to the bed and held her hand.

It was unnaturally cold.

Her face was pale, and a slight tremble went down her body. Jim wiped off the sweat on her forehead. He was about to call for the doctor again, when Miya tugged at his hand. For a second, he thought she had woken up. Jim sat back again, ready to nurse her when she jerked up from the bed. Her eyes were dazed.

She screamed.

The sound sent tremors through Jim’s soul.