Can't Answer Me?

Chen Nan made a slight movement towards Ariana after hearing Alexander's question. He could tell that she was contemplating whether she should tell him the truth. When Chen Nan reached to hold her hand, she gave him a small squeeze as if she was telling him that she knew what she was doing.

The room was so quiet that even the form of a wrinkle on a shirt could be heard. It took her a few minutes to decide what to respond to him. The corners of her lip curved up, "As always, you know how the rule works. We can't disclose our client's information nor the goals of our mission. Only our partners would know about it."

Alexander coughed to clear the iron taste in his mouth. Earlier, he forcibly swallowed the mouthful of blood that had rushed up his throat to hide his injured condition. Before they could see the coughed up red droplets in his palm, he hid it from their view.

Her response didn't surprise him at all because he understood her professionalism very well. His eyes started to burn and water, so he closed them. Soon, his voice became hoarse and a forced smile appeared on his pale face, "You're the same as before. Haven't changed a bit."

"What do you mean?" She knelt down beside him so that she could look at him at eye level.

"Not cute at all. You used to follow me around and stuck to me from missions to mission. Now, your stubbornness didn't change one bit, but the cuteness is all washed away." When he said the last part, his eyes glanced towards Chen Nan. Of course, Chen Nan hadn't missed the regretful gaze of his that lasted for a few seconds before it disappeared.

Ariana sighed, "You still have time to joke when you're this injured. Do you not want to live anymore? You're clearly not fine and could barely get through one conversation. Just close your eyes and take a nap if you're tired."

Alexander mumbled, "Why? Because once I go to sleep, you guys could escape from my room and risk your lives again? Don't forget who saved your asses just now. As your life saver, I demand you guys to stop whatever you're doing and go home."

"Why are you stopping us from investigating this place? We never told you our reason for being here." Chen Nan lifted the blanket to check his wounds after he had caught the abnormal change in Alexander's expression. His eyes widened and lips twitched. He sent Ariana a meaningful stare, and she processed that thought immediately.

She snapped her fingers by Alexander's ears to keep him awake. "We're not done talking yet. Like you just said, if you go to sleep then we will definitely sneak out to explore this place. Whether we are coming back alive is very questionable."

"Heh, and even so, you're still risking it." He chuckled lowly as if his body would give in anytime. Meanwhile, Chen Nan cut the wrapped bandages carefully using scissors from the medical kit because he realized that Alexander's wounds hadn't stopped bleeding.

'I'm pretty sure I stopped the bleeding and stitched the wounds together. Why is he still bleeding?' Chen Nan took another pair of clean gloves to inspect Alexander's wounds. That was when he had realized that something was wrong with the bandages.

"Ariana! Quick, loosen these bandages and get it away from his wounds!" He tossed a pair of gloves to her, and she took another pair of scissors to strip away the bandages on his back.

While they were carefully peeling the bandages away from his wounds, Chen Nan lectured him, "Don't tell me you endured this pain the entire time? If something didn't feel right, then you should've said something since the beginning. You knew something was wrong, yet you didn't speak up. Do you not care for your life?"

Once they got every layer of bandages off, his bloody wound was infected. Ariana handed the tools that Chen Nan would need to disinfect the areas and worked next to him as they cleaned his wounds again. Alexander had lost his strength to even speak another word as his vision blurred.

By the time they were finished treating his wounds, Chen Nan doubled checked the bandages in his medical kit. "We can't use any of these. Someone laid their hands on it. If we use these, his wounds will rot within a day and his life will hang on the line."

"Then what can we do? We don't have anything here, and he is unconscious." Ariana bit down on her lips worriedly as her gaze landed on the man whose face looked as pale as snow.

Chen Nan grabbed Alexander's wrist to look at the current time. "In half an hour, the routes should be cleared up. We need to get him to the hospital. I'll carry him, and you look out for anyone."

"But which way should we get out from? The routes that we came from are too dangerous. My way is blocked off when I came in and yours is up that ceiling. Even if we could stuff him up that ceiling, we might not be able to get away in time." She couldn't figure out what to do.

Right when they were about to crack their heads opened, Alexander opened his eyes slightly and said, "I can help you guys escape. Help me up. I know the way."

Even though his mind was nearly blanked out and he didn't hear their conversation about saving him, his desire to bring them out of this underground hell hole forced his body awake. Hearing his words, the couple nodded and adjusted his position on Chen Nan's back.

"Okay, let's go." He said after making sure that Alexander is comfortable in the position he was in. Stretching out his fingers, Alexander pointed to the painting in his room and the couple stepped closer towards that direction.

"Behind the painting...put my thumb at the mark." He tried his best to explain it to them with minimal words. Ariana took the painting down to see a darkened print that was similar to a thumb. Recalling his words, she asked Chen Nan to get closer to the wall as she fit his thumb onto the space.

Once the prints matched, a passageway opened up and they rushed through the available route.

"Wait..wait." Alexander stopped them.

"What is it? Do you feel very sick? We could slow down." Chen Nan said.

"Run. Leave me. He's coming." Alexander's ears moved as he had always been quite sensitive towards any movements in his surroundings.

Ariana looked around and shook her head, "I don't hear anything. We can run, but we are leaving with you. Let's rush. The exit should be close by."

"No. Let me off. They won't do anything to me, but you guys need to go." He chanted once again.

Chen Nan decided to trust Alexander's words even if they didn't hear any sounds and whispered, "Let's run for it."