chapter 10 : save him

The ambulance ride was a blur of controlled chaos as Mina worked feverishly to stabilize Chenxiu. His condition was critical - the stab wound had perforated his abdomen and he was losing blood at an alarming rate.

Upon arriving at the hospital, she barked urgent orders as he was whisked into the operating theater. Stripping off her soiled clothes, Mina scrubbed in with a singular focus, shutting out all external things and thoughts.

Only when she stood over the operating table, scalpel poised over Chenxiu's ravaged torso, did her hands begin to tremble imperceptibly. Taking a steadying breath, Mina forced herself to look upon him as just another patient requiring her skills, not the man who had so disrupted her equilibrium.

The next several hours were a marathon of intense concentration as Mina meticulously repaired the damage and wounds on his body especially the gunshot wound which led to severe blood loss. More than once, Chenxiu crested the precipice of coding before she could swing him back from the brink.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Mina was able to close and prepare him for recovery. Stripping off her gore-spattered protective gear, she could only stare at Chenxiu's pale, still form on the table.

"You better pull through this, you stubborn bastard," she murmured, her voice a raw rasp of pure depletion.

Days passed in a blur as Mina remained hospitalized for observation herself after the harrowing ordeal. Whenever she could pry herself from bureaucratic meetings about the incident, she was at Chenxiu's bedside.

On the third day, he finally opened his eyes, their customary intensity somewhat dulled by a morphine haze. "...Mina?"

She was at his side in an instant, pale but relieved. "Yes, I'm here. How are you feeling?"

A ghost of a smirk played across his lips. "Like I got my ass kicked and then reconstituted. So relatively stellar, all things considered."

Mina couldn't help but let out a shaky laugh at his mordant humor. Impulsively, she reached out to take his hand, needing to reassure herself he was truly on the mend. "You're damn lucky I found you when I did. What the hell happened, Chenxiu?"

His thumb brushed over her knuckles absently as he replied, "A business deal gone sour. Violent disagreement over..,.terms."

Sensing there was much more to the story, Mina simply gave his hand a light squeeze. "Well, I expect details once you've recovered your strength. No more pushing yourself to the limits."

Chenxiu's gaze grew momentarily somber as it locked with hers. "You saved my life, Mina. I can never repay that debt."

She held his intense stare, her heart thrumming wildly. "Just don't waste this second chance I gave you. That's all I ask."

His answering look spoke volumes before his eyes slipped shut once more, tension gradually releasing from his battered frame as he drifted off.

Mina remained at his bedside a while longer, watching over his repose with a protective fondness she couldn't quite rationalize. Whoever Liang Chenxiu truly was, she realized she was well past the point of simply professional interest.

This was something much more complex and precarious. And whatever debt he felt he owed, in that moment Mina knew the true extent of what was owed but to whom