To Save Him

Kaia stayed by Alex's side all day and all night, except for the occasional bathroom visits. The nurse brought in food and water throughout the day which Kaia graciously thanked the nurse for.

She couldn't bring herself to leave or do anything so she just watched him.

While staring at him, for the hundredth time that day she thought, 'Why? Why did it have to be him? Why did I have to go back to the company where the shooter was obviously lying in wait for me?' While looking at his face and ingraining every small detail into memory she thought, 'When did I become so attached to him again?' She lowered her head down to the bed staring at his face. Stubble was forming along his chiseled jawline. She traced her pointer finger over the curve of his jaw before slowly closing her eyes and giving in to fatigue. She was so tired that she had to force herself to stay awake and watch over him.

--

The man that had been hired by Caine to commit the shooting made his way into the hospital. He had waited outside for at least two days but couldn't manage to catch even a glimpse of Kaia. In the end, he couldn't wait any longer and decided to go in and quickly finish the job.

He wasn't pleased with Caine but he wanted to get the job done and finally get the rest of his money. He quickly prepared his cover through the measly amount of contacts that he had. Then he constructed what he thought of as a foolproof plan and walked in.

He had on a typical and nondescript janitor's uniform, as well as a custom-made fake ID that looked almost identical to the ones that actual employees would use, which he clipped to his belt. He also wore a pair of thick dark-rimmed glasses. To complete the look, he styled his hair so that it would cover the upper half of his facial features, especially his eyes. He was pushing a cart with the deadly bottle of a highly concentrated solution of cyanide inside a spray bottle. Since a gun would be easily identified, he had to resort to using a deadly injection instead. Since it was a hospital, it wouldn't be too much of a problem for him to find a needle to administer the shot.

Although he wasn't a "professional" hitman, he made sure to locate as many of the security cameras as he could. But no matter how good he was, he didn't know that the VIP room would have even more cameras than he expected and would be much harder to get into. In addition to police officers surrounding the hallways, there were also professionally trained bodyguards that circled the area around the clock. But even before he could see any of those things, he never expected that a simple elevator key would've stopped him from reaching the VIP rooms. It was the same for both the guest and staff elevators. He would give himself away if he tried to go up through the stairs. The risk was much too high for someone who was only a trained marksman. He wasn't that skilled in hand-to-hand combat and would be overpowered by all the men upstairs who were guarding Kaia and Alex. He was also not confident in his ability to improv his way through the hospital because he lacked experience and knowledge.

The shooter decided to just give up while he could. He couldn't risk going back to jail again. He had a long criminal record and if he was caught, he would either go to jail forever or risk an assassination to shut him up from Caine. Although the money offer was good, he had already received a small fraction of it in his account as a fee for taking the offer and also as hush-hush money.

--

It was about midnight when Kaia woke up. She heard one of the nurses come in to bring her a glass of water. Kaia thanked the nurse and made small talk with the nurse for a bit. Kaia's phone suddenly began to ring, and she looked down at the screen to see an unknown number. She was going to ignore it but the ringing wouldn't stop. She looked at the nurse and apologized before taking the call. The nurse smiled and excused herself before leaving the room. Kaia answered the call with a hint of annoyance. "Hello?" A deep male voice came through. "Kaia, it's your fault the Sabor boy was harmed." His words made a tingle shoot through her body. Her eyes narrowed as she clutched her phone tighter. "You were the one who set it up," she said with a cold flat tone.

His voice became even more profound with a hint of maliciousness. "Kaia my dear, unless you want him completely gone, you will vanish and leave everything behind." Kaia frowned. "Why are you doing this? What do you want from me?" she growled through her teeth. Anger began to build up inside of her. They were after her and yet Alex was the one that was hurt. The man on the other end let out a bemused chuckle. "Does it matter?"

Kaia was in shock as she listened. Her body pulsated almost as if she was going to explode. The male's voice was all too familiar to her not to notice. Kaia took a deep breath. "If I go...you'll really leave him alone?" she asked, her voice cracking slightly as she spoke. The man smirked. "Yes, that is the deal I'm offering. I just wanted to get rid of you." Kaia put the back of her hand to her lips as her eyes welled up. It was her fault...they were really after her, and unfortunately, Alex had been caught in the crossfire.

She looked over at Alex's still body and gave a soft sigh. "Fine, I'll leave...but if you go back on your word…" The man scoffed. "Don't worry, I won't touch him. You were my only target." He practically purred those words with a devilish smile saying otherwise spreading on his face. Kaia who was oblivious to all this sighed softly. "Alright."

Taking a slow and deep breath to calm her nerves, Kaia hung up the phone and stared at Alex. The last thing she wanted was to cause him harm, yet being around her almost got him killed. She walked over to the side of the bed, leaning over him to carefully place a soft kiss on his left temple. "I'm sorry…" she whispered, her hand gently stroking his hair from his forehead. She didn't want to leave him but if it was to save his life… Kaia had to leave before she started backing out. She grabbed her things quickly and left the room without turning back. She walked up to the bodyguards that were assigned to the floor and told them to add a few more men to watch over Alex for her, as well as to help her inform Alex's parents that she needed to leave. She didn't feel right leaving him alone and was also unwilling to face his parents and explain the situation. They were already kind enough not to keep her away from Alex even though they might've had some suspicions as to why Alex got hurt.

Kaia trudged through the snow thinking to herself. She felt so useless at this moment but what could she do? Kaia stopped at Alex's house. She had to do something. She had a feeling the man on the phone would make sure she was dead. She couldn't risk getting Alex hurt again because the man on the phone was extremely powerful and had connections to some dangerous people. By leaving Alex's side, she was diverting his attention to herself. She knew it was reckless but it was the only way for her to keep Alex safe while he was still recovering. She wasn't the damsel-in-distress type who needed a prince or knight in shining armor to rescue her whenever she was in a sticky situation. She was Kaia Crestfall. A prodigy who graduated from a decorated and elite university and grad school at an extremely young age. She was also the CEO of Crestfall Industries, so she knew how to handle pressure and tough situations on her own. If she didn't, then learning and experiencing new hardships firsthand was also something one would need to experience throughout their lifetime.

Kaia drove back to Alex's villa. She knew that packing up her things would indicate that she had left and she didn't want Alex to know that.

She went upstairs to search for something. When she located the drawer, she opened it to the photo album. She bit her lip lightly before pulling it out. She took a deep breath, opening it to the picture of them as children. 'If it will save you, I will disappear,' she thought to herself before pulling the photo out of the album. She wrote a quick note on the back of the photo and used a magnet to stick it on the fridge. The magnet was in soft shades of the beautiful sunset that they had seen on the hidden hilltop. Alex had bought it in the same online shop where he got the stationery paper where he wrote 'You're Beautiful' on.

For the note, Kaia only wrote three simple, but powerful words. 'I love you.' She sighed and pulled out her phone to call Naomi as she left the house.

Naomi answered the phone. "Hello?" Kaia let out a breath, looking around. "Naomi. Something happened. I can't explain at the moment, but I need your help." She didn't have to say anymore, Naomi just asked what she needed. Kaia took a moment before answering. "I need a place to stay...somewhere off the grid and far away." Reluctantly, Naomi checked a few top-secret files that had extensive passwords before giving her an address. Knowing that she was most likely being watched, Kaia casually took out the battery and SIM card before destroying her phone and secretly disposing of it. She went to the railway station and got a ticket to the countryside.

Just as she was about to board the train, a figure appeared behind her. "Do you regret rejecting me now?" a chilling voice said into her ear. Caine's eyes peered down at her. Kaia didn't look at him. It took sheer willpower to calm and control every nerve in her body from whipping her head around in surprise and fear.

The tension rose inside of her. "No, I don't regret it, and I won't because I found someone far better than you'll ever wish to be in the process…" She exhaled and quickly got onto the train, not paying Caine any more attention which made him even angrier. Although he was extremely mad that she still had the audacity to put on such high and mighty airs when she was reduced to such a state, he didn't care anymore. He was going to be CEO now. Women from left to right would cling to him, begging for his attention. He didn't need to waste his time on some cowardly woman who was running off somewhere and leaving behind the man she loved. He smirked. 'What a stupid woman,' he thought.

~~~

Kaia made it to the countryside within a few hours. The fields were covered in soft blankets of snow. Not as much as it did back in the city but still enough that all you could see for long stretches of land was white. It was a small place but the feeling it gave was incredible. The children all gathered outside to play in the snow and you could smell freshly baked bread wafting through the air. Kaia smelled the clean fresh air and made her way to the address that Naomi gave her. It was a little further out of town, and a large pasture surrounded it.

When she made it to the address, she stared at a small wooden house. It looked abandoned, but there was smoke coming out of the chimney, letting her know someone was home. She slowly walked up to the door and knocked.