465 A Taxing Day

Without warning, heavy rain poured down from the dark sky followed by a flash of lightning and a growl of thunder.

Damien and Jeffrey each took an arm and put it around their neck as they tried to carry Chris under the harsh condition. The latter was bloody and lifeless, his feet being dragged against the already muddy ground and leaving a track of blood. Katherine was muddle-headed as she watched the scene in front of her. Today was supposed to be a really good day for her and Damien. How did it suddenly turn out like this?

"Fûck he's heavy," Jeffrey muttered under gritted teeth.

Katherine overtook the men, hurriedly grabbed the wheelchair near the entrance, and brought it over to them. Almost instantly, the men dropped Chris's body into the wheelchair.

The east entrance was mainly for VIPs—board of directors or shareholders—which is almost always empty. Luckily, there were only a few people at the moment, and from the entrance to the elevator, it was a very short trip.

As they made their way towards the 7th floor, Jeffrey called someone on the phone. Katherine thought that he must be calling another doctor because as far as she knew, he was a neurologist, so he didn't perform surgeries.

She didn't realize she had been clutching her top when she felt Damien touch her hand and held it. When he looked up at him, he softened his gaze and told her, "He's gonna be okay."

Was she worried? She couldn't tell. With so much hatred she felt for Chris, she didn't know if she was capable of still caring for him. So, seeing that he was in this state, she had mixed emotions—wanting to kill him for revenge and wanting for him to not lose his life.

"I just want all of this to be over, Damien," she said and he squeezed her hand.

Soon, they arrived in a VIP room and had moved Chris onto a bed. Damien and Katherine stood to the side and watched Jeffrey as he started to cut Chris's clothes to have better access to his wounds. Just then, the door opened and a black-haired woman in dark blue scrubs walked in with her eyes on her smartphone. Katherine recognized her from the auction last week—the lady whom Jeffrey was with.

"Jeff, I have a six-hour surgery in a few hours. Can we have sex later instead? I need my legs and arms in top condition. Why did you—"

The woman looked up and saw that they weren't alone in the room and that there was a pale-looking, bloody human on the bed. Her mouth hung open and she blinked a few times before she managed to blurt out, "Oh my god… Please tell me you're not into this kind of thing. Because if you are, I'm out."

"Jess, I need your help," said Jeffrey, his hand pressing against Chris's abdomen.

"What have you gotten yourself into? You owe me a lifetime of fancy dinners." The female doctor sighed after checking Chris's condition and ran back to the door. "I'll go grab some supplies. Perform an IV while I'm gone. I'll be back real quick."

Katherine and Damien exchanged looks. They didn't have to say anything to know what the other was thinking—for the female doctor to not question Jeffrey any more than she did and was ready to help, the two seemed to have a deep relationship.

Later, the other doctor came back and started treating Chris's wounds. "His wounds aren't deep, but he lost so much blood. We need a transfusion."

"He's AB negative," said Jeff as he held a small device in his hand. "How are we going to get that?!"

Dr. Roberts met Jeff's stare as they thought of how they would be able to access the blood storage. Performing the treatment there was already a risk they were taking and stealing blood from the hospital was another thing.

Just then, Damien stepped forward and spoke with an unreadable expression, "You can take mine. I'm AB negative."

Katherine's heart throbbed upon hearing what he said. Damien was willing to give his blood even to Chris. The two have the same blood type—both similar and also very different. She didn't understand what she was feeling, so she could only call his name, "Damien…"

He turned to face her and only smiled as he already started taking off his suit coat and rolled up the sleeves of his dress shirt. Behind them, Jeffrey began to prepare for the tools they needed. She received his coat and felt his lips press on her forehead before he turned on his heel and allowed Jeffrey to start the transfusion.

…

A few hours later, Katherine and Damien had already changed into a new set of clothes. Having been awake for more than thirty hours, she could no longer keep her eyes open, so she slept on the sofa with her head resting on his lap. There was a small bandage on his arm from the blood transfusion earlier.

Meanwhile, Chris was already stable and was resting on the bed. The Beta Team had also arrived and was guarding the door. And Damien worked with a tablet in his hand while Markus went over some documents with him.

A soft groan caught their attention and they turned their heads to the bed to see Chris waking up. The latter tried to get up but his whole body ached and he noticed that he was handcuffed to the bed rails. "Wh…" he murmured inaudible sounds.

Damien put his tablet to the side and observed Chris, waiting for him to realize where he was and who else was in the room. When Chris turned his head to the side and caught Damien's intense stare, he narrowed his eyes.

Damien didn't speak and he watched as Chris attempted to get up again and tried to wiggle his restrained wrist. "I need to leave," Chris said, his voice was weak and hoarse.

"You're not going anywhere," Damien responded in a low voice in order not to wake Katherine up.

"Shît. Uncuff me."

"Why?"

"I need to go now."

"Why?"

Letting out an exhausted sigh, Chris answered, "I… I think Parker's going to go after my sister. I have to get to her before he does."