Chapter 31: "Hostage of love"

Meanwhile, at Potter Hospital, Michael and Victor entered the hospital campus with a fiery attitude, taking long strides toward the treatment area for patients with multiple injuries. As for Victor, there was a bit of anxiety evident on his face as he walked to the door, he paused for a moment and then rolled his eyes to the left and then to the right as if he was wary of something. When Michael went through the door, he saw Victor leave behind, so he looked back.

Seeing Victor's uneasy, wary expression, Michael asked:

"Hey, Victor. Your facial expression is so bad. What are you worried about?"

Victor stopped looking around, looked directly at Michael, and said:

"I feel a strange aura surrounding this hospital, which blows my hair back, Michael."

From a fun expression, Michael's face suddenly paled slightly, his eyes widened, and sweat trickled down his cheeks. He gently moved closer, his head still kept straight instead of looking around, his eyes were looking at nothing but Victor. The part he patted Victor on the shoulder, saying:

"Could it be… can you sense some danger lurking around here?"

"Yeah… It's hard to believe but my intuition tells me that someone is watching us from afar, right on the campus of this hospital. I wish I could use telepathy to find out who he is."

"You mean: 'We're in danger', right?"

"Correct. You understand me very well. I was thinking, is it 'Iron Head'?"

Now Michael laughed, patted Victor on the shoulder, and said:

"Are you kidding? How did he know this place? With all due respect, I advise you to stop thinking. I think you're worrying a little too much."

"But what if that really happens?"- Victor affirmatively asked Michael- "As far as we know, he and Arthur, a very high percentage, have cooperated to track down the traces of Linh. Arthur with 'a very good sense of smell' will send 'Iron Head' here to judge. We've encountered Arthur's group of agents a while ago, which makes me wonder, will they have a tracking device on us?"

"Then why don't we check ourselves all over to see if there are tracking devices or listening devices and then go there with Linh? Anyway, go inside first."

The part when Victor stepped inside. Immediately, Michael and Victor felt all over their bodies, from pockets, pockets, sleeves, outer shirts, inner shirts, etc. Two minutes later, when they realized there were no devices attached to them, they breathed a sigh of relief, but Victor was much more relieved. Michael suddenly punched Victor on the left chest, saying:

"See? Not having any tracking devices, right? You must have been imagining it, so you got worried too much. Come on, let's go in."

Victor did not know that Michael did it because if 'Iron Head' - who was now hiding behind the bushes 20 meters away from that treatment area- discovered any unusual behavior from the two of them, it would cause danger to them and other innocent people around, a chain is no stronger than its weakest link. Most of all, he was worried that if 'Iron Head' learned that Victor was merely suspicious of his presence, which caused him to temporarily withdraw, Michael's plan to confront him here would be ruined, because I deliberately lured him here, if that happens, he will find another opportunity to kill him in another location, before doing the same to Linh here...

The part when Victor stared intently at the patient note that Michael was holding in his hand while Michael was filling in information with a pen after receiving it from the nurse on duty in the reception area across from the front door of the treatment ward, muttering:

"Room 1316...Patient name: Lisa Dan Teller, 25 years old, patient condition: multiple minor injuries"

Seeing that Victor kept looking at the paper while muttering, Michael laughed and said:

"I'm sure you can't wait to meet her. Curiosity is evident on your face."

"What kind of person is she? I'm curious, can you describe her a little bit to me?"

"Once you get in there, you'll know."

When entering room 1316, Victor was surprised to see that the girl he had always wanted to meet had white skin, large round black eyes, long black hair with soft bangs, graceful and slender body- typical characteristics of Asian women... For a moment, Victor's heart fluttered a little in front of Linh, as if he was seeing a sleeping princess in bed. He exclaims:

"She looks so pretty even with her bare face, without any make-up. If I had to find a beautiful word to call her, it would be 'fairy'. Well, a pure and flawless beauty, she's a new icon of 21st-century beauty, I think"

"Yo, you talk like you're attracted to her. What if I tell her your confession when she wakes up?"

"Who told you that? I… only have Yelena in my heart."

"Chill, chill. I'm kidding. You're only attracted to her looks, not her, I guess right?"

"Don't make me answer, okay? I would feel very guilty if I had to say it."

"This will be our secret, just say it. I will keep this secret until you permit me. Hehe!"- Michael laughed with pleasure as if he guessed Victor's thoughts

"Come on. Don't just talk about me"- Victor tried to turn his question to Michael- "And you? Confess, the first time you saw her for the first time, rather the time she lay in your arms after escaping from 'Iron Head', you were struck by her beauty, weren't you?"

"Ah, so you have a crush on her too, right? So we're alike..."

"Ah, so you just admitted it."

"Damn it, I played myself."

"Don't be shy, and don't feel guilty, Yelena is gone anyway…"

Suddenly Michael stopped talking, instinctively biting his lip because he knew he'd just said something he'd promised himself not to tell Victor. The atmosphere became so quiet that they could hear flies buzzing around the room. Feeling a little embarrassed, Victor changed the subject, stared at Linh, and said to Michael:

"By the way, if I were her, I would be happy and grateful. Because in her eyes, you're her hero."

Michael suddenly lumped in his throat as if a foreign object was stuck in there, also a little embarrassed after listening to Victor confess his true thoughts. After all, Victor was not mad at him, because Victor had finally trusted him and considered him a trusted teammate. Michael himself wasn't surprised to see Victor so outspoken. He turned away, wiping the tears of joy from his sparkling blue eyes with his hand. Two minutes later, he tied his long hair with a hair tie, saying:

"Let's not talk about this anymore. Now let's stay here and take care of her, in a little while the doctor and some nurses will come here to examine Linh. After the doctor finished the examination, I went to see him privately and asked about the situation."

The part when Victor looked at Linh thoughtfully. Linh in front of him is currently a patient lying on a hospital bed and using an oxygen machine to support breathing, in a coma. Michael saw this appearance of Victor, asked:

"Victor! How are you? You look so confused."

Victor held his head, his face began to turn pale, his eyes filled with tears, and said:

"When I see Linh in this state, I am reminded of that fateful night in that Institute. Recalling the torture Yelena did to Linh gave me shivers."

Michael approached and grabbed Victor by the shoulder while he was confused and insecure, said in a calm voice:

"It will be fine, that nightmare will soon be over."

Victor glanced at Michael and asked in a low voice:

"Can you tell me what kind of person Linh is?"

"Linh is an active, intelligent, kind, and inquisitive girl who is an inspiration to many people."

"In the end, what did the 'Iron Head' bastard do to make Linh this bad?"

Michael came close to Victor and said:

"Why don't you touch Linh and use your telepathy ability on her mind to verify? The time in the 'Mind Zone' inside works differently from reality, right?"

"Why don't you tell me directly?"- Victor asked.

Looking at Michael's dark face, lowering his head, Victor seemed to understand that he had made a mistake when he said that. He immediately touched Michael's shoulder and said:

"I'm sorry. You must have gone through a phobia of witnessing that scene without being able to do anything. I'm so sorry for forcing you to remember and talk about those terrible, horrible experiences."

"Nevermind"- Michael took Victor's hand, and said- "You can use telepathy ability to see things for yourself, as I said."

Speaking of that, Victor removed his hand from Michael's shoulder, turned his face away, and said:

"I… I don't want to use it anymore. That ability makes me feel tired and miserable. Sometimes I wish I didn't have it."

Now it was Michael's turn to pat Victor on the shoulder, slowly saying:

"I understand how miserable you have been all this time. Even if you consider carrying that telepathy as a curse or an incurable disease, you have to live with it, it's your destiny. In my opinion, that ability has helped you uncover quite a few secrets. In general, that ability, in theory, does more good than harm."

"Don't talk like you understand me."- Victor shouted- "If you call it a curse, try to put your place in mine, can you eat well and sleep peacefully, living a normal life like a normal person?"

Michael lowered his head for a moment and then raised his face to stare at Victor, Victor was surprised and asked:

"Why… why are you looking at me like that?"

"If I had carried that curse, I wouldn't have struggled to the point of lamenting and suffering to such an extent. I, and even you, don't know how you got that telepathy ability, but fate has chosen you to own it, so you should happily accept it and use it for a good reason. Be strong, man."

Victor didn't complain or lament anymore, instead, he turned to look at Linh for a moment in silence. After thinking about what Michael said for a while, Victor also calmed down a bit, saying:

"You are right. Maybe I can help more people with this telepathy. I should be optimistic rather than sullen like this."

After Michael saw that Victor had calmed down, he took a chair near Linh's bed and gave it to Victor, saying:

"Sit here and tell me what kind of person Arthur is. I saw you refer to him as if you and he had known him for a long time."

Victor wanted to confide everything to make his heart feel lighter, but standing in front of someone he had never shown as sincere as Michael even though the two were friends made him a little hesitant and confused. However, because of the belief that Michael was the only person he could trust right then, Victor still confided:

"Well, actually, when I first met Arthur, he showed me a video of Yelena's torture with Linh with supernatural powers given to me by Thedus. Then when I was in severe shock, suddenly Arthur approached me and asked me some questions. In that brief moment, our body frequencies became compatible, causing me to see some of his gruesome memories. That is..."

Speaking of that, Victor hesitated, could not hide his anger, and looked at Linh. Michael felt that Victor had quite a lot of thoughts and also the fatigue and anger of someone who accidentally knew almost the whole truth. So he patted Victor on the shoulder and said:

"It's okay. Tell me, don't keep it to yourself, it will make you sick."

Realizing Michael's sincere attitude, Victor choked, wiped his tears, and said:

"Okay, I'll continue. In Arthur's memory, I saw that he was Linh's subordinate before, and after his reticent, condescending expression, was an asshole, an evil scumbag. In front of my face, he pretended to be friendly, asking me about Linh's condition as if he was worried about Linh, but behind my back, he tried to harm her again and again secretly.

A few times his bad deeds were discovered by Linh, but after all, she only gave him a warning, not fired him. However, he still did not regret what he did and gave up his ambition to overthrow her to sit in the director position that he always wanted. Then, when he learned that Linh was hospitalized, he took this position when he received the majority of the approval from the shareholders in the leadership board of the Institute without any troubles... He must have tried hard to please them, got their belief, and turned them into 'donkeys' to manipulate easily..."

Suddenly, in the middle of a story, Victor heard Linh's rather heavy breathing. So he turned around and looked at Linh with surprised eyes. Linh's finger moved slightly, however, only Victor could notice it. Although Linh's breathing was still weak, it was a good sign for Michael. He said to Victor:

"Let me go find the doctor. You stay here to watch her. Don't go anywhere."

"OK. Do your job. I'm waiting for you"- Victor nodded before Michael left.

Overjoyed, he reached out to touch Linh and saw some memories of the killer who fatally stabbed her- none other than 'Iron Head'. In a brief moment, before Linh fell back into a coma, Victor saw how 'Iron Head' had assassinated her.