Marry or Kill

05

M I N A

Anxiously, my eyes jerk around the medical sector, with the wound having to be tiresomely bandaged for the fifth time today. The blood loss is weakening me. My kicks and punches are slower when I practise with Sol, but she's forced me to go on runs in the morning to maintain my strength. The routine of it makes me feel sane. 

Without Sol, I would have given up completely.

The nurse gingerly peels back the wound to crimson still coming out of my thigh, she tries to hide the grimace on her face at the persistent wound. The sterile air is filled with the scent of disinfectants and the metallic tang of blood as she bandages me up again.

"Any particular reason for the gun today?" she inquires, her gloved hands delicately applying disinfectant over my wound. Her eyes flicker toward the firearm holstered on my belt. I suppress a hiss, the sting akin to my flesh being seared. "I suppose I should be grateful you're not applying pressure to that thigh. Less blood to clean up."

Guilt momentarily flashes across my face. "I need to keep training my body. Can't afford to miss a day," I respond, my words carefully chosen to conceal the true reason. I can't let slip that I might end up facing Elias, and missing that crucial shot is a risk I can't tell her.

With precision, she wraps the bandage around my leg and seals it with tape. "Well, missing a day of training won't hurt. Sometimes you need to let yourself heal," she advises, her tone carrying a hint of a lecture. Standing up, she dusts herself off and declares, "You're free to go."

As I exit the medical room, Sol awaits in the hallway. Her hair is tied up, and she wears running clothes, but anger is unmistakably plastered on her face. She paces up to me and delivers the news with a sharp edge in her voice, "Some of the doorways have been sealed with The North guards."

"What?" I breathe, the realisation hitting me like a punch to the gut.

Elias could be here, in this building, right now. Instinctively, I reach for my jet-black gun strapped to me like a safety net, and start to run through the hallway, steps bellowing down the hall like a dark warning, but Sol catches my shoulder.

"What are you doing? You can't possibly kill him here, Mina. That's stupidly reckless," she says, her words an urgent attempt to knock some sense into me. Maybe it's the blood loss, or the adrenaline, but my thoughts are veering into black hole of recklessness and desperation from everything that has happened to me recently.

Everything that has happened to me is because of Elias. Having him gone would remove a stain in my life.

I shake my head, my lips forming a straight line of disdain. "I won't kill him, but I need to see what he wants and find out whether he did this to me," I state firmly, gently pulling away from her grasp. Sol's hand falls to her side, as if comprehending my resolve. "I'll be back soon."

"If you get yourself hurt, I'll be extremely pissed off," Sol says. She rubs my arm, her touch a comforting warmth that mirrors the deep, trusting glint in her oceanic eyes.

I don't utter another word as I part ways with Sol, sensing her eyes drilling into my back, grappling with the decision to drag me away from Elias and his impending chaos.

I manoeuvre through the long hallways, a phantom weaving through shadows, avoiding the vigilant guards posted along the way. They block every entry, which means I have to find the closest door to my father's office.