His Hidden Treasure (Completed)

Three

For the past three weeks, I had been immersed in the group home where we were currently housing the children we had rescued. It had been a challenging experience, as many of the kids had not been reported missing and those that were reunited with their families were too terrified to make contact. Through one-on-one counselling, my colleagues and I had some success in helping these children process their traumatic experiences, but there was still so much for them to unpack.

In collaboration with a compassionate judge, we secured funding for a group home specifically designed to support survivors of human trafficking and help them reintegrate into society. This program had been hugely successful in New York, and I had been able to use the same proposal to establish a smaller version of it here in Verona, just a short distance from my condo.

With a heavy heart, I made my way to the hospital to check on my brother. As I entered the ICU ward and walked towards his room, I noticed a nurse coming towards me - a face I did not recognize. It struck me as odd, as I had become familiar with all the staff during my countless visits over the past few months. My heart rate quickened as my worry grew.

The man hurriedly averted his gaze as he walked past me, setting off an immediate alarm in my mind. I turned to get a better look at him and immediately noticed the worn combat boots on his feet. Just as I was about to call out to him, I accidentally bumped into someone.

I apologized quickly without sparing a glance at the person. My eyes were fixed on the suspicious man waiting for the elevator, seemingly about to make a hasty escape.

"Excuse me!" I called out urgently, but the man didn't even bother turning around as he dashed towards the stairs. My instincts as a cop kicked in, telling me to go after him, but my heart was telling me that something wasn't right with my brother. Pushing past the large figure standing in front of me, I sprinted toward my brother's room and frantically called for his doctor.

Everything looked normal, but years of experience had taught me to never trust what met the eye.

"Nila, what happened?" Dr. Chen rushed in and took stock of my brother's vitals while I combed through every detail in search of something amiss.

"There was a nurse here, a man who clearly didn't work here. I need him checked," I said, urgency lacing my voice.

I caught sight of a few drops of clear liquid on the floor and immediately reached for one of the medicine bags, squeezing it in search of a puncture. But my search yielded no results, so I moved on to the next bag, repeating the process with no success once again. Finally, I came to the feeding bag and as I squeezed it, several drops fell to the floor. Panic started to set in as I looked to the doctor for guidance.

"Don't worry, Nila. Nurse, send this to the lab ASAP to get it tested and put in an urgent request. Nila, whatever this is, it was meant to be a slow release, but we will do a full check. Just give me a few hours," he reassured me.

Feeling grateful but still worried for my brother's safety, I thanked the doctor and made my way out to the nurse's station. As I fumbled through my pockets in search of my phone, I realized that it was missing. A deep voice pulled me out of my thoughts as I saw a large hand holding up my phone.

"Looking for this?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at me as if daring me to question him further.

"Yes, thank you," I said gratefully as I took back my phone from the mysterious stranger. I met his gaze for the first time and was struck by an odd sense of familiarity. But upon closer inspection, I realized that although his face held some resemblance to someone I may have known in the past, this man was a complete stranger to me. "Do I know you?" I asked, my mind racing with possibilities.