Blood Between Us

CHAPTER 16 – Countdown

Leo’s POV

Her body was limp in my arms.

Her pulse — faint. Her breathing — shallow.

The needle was still in her side, sticking out like a dagger. My hands trembled as I pulled it free and threw it across the room.

“CALL CODE RED!” I screamed.

Doctors rushed in. Nurses. Chaos exploded around us.

I stepped back only because I had to. Only because I was pushed.

But my eyes never left her.

Machines beeped faster. Oxygen was fitted to her face. Her chest barely moved.

“What did they inject her with?” someone shouted.

“I don’t know!” I barked. “Find out! DO SOMETHING!”

They were trying.

But it wasn’t enough.

And I was seconds away from tearing this entire hospital apart.

---

Unknown POV

They scramble like ants.

All that money.

All that power.

And none of it can save her now.

---

Leo’s POV

I didn’t wait.

I ran to the hallway, yanked my phone out, and dialed a number I never thought I’d use again.

"Get me Farrow. I need toxicology data cross-checked with the CDC, Homeland, whatever you’ve got. A young woman was just hit with something untraceable. If she dies—"

"She won’t," the voice on the other end said. "But you need to give me time."

"You have ten minutes," I said. “Not eleven.”

I returned to her room.

She was convulsing now.

A seizure.

I nearly lost it.

I slammed my fist into the wall so hard it cracked.

The nurse flinched. “Sir, please—”

“KEEP HER ALIVE!”

That’s all I could say.

---

Olivia’s POV

Darkness.

But not empty.

It was thick. Heavy. Pressing.

I felt like I was under water.

Sinking.

I heard his voice through the waves.

“Stay with me, Olivia. Please. You’re stronger than this.”

Then a second voice.

Not his.

Cold. Cruel. Familiar.

"You’ll never escape me. Even in the light."

I screamed in my mind.

Tried to move.

Tried to wake.

Nothing.

I was locked inside myself.

---

Leo’s POV

The seizures stopped.

But her eyes didn’t open.

She was alive.

But unconscious.

I stood beside her, silent now. Still.

Helpless.

But not hopeless.

Because whoever did this…

Was going to pay.

And not just in blood.

In fear.

In silence.

In total, permanent disappearance.

---

Unknown POV

She’s still breathing.

Fine.

Let her live.

The next message won’t be a needle.

It’ll be a funeral.