Chapter 1381


    In the hospital hallway, Maja sat as still as a statue, her gaze fixed on the sterile doors through which


    Ian had disappeared. Three agonizing hours crawled by before he was finally wheeled out, looking pale


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    but alive.


    The doctor, a mask dangling from his fingers, reassured her, "It''s a close call, but the bullet missed his


    heart by a good margin."


    Her heart, which had been hovering in her throat, plummeted to relief. Maja copsed by his bedside,


    her tears flowing freely as she clung to his hand.


    Ian''s line of work was not one that allowed for lengthy hospital stays. As soon as it was clear he was


    out of immediate danger, he was discreetly transferred back to the underworld''s infamous seventh


    Maja never left his side, her vigil unending.


    Nydia, a fellow fighter, attempted to visit, but one nce at Maja''s steely eyes sent her retreating into


    the shadows.


    Had Maja always possessed such formidable presence? Nydia wondered, though she dared not step


    forward again.


    Maja caressed Ian’s hand against her cheek, feeling the warmth of his skin. Though the anesthesia


    was still dulling his senses, Ian was aware.


    He knew the gamble he had taken was unfair to Maja. To watch one''s love fall, as the psychologist had


    suggested, could strip awayyers of the mind, potentially snapping her from the trance she had been


    caught in.


    He was always a gambler.


    And this time, it seemed, he had won.


    As Maja''s tears fell on his hand, Ian longed tofort her, to wipe them away, but his body failed him.


    For two days, hey in recovery, with Maja blocking the doorway to any who tried to enter. Her stance


    was unwavering, her gaze enough to silence even the most insistent visitor.


    On the morning of the third day, Ian''s eyes fluttered open. His chest ached where the bullet had lodged,


    a stark reminder of the price paid.


    He looked pale, the effort to sit up painting his features with difort. When his eyes met Maja''s,


    there was a trace of guilt in his gaze.


    If she was truly awake, she must have pieced together that this had been his n all along.


    Gambling with his life to wake her.


    "Maja." he started, but she silenced him with a spoonful of oatmeal.


    "Eat first," she said softly.


    Her anger was palpable.


    He had sent her away without consent, gambled with his life without consulting her. Ian knew he would


    be furious in her ce.


    He sipped the broth hesitantly, wanting to exin his actions. His desperation to protect her from the


    pain of their past, his hope to rouse her from the hypnotic state they had been trapped in.


    But in making those decisions, he had kept her in the dark.


    Ian had always been insecure about their rtionship. Looking back, their moments of intimacy were


    few and far between, almost nonexistent.


    He had made many mistakes, but never once doubted Maja''s sincerity. Their love was so profound that


    caution became second nature to both.


    Now that he was awake, Maja tended to him with a quiet diligence, speaking little else.


    At night, she clung to his hand, a slight stir from him would jolt her awake for frantic checks to ensure


    he was neither feverish nor facing new danger.


    This repeated until Ian realized that although Maja was conscious, the fear of losing him haunted her


    relentlessly.


    The moment he was out of sight, she would need constant reassurance of his existence, of his survival.


    The weight of such fear was suffocating for them both.


    Sometimes, the pain of deep love is more terrifying than indifference. Once crossed, every bullet aimed


    at a lover feels like a cannon firing back at oneself.


    Ian had nearly lost half his life, but for Maja, it was as if her entire existence had almost slipped away.