Chapter 25

SYBIL woke up in a jolt. She had a dream and felt so scared that it might be real. She then turned to the other side of the bed and found no one.
“Where is he?”
She slept with Ace beside her, and now he was gone. Did he go to his room? But he was less likely to do that when he promised her he would stay by her side.
Yawning, Sybil left the bed and headed to the other bedroom to look for Ace. But she didn’t find him there. She also looked for him in the kitchen and on the porch, but there was no sign of him. Her heart started racing. And then a sudden thought popped into her mind.
She rushed back to her room and donned her cardigan.
“Ace…”
She grabbed her phone from the bedside table and opened the flashlight. Sybil had a hunch that he went to the storage room without telling her.
Her heart was thumping when she reached the door. It was dark inside, and she noticed the door was slightly open. Slowly, she pushed it to open wider. Hearing the hinges creak only added fear to her system.
“A-Ace…?” she called as she prowled inside the storage room. Sybil moved the light around, but she couldn’t see anyone inside.
Then, her feet suddenly bumped into something. When she pointed the light down, she saw a body lying on the ground. She screamed and was about to run to call for help when she suddenly thought of Ace.
“A-Ace… is that you?”
Trembling, Sybil crouched and pulled the unconscious man in her direction. Her eyes widened when she saw it was Ace.
“Shit!” She immediately checked his pulse on her neck. It was weak, and he was unconscious.
Sybil knew she needed to rush him to the hospital, but she couldn’t do it alone. She called for help by calling the first contact on her recent log—Raine.
“I need help. Please… please help us,” she cried.

THANKS to Raine, she was able to bring Ace to the nearest hospital. According to the lab result, his potassium level went down, making him unconscious. But Sybil doubted it happened naturally. He could’ve shown signs in the past few days that there was something wrong with his health. But there was none. Ace was all good and was as strong as a bull.
She was sure that something had happened inside that storage room before she arrived. But she would only know what it was once he woke up.
Sybil was almost dozing off on her seat when Raine came back with two cups of coffee in her hands. She immediately handed her one.
“Careful, it’s scalding hot,” Raine told her as she sat on the couch across from the hospital bed.
“I’m sorry for troubling you. I know you just came home from work.” She heaved a sigh.
“It’s fine.” Raine took a sip. “You needed help, and I couldn’t stand saying no to you anyway.”
“You should go home and rest.” She smiled faintly. “Thanks for helping us.”
“Are you… sure?”
“Hm.” She nodded at her consecutively. “The doctor said he will be fine soon. Everything will be okay once he wakes up. We’re in the hospital now, so there’s no need to worry about it. Help is just a few steps away from this room.”
“Alright.” Raine stood up afterward and went to her side. She gave her a light pat on the shoulder before exiting the hospital suite.
Sybil took a deep breath and put her coffee on the bedside table. She tucked Ace under the blanket. He was deep asleep, and she didn’t know if he was comfortable or feeling cold. Then she grabbed her phone and sauntered toward the window.
She called Sonja.
“Yes?” She heard her yawn on the other line. “Why are you calling me this early?”
“Sonja…” She sighed and glanced in the direction of the bed. “Something happened with Ace. I found him unconscious inside the storage room—”
“Wait, storage room?”
“Listen. I think something happened, and it had something to do with the package. I—” she paused for a while to think of a better way to tell Sonja. She couldn’t tell her yet that she and Ace were sleeping together. “I woke up in the middle of the night and felt something was off. I couldn’t find Ace inside the house, so I tried to look for him in the storage room. Sonja, I don’t think what happened to him was of natural cause.”
“What did the doctor say?”
“That his potassium level went down drastically. You’re a nurse. I know you’re getting my point here.”
“Yeah. It was less likely to happen given his age and lifestyle.” Sonja heaved a sigh. “And you said you found him unconscious inside the storage room. Now, I want you to find any mark on his neck. Someone must’ve sneaked in and injected him with something that caused that.”
Her eyes widened.
“S-Sonja… you’re scaring me.”
“Come on. I’m not telling you this to instill fear in you.”
Sonja didn’t sound as though she was joking.
“Wait. I will check his neck.”
Sybil didn’t hang up yet and sauntered to the bed. She checked Ace’s neck with the phone still attached to her ear. And then… she found a small syringe mark on his neck.
“I-I found it… Oh, my God, Sonja.”
She didn’t hear any response from the other line. When she looked at her phone, she found it had shut down.
“Damn, I don’t even have my charger with me.”
Sybil pocketed her phone and sat down on the chair beside the bed. She watched Ace closely. Suddenly she was afraid of everything. What if something happened again?
She was suddenly pulled out of reverie when she heard him groan.
“Ace…” She held his hand and brought it to her lips. “Are you awake?”
He slowly opened his eyes and looked around the room before turning his gaze to her.
“Sybil…” he muttered.
“Oh, thank God you’re awake.” She cupped his cheek and gently caressed it with her thumb. “How are you feeling?”
“I feel… weak.”
“Don’t worry… the doctor said you will recover soon.” She tried her best not to cry in front of him, but still, drops of tears managed to escape from her eyes.
“Hey…” Ace reached for her cheek and brushed her tears away. “Don’t cry. I’m not dying yet.”
The thought of him dying made her weep. She still couldn’t understand why they already had such a strong connection despite being together for a short time. All she knew was that… she couldn’t bear losing him now.
“I know…” Sybil sniffed. “But I’m so worried about you. What really happened, Ace, hmm? Tell me… Why were you lying on the ground unconscious when I found you in the storage room?”
“I… I wanted to see what was really inside the package. I couldn’t stop thinking about it, so I decided to sneak into the storage room. But someone came, a man. I couldn’t see his face because he had a mask. He injected me with something that made me feel dizzy and… I passed out.”
But still, she was thankful for heaven that nothing worse than that happened…