1

-

Chapter 10.

-

Declan's POV.

-

"When I was little I had a cat. When he would run away, I used to say a prayer to get him back home."

-

It's amazing how once you begin to see your end, you see flashes of the life you've lived as if searching for the best parts of it… of the parts that made your life worth living. I didn't find a thing worthwhile in my younger days, as if all those years were merely wasted.

It was like my life started when I joined the IMF. Like there was no life before it.

-

"Declan, what are you afraid of?"

"Unemployment."

"Oh. Then that means you live for the money."

"No… it means I live for the job."

-

Now I was dying for the job. Death was so close now; I could feel it coming. The only thing I feared was dying before I could tell her.

-

"You already have a love…" Lucas had said with her smug smile. "What is her name? Does she feel the same?"

"Neither…" I had replied. "An agent can't love anyone, you should know that."

"Ah, but your eyes tell different…"

-

Zhen was working hurriedly to try and save me, but I knew it was too late. I put my hand on her to get to her to pay me attention. Gathering all my strength, I spoke.

"Zhen, I have t' say…"

She put her hand on my mouth. I hated that. The stupid girl needed to let me talk.

"Shut up, Declan," she commanded as she wriggled her hand out from under mine. "I know you're grateful, but we can do the 'thank you's' at a more convenient place and time than the here and now."

Then she went back to work.

It was too late. My sight began to fade, and it became a struggle to keep conscious.

"Not that…" I managed to breathe out, my strength finally abandoning me indefinitely.

"Not that…" I managed to say one more time, before all fell to black.

-

"Say some of those 'cat prayers' for me, eh?"
"Then you'll be sure to make it back…"

-

-

Suddenly I was conscious again, though all was still black. It took me a moment to realize that was just because my eyes were still closed. Once I opened them, I saw an unfamiliar ceiling.

Once I focused and took a good look around, I saw I was in an examination room back at the IMF department base. An IV was hooked to my arm, and a heart monitor beeped my heart rate nearby. In anger, I yanked all the attachments off me, and the heart monitor responded with a solid flatline beep. Stupid contraptions. I felt weak, but other than that I felt fine.

As I sat up to grab my clothes off a chair nearby, Zhen burst into the room very suddenly, followed closely by a nurse holding several medical tools I didn't recognize yet still feared.

"Oh," Zhen said once her eyes met mine, stopping quickly in her tracks. She put a hand over her heart and let her breath catch up with her. "God, Declan…"

"Is he--?" the nurse began, but cut herself off once she saw me sitting up in my bed. "Nevermind, Dr. Grey," the pudgy nurse called down the hall with impatience in her voice while shooting me a harsh look. "False alarm."

Zhen sighed too and pulled up a chair to sit and recover for a moment.

"Don't scare us like that," she commanded, trying to catch her breath.

"I hate doctors," I replied as Zhen checked over my charts. "Didn't know you were that concerned, besides. Then again, you were the one you almost died tryin' t' make sure I lived, isn't that right?"

"Your way of saying thanks, I'm guessing?"

I smiled for a moment at how well she knew me, then wiped the grin off my face and stared at her in all seriousness.

"Thanks, Zhen… I owe you."

"If you really want to thank me, you can put in a good word with Brassel for me. After this stunt I pulled, I'm sure to get the stiffest talking-to I've ever had. Might even demote me to a… desk job."

I gasped to play along with her jest.

"God, heaven forbid. Don't even joke like that."

"Anyway, I have to meet him the conference room at noon. You up for it?"

"If you do me one more favor…"

"What's that?" she said, leaning in closer with suspicion clearly in her eyes.

"You answer me this: What made you do it?"

"I have a thing about leaving comrades behind to die."

She said it so quickly, so… rehearsed. I was strangely dissatisfied with this answer.

"Is that all?"

The disappointment must have been evident in my tone because her eyes narrowed at me even more, as if she was trying to see straight through to the wall behind me.

"Do you want me to say something more?" she said sharply. "I wasn't aware I had a script to follow--"

"--There's no script," I interrupted flatly.

Man, I was acting like a girl, trying to get her to admit something that I knew she would never admit. What was I expecting her to say anyway? We were silent for several moments. She was staring at me like she was trying to figure out the same thing, and I was concentrating on looking anywhere but at her. She decided on something apparently and opened her mouth to speak.

"Declan… I--"

"Zhen!" Martin said, poking his head in the door. "Brassel said he wants to see you early. Probably can't wait to yell at you and Roberta."

"Thanks, Martin," Zhen replied with a heavy sigh, then got up to go. "Get well, huh?" she said to me, then much to my dismay, left the room.

-

Please review.
Signed,
--RedRogue