Chapter 5

The field was green and filled with wild flowers. The smell of spring in the air reminded him his mom will be making this year's first peach pie.

He and Miles ran home over the small wooden bridge above the river and pretended they were pirates. It was a happy day.

Suddenly Miles stopped and stood under the huge oak tree near the water.

"You should go back Bass" Miles says to him.

Bass was confused. "Go back where?" He asks. But Miles disappears.

He hears blurred voices in the distance. "We're going to need more blood! Get me sponges, and lots of them!" Why would they need that? He thinks to himself.

Bass runs home and walks into the kitchen. "Mom?" He calls out, but there is no answer. He looks out the window and sees a figure standing outside overlooking the garden. Bass steps outside. He looks down on himself and sees he is now a man.

"Who are you?" He asks the figure.

The figure turns around. It's Conner. Bass's heart shrinks.

"Connor." He says with a shaky voice.

"Hi dad."

"Conner?" Bass feels overwhelmed.

"I'm so sorry." He says as he tries to hold back the tears.

"Why?" Conner asks with a curious look on his face.

"I'm sorry I couldn't protect you. That I couldn't find the man that did this to you."

"You know who did this dad. You know who killed me"

"No I don't. Tell me. Tell me and I swear to you I will hunt him down and kill him."

Conner disappears. "Conner! Conner!" but he is nowhere to found.

"Bass!" He hears his name being called but he can't see who it is. "Bass wake up!"

"Charlie? Charlie where are you?" he yells in an unknown direction.

"Bass please wake up. "

"Charlie?

"Come back to me Bass. Please come back."

Bass runs towards the voice and vanishes in a bright white light.

"We're going to need more blood." Get me sponges, and lots of them!" The doctor yells. The nurse walks into the operating room and hands the doctor sponges and freshly sterilized knives. "I'm going to need more light. Someone bring candles!"

"How is he doing?" another nurse asks. "If I had a monitor it would certainly help answer your question. But, by looking at him, this man is a fighter."

"He is" Charlie says.

"Miss, you can't be in here. Go wait outside." The nurse tells her.

"Please save him." Charlie says through the tears.

Charlie sits in the waiting room of the Austin city hospital. She drove the wagon for hours until she reached the hospital. With the help of Duncan two of her men were able to take Bass out of the cage and on to a wagon. One of her men had army med background and was able to stop the bleeding to gain time until she reached Austin. Once they reached the hospital Bass was immediately rushed to the operating room and the doctor started working on saving his life. It wasn't easy in a blackout world to perform surgeries but this hospital had all the needed equipment to at least try.

Charlie felt as if she was in agony. The thought of losing Bass was killing her inside.

"You have to help me." She told Duncan in the tent.

"Why would I?" Duncan asks with slight anger in her voice.

"Because you two have history" Charlie said hoping it would help persuade her.

"Wrong answer kid." Duncan said. She turns her back and starts walking towards the exit of the tent.

Charlie takes a deep breath. "Because he saved my life." Duncan stops on her tracks. "I owe him."

Duncan turns around and walks closer to Charlie. She looks into her eyes and says "There's something more isn't there? Something deep inside you that you would never admit to yourself".

_"

Miss? Miss?"

Charlie jumps from her seat and sees one of the nurses standing in front of her.

"Sorry dear, I didn't mean to scare you." "You can go in now and see your friend." The nurse tells her.

"Is he awake?" Charlie asks with hope in her voice.

"I'm afraid not." The nurse says with a concerned look on her face. "The doctor said it might take a while until he wakes up. It was a complicated surgery."

Charlie's heart sinks and tears begin to build in her eyes. The nurse takes pity on her and gives her a handkerchief.

"Thank you" Charlie says to the nurse and starts heading towards Bass's room.

The room is bright white and seems very clean. It's quite a surprise to Charlie since it feels like forever to her since she's seen such a clean room. Bass is lying on a make shift hospital bed and is covered with fresh bandages and a white sheet.

He looks so peaceful. She thinks to herself.

Charlie takes a chair from the far and of the room and sits next to Bass's bed. She looks at him and thinks about how they got there.

24 hours earlier…

"Bass? Bass, what did you do?" Charlie looks at him with horror.

Bass falls to the ground and Charlie drops to her knees beside him. Charlie's heart races with panic and fear.

Charlie puts her hand on his abdomen to try and stop the bleeding.

"Bass wake up!" she yells at him with fear and anger.

Suddenly, shots are fired from outside the cage. The crowd panics and screams in horror as they scatter and flee from the arena.

"You need to help me get him out!" Charlie yells at Duncan who is standing outside the cage. "He's bleeding!"

Duncan signals to one of her men and he goes inside and picks up Bass from the ground.

"Where do you think you're going?" Charlie turns around and see's Gould standing at the entrance of the cage. Luckily, Duncan is right behind him and shoots him with one bullet straight in the head.

Charlie sighs. She never felt so relieved.

"Take him to my tent!" Duncan yells at the man carrying Bass. "I'll get Aims."

"Who's Aims?" Charlie asks and walks with Duncan outside of the arena.

"He's one of my guys. He's an army vet and has field medical experience. He's going to help stop the bleeding but you're going to have to get him to a hospital. Thankfully, Austin isn't that far but you're going to have to hurry." Duncan says to her.

Charlie's head was spinning. First, this woman who I met just a few hours ago is helping me and second, Bass kissed me! Smack on the mouth. With tongue!

Prioritize Charlie! She thought to herself. No time for this. I got to find a way to get Bass to Austin.

Charlie wakes up and looks around the room. Bass is still sleeping and she sees that night has fallen. She gets up and decides to stretch her legs and walks around the room.

Every thought and question goes through her mind.

She looks at the man lying on the bed in front of her. "Why did you do it?" She asks him. Was it because of Miles or Conner? "Did you not want to or think you didn't deserved to live?"

Charlie keeps walking back and forth. She turns to Bass. "I mean, what were you thinking?" The great General Sebastian Monroe is immortal?" Charlie asks in frustration as the tears start flowing down her cheeks.

She comes closer to his bed and takes his hand. She looks at him as he is lying there with his eyes closed. The man she once hated has somehow broken everything and stolen her heart. Can she ever admit that to herself? she thinks to herself.

The memory of the kiss creeps into her mind like a long lost memory and for a moment she knows. Anger rises inside her and she grabs Bass's face and looks straight at him.

"How could you do this to me? You think you can just kiss me like that and leave?"

"Was it just an act to get me to do it?" She says with sadness in her voice.

She lets go of his face and takes his hand.

"Come back to me Bass."

"Come back to me."