Chapter 16

The moment Hayden saw Jacqueline again, he felt his blood run cold. She was resting against a cracked wall in the corner of an abandoned hospital, covered in mud and blood. She seemed utterly exhausted. The air reeked of rot and gunpowder. Hayden slowly approached her. A tear fell, landing on the cold metal of her prosthetic arm. He looked down. The sheen from the steel burned his eyes. He couldn't imagine how the same woman who once whimpered at the sting of a needle had endured the agony of losing her right arm alone. His hands began to tremble uncontrollably as he crouched down beside her and reached for her face. His voice broke through the silence. "I'm sorry." The next second, Jacqueline's unfocused eyes snapped open, and she stood up defensively. "Who's there?" Hayden's vision blurred with tears, which streamed down his face freely. He wanted to say that he had come for her, but the words became stuck in his throat. What if she couldn't forgive him and refused to go back