An Agent's Story

Torn

The first thing that I noticed when I returned to consciousness was a loud repetitive beeping sound. It got very annoying, but I couldn't hear anything else, so I had to deal with it. I had decided to open my eyes, but that took much more effort than I thought. It was as if my brain didn't want me to see what was in the real world. However, I overcame it’s intentions after about five minutes. At first, my vision was blurry; my brain still didn't want me to see anything. I slowly turned my head and looked around the room I was in. All I saw were shadows and shapes. I gave up trying to see anything clearly and stared at my body.

I forced myself to lift my right arm and pain immediately shot through my arm. I let out a small yelp of pain. Apparently getting hit by a car is a lot worse than fighting agents from ASS I heard someone let out a small gasp over the annoying beeping. A dark shape moved and I realized that it was a person. They slowly stood up and stayed like that for a while. I looked at them, praying that my vision would return so that I could see them. The figure then quickly walked towards me and lifted me up in a hug. It hurt, but not enough to yelp in pain again. I knew who the person was, even without seeing their face or hearing their voice.

"Chris!" I heard her whisper my name in my ear.

"Taylor," I croaked out. I hadn't realized how dry my throat was.

“You’re awake,” I heard her choke out. I assume that she was crying.

“I’m awake,” I answered hoarsely. “Hey, is there any water in this place?” My vision was slowly returning, but everything was still unclear.

“Yeah, here,” she said, handing me a glass of what I guess was water. I took a sip and looked at Taylor. I could see her face more clearly and she had some black lines streaking down her face. “It’s so good to see that you’re awake! Doctors said that if you couldn’t pull out of the coma, you’d probably die. . .”

“What a second. I was in a coma?” I asked in disbelief

“For two weeks. Doctors patched me up pretty quick. But all they could do was patch up your internal bleeding. They didn’t think that you could survive the surgery unless you came out of the coma. And you did!” Tears were streaming down her face and I could finally see her clearly. I noticed her left arm.

“Taylor, what happened to your arm?”

“When you pushed me out of the way of the car, my left arm landed on the pavement and my radius and ulna broke. But you shouldn’t be worried about me, you have multiple breaks in your ribs, arm and legs. You need to take it easy.”

“Ok, but at least tell me how we got to a hospital.”

“Well, the driver backed up and drove off after he hit you, letting your body slide off the hood onto the pavement. Other students came rushing over to help. I called 911 while other people crowded around you. I somehow managed to crawl over to you and made sure that you were breathing. The ambulance showed up about two minutes later, and paramedics took us to Terran Calermo General. They took me away to get my arm in cast and you into surgery. They contacted you’re Uncle Diego sometime while you were in surgery. And we were also the top story on the news the day it happened. But I’m just glad that you’re ok!” Taylor then hugged me again and I hugged her back, pain exploding through my body.

“I should probably get your Uncle and doctors. They’ll be shocked by this.” Taylor turned to leave, but I grabbed her arm. I pulled her toward me for a quick kiss before letting her go get the doctors.

*** ***

“Well Chris, you should make a full recovery. But I suggest that you take it easy for the next couple of weeks. Give your body time to fully heal."

"Hey Doc, when do you think I can get released?"

"The earliest we can release you would be in two days, but I recommend that you stay here for four more days. I will check on your progress tomorrow Chris." He then left and Diego came in. His eyes were filled with worry and relief. He went came over to my bed and sighed.

“Damn it Ryan!” He muttered, “What were you thinking?!”

“Diego, I am supposed to be protecting her from being killed. What was I supposed to do, let her get hit and killed by that car!”

“You are supposed to protect her, not get yourself killed.”

“Well if it wasn’t for me, she would already be dead. So am I just supposed to not protect her, or do I do my job and keep her safe. Cause I think that I am supposed to do my job, no matter what happens.”

“Yes, Ryan. But you are not supposed to be involved with Taylor. Your job was to protect her and stay out of her life. You aren’t supposed to be her ‘world’! You know what will happen if you get caught.”

“I know, Diego.” We stayed silent for a while after that. I wanted to tell him who the agent was, but I didn’t know how to bring it up. So I decided I’d just come out and say it. “Diego, I know who the agent is.”

“Oh really,” he retorted, sarcasm coating his voice. “Are you sure it isn’t just someone that hates Taylor. Cause those are two very different things Ryan.”

“Why don’t you trust me anymore?! I handled this job like any other. Get in and find the threat. Nothing has changed.”

“Except for the fact that you’re feelings got in the way Ryan! Your parents were a very special case because they could work without their feelings intervening. But that doesn’t mean that you get special treatment or that you can let your emotions intervene with your mission. As far as SECRET is concerned, you are just another agent breaking rules.”

“Diego, I didn’t intentionally let my feelings intervene. Do you think that I wanted to make her fall in love with me?! She chose that path, I didn’t force it on her.”

“Very well.” He grumbled to himself, unsatisfied with my response. “You said you knew who the agent was.”

“Yeah, he’s the one that hit me with the car. It’s-”

“Chris?” Taylor asked, entering the room with a can of Coke. “I heard screaming from down the hall. Are you two alright?”

“Yeah Taylor,” I said. “Everything is fine.” Diego left, obviously annoyed that Taylor had interrupted us.

“So, when can you be let out of here?” Taylor asked hesitantly. I knew that she was trying to relieve the tension in the air, but it wasn’t working.

“Doc said that I can be released as early as two days from now. Which reminds me, what day is it?”

“Umm,” Taylor hummed, counting on her fingers. “Wednesday April 13. I didn’t really need to pay attention since the school has been closed.”

“Oh yeah, because of the murder. Did the police find out who did it yet?”

“No, but they have determined that she was beaten and stabbed.” Taylor shuddered after she said stabbed. “I just can’t imagine anyone in our school being that brutal and violent.”

“Taylor,” I started. “I know who hit me with the car. . .” I knew that it would crush her knowing who tried to kill her. “It was Robert.”