Chapter 5

Chloe's POV

My expression went instantly cold, my voice devoid of any warmth. "That's my business. It has nothing to do with you."

Caleb's eyebrows knotted together in furious disbelief. "Nothing to do with me? You were deployed to that outpost from my hospital system! You aren't allowed to leave without official authorization. And what did you do?"

His tone was sharp and accusatory. "You have zero sense of responsibility, zero regard for protocol! You abandoned your post, sneaked back to the city, and now you're standing here making up ridiculous lies about going overseas! Chloe, do you have any idea how much damage this kind of misconduct causes?!"

Listening to his harsh condemnation, I laughed bitterly on the inside.

All these years, that was who I was to him: an undisciplined, irresponsible woman.

He didn't possess an ounce of basic trust in me.

Ignoring me, Caleb turned toward Richard and Linda. His tone softened slightly, but it remained heavy and uncompromising. "Chloe went AWOL. If the department finds out, the fallout will be disastrous. I need to take her back to her post immediately. I hope you both understand."

Linda's face went sheet-white. Richard stared at me in horror, his voice shaking.

"Chloe... did you... did you really run away?"

"No," I frowned, looking at my parents. "I came back legally. I have authorization."

I reached into my coat pocket, pulled out the emergency leave slip, and held it out.

Before anyone else could touch it, Caleb lunged forward and snatched the paper from my hand. Without even glancing at the text, his fingers tore the document to shreds.

"Chloe Taylor!" He tossed the scraps into the air, his face twisted in disgust. "You actually forged an emergency leave pass? That's a federal offense!"

Watching the leave pass I traded my deployment to a war zone for—torn to confetti and fluttering to the floor—rage boiled inside me until I shook.

"Caleb Miller! Who gave you the right to tear up my pass? Are you out of your goddamn mind?!"

Caleb's eyes darkened menacingly. He seized my upper arm with enough force to crush the bone.

"You're coming with me right now. I'll do what I can to minimize your penalty!"

"Let go of me!"

I fought against him with everything I had, but he was too strong. He dragged me two steps toward the doorway.

Right then, a frantic, breathless cry came from behind us. "Chloe!"

I snapped my head around. Linda was desperately clawing her way up from the pillows, her face completely drained of color. She gasped violently for air, reaching out a trembling hand toward me.

"Chloe..."

Before she could finish, her body went completely limp. She collapsed back onto the mattress, her eyes slipping shut.

The heart monitor instantly shrieked with a shrill, piercing alarm.

"Mom!"

My pupils contracted in horror. A sudden surge of adrenaline gave me the strength to rip my arm out of Caleb's grip, and I threw myself at the bedside.

Richard panicked, shaking her frail shoulders. "Linda! Linda, wake up!"

"Mom! Mom, please don't do this!" I slammed my palm against the emergency call button over and over, my voice raw and breaking. "Doctor! Somebody get a doctor in here! Help us!"

A team of doctors and nurses rushed into the room. After a rapid assessment of her vitals, the lead physician's face turned grim.

"She's in critical condition. We need to prep her for emergency resuscitation right now."

"Then do it!" Tears streamed down my face in a frantic flood. "What are you waiting for? Save her!"

The doctor didn't move. He stood frozen by the bed, his eyes flicking past me toward the man standing by the door.

Caleb.

Following the doctor's line of sight, the reality hit me like a slap to the face.

This was Caleb's hospital.

Here, his word was absolute law.

Caleb met my gaze, his expression composed, his voice terrifyingly steady. "Chloe, the second you agree to return to the outpost and face disciplinary review like an adult, I will order the surgical team to move. I'll make sure she gets the best imported medications and top-tier care to keep her alive."

My breath seized in my throat. My blood turned to absolute ice.

I stared in sheer horror at the man standing before me. The man I had loved for ten whole years. The man I thought I would spend the rest of my life with.

Just to protect Nicole's promotion, he was using my mother's life as leverage to force me back into exile?

All the heartbreak, the rage, and the profound grief inside me threatened to burst through my chest.

Yet looking at my mother's deathly pale face on the bed, I knew that every wasted second shaved away her chances of survival.

I couldn't fight him right now. I couldn't afford to push back.

The only thing that mattered was saving my mother's life. Nothing in this world was more important than her.

I clenched my fists until my nails dug deep into my palms, forcing down the violent storm of agony inside me. "...Fine."

My voice came out like gravel, scraped from the very bottom of my throat. "I'll go back with you."

The corner of Caleb's mouth lifted in a satisfied smirk. "If you had just listened to me from the start, your mother wouldn't have been pushed into another cardiac episode."

Hearing those words, a profound, bone-deep numbness spread through my limbs.

I told myself it didn't matter. Once we got back to the outpost, the base commander would prove that my leave was fully authorized.

When that happened, the truth would come out.