Take My Breath Away

While strolling to her apartment building, Blair thought about how she left Wesley alone in the hospital. She realized that it was a poor way to repay him, and he was as helpless as a kitten up a tree. The girl was considering paying him a visit when a man appeared out of nowhere.

The man wore a mask and a cap, and she couldn't see his face. She was startled for a moment, wondering if he was a bad guy.

She was about to run away when the man asked, "Are you Wesley's Blair?"

Blair was confused. "I'm Blair, and I know a Wesley. What's this about?"

Now that he had confirmed who he was talking to, the man looked around vigilantly before fishing something from his pocket and holding it out to her. "Please give this to him. It involves the lives of 128 people."

The man placed a micro-SD card in Blair's hand, and closed her fingers in a fist around it. Blair was more puzzled than afraid, and slowly opened her fingers, looking at the SD card in her hand. When she raised her head again, the man was gone.

She looked around, but only darkness met her gaze. She got goose bumps all over.

'This thing must be really important. I should probably call Wesley, ' she thought, closing her fist around the SD card. She took out her phone, about to call Wesley, but her battery was dead.

She had to turn around to hail a taxi; she decided to go to the hospital.

At this moment, she saw two men in masks approaching her out of the corner of her eye. Her gut instinct told her that something was not right. With that, she ran away as fast as her legs would take her.

Like she thought, the two men ran after her as well.

Blair realized that they wanted the SD card. She had to find a place to hide it. There! The perfect spot!

At the hospital, Wesley had closed his eyes, deciding to surrender to sleep. Suddenly, his phone began to vibrate under his pillow.

It was a foreign number. Wesley saw no red flags, since he did get called to service from all over. He sat up in the bed and answered it.

"Wesley Li?" The person on the other end of the phone was using a voice changer, pitched extremely low, so Wesley couldn't tell if it was a man or a woman.

"And you are?" Wesley asked.

"It doesn't matter who I am. What matters is..." The person paused, and then a woman's shriek came from the other end. "You hear that? I think you know that voice."

He did know it, to his consternation. And judging from how it sounded, she was in pain, or danger, or both. His hands balled into fists. "What do you want?" he asked through gritted teeth.

This was no accident. Whoever it was waited until he was laid up in the hospital, and then kidnapped Blair.

"She has something we're looking for. We asked her about it, but she won't talk. She's so stubborn, huh? No wonder she's your woman."

"You idiots! She doesn't have it. I do. Come and get it!" Wesley spat. 'She got kidnapped because of me, ' he thought bitterly.

The other person laughed out loud. "My people saw someone giving it to her. I guess he thought she'd give it to you. We got to her before she could."

'So that's what's going on. I have to find a way to save her, ' he thought. "If you don't believe me, then there's no point in continuing this," Wesley said.

"Wait!"

"What?"

"How about this? Let's talk face to face. Come here. Alone! If you gather a team, she dies. If you go to the authorities, she dies. If you don't come, she dies," the person threatened.

Wesley's heart hurt at the thought of Blair suffering, but his voice was as calm as ever. "She's not my woman, but she's innocent. Just let her go. If she's hurt, then there will be nowhere on earth you can hide from me. I will find you and I will kill you."

The other person laughed viciously. "Too late. Her bare feet are full of broken glass now. Blood's everywhere. God, what a mess!"

"Where are you?" Wesley clenched his teeth.

After hanging up, Wesley dialed a number and talked to the person on the other end briefly. Then he took off his hospital gown and put on his fatigues. Fortunately, his men had brought him all new togs, as his old ones were bloody and torn beyond repair. Before he left, he called Blair's phone, but it went straight to voicemail. Her phone was off, or the battery was dead. It didn't matter which at this point.

Wesley followed their directions, and found himself at an old and lonely house. The place needed love, because what paint it had worn away, and rot had blackened some of the timbers. Two men were guarding the door; they were apparently unarmed. Upon seeing Wesley, one of them yelled, "That's far enough! I'm going to pat you down."

Blair came to for just a moment, and in her pained state saw a familiar figure at the door. Just like when she had encountered the torrential flood on the South Mountain, the superhero in her heart came to her rescue again.

They were frisking him, trying to determine if he had any weapons. When they were satisfied, the guy patting him down gestured to his buddy. His companion closed on Wesley, as the other guy aimed a right cross at the soldier, who blocked it instinctively. Weapons or no, Wesley was a force to be reckoned with.

This was the first time that Blair had seen Wesley fighting, at least for real. Weakened as he was from the coma and his injuries, he was still deadly. He charged one, and smashed him into the door frame. The thug collapsed in pain. The other gangster saw his chance, as Wesley's back was to him. But Wesley simply aimed a spinning backfist at him, and it hit the man full in the face. At this point, both men were knocked senseless.

The soldier, having dispatched the immediate threat, looked around. He saw Blair sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall, eyes shut. She had been at the hospital not long before, safe and sound. But now, her face was deathly pale because she had lost much blood.

Her usual fair and smooth feet were now covered with blood. The floor before her was littered with blood-stained broken glass.

What was worse, her arms were limp at her sides. They must have done something to her!

Wesley instantly flared up, his face as red as fired brick. Even his eyes were red as if he were going to explode. Fighting the urge to go to check on her, he shouted, "Show yourselves!" His yell echoed through the empty house.

Soon, more than ten men appeared from all directions, each of them holding a weapon. Given the sorry state of the house, some of them literally came out of the woodwork. Walls with holes and missing beams gave lots of angles for attack.

Blair slowly opened her eyes again; she wanted to call out his name, but she had no strength left.

'I was so useless, ' she thought. The two men had easily caught up to her and taken her here. That was when she realized the SD card must be really important, and she also found out what lengths these thugs would go to in order to get it.

They kept asking her where the SD card was, but she refused to answer. They hit her, and did something even more terrible.

They pricked her fingers with needles, but she still didn't give in. Then they forced her to walk on the broken glass. But she just refused to disclose the information. The thugs had no choice but to call Wesley and threaten him with her life.

She didn't expect herself to be this strong. All she was thinking was that she couldn't drag Wesley into this. To focus away from the pain, her mind retreated. She pictured herself in a bridal gown, and Wesley in his dress uniform, medals glinting beautifully. Wedding music was playing, and everyone was happy. She could see it, hear it, smell it, taste it. It was as real as anything, and she felt safe and happy here in this secret place in her mind.

Their leader wore a black mask. He looked in his forties, based on the wrinkles around his eyes and his gray hair that spilled around the top edges of the mask. He was very thin. "Colonel Li, if you can persuade her to give us what we want, then you're free to go. Both of you," he said with a smile.

Actually, these people didn't know where it was. Who had it? Blair, or Wesley? The two men following the mysterious man didn't see anything too clearly. They just knew his plans, and lay in wait.

But even if she didn't have it, Blair was still Wesley's beloved woman. They kidnapped her to threaten Wesley. If she did have it, then torturing Wesley would be the way to make her cave. If she didn't have it, then Wesley might be able to track it down for them.

Wesley didn't fall for his trap. His eyes were locked on Blair's feet, and he said in a cold voice, "I have it, actually. I can give it to you, but you have to let her go first."

"Ha-ha! Turns out the news I bought is true! She's important to you." The man burst out laughing.

"She is." Wesley didn't deny it. Blair could hear this through her pain-filled haze. Her heart started to race wildly in her chest.

"After all, she saved my life once," Wesley added.

'I did? When did that happen?' Blair was confused.

The man sat on a chair. "You're a good man, Colonel Li. Let's cut the crap. Give it to me, and you two can leave. Otherwise, the only way you'll leave here is in body bags."