However, Devin’s stern words betrayed his true thoughts. He had not been thinking about the female soldiers in his troop at all.
Instead, the memory of saving Sabrina from Yancy flashed through his mind.
Sabrina’s captors had force-fed her a new drug developed for pharmacological torture, and she almost went mad from how excruciating the pain had been. Even then, Sabrina had recovered from the experience with nothing but willpower.
This bit of pain is nothing compared to what Sabrina experienced.
Upon hearing his words, Henrick blushed in embarrassment and kept his mouth shut.
The doctor then gave them further instructions on what to do as they awaited the nurse’s arrival. He planned to administer IV sedation to help Kira cope with the pain and reduce the inflammation in her wounds.
“N-No! No needles! I don’t want it! D-Dad, give Kiki a hug!”
Kira seemed like the exact opposite of the young woman who had accepted her sedative injection earlier without even blinking an eye.
The sight of a nurse preparing the needle for her IV sedation had Kira sitting up in bed, and her eyes widened with fear.
In the next instant, she had stretched her hands out toward Henrick.
Everyone in the ward stared at her in shock.
Even the usually unperturbed Devin was taken aback at her crazed display.
What the hell is going on?
“Dad, d-do you hate Kiki now? I-I promise I’ll be a good girl. I don’t want the injection!” Kira piqued up when no one responded to her earlier words.
She sounded even more like a kid then; even her tone had become more high-pitched than usual as beads of sweat appeared on her forehead.
Right then, her gaze was stubbornly locked on Henrick while tears trickled down her face.
She’s gone mad!
Henrick did not know what to make of the situation. He grabbed the doctor’s elbow and asked, “W-What’s happening? Why is she acting like this?”
But the doctor had no idea either.
A full ten seconds passed before he hastily grabbed his stethoscope and examined Kira in earnest.
With the help of several doctors, they produced a diagnosis an agonizing half-hour later.
“Mr. Jadeson, we suspect that your cousin is traumatized from losing her leg. The shock is making her hallucinatory and distorting her memories.”
“What?” Henrick exclaimed in disbelief.
However, when he recalled how horrific Kira’s experience had been, the diagnosis immediately made sense.
“That seems plausible, Major. Didn’t you mention that Ms. Hayes suffered from several traumatic episodes after her poisoning?”
Why did you have to bring her up?
Devin’s expression darkened instantly.
Nevertheless, he did not argue with Henrick’s logic.
Has Kira truly gone mad from the trauma of losing her leg?
“Devin? Devin, are you here? Devin, please save me! D-Dad’s going to hit me again. He’s going to poke me with a needle!”
At that moment, Kira had finally taken notice of Devin amid this frustrated stewing. She no longer desired Henrick’s attention as she lunged for her cousin, clamping her arms around Devin and pulling him closer to her bed.
“Devin, d-did Aunt Jasmine send you here? P-Please take me away from here! I’m going to die here! Devin, please!”
Kira looked at Devin pitifully, her eyes welling with tears. She looked as frightened and innocent as a little girl.
It reminded Devin of Kira’s unhappy childhood.
The Woods looked down upon Kira and her family due to their lower social standing.
Consequently, Kira’s parents frequently took out their frustrations on her. They blamed her for not being a boy, and they were upset with her lack of people-pleasing manners.
Devin’s gaze softened as these memories flitted through his mind.
“What should we do, then? How long will she remain like this?”
The doctor explained, “It won’t be difficult to manage her condition if she responds to a direct trigger. Just stay with her and comfort her during this time. She’ll eventually be able to let go of her fear. The company of her family is the best treatment for her recovery.”
Henrick volunteered his opinion immediately. “Major, if that’s the case, you should stay here instead of me, at least until her parents arrive.”
Devin stared at the vice-commander wordlessly.
The doctor chimed in, “Yes, that would be best. We wouldn’t want her condition to deteriorate and potentially develop into post-traumatic stress disorder.”
A vein twitched on Devin’s forehead.
Still, he stayed back under the doctor and Henrick’s advice.
Kira woke up sometime in the afternoon. When he lifted his head to look at her, she was smiling brightly at him.
“Devin, I want a hug.”
Meanwhile, Sabrina was fuming when she realized who was after her life. She could not bring her to sit still as her first instinct was to hunt Kira down.
However, Sabrina had barely taken a step out of Solomon’s car when she fainted.
“Solomon?” Willow was so shocked that she almost dropped the plates in her hand.
In contrast, Solomon calmly hung his coat on the coat rack before glancing at Willow. He then bent down and scooped Sabrina into his arms.
“Do you know any gynecologists?”
“What?” Willow’s eyes widened.
G-Gynecologists?
