Nurses and medical professionals wheeled Ally into the hospital. While Albert saw Raymond's face in despair coming towards him from the entrance of the ER, he asked, "What happened?"
"She was ambushed and assaulted." Raymond answered with a defeated tone. Nothing went according to his plan and he nearly lost a victim's life.
"Why? I thought you put her in custody." Albert questioned Raymond, as he found it unbelievable for someone to get this badly hurt at the precinct.
"I released her after the interrogation." Raymond replied softly, as if waiting for Albert to bombard him with more questions.
"Did it ever occur to you that her life might be in danger after being targeted by law enforcement?!" True enough, Albert started to question him in exasperation.
"Yes, that was why I arranged for someone to follow her back to the club." Raymond is trying to defend himself.
"And still she was assaulted; where was that fellow who was supposed to follow her?" Albert asked in disbelief. It was clear that she was not followed or that she would not get hurt.
"Rowan hasn't returned, so I arranged for someone else to..."
"Did it occur to you that some of your people at the precinct are so reliable, especially during the holidays?" Albert decided to cut off the conversation. The mission was planned for months, and Raymond knew that besides the Chief and Albert, Rowan was the most reliable candidate, but he was currently missing.
"Look, it all occurred to me, but we are short on time, and I need to wrap up this case!" Raymond yelled at Albert as though he were being caught by his supervisor for making a mistake but he refused to admit his fault.
"Ray, I do not know what is going on with you. First, you felt head over heels with her, then you detained her, and after that, you released her to let her return to the lion's den! Why didn't you follow through on our plan and just stick with the girls that were on our lists? You are such a fool that you are about to blow up everything we worked on for months. Do you even have a plan after you decided to let her go?"
The whole mission had caused Albert a lot of aggravation, and he is contemplating whether to go along with this mission or back off entirely.
"I remembered when you told me that I lost sense when she was around me, so I interrogated her harshly and deliberately sent her back, knowing that she would report to them. But I did not expect Anne to be ruthless."
"Did you read my files on Anne and Annette?"
"No."
"Still?"
"Things happened so fast, she was thoroughly beaten when backup was called."
"Ray, when it comes to dealing with Midnight Sun, we cannot be careless. You need to report this to the chief and lay low. Not only did the situation get worse, you blew your cover. Anne will not let this go; even though she is now detained, there will be people coming to bail her out." Albert warned.
"I will inform the chief and drop my position on the case." Raymond surrendered. He could not think straight and he needed a break.
"You don't have to do that; just stop doing reconnaissance for the time being. Oh, I think you need to create a search party for Rowan." Albert quickly responded.
Raymond: "Is Rowan missing?"
Albert: "I do not know; I cannot get a hold of him. I wanted to call him to guard Selina, but he doesn't seem to respond. I have a bad feeling about this."
Raymond: "I am on it. I guess I won't be seeing Selina later on, then?"
Albert: "No, someone else will come along later to see her. Just focus on finding Rowan and Anne's interrogation."
Raymond: "Sometimes I wonder, who is really leading this case?"
Albert: "Get your sh*t together then. I am more than happy to let you lead. And do not forget to assign a stand-in for Rowan. A reliable one."
Raymond nodded as he watched Albert enter the triage area, which he slowly followed and sat at the corner on the bench against the wall.
As Raymond was contemplating his actions, he heard footsteps walking closer and closer towards him as he raised his head to see the crimson girl staring at him in confusion. His eyes widened, and he was about to speak.
A nurse called her and requested that she return to her room. She turned around in the direction of the nurse, but she looked back to glance at Raymond one last time.
This time, Raymond was looking at her with his eyes wide open, and he called out her name in a whisper, "Selina!"
Selina was surprised, but she could not stop as the nurse forcefully dragged her away from the ER.
Then, Raymond frowned as he thought something wasn't quite right. He decided to follow Selina and approached her for the case, despite Albert's warning.
----------------------------------------------
In the moment of tension within the hospital corridors, Selina's instinctive response to protect her personal space led to a confrontation with the nurse, who was forcefully grabbing her back to her room.
'Seriously, everyone is treating me like a child.' Selina thought.
The already vulnerable Selina was affected by the whirlwind of recent events, causing her to react sharply to the harsh nurse as she flung her hands away from the nurse to avoid physical contact that felt restrained.
The nurse was taken aback by Selina's strong reaction and paused momentarily, her expression frowning with annoyance and confusion without concern or empathy.
Selina, already teetering on the edge, needed something to calm her nerves as the image of Pinot Noir came across her mind. She wanted to get away from the suspicious nurse, as this person gave Selina the impression of being unaccustomed to dealing with emotional patients in heightened distress. At the same time, looking for indulgence to relax. She needed to get away from the hospital.
Since Selina was unfamiliar with the nurse, whose demeanor was less than compassionate, she turned around and dashed out of the hospital.