Leo stood up and looked past Argon's shoulder to see the stretcher, but there was nothing. "What just happened?" she was unsure, questioning whether it was real or an illusion.
Leo was completely distracted and failed to notice how Argon's hand was bandaged and tied around his neck for support. "You! Did you see a ghost or something? Get in the car and drive me home!" he commanded.
"Huh?" Leo looked up and then stared at Argon's face for a long second, her memories returning and reminding her of the reason for their visit to the hospital.
'What am I doing? How can my body be at the hospital? If it was here, they would have found it by now,' she thought and then looked back at Argon.
"Yes!" she nodded and then turned around almost instantly, acting like a complete robot. Argon watched her go and then turned around to see what had caused her expression to turn white. He didn't see anything serious. "Was it really a ghost? I wonder whose ghost would haunt him like that," Argon's lips curled up in a slight, amused smirk.
Leo gripped the steering wheel, her mind still reeling from the vision she had seen. 'What was that? A vision? An illusion? Was I just seeing things? It couldn't have been anything more, right?' Her body trembled, unable to process the chilling feelings she had experienced inside the hospital.
Unlike Leo, who had just walked through the rain to the car, Argon carried an umbrella in his still-functional left hand and stood outside the door. Leo closed her eyes tiredly, annoyed by his sudden presence. She opened her door and walked around the car, opening the door for him. Before entering, he handed her the umbrella and stepped inside. Leo watched him with a plain look on her face, unlike the raw terror she had displayed earlier. Argon noticed the change but wasn't curious enough to comment.
Leo stood in the rain, holding the umbrella limply, until Argon was seated in the car. Then, she mindlessly left the umbrella outside, its bright colors stark against the gray pavement, and walked back to her seat, drenched and shivering.
"The location to my house is on the GPS," Argon said, his voice breaking the oppressive silence. Leo nodded and started the engine, not saying a word.
As the car pulled away from the hospital, the rhythmic pounding of the rain on the roof intensified the eerie atmosphere. Inside the car, the air was thick with unspoken tension. Leo's mind kept wandering back to the stretcher, the lifeless hand adorned with the delicate bracelet—her bracelet. The image was seared into her brain, making her question her own sanity.
The roads were slick with rain, the headlights casting long, distorted reflections on the wet asphalt. The car's interior felt cold, the dampness from Leo's soaked clothes seeping into the upholstery. She tried to focus on the road, but her hands trembled slightly on the wheel. Yet, she still managed to reach the location on the GPS. Stopping at the foot of an extravagant apartment complex, Leo felt her limbs go numb slowly. The place bore a stark resemblance to Nico's apartment building, causing her to want to leave the place immediately.
"Is that it? Can I leave now?" she asked with a hint of urgency.
Argon lifted an eyebrow before speaking. "Not long ago you were desperately asking for a job, and now that I have given you one, you want to leave?" he said sarcastically.
"I wanted a job with 9-5 timing, and this isn't it." She turned to look at him, a hint of seriousness in her tone. "According to that, I am off duty now."
Argon's lip lifted in a mocking smile. "Who said I was talking about a normal 9-5 job when I told you I would give you a job?"
"What do you mean?"
"Your 9-5 starts now. You will be free at 5 in the morning." His lip stretched, and he tilted his head.
"That is absurd!" she retorted.
"Well, I am your employer, and it is up to me to set the conditions of the contract. I say I own you for eight hours every day not specified so you better be ready. Now get your *ss out of the car and follow me!" He commanded, opening the car door on his own this time and stepping out.
"What the hell is this?!" She didn't leave right away and stayed in the driver's seat, thinking about what to do. She picked up her phone and saw Kiera's reply to her message.
"Then nurse him! You better have that job or else—"
She was taken aback by those words. "Me, nurse him? When did I sign up for that?" she muttered. Looking up, she saw Argon already heading towards the elevator in the parking lot. Her chest tightened once more. "I hate this!"
With a heavy sigh, she opened the car door and stepped out, feeling the cold wind of the parking lot hit her skin. She trudged toward the elevator, her feet feeling like lead. Argon was waiting, his expression impatient as he held the door open for her.
The elevator ride was tense, the only sound being the soft hum of the machinery and the distant rumble of thunder. Leo's mind raced, She looked at the familiar design of the levator the keys that had improngted in her mind made her dizzy. The only thoughts she had were those of escape, but she knew she had no choice. She had to follow through with this, at least for now.
As they stepped out of the elevator, the luxurious hallway stretched before them, a stark contrast to the chaos in Leo's mind. Argon led the way,
his footsteps echoing off the marble floor. He opened the door to his apartment and gestured for her to enter.