Take My Breath Away

"I've got nothing to do with Ivan. Why would I care what he would say?" Decker snapped. Indeed, he wasn't lying because he hadn't had any interactions with Ivan yet.

Carlos leaned against the closet and stared him down. In a cold voice, he said, "So, you're another one of Debbie's admirers?"

"Damn you!" Suddenly, Decker hurled a photo frame towards Carlos.

Carlos swiftly dodged it without much effort as the photo frame hit the closet and landed on the floor.

He straightened his coat and glared at Decker. "So, it seems like you have a death wish?"

Decker gnashed his teeth and stayed on the bed. "Yeah, so kill me now, if you have the balls."

Much to his surprise, the defiant look in Decker's eyes suddenly reminded Carlos of Debbie. This wounded man somewhat resembled Debbie, especially in terms of his personality. The most common quality would be their audacity to stand up to him.

Unfortunately for Decker, however, he wasn't Debbie. Carlos might have excused this if it were Debbie, but he wasn't going to let this man walk away after disrespecting him. He strode towards the bed and grabbed Decker's arm, ruthlessly yanking him off the bed.

"Ahh!" A pained groan escaped Decker's lips as the sharp pain shot through his arm the moment he fell to the floor.

'Damn you! Carlos Huo, you pathetic wretch!'

Carlos stomped on his hand, possibly crushing a few bones, leaving behind an impression of his leather shoes. "If you somehow manage to get out of this room alive, you win!" The cold look in his eyes suggested that he wasn't joking.

"Aargh...you..." The searing pain from his hand was unbearable and Decker let out a might wail in hopes of releasing some pain. Carlos watched with a deadpan expression on his face as Decker writhed in agony.

Decker's face was white as a sheet. Just as his vision faded and he was about to surrender himself to the arms of darkness, the loud shrill sound of Debbie screaming from the doorway kept him awake. "Carlos! What are you doing?"

Immediately, Carlos froze on the spot. He drew his foot away and shot a sharp glance at Debbie's worried face. 'Why is she so worried about this man?' The mere thought of it filled his heart with anger.

Debbie dropped the bag on the floor and rushed towards them. She reached down to pull Carlos' long legs away from Decker. "Brother, are you okay? Please look at me!"

'B-brother...'

Carlos' facial expression changed dramatically.

"Decker, wake up!" Debbie kept calling out, but her brother didn't respond to her cries. In a fit of anger, she sprang up to her feet and glared at Carlos. "What is the matter with you? Did you do this to him?"

Carlos didn't respond, but his silence spoke for his actions.

And there wasn't the slightest trace of guilt on his face. Needless to say, Debbie was incensed. "How could you do this to an injured man? Listen, if something happens to my brother because of you, I will never forgive you!"

Debbie fell to the floor again, struggling to lift her brother up.

Decker was already rendered unconscious, so no matter how she tried to move him, he didn't respond. Frustrated, she shouted at Carlos again, "Get over here and help me!"

Carlos' face darkened with a baleful cloud. This woman was the only person in the world who dared to order him around like that.

Although reluctant, he stepped forward as if to help. However, it wasn't the kind of help Debbie had expected. Carlos pulled her away from the unconscious man and stomped on his hand once again.

Dumbstruck, Debbie's brain stuttered for a moment and every part of her went on pause while her thoughts caught up. She got up as fast as she could and pushed him away.

"Carlos Huo, you disgust me!" Decker muttered something under his breath, finally having regained his consciousness. He opened his bloodshot eyes all of a sudden and glared at the man responsible for his suffering.

Carlos feigned a mask of innocence and said, "Welcome back! Stand up and go back to bed on your own."

Decker drew his sights away from Carlos and crawled back to the bed without a word.

Debbie picked up the plastic bag from the floor and showed the things to her brother. "I bought all the things you asked for. What should I do next?"

Carlos walked over to her and snatched the bag away from her hand. "I haven't had dinner yet. Go cook me up something nice."

"Carlos Huo, who are you to Debbie? Why should my sister cook for you?" Decker growled angrily.

Debbie looked at him, tears springing to her eyes. She couldn't believe what she had just heard. This was the first time her brother took her side and stood up to defend her.

With deadpan face, Carlos threatened, "Shut your mouth if you want to live."

Decker tried to retort, but Carlos pulled out a cotton bud and pressed it to his bleeding wound. In an instant, his whole face contorted in pain, and he forced his lips into a line.

Debbie's voice trembled as she looked at Carlos and said, "You... What are you going to do?"

Carlos shot her a quick glance. "What do you think?"

Debbie pursed her lips helplessly. 'How would I know?'

"Get out now!" As soon as Debbie shut the door behind her, Carlos put the things away on the bedside table and went to the bathroom to wash his hands.

Meanwhile, just outside the room, Debbie stood there blankly, wondering what to do. After a while, she decided to keep her mind busy but soon she realized that there were no ingredients at home to prepare a meal, because she hadn't been living there for the past few months.

After taking a quick look at the closed bedroom door, Debbie grabbed her purse and went downstairs again. She went to a convenience store and bought instant noodles, sandwiches and a few grilled kebabs.

She didn't prepare the portion of food for Decker since he was wounded and needed to avoid anything that could cause inflammations. After preparing a simple dinner for her and Carlos, she went back to let him know that dinner was ready.

When she opened the door, she saw Decker biting down on his shirt to help with the pain, as beads of sweat trickled down his face. The bed sheet was already half-stained by the blood from his body.

Much to her surprise, Carlos was squatting next to Decker, carefully stitching his wound. She quietly walked to Carlos' side to have a closer look.

Her heart ached to see the deep wounds on Decker's waist. One of them looked really deep.

Fortunately, Carlos had almost finished suturing his cuts.

The sutures were done neatly and meticulously, as if it were done by a surgeon.

Debbie marveled at the thought of how people around her with many hidden talents that she didn't even know about. They were all shrouded in mystery and one could never tell what they were capable of. She assumed Decker knew how to stitch up his wounds since he was the one who asked her to buy all the required items.

And now, after watching the way Carlos sutured Decker's wounds, she couldn't help but feel impressed.

All the while, Decker silently endured the pain without any general anesthesia. When he couldn't take it anymore, he let out a subdued groan. Debbie held her breath and rushed closer to her brother, cupping his clenched fist in her hands.

Sensing the touch of her hand, Decker opened his eyes and took a deep breath. The sight of his sister's worried face forced a tear to drop from the corner of his bloodshot eye.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Debbie seemed puzzled, trying to think who it could be. Carlos asked her to open the door and said, "It's Niles."

'Niles? What's he doing here at this hour?' she wondered.

She let go of Decker's hand and ran to open the door. It was indeed Niles, standing outside, with a big medical box in his hands.

"Hi, Little Pepper, where's Carlos?" Niles asked, gasping for air.

Debbie pointed at the bedroom door with her finger. Niles quickly took off his leather shoes, and rushed to the bedroom without even changing into slippers.

Niles heaved a deep sigh of relief upon seeing Carlos sitting there, safe and sound. "Hey, man. You look all right. I thought you were hurt."

"Cut the crap and take it from here." Carlos felt at ease and immediately stopped stitching the moment he saw that the man, who was more capable of fixing up people's wounds, had arrived.

Niles took a glimpse at the patient on the bed. Having realized that he wasn't acquainted to him, he turned to look at Debbie and asked, "Who is he?"

Niles grabbed the suture kit from Carlos' hand and continued from where he had stopped.

His hands moved even faster than Carlos'. After all, he was the doctor. This was his home turf.

After a brief pause, Debbie answered, "I don't know him."

Yes, she didn't know the Decker in front of her. From what she could recall, he was just a good-for-nothing creep. But what he did today completely changed her impression of him, leaving her to doubt whether she even knew him in the first place.