His Own - Chapter 22：Meeting Again

It was a very silent ride to the camp. Titus continuously stared at Rosalind laying on the floor of the vehicle with Louis, a frown decorating his face. Adena, Ralph and Vincent were keeping their eyes on the both of them.

Why is she here?

Titus couldn’t process it. She was supposed to be safely in her grandparents house but here she is, shot and wounded.

He also noticed that the moment she threw up, the man with the white hair ran to her side immediately and helped her wear her gloves. That wasn’t the most important thing at the moment. He should have done something about her wound instead of bothering about whether she wore her gloves or not.

He clenched his fists remembering her scream. If only they arrived a moment earlier, that could have been avoided and she wouldn’t have been shot.

The other two men suddenly appeared at the camp entrance, injured and with a letter. They were the doctors sent from the stationed hospital but they looked like they have been attacked. They kept insisting that they needed to go and pick up the rest of the injured.

No one was willing to go. The camp had just gotten ambushed and this may have been another ploy to weaken them, but there was something that kept urging him to go. So Titus took four men, a jeep and the other two men to show them the location and to treat any injuries if needed, they left.

Just as they were about to arrive to the location, they stopped and switched off the vehicle’s headlights and engine. Once they did that, everything went dark and silent. The darkness felt so heavy then, almost suffocating.

Guns in hand, Titus and two other men got off and slowly made their way to the spot. They could make out the overturned truck by its shadows. They could make out a movement behind it.

Titus told the men to wait there and walked closer to the overturned truck, alone. Trying not to make a sound, he made himself as light as he could and watched his steps. What he wasn’t prepared for was the gunshot followed by a loud, painful scream. This was followed by more gunshots, this time closer to him.

Titus felt his body shiver because of the scream or because the voice sounded so familiar to him, he wasn’t sure.

One of the men must have panicked because the headlights turned on to show a man with long white hair, stained from head to toe in blood, shooting another man who was completely shrouded darkness with frightening accuracy. He clearly intended to make him feel pain before killing him.

Rushing to him, the brown haired man was able to take the gun from him with ease. Two men were sent to retrieve the man that just got shot while the rest of them went to check on the conditions of the wreckages.

Titus saw a woman crouched, head resting on the ground and shaking. He made his way to her and asked, “Excuse me, are you ok?”

She stopped shaking and looked up at him. Horror is not enough to express his emotion the moment he saw face.

No. It could be someone that looks creepily like her.

But as tears rolled down her eyes and his name escaped her lips, he knew that that was definitely her.

“R-Rosalind?! Why-”

She quickly crawled to the darkness and started to throw up. As she did, the white haired man ran to her and helped her wear her gloves, while she continued to throw up.

Titus didn’t know what to do, he could only stare in shock as questions ran around his head.

Rosalind stared at him and the man that was shot while they wrapped her bullet wound, refusing to remove her gloves and that man stood a little too close to her for his comfort. He also looked fiercely protective of her.

Who is he?

“That man-” Rosalind pointed to the man resting against the truck, he fainted because of the pain. “-what are you going to do to him?”

“Let him bleed out.” The white haired man spat out, and Titus had no arguements to that.

“No.” Rosalind gasped. “Ralph, Vincent, can you take care of his wounds too?”

She looked at the two men in front of her, pleading with her eyes.

Titus sighed. He knew that no one is able to resist any of her requests whenever she makes those eyes. They don’t stand a chance against her. That made him chuckle a little bit. She’s still the same.

She shouldn’t be here. She should be frolicking in her garden, letting the warm sun on her skin-

“Titus?”

Rosalind’s voice brought him out of his thoughts. She leaned against the white haired man but her arms were outstretched towards him, a gentle smile on her face.

He walked to her and carefully picked her up in his arms. Holding her as tightly as he could without hurting her. She did the same.

“I missed you so much.” She whispered in his ears.

“I missed you too. But, Rosalind, why are you here? Shouldn’t you be-” he pulled away from the embrace to see that she was out cold.

“I-is she-”

“She’s ok. Just a little bit tired.” The white haired man reassured him. “I’m Adena.”

“Titus.”

Gasps came from the two men who were busy with what Rosalind requested them to do.

The brown haired only stared in shock while the redhead did a dramatic pointing gesture from Rosalind to Titus and to Adena.

“Rosalind’s fiancée?!”

“Ralph.” The man with the brown hair nudged at him. “We already know that she has a fiancée.”

“That’s not the shocking part. I can’t believe that her fiancée is in the frontline, Vincent.”

Vincent stood up and dusted the dirt off his pants and coat. “It is a pleasure to meet you. My name is Vincent Angevin. I am the Surgeon.”

“And I am Ralph Salisbury, specializes in psychiatry. The person laying there is Louis Mercia, Cardiologist.”

“Lieutenant General Titus Hangzo. At your service. Thank you for coming all the way here.”

“Lieutenant General . . . He’s a Lieutenant General” Ralph walked away, murmuring to himself in disbelief.

“Please don’t mind him.” Vincent smiled. “It is our honour to meet you. It’s just unfortunate that we had to meet like this. Oh! Rosalind has been an invaluable help to us and many people. You’re really lucky to have her.”

Titus stared at her sleeping. “I know I am. I just have so many questions at the moment.”

Adena, still standing beside him, had a look that disappeared just as soon as it appeared. “I’m sure she will answer them when she can.” He patted his back and they got on the jeep, after making space for Louis and Rosalind to lay down on.

Titus wished to carry her all the way but it would just tire them both out more so he settled to let her lay down with his coat to cover her up.

It’s just been a few minutes but he already missed the feeling of holding her in his arms.

The man lay with the supplies they could salvage, bound and asleep.

Most of his suspicions are on the white haired man, Adena. Why did he hold her so tenderly and why did she lean on him like that? Does he like her?

But there was no indication that they consider each other anything like that. Titus decided to not come to any conclusion until he heard it from Rosalind herself.

“If you are worried about Rosalind and I. You don’t have to. She’s the closest I have to a daughter and I know she sees me as her guardian.”

Adena and Titus glanced at each other from the corner of their eyes, a knowing expression on their faces.

“I trust her.” Titus said, steeling his gaze.

“You’d better.” Adena also didn’t back down.

After a minute of staring at each other and making everyone else in the vehicle uncomfortable, they both exchanged a friendly smile before going back to their brooding expressions.

Vincent and Ralph laughed nervously, then fell silent with the insects of the place. Praying they arrive the camp soon.