Leena's breath came in short, sharp bursts. She scanned the grimy room, heart pounding in her chest. The cold stone floor pressed uncomfortably against her legs, and the stale air tasted of damp wood and rot. A faint drip echoed somewhere above — the slow, relentless ticking of time slipping away.
Her fingers brushed the small leather pouch hanging from her waist. Relief surged through her. Medicine. A slender thread of hope.
Next to her, Li Wei struggled desperately, his hands bound tightly behind his back. The thick ropes bit painfully into his skin as he twisted, trying to break free, but his strength was drained — the lingering effects of the drug held him captive.
"Leena…" His voice was weak, strained.
Her mind raced. If she could just free herself, maybe she could help him better.
Her eyes landed on a mirror hanging precariously from a rusty nail on the wall. It was dirty, the glass streaked with grime but still intact.
She slid off her shoe and flung it with all her might toward the mirror.
The shoe struck true.
The mirror wobbled, then shattered into a spray of shards, glass tinkling as it rained down.
Leena shielded her face with an arm as shards scattered across the floor.
Li Wei startled, his eyes wide. "Leena! What are you doing?"
She didn't answer. Kneeling, she scoured the floor for the sharpest fragment she could find.
At last, she grabbed a jagged shard, careful not to cut herself.
Carefully, she scraped the glass edge against the thick hemp ropes binding her wrists behind her back.
Slowly, painstakingly, the fibers frayed.
A thread snapped.
She kept working until her hands were finally free.
She rubbed her wrists, then turned to Li Wei.
"Hold still," she said, pulling a small vial of healing salve and strips of cloth from her pouch.
Though his hands remained tied, Li Wei relaxed slightly, trusting her.
She began applying ointment to the rope burns on his wrists and carefully wrapped them. Then she starts taking care of the wound that Ram gave him.
"Leena," he said, his voice hoarse but insistent, "I can't move with my hands bound. We need to get out of here."
She looked into his eyes, torn between urgency and helplessness.
When she finished tending to him, she stood up and walked towards the door.
Li Wei struggled upright, leaning heavily on his knees.
"What are you doing?" he demanded.
Leena squared her shoulders. "Ram Sharan's no threat to you. You're not dying for me."
He glared, exhaustion and frustration mingling in his eyes. "Don't you dare marry him. There are other ways—he's dangerous."
She hesitated at the door. She had to leave. She had to. But the weight of everything inside that room pressed down on her—a silent, suffocating pull.
Her gaze flickered back to Li Wei, his dark eyes watching her with a mixture of hope and pain. The sight twisted something fragile and stubborn deep within her. Could he really see her as more than just a fleeting distraction?
Slowly, painfully, she turned back toward him.
Her fingers reached out hesitantly, tracing the sharp line of his jaw with a gentleness that belied the storm raging inside her.
"I know I was just an exotic distraction to you, but..." Her voice cracked, faltering under the weight of words left unsaid. "Thank you. For everything."
Li Wei's throat tightened. He wanted to tell her all the things he never said: the care, the worry, the depths of his feelings. But the words caught in his chest. Instead, he simply looked at her with an ache that said everything.
Without another word, she left, her footsteps echoing faintly in the cold corridor.
Li Wei's voice echoed after her, raw with desperation: "Leena! Wait! Don't—!"
But she didn't stop.
The door closed softly behind her.
Outside, the night air was sharp, cold against her skin.
She swallowed hard, heart aching, as shadows lengthened around her.
Somewhere in the darkness, danger waited.
From the shadows, a voice whispered her name.
"Leaving so soon, little healer? You're not free yet."
Her breath hitched.
The nightmare was far from over.