Amanda was taken to the nearest hospital via ambulance: the Clinical Reine Astrid, wherein there she was hurriedly put in the trauma unit and placed in all monitoring machines. The head of Amanda’s pit-stop team and her father’s close friend, Mr. Janus Fowler, rode with her in the ambulance and he was now nervously standing in the waiting room, dialing her father to inform him of the unfortunate accident.

A few moments later, Noman and the rest of the pit-stop team arrived and were ushered to the waiting area too. Noman couldn’t hold himself any longer and cried in a corner, feeling worried as hell with Amanda’s condition.

He still hadn’t seen the Vitalis Master to at least give him the assurance that Amanda was protected during the crash and for that, it made him worried all the more.

By midnight, the resident trauma doctor informed Noman and the team that Amanda was stable and was now transferred to her private room at the fourth floor of the hospital.

All of them were relieved but as per guidelines, they had to wait until morning to visit Amanda. In the end, Noman was the one who decided to stay in the waiting room, choosing to wait until the first break of morning to be able to see his dear friend.

Cord however didn’t wait that long. Using his shadows, he snuck inside Amanda’s room and immediately went to her side.

He held her hand, the one that was free from any tubings, and squeezed it tight. Thanks to his shadows, Amanda only got some minor scratches on the face, arms, legs and chest. Some bruises were visible under the dim light of the room, but they were not that much to take note of.

With Cord’s hypersense, he could see that she hadn’t broken anything too and that her blood was flowing just right inside her veins. Nothing was blocking it. Nothing was life threatening. And that eased Cord’s worry.

“You do realize I will have to kill myself if you die, right?” he uttered to the sleeping Amanda. The beep of the monitor was the only sound that answered him then. “I can’t live without you, Love. Please wake up soon.”

Cord stayed until the first light of dawn hit the white curtains of her window. He teleported out just as the morning shift nurse walked in and checked Amanda’s vitals.

By nine in the morning, Noman arrived inside her room. He let out a shaky but relieved breath after seeing his friend sleeping soundly. He chose to sit on a leather chair a few feet away from her to kill time. Before he could sit down, he noticed the leather cushion with a considerable amount of depression, like somebody had sat on it overnight.

The thought immediately brought him to think of Cord. The Vitalis Master must have visited her and stayed the whole night.

Such a cutie he was.

“But, he could have at least told me he would, ” Noman told himself and thereafter sat on the chair.

Nurses and Amanda’s resident doctor had come to check up on her from time to time and every time, Noman would wake from a quick nap or stop his scrolling of Instagram and inquire about Amanda’s health.

“With that kind of accident, it’s amazing your friend survived, ” almost all of the nurses said.

Noman just beamed them a smile. “Yeah, it’s either she has superhuman powers or has a guardian angel.”

Not a guardian angel though, but a hot vampire with superhuman powers.

“We had run some tests on her and good news, she seems to pass those with flying colors, ” the resident doctor informed that afternoon later. “No fractures were seen on her skull, spine and ribs. Her vitals are steady too. What we will be doing now is to monitor her, see if she won’t have dizziness or nausea when she wakes up. If she won’t, then I’d say she’ll be cleared to go home in a day or two.”

“Oh, that’s great to hear, Doctor Bayer, ” Noman’s worried face eased. He glanced at Amanda and gave her a longing look. “She’s a fighter Doc and I’m confident now that she’ll be fine.”

“Good, ” Doctor Bayer nodded. “I think so too. Anyway, I’ll be going now. Push the red button when you need a nurse.”

“Will do, Doc. Thank you.”

Once the doctor left and closed the door, Noman neared Amanda and squeezed her hand.

“You heard that Cait? Your bones are intact. You’re generally well and good. Oh goodness me, you made me so worried about you. Now all that’s left is for you to wake up. Now wake up silly. Please.”

Tears fell from Noman’s eyes despite how he willed it not to. But it wasn’t tears of sadness. It was tears of joy. Finally he could take a really deep relieved breath knowing his friend was okay.

Come nightfall, the first sign of Amanda wakening happened. Her eyelids quivered lightly before she popped it open. The first thing that greeted her was the dim light of the room. Second was the faint smell of chlorine all over the place. Third was the beeping of the monitor machines connected to her. And fourth was Noman’s heavy hand on her left palm.

These signs were enough to tell her she was in a hospital and surprisingly alive despite the crash she just underwent.

So that her dear best friend wouldn’t wake, Amanda just remained still and decided to while the time away thinking of the past. The race specifically, and the crash and the visions she saw and of course Matteo, who was the reason for her current state now.

“Matteo...” she murmured softly to herself.

She was damned sure the apparitions weren’t just her imagination.

Matteo being a powerful mage was already established. He could basically create illusions at will. He could most likely do it to her.

What Amanda didn’t understand was, if he caused it, why would he do it in the middle of the race? Why would he allow for these apparitions to distract her? And consequently, harm her?

Was it because he needed her undivided attention?

Well, he certainly got her undivided attention now, but it wasn’t like him to go to such lengths to get it.

But on second thought, Amanda had experienced his crazy affection in the past and almost became the actual end receiver of it if it weren’t for Trace’s interruption.

He would go through such lengths to get her, but then again...

“Why threaten my safety?” Amanda asked herself, but she definitely want to direct that question to Matteo if he so decided to show himself soon.

The opening of the door successfully took Amanda out of her pondering state. She glanced at the portal just as a man dressed in a black trench coat stepped in. The corner of her mouth slightly tipped upward. The trench coat was a dead giveaway.

“How are you not popping out of nowhere?” she asked as low as she could, still cautious of her sleeping best friend.

Cord neared her, stopped right at the foot of the bed, and answered, “This is a hospital after all, Sweet Amanda. Cameras are everywhere. Your room is near the nurses station even. I can’t have anyone having a heart attack if they suddenly saw me inside your room.”

Amanda chuckled from within. “Hmmm, you have a point. But hey, like mirrors, I thought cameras don’t register your kind?”

“Pssh, stop believing those nonsense things about us. It’s fake. How do you think Calvin fixes his cactus-like hair if he didn’t have a mirror?”

Amanda chuckled at his remark, setting the mood of the room light.

Cord started to walk again and this time he stopped at Amanda’s right. He placed a gentle hand on her forehead and began to sweep it back and forth, his little way of showing his affection. He’d love to kiss her of course, but refrained in respect to her condition.

“How are you feeling?” he asked.

Amanda heard the concern in his voice. If it had been another person, they’d mistake it as his ruse.

Despite the blindfold he wore, Amanda knew he was looking at her with such intensity. It made her all tingly inside.

“I’m fine, Cord. Nothing seems to be broken, all thanks to you.”

“Good, ” he said.

“Your shadows appeared just in time and prevented me from taking the impact. I could feel them cushioning me.” Amanda took his hand, the one that touched her forehead, and squeezed it tight. “Really, thank you for saving me. Despite having a thousand years of life, it might be the end of the line for me if it weren’t for you.”

“You’re welcome, Love. You know I’d protect you always, but...how?” He knotted his brows and looked at her with hard and calculating eyes through the blindfold. “How could this happen?”