Darn Stupid Brother You Are by Mairee

Chapter 109

(Cylan's POV)

The moment I saw the name on the clipboard, my heart skipped a beat. Emily. Room 403. My hands trembled as I scanned the rest of the report. My eyes impatiently darted across lines of clinical jargon and coded instructions. Emily wasn't gone. She wasn't dead. She was here-alive and locked away in the restricted wing.

I shouldn't have been anywhere near the nurse's station. But after weeks of sneaking around, pretending to be terribly sick, and eavesdropping on staff conversations, I finally had a lead. The clipboard had been left unattended, just long enough for me to snap a photo with my phone. My heart pounded as I slipped back into the common area, trying to act like nothing was amiss.

•

Later that night, in the dim light of my room, I studied the photo. Room 403. "Restricted Wing-High Risk" was scrawled in bold red letters at the top. I didn't need to know what "high risk" meant to understand one thing: Emily needed help. But I couldn't go to Angel. She'd never agree to this. She'd tell me it was too dangerous and reckless. And she'd probably be right. But I couldn't let that stop me.

The plan came together in pieces.

I started by recruiting a few of the newer patients-people who had no loyalty to our group, people desperate enough to take a risk for the promise of freedom. There was Lena, an unhealthily slim girl who claimed she used to be a gymnast before the center got their claws into her. Her agility would be useful. Then there was Marcus, quiet and cold but strong as hell. I'd seen him lift a broken bedframe like it weighed nothing.

I met with them in secret and told them plans in the shadows of the storage closet where no one would overhear.

"The restricted wing is guarded 24/7," I explained as I traced the map I'd stolen from the staff break room. "But the guards rotate every three hours. That gives us a small window when they're distracted, switching shifts." Lena frowned. "What about the security cameras?"

I hesitated. "I...I don't have an answer for that yet."

Marcus crossed his arms. "If we don't figure it out, we're walking into a death trap.

there. She helped me when no one else

•

the guards, memorized their patterns and noted when they seemed most distracted. I

mind raced with every possible outcome. What if the badge didn't work? What if we got caught? What if Emily wasn't

had my answer. I didn't

•

were trembling. Marcus looked calm, but his jaw was clenched so tight I could hear his teeth grinding. "This is it,"

toward the restricted wing, my heart pounded so loudly

(Dilara's POV)

my jacket. Ethan's voice played in my head in a smug echo of his earlier taunts. "I don't remember you,"

Liar.

weeks, I'd played the long game, pretending to believe him, pretending to forgive him. I needed him to trust me, to

it all

•

trap was simple. A fake

abandoned storage unit under the guise of discussing a lucrative "investment opportunity." I'd made sure he'd come alone

arrived, punctual as always, his cocky swagger making me sick. "Dilara," he said with a grin. "You've been full of

I've saved

door slammed shut behind him.