Page 184 of Rhet

“How did you get out of the fire?” I ask

“I still don’t know where I got the strength to do that.” Dante flexes his neck from side to side.

“I knew I had been shot, but when you left, I burst through the tape. I remember being so frightened. I didn’t know what you were doing outside. All I knew is that I needed to move.”

I look at Dante seeing one tear run down his face.

“I crawled for a while, all the way to the kitchen. Something told me to get up. So I did and I opened the back door and tumbled outside.”

Part of me wished that Dante died with the rest, but Zeeta would have had to deal with that pain.

“I got up, and I began walking to the field at the back. I felt the pain in my body. My legs were dragging by the time I made it to the edge of the field.”

“The placement of the bullet and our walking…”

“Put me in a wheelchair,” he replies somberly.

We both stay silent. Me looking back on the mistakes I made. I realized; I still had no regrets for any actions that I made thus far, even shooting Dante. I had no regrets.

“Why are you working for Carson now?”

“He had the power to get me into Bio-N program,”

I stand dipping my hands in my pocket “That’s some stem cell research thing, right?”

“It’s more than that. With the help of Bio-N I would be able to walk again. Even if it’s with a cane,” Dante voices sounds hopeless.

He was a sad man I came to realize, like me he was a victim of trauma. All Zeeta had to do was to make sure Carson won the bid.

“Now all that’s gone because Zee chose you over me,” Dante looks at me his stare was blank of emotions.

I thought about Zeeta and her reasons, “I think she did it for both of us.”

Dante’s face frowns like I just confused him.

“For you it’s getting you from under Carson thumb. For me it’s fulfilling my brother’s dream.” A somber feeling wraps around me.

Dante scratches his head “I never thought of it that way.”

“Till now, neither did I. Can I take this with me?” I ask.

Dante rubs his chin as he thinks about it. “Sure.”

I look around the room, there are dishes on the ground, and the bed is covered in clothing.

“Your room stinks” I said, not caring if I offend him.

“Yeah, I got to clean it,” Dante declares.

I shift the plate with my feet and the cup on the plate didn’t move.

“Seems like you have been saying that for a long time,” I look at him in his wheelchair, realizing that he might not be able to do much.

“Want me send you a cleaning crew?” I ask, as my phone buzzes in my pocket.

“No. I can clean it,” Dante says.

I take out my phone, it was Tarek, I answer “Tarek”

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