Kate felt she was being grilled on the fire. She got some faint consciousness, but she was so tired that she couldn't even lift her eyelids. She felt somebody was walking back and forth in front of her, causing the light on her on and off.

A woman's voice said, "She has a serious fever."

Another deep and low male voice said, "She cannot take medicine now. Try to reduce her temperature by physical method."

A person put a wet towel on her forehead and used another wet towel to wipe her palm. She felt the coolness, which was very comfortable. And then her socks were taken off, and her feet felt the wet and coldness too. It was itchy, and she moved. She wanted to grab something with her hand and soon found her hand was held by another hand. It was a big hand with long fingers. It was a man's hand.

She felt miserable, and tears came out of her closed eyes. A hand wiped the tears for her. The hand was colder than her fevered face. When the finger pulps touched her face, the feeling made her moved.

She cried out vaguely, "Tristan…"

She felt the fingers tremble.

And she called again, "Tristan."

No answer.

The wet towel wiped her palms and feet again and again. The burning feeling was assuaged, and she was overwhelmed by drowsiness. She didn't mind if he replied to her or not but just grabbed that hand and fell asleep.

After a few days in fright, she slept very well and at ease. The morning light woke her up. She opened her eyes slowly and found she was in an unfamiliar place. It was a clean and cozy room. A girl with short hair bent her face on the bed and was asleep. The girl felt her staring and woke up immediately.

When she lifted her head and met Kate's eyes, Kate was surprised, "It is you? You saved me?"

Claire nodded and asked, "Do you feel better?"

Kate said yes and then asked, "What date is today?"

"9th."

Kate was shocked and sat up immediately and was going to lift up the blanket and get off the bed.

Claire stopped her hastily. "Don't move. You are not fully recovered yet."

"I am OK now. I got to go."

"We will send you back, but not now."

"You don't need to send me back. I can…" Kate was putting on her shoes when she realized something, and she raised her head and asked, "What do you mean?"

Claire moved her lips but seemed to have difficulty in saying something. Another voice replied to her, "That means you cannot leave now."

Kate looked to the source of the voice. A door of the room inside was opened, and a tall and shapely man was standing by the door.

The morning light fell on him and lit up his face. He was pale and unreal.

Kate was shocked.

After a long while, Kate found her voice, "It is you?"

The man laughed, and his voice was as pleasant as before, "You don't know me now?"

"Jimmy? Is that you?" Kate turned from surprised to happy.

"Yes." Jimmy crooked his lips.

Kate's eyes were wet, "You are still…"

"Alive." Jimmy strode over and said, "God said I could not die yet." Before he finished the words, he saw Kate cry out and hold out her arms to him. He paused a little and hugged her.

"I thought you were dead. I thought I could never see you again." Kate could hardly make herself clear and cried like a baby.

Jimmy stroked her back, and his chin touched her soft and smooth hair. His heart was melt, and he felt happy and satisfied. However, after the comfort and happiness of seeing each other, the distance between them was ignorable. Her highly bulged belly kept them from leaning to each other and also expressly reminded them that they were now in opposite positions. His softened heart feels the bitterness immediately.

Kate released him after a while. Her face was soaked in tears. Jimmy lifted his hand to wipe her tears, and she dodged. He was shocked, but Kate seemed not to realize it. She raised her hand and wiped the tears with the back of her hand. She asked, "Why did they said you were dead? I had been to your grave. Your picture was there."

Jimmy's eyes darkened, and he said, "It is a long story."

Kate didn't ask again but muttered, "It is great that you are OK." And then she thought of something, and she wiped her face again. "I have to go now."

"Where are you going?"

"Home…"

She saw Jimmy's eyes fell on her left hand. She understood and put the hand down, trying to hide it behind her.

Jimmy sighed inside. He saw the diamond ring on her finger when he wiped her hand with a wet towel. When he held her hand, the angles of a ring, though not sharp, rubbed his palm and made his heart ache.

Knowing it and seeing it with his own eyes were different.

He collected himself and said seriously, "I just said you could not leave now."

Kate was surprised, "Why?"

"If I let you go back now. Tomorrow or the day after, will you and Tristan Fox still be in LA?"

Kate's heartbeat paused.

Jimmy said without expression, "The investigation is still on. Only by this way can we stop him from leaving."

"But I haven't violated the laws. You don't have the right to arrest me." Kate argued.

"I know. This is expedient."

"No, this is against the laws."

Jimmy smiled bitterly, "You are right. When this is over, you can sue me."

"What makes you different from the outlaws then?"

She came to understand that the persons kidnapped her just to deal with Tristan. They wanted to make him not able to leave. She tried to escape at all cost, and she didn't expect…

"No difference." Jimmy stared at her and said word by word.

"Kate, I know you have a special relationship with that man now, but he is a criminal suspect now. As a policeman, I have to bring him to justice. And personally, I want to get justice for my Uncle Jack and the innocent people he killed, and…"

He paused a second, and Kate knew that he meant for himself too.

"It is not fair and square to use this means. I would not do this in the past. But after all, I experienced, fair and square means cannot deal with this kind of person. As we have come to this point, I might as well tell you this…"

Claire looked over to him, and her eyes seemed to signal him to stop, but Jimmy waved his hand to her.

"Tristan Fox bribed a lot of government officials these years. Now for their own safety, they have to put him under their umbrella and protect him. Our investigation was thwarted and sabotaged. Our team and our supervisors are risking our lives every day…"

Kate felt guilty and said in a low voice, "I am sorry."

"You don't have to say sorry for what he has done. I tell you this just hoping you can understand that we have our position and we are sorry for using you."

Kate looked at him and asked softly, "So you are now a policeman?"

Jimmy said calmly, "Right. At this moment, I am just a policeman, not your friend." He had difficulty in uttering the latter part of the sentence.