Love Began with the First Meeting

people's mind at ease was one of the many skills Molly had acquired during her training at the Five Golden Flowers in Britain.

Having realized that arguing with Molly was futile, Maggie reluctantly lay down on the bed. As soon as her exhausted head touched the pillow, she slipped into deep sleep. Maggie had been so worried about Edgar that she completely forgot how tired she was. Putting Molly quietly pulled out a quilt from the wardrobe and put it over Maggie before sitting herself down on the chair next to Maggie's bed as she slept. Meanwhile, light in the operation room went off and the surgeons walked out.

"Mr. Brian Long," the surgeon greeted Brian respectfully. Then he reported on Edgar's condition. "Fortunately, the impact of the bullets were blocked by the body armor. Otherwise, his nervous system would have been damaged despite the deviation by three millimeters." With a grateful nod, Brian said, "Thank you."

"There's no need to thank me. I was just doing my job." The surgeon smiled. "The patient will be taken to the ICU to be observed for twenty-four hours, just to be on the safe side. Hopefully we won't have to worry about anything dangerous."

He gave Brian the assurance he needed and then walked away.

Shortly after the surgeon left, Eric arrived at the hospital in his civilian clothes.

"You're not as efficient as you used to be," Brian commented as soon as Eric walked to his side. After taking a slight glance at Eric, he turned around and walked towards the nearest ward.

Eric shrugged his shoulders and replied, "Even so, I went there earlier than scheduled. XK Intelligence Agency failed to notice that their system had installed a Trojan horse program for an anti-tracking trap, right? If you had found that out sooner, the mission would have gone more smoothly."

Brian cast a cold glance at him, then he withdrew his sight and pushed open the door of the ward. He did so as gently as he could, as if he knew that the people inside the room had been sleeping.

When the door opened, Molly's eyes went straight to Maggie, without a conscious thought. Finding her sound asleep, Molly sighed quietly and crept outside. Slowly closing the door behind her from the outside, she asked Brian, "How is Edgar doing?"

"The surgeon said that he's in no imminent danger as of this moment!" Brian said in an apathetic voice. He was slightly annoyed by the fact that Molly still mentioned Edgar in such a gentle way.

Sensing a hint of jealousy in Brian, Molly shook her head and looked at Eric. "When did you get here?"

"Last night. As soon as I arrived, I got a call from Brian about a rescue operation." Eric added, "And now he's complaining that I didn't do my job properly. All that hard work and I still can't get a decent 'thank you"!" While saying that, he leaned against the wall. With a teasing smile at the corners of his mouth, he continued, "Little Molly, you still call that man in such a gentle way in front of my cousin. Don't you know that he gets jealous?"

"Your cousin doesn't need a reason to feel jealous," Molly chuckled, rolling her eyes at Brian.

*

Nobody in the military region knew whether the crisis for A Army had been resolved or not. However, they couldn't get in contact with Edgar or Maggie. This fact not only took A Army by surprise, but also threw S Army into a flutter. They wondered how Edgar and Maggie were now and what the army would face.

"Excuse me?"

"Come in," said William, furrowing his brows as a gloomy haze covered his face. The two people whose whereabouts were still unknown were his subordinates, and one of them was his dear daughter. As a leader and a father, his two-fold worries made it difficult for him to remain calm.

"Sir." A military officer with a shoulder patch indicating the military rank of major gave William a salute. "The reconnaissance company of A Army went to their last known location and found that the scene had been cleared. Due to that reason, all the clues they had found were deemed useless."

As soon as he heard the report, William's face contorted with fury, "What's wrong with A Army? How could a whole reconnaissance team fail to come up with the proper results?"

"Sir." The military officer lowered his head. "I requested our army to go there and help the search team locate the Chief Captain and Maggie Du."

William shook his head in disappointment, eyebrows furrowed into a knot and his sight froze, lost in thought. He wanted to grant the military officer's request but he knew he couldn't give such an order without considering the consequences. After all, they didn't know whether the crisis had been resolved or not, neither did they know whether Edgar and Maggie were alive or dead. If they acted rashly because of his worries they could risk alerting the enemy and the two of them would then have to deal with bigger problems. As an experienced serviceman, he would not act on his impulses or do anything that could comprise the safety of his men despite his great anxiety.

While the air around them intensified, William's private cell phone rang. He fished it out of his pocket in an impatient manner, as he assumed it was his wife who was calling him. Without taking a look at the number displayed on the screen, he placed it by his ear. "All right! I will tell Maggie to see you as soon as she returns from the mission, okay?"

"Mr. Du, I think you've mistake me for someone else?"

The leisurely cold voice that came from the other end of the call caught him by surprise. He took his cell phone away from his ear and looked at the screen. His mouth shriveled into a frown at the sight of the untraceable number. Placing the cell phone back to his ear, he said, "Who is this?"

"Brian Long." The man's unnervingly calm tone troubled William.

"..." William was taken aback at first, but suddenly his eyes widened, a flare of sudden overwhelming emotion to which he could only stutter. "Mr. Brian Long?"

"Hmm." Brian confirmed his guess and continued, "The crisis at A Army has been solved. However, Edgar sustained heavy injuries during the mission. He was taken into the ICU a while ago. On the contrary, Maggie is safe and is currently resting. She's been through a lot but she is going to be fine. However, it is not safe for the two of them to stay here. I'd advise you to dispatch somebody to take them from here as soon as possible."

"Okay, okay, okay..." William answered immediately. He felt quite relieved to hear that Edgar and Maggie had completed the mission successfully and were in safe hands. "How is Edgar now?" he asked.

"Edgar is awake now. He'll need a lot of rest and medication to make a full recovery, but he'll live," Brian answered in an indifferent tone. "But if possible, you'd better send a doctor with whoever you are sending to take them back."

"Okay, I understand. I'll get right on it. Thank you very much, Mr. Long. If you ever need the assistance of the S Army in the future, please don't hesitate to let us know..." Gradually, the gloomy haze that had inhabited his face was replaced by a big smile. He couldn't be happier to hear that not only was the mission a success but both Edgar and Maggie were safe and sound. ☐☐☐☐☐☐