*Amir*

I walked with this sorry excuse of a human who also claimed the role of a doctor and crossed through the threshold of the laboratory. This one was bigger than the other rooms, and it had more machines and tables in here. When I peered my gaze toward the back, I noticed a metal bed where there was a patient lying on it, with blond hair all over his or her face. I couldn't even see the gender of who it was that is getting a treatment done. I continued walking, getting acquainted with the staff, and followed the nurse around a set of tall tanks along a wall. The tanks I recognized—they were sleeper units for people who have sleep issues.

On the front of one tank, a name caught my eye.

L. Marquette

D.O.B.: 7-7-1995

Room 707

Date of last session: 7-1-2019

I felt bile rising in my throat. This didn't seem to be real. It couldn't be real. How could they do this? First, Chase kept Luna in here to keep control over her. And he also insists for his surname to be under everything. Now... now they had her in a sleep chamber for hours, I don't know how long. Was I dreaming? This crap didn't happen.

None of the other facilities I'd ever been to never had these machines. These were dangerous. And they could kill someone who used it if they weren't monitored properly. Machines like these helped people who were doctors or law enforcement and any occupation where you had to stay on your feet twenty-four, seven.

But why would they subject Luna to one of these?

I have read about this kind of thing in different countries where they did it for a scientific study. There were dozens of bodies in this laboratory that were in a chamber, asleep.

Oh God, it just hit me. They had her in here many times before when I couldn't connect to her. Not just me, but Faisal too. I'd send him on a Luna-Mission to find out her status when I couldn't connect to her. Sometimes he wouldn't be able to see her. My eyes started with the waterworks again. I'm breaking her out before the weekend begins, before our birthday. That was less than seventy-two hours from now.

I casually glanced at all the other information and was struck as I saw a few children and teens were in these chambers, sleeping for eight or ten hours at a time. I felt like I stepped into some kind of sci-fi movie and didn't know what to do.

This was mind boggling.

The nurse tapped my shoulder and gestured me to keep walking with her. Independence Day was tomorrow for the United States, and it was time to cause some fireworks of my own in this place. Luna and I had plans to celebrate both our country's Independence Day, but Chase and this facility messed everything up.

They will pay.

The nurse stopped us at a long counter with a refrigerator at the end, and she pulled out a pre-made turkey and cheese sandwich, some purple grapes in a small bowl, and a bottle of Ozarka water. The lady tried to be subtle with her soft gestures and small glances at me as she prepared Luna's food. She finished up and placed everything on a rectangular tray, then laid a small cup with two pills in it on the side.

"These are for Ms. Carlyle." The nurse then began giving me instructions on what to do with Luna. "She needs to eat her sandwich first, then take the two white pills. After she is finished, let it digest in her stomach roughly for ten minutes, possibly longer, and then she can eat her grapes. Make sure she drinks all the water. In her room, she has a toilet and a small sink in the back. Stay with her until she is finished with her meal, water, and medication. Dr. Kim will get more labs done for her in the morning. He's instructed me to monitor the patient next door to Luna."

"Okay. Thanks." I just wanted her to get away from me. She really was snooty in person. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

She continued preparing the other patient's meal trays and smiled my way every few seconds. Then she raised her eyebrow at me, waiting for me to ask my question. "I wonder about the sleeping chambers in there. I saw Luna's name on it." I cleared my throat and covered my compassion quickly. "I mean, Ms. Carlyle. I also read it says Marquette instead of her surname."

"Well, that is Chase's last name, and he prefers her to be under his name while she is here. He is our biggest donor."

"Wow. He must be wealthy."

She tsked softly. "Not really. He is a financial advisor for the law firm he works at, and truthfully, just between us, I think he embezzles funds from them. He couldn't come up with the ten grand for her treatment every week, plus another twenty grand for her sleeper tank. He only started paying for it four weeks ago. He is the one who makes the decisions of her care here."

The nurse's last statement almost caused me to drop Luna's food and grab this woman by her collar and demand her to tell me where Dr. Kim was. But I held back. Luna's health and her food were more important than my need for revenge at the moment.

I glared down to Luna's tray and dug my fingers into the bottom of the tray. "How often does the patient use the sleeper tank?"

"Twelve hours weekly. Sometimes more. Depends on how often Luna sees her visitors," she explained. "I once saw her talking to herself in the showers and seeming like her hypothetical lover was in there." I wasn't obviously there during that time, since Luna shuts me out when she washes herself, but that little information disturbed me. The nurse spied on Luna while she was bathing herself?

"What happened next?" I asked to see what else the woman knew.

"I had no choice but to report it to Dr. Kim immediately. When he told Chase Marquette about what she was doing, Mr. Marquette demanded for more shock treatment. It's a way that the doctor believes will get the delusions out of most of the patient's heads. But some patients are too far gone. That includes Ms. Carlyle."

"But how? Shock therapy is a intense method to use. It's unethical," I stated, clearly showing that I was disgusted that they even perform that type of stuff in the first place.

She moved around me and grabbed a napkin to dab some juice that spilled on the counter. Then she gazed my way, giving me a small small. "I understand where you are coming from. The therapy has helped, though. Many patients had gotten better and left here."

I shifted my weight to one side and asked, "Why is Ms. Carlyle called Marquette if she never married her fiancé?"

"Well, he is the donor to this hospital. He can have anything he wants."

But he can forget about controlling her anymore. He was about to meet his worse enemy and everything done to my lady will be done to him, only ten times worse.

"So when Mr. Marquette requests for anything..." I trailed off, letting her continue explaining what he does.

"Dr. Kim honors his wish. The sleeping chambers are only meant to allow Luna to stay asleep and not wake up to see her visitors. So Chase argued for Luna to have two sessions a week. I don't think it helps the patient, anyway."

"Why?"

"Because Ms. Carlyle is very delusional. She is fascinated by the imaginary person she cooped up in her brain. That's why."

I let out a shudder and felt like leaving her to find Dr. Kim, then Chase, and throw their bodies in a tank. Then set it for twenty-four months to see how they like it.

The nurse and I finished our conversation, and I let out a sigh of relief as I made my way back to Luna's room. I was eager to see her again. I walked passed twenty rooms until I reached hers, and then I slowly opened her door, feeling my heartbeat slow down.

It felt like I was in Heaven and gazing at my beautiful angel who was sound asleep, curled up on her side. Her body faced the door on the tiny bed, and the chocolate-covered strands of her hair were splayed across her cute, lovable cheeks. What made her look more like the goddess she is was by how her hands that were tucked under her small chin and her lips were slightly parted.

No matter what went on in here, her beauty would always outshine how she truly felt inside. As I stood here in the doorway and laid her tray down on the counter, I counted my blessings for this immaculate woman whom I was ready to spend the rest of my life with. Luckily the G.I. Joe commandos weren't near her door or watching us inside the room, so I could gaze at her a while longer and reminisce about our relationship.

Our connection was the only thing that I looked forward to, and since I was here to somehow break her out, I was completely motionless. I opened my mouth to say something, but I didn't want to wake my Sleeping Beauty. I was struck speechless and couldn't believe we were finally in the same room together, alone. We had no watchdogs over us.

I reached over and grabbed two sets of gloves—one for me and one for her. Then I slid my hands into mine and placed her set on the end table beside her bed. I cautiously sat beside her, my heart jumping around in there like an animal who was in a cage when she stirred but remained asleep. I didn't want to wake her, and I hated having to do that, but I needed to. Sitting this close to her, I could see the veins on her temples showing. A small set of dark shadows bloomed around underneath her eyelids and looked like tiny ink smudges. I didn't notice that before.

When she stirred again, she brought a hand up to her cheek and smoothed away her sticky hair from her eyes. Now I could see the faint marks around her jawline and cheekbones, a faded shade of yellowish-brown. There was a small cut around the corner of her eye, and one on the tip of her nose. Anger surged through me, boiling my blood inside my body. I inhaled softly and kept my composer as I sat here and ran a gloved hand around the top of her bony shoulder. She hadn't been eating well either.

Slowly opening her eyes, she gazed up at me with her bright chocolate brown ones, a soft whimper coming from her mouth. "Amir?"

The sound of her voice was sweet and comforting and felt like I was finally home. The burning twisted inside my torso, forming a ball in the back of my throat. Adjusting myself on the bed, I lingered my fingers down her face, feeling free to touch her. We could do this; live together, wearing gloves and never really touching. However, that wasn't ideal, but as long as we were together, with Sarah, we'd make it.

"Hi, Moon," I whispered, my voice scratchy and hoarse.

She glared up at me like I was a figment of her imagination, her eyes scattering around in its sockets. "Are you really here, in Louisiana?"

I slightly chuckled and then nodded. "Yes, I am. I came for my wife."

A heavy silence loomed between us, and then she rose up on her elbows, squinting her eyes. A small part of her hair fell across her face, and I leaned over to brush it back into place. Then I scooted over a little to give her a little more space. My heartbeat felt like it was kicked into supersonic speed and hers was also pounding just as hard as mine. I could feel it. Our hearts were connecting.

She finally brought herself up fully, folding her pale hand over my gloved one, staring down at our fingers intertwined. I closed my eyes as I felt her gentle touch flow deeply into my soul.

Luna reached over and grabbed her pair of gloves, sliding them on carefully and keeping her gaze on mine. Then when she had them pulled up and secure, she slid one hand over my forehead and down my shoulder, tracing her covered fingers down my arms. With my eyes still closed, my soul was shocked at how wonderful this felt. Her touch illuminated me from the inside and grabbed ahold of my spirit. It sent a spark wave of emotions roaming through my body. I think she needed to convince herself that this was real, that I am with her and we were touching each other. Her eyes were wet and staring wide with mine, and she exhaled a deep tremor through her thin lips.

"You aren't imagining me. I am here." I slowly caught one of her tears falling down and cupped my hand around her chin. "You're going to be okay now. I'm not going anywhere."

"Wait... you volunteered?" She gulped. "Earlier I thought that was all a dream. We're probably monitored right now."

"Don't worry about that. This room is camera-free. It's only us." I brought my lips to her hand and lightly pecked it with a tender kiss. I wished that she could feel my lips, but she couldn't. I felt her shudder across from me. "I told you, I'd figure something out. And I did."

She pulled back, but I held onto her hand, not letting go. And yeah, I was a little selfish here. It wasn't like I touch an angel every day. "Amir... Why? I mean, what were you thinking? Volunteering? They could do anything to me and affect-"

"I couldn't let you continue going through this. I had to do something." I slid my hands down her shoulders to her elbows, cupping them gently. "There was no way that I could live in the outside world knowing what they were doing to you in here. I know this is a shock and something we have not discussed, but it's what I wanted to do. You are important in my life."

She hung her head down and shook it, still unraveled how I flew across the world to come bust her out. "But your life in Pakistan, and your friends and family, Amir, or should I say, Ibrahim?"

"I wasn't giving them my first name. Besides, Ibrahim goes a long way here. They are treating this foreigner like I'm the Prime Minister of Pakistan." She laughed a little and smiled my way. "I don't care what happens to me. You are more important, and I've prayed to Allah to take my life instead of yours if we were to get ill by one single touch. I wouldn't be able to live if something were to happen to you."

The moment I expressed those words from my heart, I knew what I was saying was true. I rather Allah let me go instead of her. Other people have always come first for me. But she was more than just anyone else. She was the other piece of my soul that would literally be nothing if she were gone. She had Sarah, Liberty, her family, and a bigger future ahead of herself.

Luna's life comes first, and that will always be how I feel. However, if I'm being honest with myself, I wasn't living up to how I felt, concidering we're touching each other. I just couldn't help it.

"But the things you will see or what they could get you to do... Or to me..." Several tears slipped from her eyelids, falling down onto her rosy cheeks. "You shouldn't be going through anything I am-"

I quickly reached for another tear. "Whatever they do to you, I'll just take the pain. You shouldn't have to go through this alone. You're my-you're my life, Moon." After seeing her bottom lip quiver, I shook my head and kept my eyes on hers. "Come on, Luna, did you really think I could live in my home and live my life not see you anymore? I love you so much. My life is nothing without you."

Her hands ran over my shoulder, gripping me softly and reaching under my brown shirt. She stared at me and smiled, gazing at my clothes up and down. Then, in the middle of a stare-off contest, she hopped up and grabbed the blanket off the bed. With her soft eyes, she gestured for me to lean against the wall and threw the blanket over my body so none of our skin touched. I didn't quite understand what she was doing, but that was the least of my worries. I was just mesmerized by being in the same room as her, not becoming ill. I inhaled her scent, the scent of a peppermint candy after it was unwrapped. A smell that reminded me of Christmas.

Two seconds later she straddled my covered waist and brought her hands on top of my shoulders, smiling softly into my eyes.

"Cami told me that as long as our skin didn't touch, we could do most things together. She's been my Tethered Guru."

I slightly laughed against the top of her head and tug at her waist. I had Cyrus, and she had Cami.

"This is risky, though."

"True, but holding you in reality was the only thing I ever thought about, the only thing that kept me going in here. And this opportunity could disappear any minute. I love you, Amir Ibrahim Khan, my husband."

A heartbeat later, I suddenly couldn't control myself from flipping her over and flinging myself on top of her, dipping my head down. Cupping one of her cheeks with my gloved hand and leaning forward to her lips, I cautiously pressed my mouth against hers, softly kissing her. Kissing my companion was risky, for the both of us, but never kissing her in my lifetime would've been worse to live through. This moment was truly worth the wait, even if we did get ill in the end.

My soul felt at ease as it was now mended with hers.

😭😭😭

***
Please watch this video and tell me what you think... I have tears. It's perfect for Aluna. 😭

Wow, I am so overwhelmed with emotion over the love in my book.
Stay tuned! Aluna is closer...💕

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