CHAPTER 0268

GIDEON'S POV

The smell of antiseptic and bleach still clung to my clothes, I should’ve felt free, relieved, thankful even but instead, all I felt was an ache in my ribs where the bullet wound had only half-healed and a gnawing storm of thoughts that wouldn’t leave me alone.

The hospital had kept me longer than I wanted. Their words “rest,” “recovery,” and “avoid stress” meant nothing to me. Stress