"Eva. Eva!" a voice yelled. Cold water hit my face and I opened my eyes. 

Ned stood before me holding an empty cup.  "Oh my God, Eva, you're alive!" he hugged me.

"A little help?" My eyes darted to my hands, still tied behind my back..

"Oh, sorry, I didn't even see that."

The three dead bodies of Marco's assassins laid in various parts of the room, bloody. Ned untied me, and I tried to stand up.

I refocused my eyes to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. It really was him.

"Ned? How did you get here? What the hell happened?" I tried to focus my eyes on Ned but I couldn’t. Woozy, I sat back down.

"This little guy came in handy," Ned said, tossing the solved rubik's cube up in the air. "We had been listening to Marco for two whole weeks. We waited until just the right moment—when Marco finally confessed to you that there was no Luis Reyes, and then we moved in."

"Just the right moment? What the hell is the matter with you? Our lives were in danger! Where is Corbin?! Is he dead?" My heart beat fast, but I still couldn’t stand.

Ned looked down. "Corbin’s not with us.”

"Not with us? What the hell does that mean?" Tears streamed down my cheeks.

Ned pursed his lips like a priest searching for the right words. Extending an arm, he put a hand on my shoulder. "Corbin took several bullets to his body. It doesn't look like he'll make it."

"Is he going to be okay?”

Ned said nothing and turned away from me.

Of course it would happen like this. The moment I decided that I loved a man, he was taken from me.  The past couple of weeks in the Reyes mansion flashed through my mind like a cheesy movie montage of cuddling, screwing, and witty banter.  The tears came harder at the thought of never seeing Corbin again.  

"Here's some water," Ned said, handing me a bottle. "You're probably dehydrated." He rubbed my back.  

I took a drink, put my head in my hands and let out a parade of tears. 

"Thank God Corbin was just a criminal," Ned says. "I'd hate to have to report an agent death to headquarters."

I swallowed hard, and my tears turned to anger. "Excuse me?"

Ned paced slowly around the room. "Corbin was a criminal. He was a bad person. And you know what else? Seeing you in danger has really made me think. About us."

I actually spewed out the water that I was drinking. I stood up, fury replacing my lightheadedness. "About us? You've got to be fucking kidding me right now."

Ned scrunched his brow at the F-bomb I dropped. He thought I was a damn angel. "Kidding you? No, Eva, I really neglected you, and driving you to...you know. Knowing that you were so close to danger really made me think—"

“Don’t think,” I actually slapped Ned hard on his cheek. "Where is Corbin? Take me to him. Now.”

Ned held his cheek in utter shock.

"He's in a helicopter, about to be evacuated." Ned pointed out the door.

"Where are you going?" Ned shouted as I grazed him on the way out of the room.

"I'm going to find Corbin. I'm fucking in love with him. And you, sir, are an asshole."

Ned's jaw hung open. He was used to nice Eva. Never raise her voice Eva. Well, nice Eva is gone.  I felt more Alexa than Eva, and Alexa knew how to be firm, forward, and—when necessary—downright bitchy if I didn’t get what I wanted.

In the distance, I heard a helicopter. I didn't walk. I ran. I sprinted. I took off my heels and threw them away. My dress was dirty with sweat and blood stains and I couldn’t care less.

I saw swaths of DEA and FBI agents and more helicopters throughout the Reyes property. Marco's assassins and guards were held in handcuffs on the ground. There was no sign of Marco. That mustached motherfucker probably got away. Whatever. 

"Where is Corbin?" I screamed at one of the guards. He pointed toward a helicopter with its blades already spinning, about to take off.  Arriving before it could lift off, I pounded on the door until the medic inside opened it. Corbin was lying on a cot with his arms on his side, as pale as a corpse. It was loud as hell from the helicopter spinning its blade so I grabbed one of the microphone headsets to speak into.

"Is Corbin okay?" I asked.

"He suffered four shots, one to the stomach and three to the back and shoulder. I don't think he's going to make it. And sorry, lady, you can’t be in here.”

Giving the medic a nasty look for calling me ‘lady,’ I put a headset over Corbin's ears and spoke into the helicopter’s microphone. "Corbin, baby. I love you. I fucking love you. I don't know what this was the last two weeks. I have no idea how this happened. But I love you and you're going to stay alive. You hear me?”

Corbin's eyes opened just a smidge. I leaned down and kissed him on the lips. Another tear rolled down my cheek.

"Thanks...Alexa," he says slowly. I swore I saw him crack the tiniest smile. 

Even when he was on the brink of death he screwed with me. Sonofabitch.

"Who’s Alexa? I thought you were Eva Napleton? Are you authorized to be here?" one of the helicopter techs said to me.  

I shook my head. "Long story."

"Listen," the tech went on. "This is really touching and all, but we've got to fly to San Diego right freaking now to get him to a hospital. And we need to fly as light as possible."

"I'm not leaving him," I said

The two of them looked at each other. "Alright, fuck it," the pilot said. “Prepare for takeoff.”

We lifted off the ground, and I saw the landscape surrounding Marco's beautiful mansion disappear in the distance behind us. 

I took Corbin's hand in my own and said a silent prayer.