SITA
"Ma'am, are you ok? Let me help you." Alessandro helped me inside the car put me in the passenger seat and started the vehicle. "We need to take you to a hospital."
"No take me to my hotel." I said weakly. There was no telling just how many people were after my life right now. If I go to a hospital now I was sure to end up getting killed.
"That's not the right thing to do. We have to find a way to stop the bleeding."
"I have first aid in my hotel room."
"Where are you lodging?" I have no intention of going to the hotel. The distance to that place was too far for me to make it in my current situation.
"Downtown …"
"What? There is no way I'm taking you there in this condition. Do you have a death wish or something?"
"I can't go to the hospital, please. There must be somewhere you could take me." I could feel my consciousness slipping slowly due to a lack of blood.
"My hotel isn't far from here; we could go there."
"Thank you." I wasn't budging until I heard the humming of the car stop. I lifted my head and saw that we had parked before a hotel.
"Here, wear this, I don't want you attracting too much attention." He handed me his black coat which by coincidence covered every trace of blood on my clothes. We walked hastily without turning to greet any of the people at the reception. We reached his room and he quickly slid the card on the card lock and it opened. He sat me down on the bed and closed the door.
He went to the bathroom poured hot water on the basin and dropped a hand towel inside and brought it to where I sat. I removed the coat. He analyzed the wound, opening it to see how deep it was.
"You are very lucky. Whatever wounded you, didn't seem to have touched any vital organs. Though you lost a lot of blood." I removed my widow gown wearing only a black singlet and jean shorts. He used the water to slowly clean the dry blood that coated around the skin.
He applied some spirit to the wound. I winced in pain as he began tapping the wound with spirit to clean or disinfect it. When he was done, he bandaged it. He used the towel to clean the traces of blood on my face. As he did it, I couldn't stop my heart from beating. The moment the makeup on my face was gone, he would know who it was that was sitting before him.
Alessandro froze as he realized who I was.
"Sita? Why are you in such a state and dressed like this?"
"I can explain."
"That's exactly what I'm expecting to hear, an explanation." I could see the look of disbelief in his eyes as he stared at me.
"I'm a spy."
"Is this some kind of joke? If you were a spy I would have known."
"I am. Do you remember those times I told you I was going to conferences? I was going for missions."
"But why didn't you tell me?"
"I didn't want to put you in danger. But I guess you were bound to find out sooner or later."
"I don't know what to say."
"I'm sorry for lying."
"So, what will happen now that I know your real identity, will you erase my memory?" he asked, I laughed softly.
"That only happens in sci-fi movies. Now that you know my identity, it means you can help me even more readily."
"What do you mean?". I explained the mission to him and what I had uncovered. "This is indeed bad. This drug can disrupt the balance in the underground world. "But you have already destroyed the shipments. What more is there to do?"
"Cutting the tail isn't enough. I have to cut the head too and make sure it doesn't grow back."
"And how do you intend on doing that?"
"It's pretty simple. The minister of health is hosting WHO officials in his office tomorrow and if I'm to remember, you are a guest at that event right?" Alessandro nodded slowly. "It's just a guess, but I believe that there might be something in the adviser's office."
"That's a dangerous game you are playing and in your current state I doubt it will be easy."
"Don't worry, you said it yourself, the wounds are not deep. After a good night's rest, I'll be in top shape tomorrow."
"If you say so, let me leave you to rest." Alessandro walked to the bathroom and I began hearing water splashing on the tiles. Soon I could feel my eyes closing slowly until I became oblivious of my surroundings.
***
I wasn't a fan of suits especially not in humid weather but I had no choice. There was no other cloth I could wear that would be able to hide the bandages beneath my clothes.
"Excuse me!" a security guard called out and advanced slowly towards us. I could feel Alessandro's heart beating strongly. "Your invitation please." Alessandro quickly brought out his invitation. The guard gestured for us to move forward.
"Do you have any idea, where his office is?" Alessandro asked as we made our way to the event hall.
"He is the adviser to the minister; how hard can it be to find it?"
"This is 60 flats building with 1000 plus offices. Yeah, I wonder how hard it will be." He said; his eyes full of sarcasm.
"So how do we go about it?"
"Let me handle it." I wanted to protest, but before the word could part my lips, he had already approached Mr. Jean. Their discussion seemed to run surprisingly well. Their discussion lasted for a few minutes and Alessandro came back.
***
What I needed was primarily to install bugs in the offices. I had fifty of them, flying insect bugs that would find their way into the offices and secure information for our secret security, and just when I'd gotten the job done, I hid in the car and waited for Alessandro to return.
"Are you done?" he asked.
"Sure." He shut the door. "I have a proposal to make."
"What's it?" I asked.
"I want us to hang out." He said to me. "I want us to spend time together, on the beach."