A Picture Is worth More Than a Thousand Words

The sounds of the sirens from the ambulance kept blasting louder as Alrdric got closer to his apartment.

The crowd in front of his apartment, made his heart beat in a different pace but he decided against the panic.

He hurriedly got down from his car and stormed towards the crowd, only to find his lovely wife who was almost due for birth being rolled out on a stroller.

He pushed through the crowd,grabbing the paramedic's arm.

That's my wife. What happened?

The paramedic didn't slow down as their attention was fixed on their patient;

"Sir we need to move she's in early labour and there are complications. One of them finally responded after minutes of silence from the team.

Aldric hops into the ambulance taking her hands; no part of his training prepared him for this moment.

Her grip was weak, so was her breathing but her eyes found his immediately and her face lightened up a little.

"You are here, "she whispered

Yes I am."I am not going anywhere.

How do you manage to stay this beautiful in this critical state, he joked pushing her hair backwards.

She was losing blood and every minute was more dangerous than the previous one.

His heart sank a million times as thousands of thoughts flew through his mind.

As the ambulance arrived at the hospital, he noticed a car that had been following them through the drive,

He shrugged at first, but seeing them at the hospital arose different kinds of suspicion.

Aldric's job was with the CIA. They had rules, one of which was that raising a family was not going to interfere with work. Even in critical conditions, when you were needed, you were expected to be there.

Aldric had agreed to this because of his past hurts. He had promised himself never to get entangled with anything that had love in the same sentence.

He was a lover by nature, but one thing he always did was give his love to the wrong people.

On a secret mission, he met Annora. They had loads in common. Aside from her beauty, which swept him off his feet, she melted his heart in ways words couldn't describe. They got married secretly, and now they were expecting.

The noise of the stretcher rolling down the ambulance ramp and the doctors rushing to their aid snapped him out of his thoughts.

As the ambulance doors shut, he caught something through the small rear window a black car parked across the street. Engine running. No plates.

He had seen that car before. Yesterday. And the day before that.

His jaw tightened.

They had found him.

He looked at his wife, then back at the window. The car pulled off slowly into traffic. Whoever they were, they weren't following the ambulance.

They already knew where he was going.

At that point, his mind raced between losing his job and losing his family as Annora was rolled away from his sight. He wasn't allowed into the operating room due to the severity of his wife's condition.

He remained in the ward, pacing up and down, praying every version of the Rosary he could remember, hoping and praying his family would make it through.

Barely thirty minutes had passed before his phone rang. It was work.

One of his greatest fears had arrived right on time.

He answered with a trembling voice.

"Report to the office," the voice said, ending the call abruptly.

This was a tough spot. If he left and his wife didn't make it out alive, he would never forgive himself. But if he defied orders and lost his job, he would have no means of caring for the family he loved so deeply.

He dialed his mother's number, asking for her help at the hospital. She could barely hold back her scolding; she had warned him about his line of work many times but she promised she would look after his family.

On arrival at the office, he was met with disappointed looks from his supervisors.

"We have an undercover job for you," his supervisor said, breaking the silence.

"How long am I going away for?" Aldric asked.

"Five months."

"Five months?" he repeated, almost in shock.

"Is there a problem, Mr. Aldric?" his supervisor asked immediately.

"No, sir."

"Good. Report to Mr. Emmanuel for your job brief. And before you go; drop your main phone and your burner phone."

Aldric was to go undercover as a man who was barely holding himself together. He had to remain isolated for three months, with contact limited to only a few people. During that time, he was not allowed to shave, and was permitted to bath only once a week.

There was a drug dealer operating in the city. His target audience was children. The drugs had deteriorated their health significantly, and parents in the area had been crying out for help for months. No matter who they had previously sent in, critical information on who ran this operation had never made it out.

After the job brief, the sour look on Aldric's face raised questions from Mr. Emmanuel.

They were friends and had always been open with one another. Aldric told him everything his wife's critical condition, the black car that had followed him all the way to the hospital.

Mr. Emmanuel's expression shifted.

"That was Internal Affairs," he said quietly. "They were building a case against you."

"The undercover mission they just handed you isn't random either — it's a test. Five months away from your newborn, your recovering wife, everything you love. If you refused, they would have had grounds to terminate you immediately."

He paused, glancing around before leaning in closer.

"Our supervisor already knew about Annora. He knew about the baby. That disappointed look on his face had nothing to do with the mission."

Mr. Emmanuel whispered, his eyes darting around the room in fear of being overheard.

"He wanted to see if you would decline."

Aldric sat back, deeply disappointed in himself. He had promised Annora that his work would never get in the way of their family.

Annora had previously worked with the CIA herself, but she had opted out even though she had been one of their most valuable operatives.

She knew how to handle classified information without a single leak.

But she had grown tired of constantly looking over her shoulder. She wanted a quiet life one where her children played freely around her while she prepared their favourite meals.

That was the life she had chosen. And truthfully, that was another reason Aldric hadn't been entirely worried about her safety. She was sharp, resourceful, and in many ways far smarter than him. She could look after herself.

But none of that mattered right now.

She was lying on an operating table, and he was here.

The only way forward right now was to get into his role play; see how he could get the job done and retire home.

Five month is really long he added under his breath.

After weeks of preparation he was sent to the street looking like he lost his with a long chewing stick and a fake mice with his white polo partially stained, and a walking stick.

To him it was too much but on the other hand anything to make him meet his family again