Chapter 810 Thaddeus and Jareth raced towards the hospital, hearts pounding in their chests. Bursting through the doors, they skidded to a halt outside a room just as a team of nurses and doctors emerged.
"How's Marilla?" Jareth's face was ghostly white as he clutched the lead doctor by the arm.
"The patient was already frail, and the emotional trauma is taken a toll," the doctor said, wiping sweat from his brow. "She went into shock and needed oxygen to stabilize, but her mental state is precarious." Jareth's heart felt like it was being shredded to pieces as he pushed the door open and entered the room. "Ah-ah!" Marilla was pinned to her hospital bed by Frederic and Dennis, her slender body bristling with tubes, struggling against the restraints like a delicate porcelain doll desperate to break free.
Her eyes were bloodshot, wild, her mouth opening and closing with broken cries, her hands clawing at the air. "Ms. Marilla! Please, try to calm down, Ms. Marilla!" Dennis tried to hold her down without injuring her, his actions frantic.
"Marilla! Please, sweetheart, don't scare me. Marilla!" Frederic's face was crimson with panic, equally helpless. Jareth strode to the bedside, his chest heaving. He leaned in to embrace her, but a sharp slap sounded. Marilla's uncontrolled hand struck his cheek, leaving a stark red mark.
Thaddeus and Dennis froze, asking, "You alright?" Frederic was stunned into silence, but his daughter's condition left him no room to care for anything else.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"I'm fine." Jareth replied automatically, beside the bed and enveloping the frail girl in his arms, ignoring her frenzy, pressing her tight against him.
"Ah!" Marilla's face was as pale as snow, her lips cracked from crying so long.
"Marilla, it's okay. I'm here, you're safe." Jareth's voice shook as he tried to soothe her.
But beyond those words, he was at a loss for what to say.
"Li... Lily..." Through tears, Marilla choked out the name, her voice that of a child speaking for the first time.
And Jareth heard her, his throat tightening as he gently said, "Marilla, Lily's gone. But I believe she's still with us, watching over from heaven above." On her way back to Elmsworth, Evadne received a call from Thaddeus. She floored the accelerator of her sports car, speeding like a red lightning bolt to the hospital.
Her mind in turmoil, she rushed inside.
"Ms. Evadne!" Suddenly, a clear, warm voice cfrom behind her.
Evadne paused, turning to see.
Chad, his handsface beaded with sweat, laboriously pushing the wheels of his wheelchair up the ramp by the hospital's entrance.
Apparently aiming to reach her quickly, he sped up the rotation of the wheels.
However, just a step away from the top, the wheelchair jammed on something and started rolling backward uncontrollably.
Chad's eyes narrowed in alarm, his body tipping dangerously back! At the last moment, a warm force steadied his back, while another hand gripped his arm.
"Watch out." Chad looked up in surprise, meeting her clear eyes, feeling an unprecedented stir in his heart. "Hey!" Evadne put her strength into it, pushing the man and his wheelchair onto level ground.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmAs she swayed, strands of her hair brushed across his face.
Chad's gaze deepened, then he frowned and offered a rueful smile, "Ms. Evadne, I owe you one. Without your help, I might have ended up an overnight guest here." "It was nothing," Evadne said, her brow lowered as she kicked a pebble away from the wheelchair wheel, "Your wheel got stuck on a stone, which can be dangerous. Where's Ms. Alexia? Why isn't she with you?" "I'm heading back abroad soon and wanted to see my little sister before I go. I was waiting at the café next to the hospital to buy scoffee for the nurses and my father, as a little pick-me-up. Alexia went to the supermarket next door, so I was alone when I got Dennis' call. Worried sick about Marilla, I couldn't wait, so I con my own." Chad clearly rushed here, his face still slick with sweat, breath heavy.
Evadne had only met Chad twice before, and he had always been the picture of composure, even in his wheelchair, as regal as a crane. Never had he seemed so flustered.
"Mr. Chad, I understand your concern for Marilla as her brother, but with your condition, you really shouldn't be out alone. It's too risky." Evadne's डि expression remained neutral as she spoke to him. Chad looked at her with soft eyes and a helpless smile, "At times like these, I can't help but wish I was healthy, so I wouldn't always be a burden." Evadne's expression briefly flickered with a complex emotion before clearing, "Are you waiting here for Ms. Alexia? I'm going upstairs to see Marilla." "If you don't mind, may I cwith you?" Chad asked urgently, "I'm really worried about Marilla." "You're Marilla's brother; of course, I don't mind."
With that, Evadne turned and walked briskly ahead. But bghing and labor the sound of breathing from behind made her think he might collapse any second. "Ms. Evadne, my body, it's just not up to it." Chad's face was pale, his lips tinged with blue, and he looked genuinely weak, "I've run out of strength, could you pushthere?" Evadne, though reluctant to get too involved, couldn't deny her Hippocratic Oath. As a doctor, she found it impossible to turn a cold shoulder to those in need.
Especially when it cto Chad, the man who had once saved her herm husband's life; No matter her personal feelings, she couldn't just stand by and watch him suffer. "Alright." She moved behind him and started to push his wheelchair, joining him on his path.
"Thanks." Clutching his chest, Chad tried to steady his breath, tilting his head to seek out the pair of eyes that had captured his attention moments earlier.
Just then, a deep and austere voice cut through the air, chilling to the bone, "Evadne."