2#02

2

Odette's eyes narrowed, her gaze filled with condemnation. Her words sliced through the tense atmosphere, each one sharp and accusing.

"Verena, you're the sole physician here with knowledge in treating comatose patients. Is your profession truly more valuable than rescuing your spouse's life?"

"Particularly when he ended up in this state trying to protect you!"

Her voice grew more intense, laden with both criticism and incredulity. "A doctor's obligation is to preserve life, your obligation. And this isn't just any patient. This is your husband!"

"Comas have a 99% mortality rate. Are you truly willing to let Matias perish just to safeguard your career?"

Her statement crashed over the room like a powerful wave. Milana and Alastor turned ashen, their faces devoid of color. Without delay, they fell to their knees, their quivering hands reaching out to me as they begged, their voices cracking with desperation.

I kept my eyes fixed on the display, disregarding the commotion around me.

"Failure!"

The game's losing notification blared from my mobile device, loud and taunting. I stared at the screen as the gem broke into fragments, then tossed the phone aside in exasperation.

"This is all because of you! Couldn't you just be quiet?!"

"That was my advancement match, and you wrecked it! Swarming around like insects, so incredibly irritating!"

Alastor knelt before me, shaking. His once-confident face was now etched with despair as he looked up, his voice feeble and imploring.

"Verena, please... If you save Matias, we'll provide you with anything—anything you desire..."

Around us, the onlookers began to stir, their murmurs growing like ripples in calm water. Understanding dawned on their faces, their expressions changing—some with sympathy, others with doubt.

A few older women exchanged disapproving looks, their faces contorted with judgment as they scrutinized me.

Before I could respond, the entrance to the hospital room flew open.

A young nurse came rushing out, her face pale, panic evident in every feature of her expression.

"Dr. Hewitt, Dr. Hewitt, his blood pressure has suddenly dropped! He might not make it!"

Her voice trembled with a clear note of alarm.

Odette turned to the nurse, her eyes flashing with annoyance before shifting her dark, penetrating gaze back to me.

"Verena," she began, her tone stern, "I'll inquire one final time: are you certain you won't go in to see him?"

I met her gaze, silent.

The injury on my wrist throbbed painfully, fresh blood seeping out, bright and crimson.

Under the weight of Odette's stormy stare, I slowly nodded, the motion deliberate yet filled with determination.

Witnessing this, Alastor seized my arm in a frantic, desperate motion. Before he could speak, Milana's cry pierced the air, raw with emotion.

"How can you be so cold-hearted?"

Her voice broke, quivering with anguish.

"Matias was with you for seven years, never once minding that your family was impoverished!"

"He's attractive, well-educated, with numerous women pursuing him, yet he chose you, he was adamant about marrying you!"

"From the moment your relationship began, wasn't everything you consumed, everything you wore, purchased by my son?"

"When you wed, you brought nothing, a poor background, no dowry, but we never looked down on you."

"Even your tuition for your graduate and doctoral studies was funded by Matias! Now his life hangs in the balance, and you..."

Milana's words cut through the air, each one more weighty than the last, dripping with sorrow and rage.

By the end, she could no longer contain herself, her sobs bursting forth in a flood of despair.

The crowd could no longer hold their tongues. One after another, voices rose in condemnation, their words sharp with disapproval.

"Young woman, is your occupation truly more crucial than this? You can always find new employment, but if your husband dies, you'll regret it for the rest of your days!"

"Precisely! He treated you like royalty, loved you with every fiber of his being, and now you're just going to abandon him? How can you disregard your roots?"