Chapter 130 Impossible to Love Her
Benjamin stared at his wife, unable to recognize the woman she had become. The gentle, caring person he had married had turned into someone cold and cruel.
"Isla, just one more day. Please. We'll transfer first thing in the morning. I just want to wait until Isabella's surgery is over."
When he would not agree, Isla grabbed a fruit knife from the table and pressed it to her throat. Benjamin's entire body went rigid.
"Isla, what are you doing? Put that down."
Her eyes were wild, her voice hard as steel. "If you won't do what I say, I'll die right here in front of you. I refuse to stay in the same hospital as her."
Benjamin felt helpless. Isla's voice turned colder. "You have five minutes. If you haven't made the arrangements by then, I'll do it."
"Okay, okay. Don't do anything rash. I'll do whatever you want."
Benjamin had no fight left in him. If this continued, he would break completely.
He could not abandon Isla. He had no choice but to contact other hospitals immediately.
The doctor tried to talk him out of it, but seeing Isla's resolve, he could only process the transfer paperwork.
Benjamin knew William could not be trusted, and he could not stay by Isabella's side himself. So he hired the most experienced private nurse he could find to care for her when she came out of surgery.
It was the last thing he could do as her father.
He hated himself for his weakness.
The surgery lasted twelve hours. At ten o'clock that night, the doors to the operating room finally opened.
William stepped forward quickly, only then realizing his legs had gone numb. He could not even remember how long he had been standing there.
The doctor approached immediately.
"Mr. Spencer, we saved Ms. Tudor's life. But whether she wakes up depends on her will to survive."
William's brow furrowed. He hated uncertain answers.
"What does that mean?"
"Her injuries were severe. Combined with her previous wounds, her internal organs sustained significant damage. Her body has been pushed beyond its limits. The fact that she's alive is a miracle. As for whether she'll regain consciousness, we can't say."
William's fists clenched. "I need her to wake up."
"The next week is critical. If she wakes within seven days, there's a chance she'll recover slowly."
"And if she doesn't?"
"Then she never will. She'll be in a vegetative state."
The word exploded in William's mind. Something cold settled in his chest.
"I won't allow her to become a vegetable."
"You can try talking to her. Say things that might trigger her will to live. It might help. She's being moved to the ICU now. There will be round-the-clock care."
William's heartbeat stuttered. A suffocating weight settled in his chest, unmoving.
Isabella did not have the right to lie in a hospital bed forever. She had not paid her debts yet. She had to wake up.
He walked into the ICU and saw her. Oxygen mask covering her face, bandages wrapped around her entire body. Her chest barely rose and fell. Only the monitor beside her tracked each breath, each heartbeat.
If not for those flickering numbers, he would have thought she was already dead.
"Isabella, listen to me. You have to wake up."
The figure on the bed did not respond. She could not hear him at all.
Frustration clawed at William's chest. He hated this suffocating feeling.
Why did Isabella always make him lose control? Why did she always make him angry?
"Isabella, if you don't wake up within a week, I'll dig up your grandmother's ashes and throw them in a sewer."
It was the only thing he could think of.
"You know I keep my promises."
He turned and left, not noticing the heart monitor's numbers beginning to spike.
William drove to the coast and sat on the hood of his car, lighting one cigarette after another.
The smoke blurred his vision and made his chest feel heavier.
He did not know how long this unease had been eating at him.
He had run into that burning lab to save Isabella without thinking. In that moment, he had an absurd thought—if she died, what was the point of him living?
Even more inexplicable was the fact that he had waited outside the operating room for over ten hours.
He was not a patient man. What had kept him standing there?
Had he developed feelings for Isabella?
Impossible. He could never fall for someone so manipulative and vicious.
He just did not think she had paid enough for what she had done. He did not want her dying before she suffered properly.
And Benjamin had asked him to stay. That was the only reason he had waited. Not because he wanted to.
What irritated William most was that he was even thinking about this. He ground the cigarette out beneath his heel. He could not afford to go soft on Isabella. Not even for a second.
At the hospital, Juniper walked into the ICU and stared at the barely breathing figure on the bed. Her jaw clenched with hatred.
"Isabella, you cling to life like a cockroach. You should be dead."
The doctor had told her that if Isabella did not wake within a week, she would become a vegetable. Well, Juniper could help with that.
"No one in this world cares about you anymore. You might as well stay asleep. Just disappear. You love your grandmother and your sister so much, don't you? They're waiting for you on the other side. Go to them. Don't come back."
She stared at the oxygen mask, a cold smile spreading across her face. "If I pulled this off right now, would you die? You want to die, don't you? Let me help you."
Juniper's hand moved toward the mask, but then she noticed the cameras. One overhead, one on the side wall. Every move she made was being recorded.
This was not the time. And William was so fixated on this woman right now—if she died by Juniper's hand, things would get messy. She pulled her hand back and pretended to adjust the blanket instead.
Footsteps sounded behind her. She wiped her eyes and put on a grief-stricken expression.
"Isabella, you have to get better. No matter what happens, I'll be here for you."
A doctor approached. Seeing their apparent closeness, he tried to comfort her.
"Ms. Miller, don't be upset. Ms. Tudor has a strong will to live. She'll wake up."
Juniper turned, tears streaking her face. "Doctor, thank you so much for everything you've done. Please, do everything you can to heal her."
The doctor nodded. "Of course. It's our duty."
Juniper thanked him and left. The moment she stepped out of the ICU, her expression darkened, twisting with hatred.
She had really wanted to rip that mask off. Watch her die.
She had to find an opportunity to make sure Isabella never left this hospital.
On the fifth day of Isabella's coma, the hospital told the family to prepare for the worst. If the patient did not wake within the next twenty-four hours, she never would.