Chapter 171 Split second

Chapter 171 Split second
Desmond stumbled as he rounded a corner, he held the wall for support, jumping back to his feet. Everything happened in a split second.
He rushed to the elevator, but the number at the top was glowing. There was already someone in the elevator. He didn't do it twice before he ran to the stairs. He couldn't stand and wait for the elevator.
He took the stairs, his feet barely lingered on the floor for more than a moment. He jumped from the top to the bottom of the stairs.
In ten minutes, he was on the last floor. His hair band came loose, and his clothes were rumpled. He didn't care about his image as he ran past a group of employees, startling them.
He practically jumped into his car. He started it and stepped on the accelerator so hard that the car shot forward. The tires screeched as he sped down the street. 

Desmond got a call on his phone, it was from Klaus, and he connected it to the Bluetooth.
“Where is she?” he snapped as soon as the call connected. Klaus didn't mind this. 
“She is the city's primary hospital, sir,” Klaus said. He didn't mind the tone Desmond used on him.
Desmond hung up immediately after. The road stretched endlessly in front of him, but he barely saw it.
The car flew so fast that he barely saw the road signs. His hands gripped the steering wheel so tightly they turned white with veins popping out. They trembled, the faint vibration running all the way up his arms.
It was hard to breathe. Like his chest was too small for his lungs. Something inside him cracked as time went on, the harder her tried to breathe.
There was so much pressure in his chest. So much pain in his heart that he wanted to reach in and claw it out. He felt that if he did the pain might stop. 

Everything was his fault. He knew the kind of life he was living yet he had been too careless. If only he had thought about it more. Something told him it was a bad idea to agree to her but he couldn't say no to his woman.
If only he had been a little firmer and listened to his mind. 

“I knew it…I knew I shouldn’t have let her use that car,” he whispered. His voice broke slightly. 
He raises his hands and beats the steering wheel as if it were his own heart. He wished he could rewind time. He wished he could do something. 
He had that feeling. That uneasy, persistent feeling that had been sitting in his chest all day. If he had listened to his intuition. 
His vision blurred. He didn't try to fight it. 

Tears slipped down his face freely, his breathing hitching as his grip on the wheel tightened even more.
He wished he could switch places with her. He didn't care about the company, he didn't care so much about his grandfather. Without her in his life, he didn't think living would be meaningful.
His life had been void before she came. He couldn't…no. He couldn't imagine a life without her. 
“Please…” he muttered, his voice barely audible over the sound of the engine. “Please let her be okay.”

He didn’t remember the last time he had prayed. In fact, he didn't think he was religious. Didn’t remember the last time he had felt this… desperate.
Even when his parents had died he didn't feel much other than emptiness. But this, this was different. 
“I’ll fix everything, I’ll do anything. I can give you all my money, my house, my properties. Take half of my life but please God. Please don't take her away from me.”
“I'll do anything. just don't let her—” He couldn’t finish. He couldn’t say those words. Because saying it would make it real.

“Please,” he whispered again, his voice cracking completely this time.

The car sped forward.

Desmond twisted the steering wheel without using his signals. A car coming from the right didn't realise that it was about to turn. He stepped on his brake, stopping just inches away from Desmond. Desmond didn't notice this, he turned and sped away.
The man behind the wheel of the other car sat there catching his breath. He stared at Desmond’s car wide eyes.
“Fucking psychopath.” he spat through gritted teeth. He took note of Desmond’s plate number, took out his phone, and made a phone call. 

Desmond arrived at the hospital faster than usual. What was supposed to be fifteen minutes took only five minutes? He barely stopped the car before he jumped out. He didn't even know if he locked the car door. One moment he was driving, the next he was running into the hospital entrance. 

The hospital lights were too bright. There were people walking around but the air felt too calm for what he was feeling.
When he ran in, he startled the people in the hall. People turned to look in fear and confusion. A woman thought he was running towards her, she screamed and fainted. 

He didn’t notice.

Or maybe he did, but it didn’t matter.

His eyes were red, unfocused, his hair loose and falling wildly around his shoulders where it had come undone from its usual restraint. He looked nothing like the composed man people knew.
IF not for the business suit, he looked like someone who escaped from the mental ward. 
He reached the reception desk. Using his hand to breach the collision. 

“There was an accident, A woman—Kalyssa—she was brought in—where is she?” he said quickly, his voice rushed and breathy. 

The nurse jumped when he bumped into the table, startled by the intensity in his voice, his appearance, and by the way he leaned forward like he might tear her apart if she didn’t answer quickly enough.
“I'll—ill check.” she quickly jumped into action. She turned to her computer, fingers moving quickly over the keyboard.

“Kalyssa…” she repeated softly.

A pause.
“What?” Desmond half shouted. 
The nurse frowned with her eyes still on the screen. “I’m sorry, I don’t see that name here—”