Chapter 156 He Drank Her Blood
After hanging up, Nicholas immediately called Eric with specific instructions: no response necessary, just trace the source of that leaked story.
The underhanded tactics didn't match Matthew's usual style—after all, he was the first to know about the poisoning.
This had to be whoever was pulling Jane's strings.
Emma rolled her eyes at him and headed straight to the lab.
With the immediate threat eliminated, she finally gathered both research teams together.
"I'll provide you all with the formulas upfront. Please help me synthesize the extraction solutions as quickly as possible. Time is critical, so I appreciate everyone's hard work."
She turned to the whiteboard and began writing out several lengthy, complex equations.
After explaining each formula to the team, everyone dispersed to their assigned tasks.
If everything went according to plan, the proper antidote would be ready by tomorrow. For the missing Warm Heaven component, she'd substitute her own blood directly.
She threw herself into refining the Seven-colored Flower extract, working to eliminate its toxicity while preserving the antidotal properties.
Because if even a trace of poison remained, Nicholas would suffer from Seven-colored Flower's deadly toxin the moment he drank the serum.
Her blood could only yield minimal antidotal factors—nowhere near enough to counter the poison's potency.
Now everyone was racing against time.
Emma practically lived in the lab, drawing over a dozen more vials of her own blood, continuously separating out those precious few antidotal components and carefully placing them into test tubes.
Her body's ability to neutralize toxins came from an exceptionally strong immune system, but blood alone wouldn't provide sufficient protection.
Well past midnight, she still hadn't emerged. Nicholas returned to the lab to find her.
Seeing her bloodshot eyes, his voice tightened with concern. "Emma, I'm here to take you back to rest."
Emma walked toward him but stumbled slightly, feeling dizzy.
Nicholas's heart nearly stopped. He quickly reached out to steady her, taking in her ashen complexion.
"You can't keep pushing yourself like this. You're exhausted." Without another word, he bent down and scooped her up in his arms.
Emma's eyes blazed with stubborn determination as she struggled. "Put me down. I'm not finished with my work."
"Tomorrow," Nicholas said firmly, ignoring her protests as he strode toward the exit.
Before they even reached the main house, she'd fallen asleep in his arms.
Nicholas carried her lightweight form upstairs, his heart aching with tenderness.
In the middle of the night, Emma suddenly woke up.
She rubbed her temples, then rushed back to the lab where both research teams were still working around the clock.
Normally, creating a single serum required at least fifty test batches to identify potential issues. Now there was no time for proper testing.
At eight the next morning, the first version of the antidote was finally complete.
Emma excitedly brought it to the main house where Nicholas was about to drink it down in one go.
She nervously caught his hand. "Just drink half first. If there are any problems, I can still make adjustments."
"Don't worry." Nicholas patted her small hand reassuringly, then tilted his head back and downed the serum.
Charlie and Emma watched him intently, silently praying the treatment would work.
A strange sensation surged through Nicholas's chest like a rampaging force. Suddenly, his chest seized up.
He immediately coughed up a large mouthful of blood.
"Mr. Harrison!"
"Nicholas!"
Charlie quickly helped him lie down. "Mrs. Harrison, what's happening?"
Nicholas's lips slowly turned purple—clear signs of Seven-colored Flower poisoning.
"He's been poisoned!" Emma's face went white with panic. "I was so careful, used such a small amount, but he's still poisoned."
"What do we do? What do we do now?" Charlie cried out frantically. "Mrs. Harrison, please give Mr. Harrison the antidote!"
"Seven-colored Flower poison has no antidote except Warm Heaven!" Emma's eyes filled with confusion and despair.
The last time she'd given him just a trace amount mixed with her blood, which prevented poisoning.
But such a tiny quantity couldn't possibly clear the neurotoxins from his system.
This was an impossible catch-22!
"Mrs. Harrison? Think of something—Mr. Harrison's bleeding again!" Charlie was beside himself with terror.
Nicholas's face contorted in agony as he coughed up another mouthful of blood.
Emma suddenly grabbed a surgical scalpel and slashed it across her left palm, blood dripping down.
Charlie jumped in alarm. "Mrs. Harrison, what are you doing?"
"My blood can neutralize the toxin." Emma grabbed Nicholas's jaw, letting her blood drip into his mouth drop by drop.
Nicholas's eyes widened, pupils contracting sharply as if he'd seen something shocking.
Suddenly, he clamped his mouth shut in resistance.
"Hold him down," Emma shouted desperately, not giving him a chance to escape.
Charlie forgot all about protocol and immediately pinned down Nicholas's body and arms.
"Emma, get away," Nicholas managed to roar with the last of his strength, his eyes blazing with fury.
The poison was making his limbs numb and weak.
Emma tried to pry his mouth open again, but it was impossible—he kept it clamped shut while struggling with all his remaining strength.
Her blood scattered in the struggle, falling drop by drop onto his face and forehead, blooming into tiny crimson flowers.
"Nicholas, it doesn't hurt. Please open your mouth, okay?" Emma's eyes reddened with tears. "Without the antidote, you'll die!"
But Nicholas would rather die than open his mouth. How could he drink her blood to save his own life?
He'd rather die right here!
Emma steeled herself and bit down hard on her own tongue.
Searing pain mixed with the metallic taste of blood exploded through her mouth.
She didn't hesitate—leaning down to those tightly pressed lips, she kissed him forcefully.
This wasn't a tender, lingering kiss.
It was more like an uncompromising conquest, filled with desperate determination and irresistible force.
Nicholas's tall frame went rigid.
He tried to turn his head away from this sudden assault.
But Emma's hands gripped his jaw like iron clamps, holding him immobile.
Her tongue aggressively pried open his clenched teeth.
Warm, sweet-metallic liquid began flowing steadily into his mouth.
Nicholas's pupils dilated sharply.
He could taste it.
That familiar sweetness unique to her, now mixed with heart-stopping blood.
In his chest, it felt like an invisible sledgehammer was pounding his heart over and over, the pain so intense his entire body felt displaced.
He was forced to swallow the blood from her mouth as tears slid down his cheeks.
Charlie couldn't bear to watch and ran outside.
Crouching by the door with eyes red as a rabbit's, he knew they were saying their life-and-death goodbye!
'Mr. Harrison, please don't let anything happen to you!'
'She loves you so much!'
The kiss seemed to last forever.
Until Nicholas felt strength gradually returning to his body.
Until Emma collapsed softly against him.
His eyes flew open as he caught her swaying form.
"Emma!"
His voice was hoarse with bewildered panic and bone-deep terror.
"Emma, wake up!"
The woman in his arms was pale as paper, completely unresponsive.
His mind buzzed as realization struck. Moving with lightning speed, he quickly rolled up her sleeves.
Just as he'd feared!
Both her inner arms were covered in horrifying purple-black bruises.
Fresh needle marks dotted the area—seven or eight new punctures!
So... she'd been using her own blood to make his antidote all along?
The truth hit like a poisoned blade thrust straight into Nicholas's heart, the pain so intense he could barely breathe!
He held her tightly, pressing her soft body against his chest, his forehead pressed against her cheek.
Tears finally broke free, falling hot and heavy onto her cold neck.
The warm sensation brought only suffocating anguish...
Emma didn't wake up until noon. Both her hands were wrapped in gauze, with an IV drip attached to her arm.
A knock came at the door as Charlie entered carrying a bowl of steaming soup.
"Mrs. Harrison, you're awake?" Charlie's face lit up with undisguised relief.
Emma's throat felt terribly dry. She licked her cracked lips.
"Where's Nicholas?" she asked urgently. "How's his poisoning?"
"Mr. Harrison's poison seems to be mostly cleared," Charlie reported cheerfully as he set down the soup bowl. "His hands and feet aren't numb anymore, and his lips have returned to normal color."
Emma's brow furrowed as if she was thinking something through.
After a moment, she threw back the covers and started to get up.
"Help me carry this IV bag. I need to go to the lab."
Charlie looked troubled.
"Mrs. Harrison, that won't do." He quickly stepped forward to stop her. "Mr. Harrison specifically ordered that you must rest here today. You're not allowed to go anywhere—you lost too much blood."
"I know my own body," Emma said quietly but with unmistakable determination.
She looked up, meeting Charlie's gaze directly.
"Take me there."
Looking at her pale but stubborn face, Charlie finally surrendered.
He sighed and carefully lifted the IV bag, helping her out of bed.
The weather had turned quite cold.
Before leaving, Charlie found a thick wool coat and carefully draped it over her shoulders.
She had no idea that Nicholas had collapsed suddenly while she was unconscious, fallen down the stairs that morning, and still hadn't woken up.
The lab's fluorescent lights cast everything in harsh white.
Emma threw herself into her work and didn't emerge again.
Outside, the sky went from bright to dark to deep as ink.
Nicholas never appeared.
She repeated the experimental procedures over and over, demanding precision down to the smallest measurement.
This time, she absolutely, absolutely could not let him be poisoned again!
Finally, after countless attempts, a new vial of serum took shape in her hands—a beautiful, translucent pale red.
Just as she breathed a sigh of relief and prepared to place the serum in the incubator, a wave of intense dizziness struck.
Everything began spinning and swaying before her eyes.
She stumbled, and the precious vial slipped from her unsteady grasp...
The sharp sound of shattering glass echoed painfully through the silent laboratory.
The pale red solution splashed across the floor, spreading into a pool of despair.
Emma's eyes filled with tears.
She stared blankly at the mess on the floor, her lips moving as she whispered, "How... how did I drop it?"
Her voice trembled with disbelief.
"I worked so hard to make it... how did I just... drop it... break it..."
The string in her heart that had been stretched taut day and night finally snapped completely.
She couldn't hold herself up anymore, her body going limp as she slowly sank down along the lab bench.
Hugging her knees tightly, she buried her face deeply.
What started as suppressed whimpering gradually became uncontrollable sobbing.
"How... did I drop it..."
"I'm sorry... I'm sorry... Nicholas..."
"I... wanted to make it work... I was so careful..."
"But I... why... why can't I... do anything right..."
Her heartbroken cries filled the lab, cutting through hearts and shattering the midnight silence.
Only four days left... just four days!
Death was closing in on him, and she'd saved so many people before—so why, why couldn't she save just this one person who mattered most...