By the time they arrived at the hospital, more than ten minutes had passed.
Lance hurried towards the ward, only to find it empty.
Seeing this, Xavier quickly stopped a nurse and asked, "Excuse me, where is the patient who was staying here?"
"Are you referring to Old Ashley? Her condition suddenly worsened, and she was taken to the emergency room. Her family is there too," the nurse replied truthfully.
As soon as she finished speaking, Lance immediately ran towards the emergency room.
When he arrived, he saw Gregory and Chloe standing by their mother, sobbing.
"Gregory and Chloe, what happened to Mom?"
"Daddy..." The moment they saw Lance, their tears, which had momentarily stopped, began to flow uncontrollably again.
They ran to Lance, crying heartbrokenly and stammering, "Daddy, someone said our mommy died, that she jumped into the sea with our unborn brother. Is it true?"
"I don't want Mommy to die... I want Mommy. Daddy, please find Mommy. You promised you would find her."
Listening to their sorrowful cries, Lance felt as if an invisible hand was squeezing his heart tightly.
His eyes reddened as he knelt down, wiping their tears with his hands and soothing them in a low voice, "Don't cry. Your mommy is just missing; she isn't dead."
"But that person said Mommy died. He even showed a video of Mommy jumping into the sea. Great-grandma was so shocked by it that she vomited blood," Gregory said tearfully, looking at Lance for confirmation.
Lance's expression darkened. He hadn't expected someone to deliberately tell such things to the children and the old lady.
"Don't worry. Your mommy will be fine. She's just been taken by bad people."
Suppressing his inner rage, he used the gentlest voice to comfort the children.
They sniffled and nodded, "We believe you, Daddy. Please rescue Mommy quickly and deal with those who speak ill of her."
"I understand. Let Uncle Xavier take you to wash up. Your faces are all tear-streaked."
After saying this, Lance gave Xavier a look.
Xavier understood that he was being asked to take the children away. He approached them with a gentle smile, "Master Gregory, Miss Chloe, let me take you to wash up. Otherwise, when your Great-grandma comes out and sees your red eyes, she'll be worried."
"We don't want Great-grandma to worry. Thank you, Uncle Xavier," Gregory said politely, nodding at Xavier before taking his sister's hand and leaving with him.
Once they were out of sight, Lance turned back with a serious expression and asked Samantha, "Why did someone come into the ward and say such things to the old lady? Weren't you there?"
"I wasn't there at the time. I stepped out to take a work call. When I came back, I saw the nurses and doctors pushing the old lady out with the children following behind. That's when I found out what had happened," Samantha explained, feeling somewhat guilty.
If she hadn't left to take that call, no one would have had the chance.
Thinking of this, her face turned cold as she said, "Don't worry. I've already asked for the hospital's surveillance footage. We'll catch whoever did this."
Lance nodded and looked towards the emergency room.
He wasn't sure if the old lady could pull through this time.
This was already the second critical situation she had faced.
Samantha saw his worried expression and also looked towards the emergency room, feeling heavy-hearted.
Time passed slowly in the quiet corridor.
Later on, the previously silent emergency room doors opened from inside. Gunner stood at the entrance wearing a mask and urgently called out to Lance, "Come in quickly. The old lady has no will to live. You need to help us wake her up!"
Hearing this, Lance didn't dare delay and immediately followed Gunner into the emergency room.
He quickly put on sterile clothing and approached the operating table.
Old Ashley lay on the bed with a respirator, showing no reaction to the defibrillator shocks, as if she had lost all signs of life.
Gunner watched the declining numbers on the monitor and urged Lance, "Talk to her quickly. Wake her up."
It was then that Lance realized what he needed to do but didn't know what to say at first.
Finally, he thought of the children.
"Grandma, if you leave like this, what will happen to the children? Don't you want to see them grow up? Can you guarantee that if I can't find Deanna, I'll still treat them well? Aren't you afraid I'll neglect them?"
This string of questions surprised the medical staff present.
Clearly, they hadn't expected someone as high and mighty as Mr. Mercer to say such things.
Especially Gunner, who stared at Lance for several seconds but said nothing.
Lance noticed their gazes but didn't care. He continued thinking of things that might provoke a reaction from the old lady.
Whether it was his words or not, Old Ashley's vital signs began to improve.
"The patient's condition is stabilizing. Mr. Mercer, say more harsh words!"