Chapter48 Clifton, Save Me
"Agh—! My leg!" Ariana shrieked, looking at the wound on her leg. Tears instantly streamed down her face. "Harrison... it hurts so bad... Am I going to bleed to death?"
"Ariana!" His eyes wide with terror, he immediately rushed forward, clumsily pulling Ariana's leg out from under the iron pillar.
He scooped her up in a fireman's carry and turned, ready to bolt toward the hospital.
But after only two steps, he abruptly stopped, and subconsciously glanced back.
Miranda was still pinned underneath!
In that second he hesitated, Ariana suddenly gasped in his arms, letting out a pained cry. "It hurts so much... Harrison... I'm in so much pain..."
Miranda was dazed from the impact. Her insides felt scrambled, and waves of intense pain made her vision flicker black.
It took her a while to barely regain some sense.
When she managed to look up, all she saw was Harrison's back as he carried Ariana.
Her heart felt like an invisible hand was squeezing it tight, making it almost impossible to breathe.
She opened her mouth, using every ounce of strength she had to force a few words out of her throat.
"Harrison..."
Her voice was raw, too faint to be heard.
She didn't expect him to abandon his "savior," Ariana, to rescue her.
She just wanted him to call for help, or call an ambulance.
That wasn't too much to ask, was it?
However, the moment Harrison heard Ariana's painful cry, the single second of hesitation in his step vanished, replaced by a fierce resolve.
He didn't look back. Clutching the woman in his arms, he strode quickly toward the elevator.
Miranda's desperate call faded into the cold air.
His departing back was the coldest thing she had ever seen in her life.
A hot tear slipped from Miranda’s eye.
She struggled, trying to reach the phone in her pocket, but half her body was completely trapped. Every slight movement brought a fresh wave of excruciating, gut-wrenching pain.
She couldn't move.
Her consciousness began to blur, and the shadow of death fell over her.
Just as she was about to give up, a thought flashed through her mind—
When she and Clifton got married under their agreement, to show she would be available "on call," she had set up a voice-activated dialer for his number.
Miranda's eyes snapped open. She used her last remaining strength to scream into the air:
"Call Clifton!"
The cold, mechanical female voice responded, "Calling Clifton for you..."
The phone rang, the sound jarring in the silent night.
One ring, two rings...
Every second of waiting was agony.
Miranda's vision grew increasingly hazy. Everything began to twist and warp.
Just before she completely lost consciousness, the call was finally answered.
From the other end came a deep, steady male voice, one that carried a sense of calming power.
"Hello?"
It was Clifton.
Miranda's tightly strung nerves finally gave way. She used her final breath to utter a few broken words into the phone:
"Michelin... three-star... rooftop garden..."
"Save me..."
After those three words, she could hold on no longer. She completely sank into boundless darkness.
On the other end of the phone, Clifton's fingers tightened sharply around his device, his knuckles white.
"Miranda?"
When he spoke again, his voice was tight with an anxiety he hadn't realized was there.
The only reply he got was a deathly silence.
Clifton's expression instantly darkened. The next second, he abruptly stood up from his wheelchair.
He didn't even hang up the phone. He snatched his car keys and bolted down the stairs, his normally steady footsteps echoing frighteningly through the empty villa.
Sliding into the driver's seat, the engine roared to life. The black Bentley shot into the night like an arrow.
At the same time, he called the emergency services, his voice urgent. "Michelin three-star rooftop garden! Send an ambulance immediately!"
Clifton arrived at the base of the restaurant just as the ambulance sirens wailed closer.
He charged up to the top floor, only to find a locked glass door.
Inside the door, the rooftop garden, which should have been sparkling and romantic, was a mess. In the center, that familiar figure was crushed beneath the heavy iron pillar, the shocking dark red color of her spreading blood staining the floor.
He raised his leg and, with all his might, delivered a brutal kick to the thick glass door!
With a deafening crash, the lock shattered, and the door flew open.
The restaurant manager and a few security guards finally rushed up, breathless. The manager, who had already gone home, had been told someone was causing a scene. Seeing the terrifying sight, his face went white.
"Sir! Wha—What is going on here?"
Clifton ignored him. His eyes blazing, he rushed to Miranda's side and checked for a pulse. Only when he felt that faint wisp of breath did the murderous rage around him slightly subside.
He turned, his voice raw. "Get over here and lift this thing!"
The manager and guards dared not hesitate. Several men immediately rushed forward, working together to slowly lift the hundreds-of-pounds pillar.
As the pillar was being moved, a security guard instinctively moved to help lift Miranda.
"Don't touch her!" Clifton roared.
The sheer authority in his voice froze everyone where they stood.
Clifton stared intently at the unconscious woman lying in the pool of blood, his heart plunged into ice water.
He didn't know the extent of her injuries. In this state, any small movement could cause fatal secondary damage.
Soon, paramedics arrived with a stretcher. Clifton silently stepped back, watching as they carefully administered emergency aid. The black ink in his eyes was thick, like an impenetrable night.
He followed the stretcher in silence, getting into the ambulance as it sped toward the hospital.
In a VIP room at another hospital.
The doctor had just finished treating Ariana's leg wound and was instructing Harrison. "It's not a deep cut, but you need to be careful. Don't get it wet for the next few days, and change the dressing on time. An infection would be nasty."
"Got it, thank you, doctor." Harrison politely saw the doctor out of the room.
When they were alone, Harrison felt a growing irritation thinking about Miranda still trapped under the pillar. His brow was tightly furrowed.
Ariana took in his expression. Leaning against the pillows, she weakly reached out and gently tugged his sleeve, her voice full of tears and self-reproach.
"Harrison, are you worried about my cousin? I am too."
Her eyes welled up. "That pillar came down so fast. I didn't have time to think, I could only push one person."
Seeing the expected look of emotion in Harrison's eyes, she added understandingly, "Harrison, don't worry. A crash that big on the top floor? The restaurant staff must have gone up. My cousin has probably been taken to the hospital already."
But in her mind, she thought: The top floor was empty of guests. I specifically told that waiter to lock the door behind him once the job was done.
When Miranda was finally found, she would be nothing but a cold corpse!