Chapter 173

Chapter 173

"Let go." Elodie's voice was calm.

Adrian shook his head frantically, gripping tighter.

Elodie didn't hesitate. She pried his fingers open one by one, using all her strength.

"We're done. We've been done for a long time."

She shook off that blood-soaked hand, turned around, and strode toward the light.

She didn't look back.

Thump!

In reality, the defibrillator paddles slammed against Elodie's chest.

Her body arced off the table, then fell back.

On the monitor screen, the flatline jumped once.

"We have a heartbeat!" the doctor shouted. "Keep going!"

Time crawled forward.

Eighteen hours.

Outside in the corridor, daylight turned to darkness, then dawn broke again.

Finally, the operating room doors swung open.

The attending physician pulled down his mask. Exhaustion lined his face, but his eyes were bright.

Lucas shot to his feet. He'd been kneeling so long he stumbled.

"Mr. Williams." The doctor exhaled deeply. "The surgery was extremely successful. The rejection response is within controllable parameters. She made it."

Lucas stood frozen.

His eyes flooded red instantly.

Tears fell without warning.

He covered his face, shoulders shaking violently.

Half an hour later, in the ICU.

Elodie lay in the hospital bed, tubes running everywhere. Her face was deathly pale, but her breathing was steady.

Lucas, dressed in sterile scrubs, stood outside the glass wall.

He looked at her.

Rebirth.

This was Elodie's rebirth.

Another hospital.

ICU.

Only the rhythmic beeping of machines.

Adrian lay in bed. His left leg in a cast, his chest wrapped in bandages.

His vital signs were critically weak.

The doctors said he had no will to live.

His assistant stood by the bed, watching the slow rise and fall of the line on the heart monitor.

Suddenly, Adrian's fingers twitched.

The monitor's rhythm began to accelerate.

Adrian's eyes slowly opened.

The light stabbed his pupils. It took him a long time to adjust.

He parted his cracked lips slightly. A barely audible whisper escaped.

"Elodie..."

That was his only reason for clawing his way back from the edge.

The assistant stared at Adrian, who'd barely escaped death, his own eyes burning red.

He stepped closer and leaned down.

"Mr. Stewart." His voice was hoarse.

Adrian's eyes shifted toward him. A flicker of hope ignited in their depths.

He thought that surviving meant he could see her. That he could atone.

The assistant looked into those eyes and closed his own briefly.

He decided to lay out the cruelest truth, piece by brutal piece.

"Ms. Turner's surgery was successful." The assistant's words hung in the air.

Adrian's eyes exploded with wild joy. He tried to smile, pulling at his wounds, gasping at the pain—but his gaze was bright.

"But..." The assistant paused deliberately.

"Ms. Turner asked me to tell you something. Her life was saved by someone else's donation. She owes you nothing."

Adrian's smile froze on his face.

"And." The assistant pulled out his phone, opened a photo, and held it in front of Adrian's eyes.

The photo was from Lucas's social media feed.

Through the ICU glass, Lucas gazed tenderly at Elodie in the hospital bed.

Caption: [For the rest of our lives, I'm here.]

The assistant watched Adrian's face turn ashen and said ruthlessly:

"Ms. Turner said yes to Lucas. They're together now."

The hospital room fell deathly silent.

Adrian stared at that photo, unblinking.

The heart monitor shrieked an alarm.

He opened his mouth, gasping desperately, but couldn't draw in a single breath.

Blood surged from his mouth, streaming down his chin, staining the white pillow red.

He'd survived.

But his world had died completely.

Six months later. Eldoria.

Elodie sat on a bench in the garden at St. Gallen Cancer Research Center.

The sunlight was beautiful.

She wore a beige trench coat, her complexion rosy, her hair cut into a sharp, short style.

She'd passed through the rejection period smoothly. All her indicators had returned to normal.

Lucas walked over, carrying two cups of hot cocoa.

He handed one to Elodie and sat down beside her.

"Tickets are booked," Lucas said. "Tomorrow morning at ten, direct flight to Harbor City."

Elodie took the paper cup and sipped.

"What about the arrangements at the firm?"

"Your private office is ready and waiting. Senior partner, Ms. Turner." Lucas smiled, reaching over to smooth the hair the wind had tousled.

Elodie looked at him.

For the past six months, Lucas had turned down most of his domestic cases to spend 180 days with her in Eldoria.

"Thank you." Elodie said.

"For what?"

"Everything."

Lucas leaned in and kissed her forehead.

"Mrs. Williams, verbal thanks don't count. When we get back, you're getting that marriage license with me."

Elodie's lips curved upward.

"Deal."

(The End)