Chapter 91

Chapter 91

Alexander hesitated slightly before pressing the answer button, his voice low.

"Hi, Arthur, how is it going? What's up?"

Arthur's deliberately lowered voice came through the phone, carrying a hint of urgency and hesitation.

"Alexander, is now a good time to talk?"

After four years of college together, Alexander knew him pretty well.

Sensing something was off in Arthur's tone, his heart inexplicably skipped a beat. He stood up and gestured to pause the meeting.

Alexander walked out of the conference room before speaking.

"Yeah, go ahead."

Arthur took a deep breath, as if he'd made up his mind.

"Alexander, I saw someone at the hospital today. I think... you should know about it."

"Who?"

"Stella."

Their exchange was extremely brief, yet it stirred up a storm inside Alexander.

His pupils contracted sharply, and his grip on the phone tightened.

"Who did you just say you saw? You saw Stella? Which hospital? What happened to her?"

Alexander fired off a string of questions at Arthur, his voice filled with barely contained urgency.

Hearing this, Arthur quickly explained.

"Don't panic, let me explain. I was doing a consultation in the OB department today and happened to see her coming in for a checkup. She's pregnant, her belly is quite obvious , looks like at least five months along."

Alexander's heart felt like it had been hit hard by something, his mind going blank for a moment.

Although he'd already known Stella was pregnant, hearing Arthur say it like this made him feel dazed, like time had passed too quickly.

"I didn't think much of it at first, but then I heard colleagues talking, saying there seemed to be something wrong with the baby and she needed to have an abortion procedure. When I heard that, I felt something strange. When you were hospitalized before, I saw her come visit you, and your relationship..."

He trailed off, then quickly changed the subject.

"I thought, what if the baby is yours? So I called you right away."

Arthur didn't know much about the complicated relationship between Alexander and Stella.

He'd only happened to run into Stella a few times when Alexander was hospitalized before, noticed they seemed close, and had some impression of her.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have made this call to stick his nose in other people's business.

On the other end of the phone, Alexander felt his head buzzing, like something had exploded inside.

Abortion?

Something wrong with the baby?

His thoughts were in chaos, but one thought was crystal clear.

He absolutely couldn't let Stella face this alone.

"When is the surgery?"

Alexander asked, his voice terribly hoarse. Where no one could see, even his lips were trembling slightly.

"I asked around , it's scheduled for eleven this morning. The surgeon is Dr. Wilson."

Arthur glanced at his watch, his tone somewhat urgent.

"It's already 10:40. Are you coming?"

Alexander didn't answer and hung up directly.

He rushed back into the conference room, grabbed his coat, and bolted out. His chair was knocked over, hitting the floor with a harsh sound.

Wendy was startled by his sudden movement and quickly stood up, calling out.

"What happened?"

Alexander had no time to deal with her and rushed out of the conference room without looking back.

Everyone in the conference room was stunned, looking at each other, not knowing what emergency had occurred.

They'd never seen Alexander this frantic.

Seeing people getting unsettled, several shareholders exchanged glances. Mr. Hill, the most senior among them, stood up and cleared his throat.

"Alexander had an emergency and left. The meeting continues , I'll chair it."

Though everyone was full of questions, they couldn't say much and could only refocus their attention on the meeting content.

But everyone was wondering to themselves.

Alexander was always so composed , what happened today?

The Alexander everyone was curious about had already rushed into the elevator, frantically pressing the close button.

The moment the elevator arrived , before the doors fully opened, Alexander squeezed out, nearly bumping into a passing employee.

He couldn't spare time for apologies and rushed out of the company entrance, flagging down a taxi and jumping in.

"Emerald General Hospital, hurry!"

The driver was startled by his urgent tone and slammed on the gas pedal. The car shot forward instantly.

Alexander sat in the back seat, his hands clenched into tight fists.

'I wonder how Stella is doing right now?'

He closed his eyes. His heart felt like it was being squeezed by an invisible hand, the pain making it almost impossible to breathe.

Seeing traffic ahead, Alexander couldn't help but urge.

"Please go faster."

Alexander's voice was terribly hoarse, his tone anxious.

To put the driver at ease, he even scanned the payment code directly and transferred a thousand dollars.

"I'll cover any fines or damages."

The driver glanced at Alexander through the rearview mirror, saw his ashen face and red-rimmed eyes, he didn't dare ask questions, and with Alexander's promise to take responsibility, the driver stopped worrying and floored the gas pedal.

At the hospital, Stella lay on the operating table, the overhead surgical light blindingly bright.

She stared at that light, feeling inexplicably panicked.

Ever since Nicholas had 'sent' her to the hospital for tests that day and she learned there might be something wrong with the baby, she felt like she'd been pushed onto a path of no return.

Nicholas had made it very clear, and Stella understood it too.

But she couldn't bring herself to give up this child.

Even if there was only a one percent chance, she would do everything in her power to protect the baby.

Fortunately, Nicholas told her this surgery was to inject her with some new medication to try to change the baby's insufficient nutrition in the womb.

If the surgery succeeded, she wouldn't need to worry too much.

Stella lay on the hospital bed with an uneasy heart. Dr. Wilson's voice came from beside her, carrying professional warmth.

"Ms. Hall, please relax. We're going to give you anesthesia now."

Hearing this, Stella turned to look at him and saw the nurse preparing the anesthesia. A strong sense of unease suddenly welled up inside her.

She'd never heard of a procedure to save a pregnancy requiring anesthesia.

This felt so wrong.

"Dr. Wilson."

Stella suddenly spoke, her voice tight.

Dr. Wilson's movements paused, and he asked with confusion.

"Is there another problem?"

Stella took a deep breath, trying to appear calm.

"I want to ask, how exactly is this surgery done? Why do you need to give me anesthesia?"

Dr. Wilson's eyes flickered, then returned to normal.

"Ms. Hall, to reduce your pain during the procedure, our hospital uses the latest painless technology, which causes minimal harm to the body. Rest assured, we'll do our absolute best."

As he spoke, he gave the nurse a look.