Song Qinghe was consumed by self-reproach: "If only I had arrived earlier, maybe..."

Marcus reached out and patted her shoulder.

Mrs. Tang struggled to suppress her emotions: "Qinghe, this isn't your fault. If it wasn't for that troublemaker, Cece would have been safe in her room. She wouldn't be suffering like this."

Ethan stood to the side, his face cold, without saying a word.

No one knew the sheer terror he felt when he was pulled from his meeting halfway through to hear that Clara had been rushed into surgery.

Had his concern for Clara’s state not taken priority, he might have truly killed that man.

A doctor suddenly emerged from the surgery, holding a form.

"Critical condition notice. We need a family member to sign..." The doctor's eyes were full of pity. They had prepared so much for this patient.

Now, everything was ruined by a man who was hunting for his domestic-abuse-victim wife. If he hadn't gone mad trying to search every single ward, the patient would be perfectly fine right now.

Mr. Tang’s hand trembled as he signed the notice. Mrs. Tang could no longer hold back her tears.

Marcus and Song Qinghe also looked grim to the extreme.

Ethan watched the operating room light, his body like a bow drawn to its breaking point.

Self-loathing filled him; he couldn't help but think that if he hadn't left the hospital today, perhaps none of this would have happened.

Cece would have been fine.

Inside the operating room, cold instruments were passed back and forth continuously. The doctors spoke in low voices, their brows furrowing occasionally.

The group outside stared unblinkingly at the door, terrified of missing any news.

Time ticked away, minute by minute.

One critical notice after another was signed. It was as if the doctors were racing against the Grim Reaper.

Everyone was praying for a miracle.

Meanwhile, Clara seemed trapped in a bizarre loop.

She was standing in her home, yet not a single person could see her.

She shouted for her parents and for Marcus. In a swirling scene, she even saw Ethan standing before a grave.

She screamed his name until her voice was hoarse, but he didn't notice at all.

Exhausted, Clara stood frozen, only to suddenly realize something was wrong with Ethan.

In his hand, he held a sharp fruit knife.

Chapter 44

Clara rushed forward to stop him, but she passed right through his body.

When she turned back, she saw Ethan look up toward her as if sensing something; a soft smile touched his lips, a look of liberation.

Clara’s heart sank instantly as she saw the sharp blade plunge into his chest. In the next moment, blood gushed out.

A splitting headache struck her, and her heart felt as if it were being torn apart.

She wanted to scream, but no sound came.

In a daze, a fierce will to live surged within her.

She didn't want to see her parents consumed by grief, she didn't want to see her brother despondent, and she certainly didn't want to see Ethan give up on himself.

She struggled to wake up.

Clara gathered every ounce of strength she possessed, finally breaking through the darkness.

A faint glimmer appeared before her eyes, and she suddenly heard the startled cries of the medical staff: "The patient has a heartbeat!!!"

The next moment, she fell back into darkness.

The surgery and resuscitation had lasted nearly thirty hours.

To Ethan, the time felt impossibly long. He stood rooted to the spot like a statue.

During that time, he felt as if he were thinking of nothing, yet at the same time, he had processed everything he needed to.

At first, his mind replayed every day from his first meeting with Clara until now. Then, he began to think about the "ifs"... what he would do if he lost her.

Every detail was stored in his mind. Standing for thirty hours had far exceeded the limits of the human body, but Ethan felt nothing.

He watched Mr. Tang sign one critical notice after another, yet he didn't even have the courage to step forward.

In the past, whenever Clara was injured during a rescue mission, he would be terrified and cautious.

Back then, Clara would tease him for being a coward, and he would deny it with a smile.

But now, he admitted it. He was a coward.

A coward so fearful that even a passing thought of losing her made him shake with terror.

Ethan’s bloodshot eyes stared at the operating room light as he prayed in his heart—

Please, Clara. Save him.

Perhaps his willpower and the family's prayers were strong enough.

The light above the operating room finally went out. The medical staff who emerged were exhausted, but their faces bore a rare look of joy.

"The surgery was a success. The patient showed a powerful will to live at the final moment; she saved herself."

Mrs. Tang’s tears fell unchecked, and Song Qinghe’s eyes were rimmed with red.

Ethan’s ears rang, as if he were hearing a divine word of pardon.

He tried to move forward, but his legs, numb from standing so long, made him stumble.

Ultimately, the wall beside him provided support. Seeing this, the Tang parents exchanged a look, their eyes shimmering with a faint light.

Clara was moved into the Intensive Care Unit.

The Tang parents went home to rest before the next shift, while Ethan and Marcus sat in the doctor’s office.

"To be honest, Miss Tang’s situation exceeded our estimates."

"Initially, we had essentially pronounced her dead. But her powerful will to live made her heart beat again..."

The few descriptive words were enough to send a chill through the two men.

"Then, her future..." Marcus spoke rapidly.

"It’s hard to say."

Chapter 45

"What do you mean?" Ethan’s voice was hoarse, his eyes somber, and his heart was racing uncontrollably.

Under the gaze of those two intense stares, the doctor’s heart trembled.

He tried to remain calm as he looked at them, his eyes showing some pity. "While Miss Tang has kept her life, you must understand the brain is the most complex region. The final outcome is hard to predict."

Ethan’s fingers curled slightly, his heart aching to the point of numbness.

Marcus looked incredibly grim. As a medical student himself, he knew exactly what this meant.

"Which scenarios are the most likely?" Ethan was the first to steady himself, if one ignored the nearly manic look in his eyes.

The doctor paused and said slowly, "The first is the best-case scenario: she wakes up and regains her sight—a happy ending for everyone. The second is that she wakes up but remains blind. The third is that she doesn't wake up for a very long time, essentially a vegetative state."

The two tall men stiffened, their expressions unreadable.

"And the last one," the doctor hesitated before sighing, "if Miss Tang cannot make it through the critical period, her life itself cannot be guaranteed."

The doctor's words sent their hearts plummeting.

Exiting the office, the atmosphere between Marcus and Ethan was heavy.

As they walked down the hallway, Marcus suddenly stopped. "I regret it... I shouldn't have let Cece know about this."

Ethan’s heart shuddered. He pressed against his swollen eyelids. "I don't regret it, Marcus. I believe she will wake up."

"She definitely will."

Marcus watched the man stride past him, his heart filled with a hundred different emotions.

He had to admit that Ethan probably understood Clara better than he did.

...

Three months passed in a flash, and everything seemed to have returned to normal.

Yet some people remained trapped in that winter, unable to find their way out.

The assistant watched his stern-faced boss, not daring to make a sound.

The department heads sitting below were trembling, terrified of being scolded.

Since returning from the New Year break, the boss’s temper had become increasingly unpredictable.

The assistant had a vague feeling it was related to a woman, but he didn't have the nerve to pry into the boss’s private life.

The atmosphere in the meeting room was suffocating.

The assistant taking notes prayed silently—

Was there any deity out there who could help!

Just as the thought crossed his mind, Ethan’s phone rang.

Suppressing his inner volatility, he answered the call.

Marcus’s voice came from the other end, sounding incredibly excited: "Ethan, Cece is awake—"

Screech! The sound of a chair being pushed back forcefully made the startled group jump, thinking something terrible had happened.

But Ethan simply grabbed his coat and ran out of the room.

He left the entire meeting room staring at each other in confusion.

At the hospital.

On the hospital bed, Clara looked at the colorful flowers beside her, feeling a sense of delight.

During the time she was blind, she realized just how much she craved light and the world of color.

Now, looking at the bright spring sunshine and the budding plane trees outside the window, she felt a deep warmth in her heart.

Her parents and the others had already seen her. When she first woke up, she was surrounded by doctors for examinations.

They called it a miracle, but Clara only felt like she had had a very long dream.

Now, the dream was simply over...

The ward door was suddenly flung open. Clara instinctively turned her head and looked at the somewhat disheveled Ethan Shaw.

Her heart grew tender. Ethan was being so cautious, as if he were afraid of disturbing this dream.

Clara simply offered a beautiful smile: "Ethan Shaw, long time no see."

[The End]