The smell of antiseptic pierced the air.
The white light was too bright.
The sound of medical equipment beated in a slow, rhythmic pattern, cold and emotionless.
Behind the door marked ICU, the world seemed to have stopped.
Adrian Blackwood stood there.
Motionless.
Not sitting.
Not speaking.
Just… waiting.
For someone like him.
Waiting was the most painful thing.
Just a few hours earlier.
Everything had collapsed in a matter of seconds.
The sudden pain.
The blood.
The panic.
And something he had never imagined.
Sophia lay weak in his arms.
Unconscious.
Her body cold.
And the blood…
There was too much of it.
"Save her."
That was the only sentence that escaped Adrian's lips when they arrived at the hospital.
Not an ordinary order.
But a plea.
Forced into a command.
Now.
He could only stand.
Staring at the red light above the door.
Unblinking.
Unchanging.
As if it was deliberately toying with his patience.
Daniel stood a few meters behind.
