Chapter 11

"Sophia?" The nurse looked at him, a little puzzled, but after a pause, she still answered, "Mrs. Bennett... Dr. Bennett's in emergency surgery." "Emergency… what does that mean?" "She lost over 1500ml of blood. She went into shock halfway through the procedure." Lucas immediately collapsed against the wall, his legs giving out under the weight of that fear—for the first time ever, the fear of losing Sophia hit him like a truck. So hard that… he'd rather be the one on that operating table right now. "Mr. Bennett, are… are you okay?" the nurse asked gently, only to be met with Lucas's bloodshot eyes, full of rage. "My wife is in critical condition and you're out here?! If anything happens to her, I swear you'll go down with her!" Startled, the nurse shot a quick glance at Eva, then bolted back inside the operating room. Eva's hospital bed, meanwhile, awkwardly sat at the door, totally blocking the way... "Lucas?" Eva blinked up at him, her voice soft. "Can we just forgive Sophia after this? She only acted that way because she was jealous. I'll leave after this. You two should live happily, okay?" Lucas opened his mouth, forming the word "okay," but nothing came out. All he could do was gesture to the side, calling over a nurse to wheel Eva away. "Don't worry, she's tough. Sophia will pull through," Eva added just before they pushed her off, the picture of thoughtful calm—yet under the blanket, her hand had clenched into a fist. Lucas still cared about that woman? Worse—maybe even more than he cared about her? Half an hour later, the operating room doors opened again. "Mr. Bennett, I'm sorry... we lost her." Mark Bennett stepped out in scrubs stained with fresh blood, voice filled with regret. But Lucas just stood there, frozen, no sign of reaction at all. "Mr. Bennett?" Mark called again. "What did you just say?" Lucas's eyes were wild; he stepped forward, grabbing Mark by the arm. "Say it again! What did you just say happened to my wife?! Tell me!" "Mr. Bennett, please... Sophia didn't make it, but it's over now. Eva's illness has been treated, she doesn't need any more blood transfusions." Lucas staggered back, like he'd been rammed in the chest. Eva's all better now... So what? What the hell did that have to do with him? With Sophia? When he fell for Sophia, Eva hadn't even shown up in his life yet! He collapsed onto the floor, gutted, his mind overwhelmed with flashes of Sophia: the teenage girl she'd been, their wedding day, her tear-streaked face, her smile, her desperate pleas... That short walk from the OR door to the surgery table—it felt like a lifetime. And when he saw her pale figure lying there in a pool of blood, it hit him like the end. Of everything. Lucas dropped to his knees in front of Sophia. "Sophia, why did you hurt Dad? Why did you go after Eva? You're not allowed to die! You haven't paid for what you did yet—you can't die, you hear me?!" He grabbed her slim neck, trying to shake her awake, but all it did was tear open her barely-sealed wounds. Seeing Lucas spiral, Mark had no choice but to sedate him on the spot. Hours later, Lucas came to, numb, hollow, and headed to the morgue to identify Sophia's body like a zombie. One white sheet after another was pulled back. She wasn't there.