Chapter 15 Elaine Stops Breathing

Skylar was shocked for a moment before letting out a scoff. "You want to die, huh? Go ahead and try. The moment you die, I'll have your brother and grandmother join you in the grave as well." Instead of backing away, he took a step closer to Elaine and said, "Can't forget about that friend of yours from the orphanage who saved your life once. I'll find them all and make them join you in the grave as well." Elaine pressed the knife tighter against her neck, retreating step by step until she was backed up against the window. Her eyes were red, but she was smiling. "Do whatever you want. I don't care about my life anymore, let alone the lives of others. You can kill whoever you want and kill as many of them as you like." Skylar's expression darkened. It was the first time Elaine had actually said something like that when it came to her friends and family. Back then, the mere mention of her family being implicated would be enough to make Elaine yield. He frowned and said, "Put the knife down, Elaine. You know that I'm not the patient type." Elaine's hand trembled uncontrollably as she kept her eyes fixed on him. "No way! I'm an orphan with no parents. I owe the Freys and Mrs. Frey Senior for raising me, but Skylar, I don't owe you anything at all. You can't just keep on bullying me like this." Her grip on the knife slipped slightly from all the trembling, causing the knife to graze her neck and start to draw blood. Skylar's expression darkened. "I'm only saying it one more time—put the knife down." Elaine seemed to have not heard a thing, or perhaps she could no longer feel any pain at that point. She just continued talking as if she were muttering to herself, "I regret it. I regret ever leaving the orphanage with Mrs. Frey Senior and thinking that I had finally gotten myself a home. "I regret marrying you two years ago. I had thought that you had finally seen Thea for who she was and that you'd, at the very least, treat me well." She bit down on her lip to forcefully hold back her tears. "But you didn't treat me well at all, Skylar. You treated me like a servant for three years, and now, three years later, you're treating me like I'm your mortal enemy for no apparent reason." The knife pressed deeper into her neck, and Skylar frowned even harder. For the first time in a very long while, he finally softened his tone at her. "It's alright. We can talk after you put the knife down, okay? We're in a hospital. What you're doing isn't helping anyone. If anything happens, you'll only be causing trouble for the doctors." Elaine's grip on the knife loosened a little. Skylar immediately noticed that, and a cold gleam flickered in his eyes. He figured that she realized that what she was doing would also cause trouble for her attending doctor, Marcus. If Elaine were to actually harm herself, Marcus would very likely be the one to bear the consequences. Skylar forcefully calmed himself down and continued, "That's enough. We can talk things through after you put the knife down. Stop making a scene." Just then, the door swung open, and Thea rushed in, looking flustered. She ran up to Elaine as she shouted, "What are you doing, Ms. Shelton? Put the knife down! It's dangerous!" Elaine, who had only just started to calm down, was triggered once more. She recalled all of the disgusting stuff Thea had said to Elliott as well as Elliott pinning her down on the bed. She glared at Thea and shouted, "Stay away! Don't come near me!" When Thea got closer, Elaine lost control and pushed Thea away. It was not a particularly hard push as Elaine's hands were burned and bandaged, but Thea still staggered back several steps and fell to the ground. Skylar immediately ignored Elaine, who still had the fruit knife to her neck, and bent down to help Thea up. His expression darkened as he said, "Watch what you're doing, Elaine!" Elaine laughed out loud as she looked at the loving couple before her. "What, I'm in the wrong now? Skylar, can you seriously not see how badly burned my hands are? Do you not see just how thick the bandages are? Are you blind or something?" Thea seemed to have realized that her actions were too obviously exaggerated. She leaned weakly against Skylar and whispered, "Skylar, it's not Ms. Shelton's fault. I just had a miscarriage, so I'm still not feeling all that well. I panicked and fell down on my own when I saw Elaine holding a knife." Skylar's expression grew cold. "Thea's miscarriage was your fault, Elaine. And now, you have the nerve to say that she's too weak?" Thea anxiously pushed Skylar away and said, "Don't say that, Skylar. Ms. Shelton, please put the knife down. It's dangerous. I know that I'm the one causing trouble in your marriage. I promise that as long as you don't hurt yourself, I'll leave the country today." She reached out for the knife in Elaine's hand as she spoke. "Give the knife to me, Ms. Shelton. Someone could get hurt." The ward descended into chaos as Thea tried to snatch the knife away from Elaine. Skylar's expression darkened as he stepped forward to pull Thea away. "Stay out of this, Thea. If Elaine wants to die, let her be. Just don't get yourself hurt." Thea grabbed onto the blade, and blood began pouring from her hand. She immediately let go of the knife and staggered backward as if she were about to faint. Elaine had been trying to wrestle the knife back for herself as well, so when Thea suddenly let go of her grip, the momentum of both of their movements caused the knife to plunge into Elaine's neck. Blood gushed out of her neck as she heard a loud roar around her mixed with Thea's sobs and Skylar's voice as he tried to comfort Thea. Her chest suddenly twisted in pain, and she coughed up a mouthful of blood. Skylar's hand froze in mid-air just as he was reaching out to comfort Thea. He could not understand why Elaine would be coughing up such a large amount of blood from being injured in the neck. He didn't have any time to think. He shoved Thea aside and stood up just in time to see the fruit knife falling from Elaine's hand to the ground, followed by Elaine collapsing to the floor with a thud. The hospital ward fell deathly quiet. Blood continued to trickle down from the corner of Elaine's mouth for a mere few seconds before her face turned deathly pale. Skylar rushed over and knelt beside Elaine, but Elaine's body was no longer responding. When he reached out to touch her face, he realized that she was no longer breathing. Skylar had known Elaine for ten years. He knew just how stubborn she could be. He knew that she had hereditary heart disease ever since they were young, but she had never had a serious flare-up in her life. She always took her medicine on time and had never had any major issues with it. It was the first time Skylar felt worried for Elaine's safety. He scooped her up into his arms and rushed out of the hospital ward, his voice trembling. "Doctor! Doctor?!" A doctor and nurse rushed over with a stretcher from across the hallway. Elaine was then taken to the emergency room for rescue. As the team prepared for emergency CPR, the doctor turned to Skylar and asked, "Does she have any pre-existing conditions?" Skylar was stumbling over his words a little. "A heart disease. Some sort of hereditary one." He continued, "It was never so serious before." The doctor's voice turned grim. "What do you mean by that? Her breathing has literally stopped and she's vomiting blood. Has she been diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, or a heart tumor, or even heart failure?" Skylar's mind was a mess. "I don't think so." The doctor frowned. "It's either yes or no. What do you mean by you don't think so? What's your relationship to the patient?" "I'm her husband," Skylar replied. But for the first time ever, that word felt extremely hollow to his heart. The doctor gave him a look of disapproval. "Your wife's in such a critical condition and you don't even know anything about her medical history? Whatever. You just go and handle the payment, alright? We'll be doing the resuscitation now." Skylar got the bank card from Frank before heading downstairs to pay the bill for Elaine. He then sat outside the emergency room, thinking about the moment he touched Elaine and felt that she had stopped breathing. His palms would not stop trembling as he murmured to himself helplessly, "I'm her husband, but I know nothing about her. How can I know nothing about my own wife?" Elaine remained inside the emergency room for a very long time. When she was wheeled back to her own hospital ward, she was still unconscious due to the effects of the anesthesia. Skylar sat beside her bed and stared at her pale face, unable to say a word. Marcus entered the ward with some medication and asked coldly, "Sir, do you really still not know what kind of illness Elaine has?"