Chapter 240 The Breaking Point

Ethan’s POV The corridors of the hospital still smelled of smoke and disinfectant from the chaos of the bombing. Soldiers stood at every door, rifles slung over their shoulders, their boots echoing against the marble. Outside, sirens wailed and then faded, never fully gone. Inside, I refused to leave her. Katelyn lay pale beneath the sheets, her head wrapped, her chest rising and falling in shallow rhythm. The scans had shown bleeding inside her brain. The doctors’ words replayed in my head, about no specialist on staff and limited options with surgery being risky. I pushed down the panic clawing in my chest. She needed strength, not despair. So I scrubbed in, pulled the mask over my face, and stepped into the sterile brightness of the operating room. The light above the table was merciless, glaring down on her like judgment. Monitors beeped, steady but fragile. My gloves stuck with sweat as I helped hold tools, passing instruments to the surgeon, forcing my body into calm precision ev