Chapter 249: Irreversible Damage
Caroline initially planned to contact Zachary again, but the thought made her stomach churn. She had already humored that pervert more times than she cared to admit. Yet, Zachary still hadn’t accomplished anything. Now, Claire had taken a bullet for Frederick, solidifying her standing with him. It wouldn’t be long before she leveraged this to rise even higher. Caroline couldn’t let that happen! She needed to act fast. There was no more time to waste.
At that moment, Caroline thought of the foreign email address. While she didn’t know who the sender was or much about them, thinking back to when they first contacted her, their actions had been swift and discreet, with no mistakes. Even Frederick hadn’t noticed anything. At this point, it seemed like her only option. Caroline replied to the email, and within ten minutes, she received a response: “[Alright, wait. Someone will contact you soon.]”
After reading the reply, Caroline put away her phone and returned to the villa. Over the next few days, Caroline waited for that lecher from the Hiokeeh Group to contact her first.
Meanwhile, at the hospital, Frederick remained by Claire’s side in the ICU. Except for the few hours he spent sleeping in his own room at night, Frederick was always in the ICU, waiting for Claire to wake up. Sometimes, he’d wake up abruptly in the middle of the night, open his eyes, and immediately rush to the ICU to check if Claire had regained consciousness. And just like that, a week passed. Frederick hadn’t been seriously injured, and thanks to his years of military training, his recovery was rapid. But Claire still hadn’t woken up. Frederick didn’t return to the Kingstown Security Department. Instead, he worked from the hospital while staying close to Claire. Richard, too, spent most of his time at the hospital, only leaving to handle essential matters at the Security Department.
Practically every day, he asked the doctors about Claire’s condition. Most of the time, they’d respond that she had lost too much blood, and it was impossible to predict when she might wake up. With each passing day, Frederick grew increasingly anxious, fearing that Claire might never wake up.
On the tenth day, after spending the entire day in the ICU and finishing his work, Frederick returned to his room to rest. That night, he had a nightmare. In it, Claire, covered in blood, crawled toward him. “Help me… help me…” Claire’s voice was weak as she called out while crawling. Frederick woke up drenched in sweat. Realizing it was just a dream, he sighed in relief but couldn’t fall back asleep. He got up and went straight to the ICU. Seeing Claire lying peacefully on the bed, breathing steadily, finally put his mind at ease.
That night, Frederick sat by Claire’s bedside, keeping watch. Whether it was out of worry or the lingering effects of his dream, he ended up talking to Claire at length. “Stupid woman. How dare you lose so much blood just to take a bullet for me. Are you trying to get yourself killed? How can someone be as foolish as you? Or did you think saving me like that would make me fall for you? Ha, you really think I’d fall for someone as dumb as you?” He kept talking until, eventually, he fell asleep by Claire’s bedside.
He didn’t know how long he’d been asleep when he suddenly felt her move beneath him and woke up instantly. Sure enough, when he opened his eyes, Claire’s were open too. “Stupid woman, you’re finally awake!” Frederick exclaimed, his heart racing. His heart pounded wildly, and his eyes reddened with emotion. Claire didn’t reply. From the bed, Claire just gazed at him, her expression empty. Suddenly, the deputy director’s words echoed in his mind: “Excessive blood loss may cause irreversible brain damage.” Frederick froze, his mind going blank. His head buzzed as he stared at Claire, paralyzed. He couldn’t utter a single word. His hand, resting on the edge of her bed, trembled slightly.
His mind clung to one overwhelming fact: Claire was awake, but just as the doctors had warned, the blood loss had caused irreversible damage to her brain.