Chapter 614

“What do you mean it wasn’t successful?” Yara looked just as stunned. She grabbed the doctor, her voice sharp, demanding the answers I was afraid to ask.

“You can go in and see for yourselves,” he said, giving us nothing but a cold response.

Vara didn’t let go, pushing for more, but it was the assistant doctor who spoke up. “The back of his skull was severely crushed. We repaired the fracture, but the brain hemorrhaging was uncontrollable, with multiple active bleed sites. You should see him now—there’s very little time left.”

Vara finally released her grip on the doctor’s arm. She was trying to stay composed, but her body shook as she took a step forward. Then she stopped, remembered something, and turned back to help me stand, leading me into the room.

The bright lights inside were blinding, almost painful to my eyes. Hayden was lying there in a surgical gown, an oxygen mask over his face, and his head wrapped in bandages.

I couldn’t bring myself to move closer. It was Yara who spoke up. “Say what you need to say, because… you might not get another chance.”

Her strength was unreal—she had already accepted that Hayden’s surgery had failed. She guided me to his bedside. I looked down at him. Hayden’s eyes were closed, his face still, like he was just sleeping.

Before, I used to love watching him sleep—his calm, handsome face, the way I could be bold and fearless with him. But now, seeing him like this, all I felt was terror.

“Hayden,” Yara whispered, her voice breaking.

Hayden stayed still, and fear gripped me. I couldn’t bring myself to reach for his hand.

“Hayden, wake up. Keira’s here,” Yara called again.

This time, I saw his eyelids flicker, then slowly open. His eyes focused for a few seconds, then locked onto mine. There was no coldness, no distance, no indifference. His eyes were filled with the kind of tenderness I thought I’d lost forever.

And just like that, the dam inside me broke. Tears rushed down my face, unstoppable. I wanted to say something—anything—but my throat was tight. I couldn’t get the words out.

Then his hand touched my face. My sobs tore through me, louder, rawer than before. His touch was so warm and gentle as he wiped my tears away, just like he used to, like everything was going to be okay.

But it wasn’t. It was all slipping away.

“Keira, don’t just cry,” Yara reminded me.

I didn’t want to cry, but I couldn’t stop it. Swallowing the lump in my throat, I clung to Hayden’s hand—his cheek—and blurted, “Hayden, you jerk!”

Vara froze, her eyes wide, like she couldn’t believe I’d just dropped that in the middle of all this.

But then, Ryden smiled. It was the kind of smile that made everything feel bright, like the world was waking up again. His eyelashes fluttered. Like he wanted to say something, but his lips couldn’t quite move.

Panic took over, and I clung to his hand, pressing it harder against my cheek. “You’re a man—you don’t break promises. You said we’d have a wedding. You said we’d build a house together. You can’t leave me without giving me that. Get up. Take me with you.”

“Hayden, wake up. Please wake up and hold me. I miss your arms so much…”

“Hayden, just say something. Anything…”

Yara chimed in, “Hayden, you want to take off the oxygen mask?”

His eyes closed, then flickered open again. Yara glanced at me, then gently removed the mask from his face. His mouth parted just a little.

“Come closer to him,” Vara urged me.

I leaned in, my cheek brushing his, and his lips grazed my ear. “No, don’t go to the Johnstons…”

I pressed closer, desperate to hear him, but the rest of his sentence faded away.