Chapter 661
She reached out instinctively to comfort her best friend, but just then Jamison turned and raised his hand, gently stopping her.
“Ivy’s had such a hard life,” Katrina said, dabbing at her tears, her voice thick with heartbreak. “I thought once she severed ties with the Windsor family, her bad luck would finally end. Who could have guessed she’d have to go through this too…”
Jamison glanced at Baillie, who stood awkwardly nearby, and said pointedly, “This is all thanks to the Windsors, isn’t it?”
The two of them played off each other, while Baillie only shrank further into himself, wishing he could disappear.
After Ivy was settled into her hospital room, Jamison, determined she get the rest she needed, ushered everyone else out.
Once the room was quiet, he sat at her bedside, silently holding her hand, then slowly leaned down to rest beside her.
Even now, fear washed over him in unpredictable waves. Only by staying close to her could he find a sliver of peace.
Ivy drifted in and out of consciousness, but she could always sense Jamison nearby, and that comforted her more than anything.
The pain wracked her body in relentless spasms; she whimpered unconsciously, each sound tearing at Jamison’s heart.
That afternoon, Jamison seemed to live through every agony life had ever dealt him, all at once.
After Emma’s fall, her wounds had ruptured, causing severe damage to her spleen and liver, and she suffered massive blood loss. Even though the hospital operated on her right away, her condition remained critical.
Now she lay unconscious in the ICU.
To everyone’s surprise, Sheridan showed up the next day–wheeling himself down the hallway to see her.
All he could do was stop at the glass window and look in from a distance.
“Idiot,” he muttered under his breath, a sneer flickering across his face.
If you’ve still got a chance, you don’t throw it away on reckless revenge. Now she’d risked everything, and all it achieved was to hurt someone else just a little. If that wasn’t foolishness, what was?
As luck would have it, Rosetta had also come to visit after hearing the news.
She hadn’t expected to run into Sheridan outside the ICU. She shot him a cold, sidelong glance, then promptly ignored him.
Rosetta went to speak with the doctor. He shook his head with a weary sigh. “Her condition’s not good. There’s a very high chance she won’t make it through.”
Rosetta’s brow furrowed deeply.
No matter what had happened between them, she had raised Emma for over twenty years.
And if not for that mother and son’s scheming, Emma wouldn’t have lost her baby, her uterus, or gone mad enough to kidnap an innocent person.
A heavy guilt weighed on her.
“Doctor, I’d like to ask about her hospital bills,” Rosetta inquired.
“The costs are being covered by Professor Ludwig,” the doctor replied. “He said as long as she’s breathing, we have to keep her alive at any cost.”
After a pause, the doctor added with another sigh, “But honestly, in her state, keeping her alive with a tube is only prolonging her suffering. It might be kinder to let her go peacefully.”
Sheridan’s voice was cold and flat from the side. “Jamison’s doing this on purpose. He wants Emma kept alive at any cost–so that every single second, every breath, is misery for her.”
Rosetta turned to look at him.
She understood Jamison’s intentions too.
But she had no right to question his decision.
After all, her own husband was still ill, and his outrageously expensive treatments depended on Ivy’s support.
If she crossed them, she’d risk her husband’s life as well.
Weighing it all, she realized she had no choice but to abandon Emma.
Sheridan was silent for a moment, then abruptly asked the doctor, “I’m her fiancé.
Can I sign to withdraw life support and stop treatment?”
He thought that, for the sake of what they’d once shared, he could at least give Emma a merciful end.
But the doctor shook his head. “A fiancé isn’t a legal guardian. You don’t have that authority.”
Sheridan fell silent, then turned to Rosetta. “You’re her adoptive mother. You’re next of kin. You can sign.”
Rosetta let out a cold snort. “She’s not dead yet, and you’re already eager to pull the plug? What if she does make it?”
Sheridan cut straight to the heart of it. “You’re just afraid to upset Jamison, aren’t you? Emma was cursed the moment she got tangled up with your family.”
Rosetta shot back, “Emma’s life was ruined the day she fell into your hands and let you use her!”
Their accusations flew back and forth, each desperate to lay the blame elsewhere.
Neither realized that it was their unholy alliance that had led Emma to this ruin.
The day after surgery, Ivy finally woke up fully.
Jamison hadn’t gone to work. Even though the hospital was his, and he could have balanced his duties with caring for his wife, he simply refused to leave her side.