Suppressing the dread rising in her chest, Cleo pulled out her phone and quickly dialed Maxine’s number.
To her relief, the call connected after just two rings.
“Maxine! You nearly scared me to death–where are you?
The plane’s about to take off! Are you still coming or not?” Cleo fired off in a breathless panic.
But instead of Maxine’s voice, an unfamiliar one came through, distant and muffled. “Hello, are you a friend of the phone owner? This is the Emergency Department at the Municipal People’s Hospital. She’s been a car accident. Please come as soon as possible.”
Cleo froze. Her first instinct was to suspect a scam–but that was Maxine’s number. No doubt about it.
Screw it. She had to check.
Dragging along a confused and worried Jessica, Cleo jumped into a cab and rushed to the hospital.
When they arrived at the ER, Cleo stormed to the front desk. “Excuse me, is there a patient named Maxine here? I just got a call..”
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Before she could finish, the nurse behind the desk nodded urgently. “You must be her friend. She was just brought in–serious injuries from a car accident. Come with the doctor to confirm her identity.”
The nurse glanced at Jessica and said gently, “Sweetheart, wait here for a moment, okay? Your friend needs to go in with us to check something, If it’s
her, we’ll need to contact her family.”
Cleo felt her stomach twist at the words “serious injuries.” She nodded and followed the doctor into the treatment area.
Jessica instinctively tried to follow, but the nurse gently blocked her. “It’s Okay, sweetheart. She has something important to do inside. Just wait here, she’ll be back soon.”
Jessica stood there trembling. Sensing her fear, the nurse handed her a cup of warm water in a paper cup.
Not long after, Cleo came out, her eyes rimmed with red. She was on the phone, voice shaking with fury. “If you have even a shred of decency, get your ass over here now! I’m not repeating myself.”
Jessica ran to her the moment she appeared. With hope in her eyes, she asked, “It’s not her, right? We’ve got the wrong person! Let’s go find Maxine!”
But Cleo looked at her–and broke. Tears finally spilled down her cheeks. She crouched to Jessica’s level, choking out the words, “Jessica, listen to me. Maxine’s hurt. She needs rest and recovery. For now, you’ll stay at my parents‘ place, okay? Once she’s better-”
Her voice caught mid–sentence as Jessica suddenly bolted.
She ran straight toward the ER Cleo had just exited, only to be stopped by the doctors. That was when she completely lost it. Sobbing uncontrollably, she screamed, “You’re all lying to me! That’s what they said about my mom too! They told me she was hurt and I just had to wait–but she never came back!! want to be with Maxine!”
The doctor who had blocked her finally understood. His eyes softened with pity as he knelt down and said, “I promise, we’re doing everything we can.
But even as the words left his mouth, they all knew the truth. Maxine had arrived barely breathing. The chances of pulling her back were slim at best.
The nurse gently lifted the struggling Jessica and placed her into Cleo’s arms. “Right now, what we need most is for a family member to sign the surgical consent. While her vitals are still holding, we need to operate immediately.”
Cleo sat numbly in the hallway with Jessica on her lap, staring blankly at the floor ahead.
She had never seen so much blood. Maxine’s forehead had been torn open, her entire body covered in wounds. She couldn’t even tell which injury was the worst. The hand that was hooked up to an IV looked twisted and broken–clearly fractured.
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09:11 Sat, 21 Jun T
Chapter 146
Beneath her bed, a steel basin caught the slow, steady drip of blood soaking through the surgical drape. It had already formed a pool
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