Chapter 3
965 Words
The Hand That Could No Longer Hold a Scalpel
When I opened my eyes again, I was staring at a hospital ceiling.
Massimo sat beside the bed, both hands pressed to his forehead, looking as though all the strength had been drained out of him.
The moment he saw me wake, he shot to his feet and reached for my forehead.
“You’re awake? Does anything still hurt?”
I turned my head away.
His hand froze in midair.
“What happened to me?”
He lowered his head. His Adam’s apple bobbed, his expression tight with pain.
“The shrapnel shifted and compressed your brachial plexus. The surgery went well. They got the fragment out, but…”
“But what?”
From the doorway, the attending physician finished for him.
“Mr. Vance, your median nerve suffered a secondary injury. It’s irreversible. I’m very sorry, but the surgery in Zurich is no longer an option.”
“You will never hold a scalpel again.”
It felt as if someone had carved a hole straight through my chest.
Even though I had already guessed it, the pain still left me unable to breathe.
Zurich.
Professor Brandt’s nerve reconstruction surgery.
Only twenty cases worldwide were scheduled each year.
I had waited nine months and finally secured a slot for the third week after the wedding.
It had been this hand’s last chance.
It had also been our promised “honeymoon.”
Tears struck the pillow before I could stop them.
Massimo hurried to clasp my left hand.
“Elliott, we still have options. I’ll throw money at it. The best neurosurgeons in the world—I’ll bring them to you one by one. We still have our whole lives—”
I pulled my hand away in disgust.
“Our whole lives?”
“But I don’t want a whole life with you anymore.”
His expression froze, bit by bit.
“What do you mean? Elliott, why do you have to—”
The door to the hospital room opened.
Aiden stood in the doorway, his eyes swollen beyond recognition. He did not even dare come in.
“Elliott, I’m sorry. If I hadn’t upset you, you wouldn’t have been hurt like this. Hit me.”
He rushed in, grabbed my left hand, and started slapping himself with it.
Again and again, crying as he apologized.
“Aiden!”
Massimo was horrified and moved to stop him, only for Aiden to shout hoarsely, “Don’t come over!”
And Massimo actually stopped.
He just stood there and watched, his eyes full of pain.
My wrist sank.
Borrowing Aiden’s own force, I struck him clean across the face.
“Get out.”
For one instant, shock flashed through Aiden’s eyes.
Then he covered his face and ran out crying.
At the door, he turned back and said, “I’ll leave New York. I’ll go to Europe. I won’t bother you two ever again.”
Massimo clenched his fists.
His feet moved instinctively, then stopped by force.
He looked at me, the corners of his eyes red.
“Are you satisfied now?”
“What good does it do you to push everyone to this point?”
“Elliott, you’re so selfish.”
From that day on, Aiden seemed to truly disappear from my life.
Massimo came to the hospital on time every day.
After I was discharged, he came home on time every night.
Three months passed, and our relationship seemed to return to what it used to be.
But that peace was as thin as blood-soaked gauze.
One touch, and it would tear.
After dinner one day, Massimo suddenly said, “There’s a problem with the Palermo route. A few old men asked for me by name. Three days. I’ll be back in three days.”
I gave a quiet hum without looking up.
He was silent for two seconds, then crouched in front of me and looked up at me.
“When I come back, can we go back to the way things were?”
Only then did I look at him, my gaze calm and utterly without ripples.
“Whatever you want.”
He pressed his lips together.
At last, he smiled and kissed the top of my head.
“I knew it. My Elliott is the most understanding person in the world.”
He took his robe and went into the bathroom.
The second the sound of running water began, my phone lit up.
Instagram.
Close Friends story.
One minute ago.
Aiden had posted a photo of an airport tarmac with a caption:
【Tomorrow, my love lands.】
Location: Palermo, Italy.
He had probably forgotten that years ago, he was the one who begged me to add him to Close Friends, saying, “We’re family for life.”
I had blocked every other way to contact him.
Only that green circle remembered for him.
“Hah.”
A mocking breath escaped my chest.
I booked a flight to Palermo for the next day.
After all, I had to see with my own eyes just how far they could take this betrayal.
The next day, before boarding, a message from my lawyer, Whitmore, came in.
【Mr. Vance: The marital property agreement notarized between you and Mr. Falcone seven years ago was jointly guaranteed by three senior members of the committee. Under the transfer clause, once you obtain evidence of substantial betrayal, all assets under Mr. Falcone’s name—including all equity in Falcone Holdings, the docks, and shipping routes—will be transferred to you immediately. The committee guarantees enforcement.】
I stared at the word “committee” for a long time.
Then I pulled the corner of my mouth up and replied with one word.
【Good.】
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