Chapter 3 She'll be fine
776 Words
The moment Dominick heard the name Evelyn, he bolted for the door.
He rushed out so fast that he knocked Charlotte to the floor without even noticing.
At that moment, his mind held only one person, Evelyn, the woman carrying his child.
The Lindseys followed right behind him.
Not a single one of them spared Charlotte even a glance.
By the time Charlotte reached Evelyn's hospital room, chaos had already erupted in the hallway.
A man stood there with bloodshot eyes, gripping a knife. Under the harsh fluorescent lights, the blade glinted coldly.
He stared at Evelyn, who cowered on the hospital bed.
"You! You heartless b***h! My wife and my child are dead, and you said they deserved it!"
Charlotte arrived, breathing hard. She turned to the nurse beside her, whose face had gone pale.
"What happened?"
"There was a major pileup this morning. His wife and child didn't make it. When she woke up, she complained that they had taken over the ward and said it brought bad luck. She even said something like they deserved to die anyway, and she was lucky it wasn't her." The nurse shook her head in disbelief.
"That's just cruel."
Charlotte wasn't surprised. She knew Evelyn too well. Evelyn had been spoiled rotten since childhood. Other people's suffering had never meant anything to her.
Evelyn shrank against the bed, but instead of apologizing, she lifted her chin stubbornly.
"Did I say anything wrong? Your wife had bad luck. She couldn't even keep her baby alive. Why are you yelling at me? If you were capable, you would've saved them yourself! Serves you right for losing your whole family!"
That was the final spark. The man roared in rage and lunged forward with the knife!
"Evie!" Dominick reacted instantly. He rushed forward and threw himself over Evelyn, shielding her with his body.
The blade changed direction when it met his sudden movement.
The knife sliced through the air, straight toward Charlotte!
She didn't even have time to react.
Then a searing pain exploded through her right hand.
The blade tore across her wrist and the back of her hand, deep enough to expose bone.
Warm blood poured out instantly, soaking the sleeve of her white coat.
"Ah!"
But the scream echoing through the room came from Evelyn. She clung to Dominick, burying her face in his chest.
"Honey! I'm so scared! He was trying to kill me! I'm terrified!"
Dominick never looked back. All his attention was on Evelyn. He held her tightly and patted her back, his voice filled with a tenderness Charlotte had never heard before.
"It's okay, Evie. You're safe. I'm here. He can't hurt you."
Daniel, Harper, and Wyatt rushed over as well, surrounding the hospital bed.
"Evie, don't be afraid. I'm here!"
"Did you get hurt anywhere? Let me check!"
"Dominick, keep her safe!"
Their voices overlapped as they comforted her and checked her condition.
Not one of them noticed, only a few steps away, Charlotte was slowly sliding down the cold wall.
Her left hand pressed desperately against the wound on her right hand, but blood continued to seep through her fingers.
The violent agony made her vision blur. But the image before her was crystal clear. The Lindseys are crowding around Evelyn. Dominick was holding Evelyn as if she were the most fragile thing in the world.
The noise of the world seemed to fade away. All Charlotte could hear was her own heartbeat.
The last remaining glimmer of light in her eyes finally extinguished.
Security guards arrived and subdued the distraught man.
Only then did a nurse suddenly gasp.
"Oh my God! Dr. Lindsey, your hand!"
The shout made Dominick and the others turn around.
When Dominick saw the pool of blood on the floor and Charlotte's pale, ashen face, his eyes widened.
"Charlotte... You..."
He started to move toward her. But Evelyn grabbed his clothes, crying harder.
"Don't leave me! My belly hurts! I'm so scared!"
Harper glanced at Charlotte. A flicker of concern passed through her eyes.
But in the end, she only said, "Dominick, don't worry. She's a surgeon herself. She'll be fine."
Wyatt didn't even bother to look at Charlotte.
"Why do you care about her? She stitched up Evie's wound so badly before. If her hand got cut, it's karma."
Charlotte watched them silently. And suddenly, the pain stopped mattering.
She managed a faint, fleeting smile.
On the way to the emergency room, she was strangely calm.
When the emergency doctor saw her hand, he inhaled sharply.
"Dr. Lindsey... Your tendons and nerves are severed. Even if we reconnect them with surgery, your hand may never..."
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