The ambulance arrives quickly.After the vehicle stops at the scene, several white-coated paramedics swarm out and efficiently lift Marcellus into the car in a hurry. Then the ambulance rushes all the way to the hospital.
Holding onto consciousness for fear that Katrina would be left alone to worry helplessly, Marcellus finally lets himself fall asleep.
Along the way, Katrina grasps Marcellus"s hands tightly, not daring to release it for a moment.
When the vehicle arrives at the hospital, the paramedics lift Marcellus out of the car and rush their way into the operating room.
Katrina waits outside the operating room alone, not relaxing even for a moment until she gets an update.
Ten minutes later, the doctor comes out of the operating room.
At the sight of the doctor, Katrina hurries over and asks, "Doctor, how is he?"
The doctor"s tone is brief but urgent as he replies, "Are you a family of the patient?"
"I"m his girlfriend."
"The patient is bleeding badly and has symptoms of shock. The operation must be carried out immediately. Please sign this."
Katrina takes the doc.u.ment from the doctor"s hand and quickly signs her name. With some nervousness and pleading in her voice, she says, "Doctor, please save him!"
Any girl would be sick with worry after witnessing her boyfriend being hit by a car. The thought of Marcellus lying in the cold operating room makes Katrina go cold with fear.
The doctor nods in understanding. "You can rest a.s.sured that we will do our best. This is the bill for the operation. Please pay for it first."
"I"ll do it now!"
It seems that the doctor will work harder to operate on Marcellus if she pays the bill first. Katrina takes the bill from the doctor and runs downstairs to the payment center. She needs to find something to do to keep her mind from imagining all kinds of horrible scenarios.
Waiting outside the operating room will make her go crazy.
Katrina stumbles all the way down the stairs and runs to the payment center on the first floor. After handing the bill to the medical staff, she takes out her bank card from her bag to pay with it.
Out of extreme nervousness and panic, she accidentally enters the wrong pa.s.sword twice in a row. She"s so anxious that she"s about to cry.
Fortunately, on the third try, the payment successfully goes through.
The medical staff has been working in the hospital for a year. Naturally, she has seen all kinds of people in various states of distress.
Seeing Katrina"s pale face and low spirits, she knows that something must have happened to someone important to her to make her behave like this. The staff doesn"t criticize her for wasting time by entering the pa.s.sword incorrectly, looking at her a trace of sympathy.
After paying the operation fee, Katrina is ready to go back upstairs to the operating room and continue waiting. There are so many people walking through the hall, and she accidentally b.u.mps into a nurse.
Clang!
The tray in the nurse"s hands falls to the ground with a sharp noise. The gauzes, sterile cotton, and used syringes scatter all over the floor.
"Sorry! I"m so sorry!" Katrina quickly bows her head to apologize, squatting down and helping the nurse to pick up the items.
It"s easy to make mistakes at such a crucial time, and Katrina"s mind is in such a mess.
"Don"t touch it!"
Just as Katrina moves to pick up the syringe with her hand, a sudden force grabs her arm.
For medical reasons, used syringes are meant to be disposed of as medical waste. The needle could have been in contact with blood carrying a highly infectious virus. People shouldn"t rashly touch it by hand like this. It can be very dangerous and might infect the person.
This is the most basic rule for medical staff. The nurse doesn"t hesitate to grab Katrina"s arm.
At the familiar voice, Katrina subconsciously looks up to see a familiar face.
Farrah!
Farrah is putting the syringes back onto the tray with her gloved hands when she hears her name. Looking up, she is surprised to see that the person in front of her is Katrina.
"Katrina! It"s you!" she exclaims. "What are you doing in the hospital so late? What happened?"
Katrina seems to be acting a weird little today. She looks sad and a little pale, and she"s behaving carelessly. After b.u.mping into her just now, she was about to grab the syringe with her bare hands.
She doesn"t seem to be acting herself right now.
Farrah blinks in surprise when she notices the paid bill in Katrina"s hands. "Katrina, what is going on?"
Who is in the hospital?
Who are the bills for?
Katrina feels desperate and helpless at the situation. In the face of her best friend"s presence and concern, she finds support amidst her distress.
"Farrah, Marcellus... He got into a car accident."
Katrina takes a deep breath and continues, "After he drove me back home, he was. .h.i.t by a car just outside our neighborhood. He pushed me out of the way, but he was. .h.i.t instead… He was b.l.o.o.d.y all over and now… He"s in the operating room."
Katrina"s voice becomes lower as she speaks, becoming nasal by the time she is finished.
Farrah is shocked at the news, but she still quickly recovers to comfort Katrina. "Katrina, don"t panic. Marcellus will be okay! Don"t worry. I"ll ask my colleagues about the operation right now."
Farrah quickly helps Katrina stand up.
After disposing of the medical waste in her hands, she takes Katrina to the bathroom to wash her hands. Then she accompanies her back to the operating room.
"Katrina, stay here for a while, and I"ll be right back," Farrah says, settling Katrina on a bench outside the operating room. Then she makes her way inside, scrubbing in before entering the operating room.
Katrina sits alone on the bench, and her head bowed down in misery. She curls in against herself, looking small and helpless.
This is all her fault.
She shouldn"t have let Marcellus drive her home. He was. .h.i.t by a car because he saved her. It wouldn"t have happened if not for her. He wouldn"t have ended up like this if not for her.
Katrina feels extremely regretful.
At the other end of the corridor, a tall figure watches Katrina in secret. His deep black eyes look sad as he watches her.
While Katrina is worried about another man inside the operating room, someone else is concerned about her.
Looking at her small body curling up in a ball pathetically, he gets the urge to hold her in his arms.
After all, Aaron loves Katrina.