Chapter 8
As soon as I agreed, a familiar tugging sensation engulfed me. Then, my surroundings dissolved into a blanket of blinding white.
When my vision cleared, I found myself standing right outside the hospital’s ICU. The corridor reeked of disinfectant that made my stomach churn.
Beyond the glass door of the ICU lay a version of myself I barely recognized. It was Caroline’s body, her face deathly pale.
A web of tubes ran from her body to the surrounding machines. The flickering waveforms on the screen were the only sign that she still clung to life.
Standing guard by her bed was a figure so thin he was almost unrecognizable. It was Albus.
I remembered him, neatly dressed in his white lab coat, his tone gentle as he recounted funny moments from his experiments.
But now, his hair was a disheveled mess. It clung to his forehead unevenly.
The white lab coat that once fit him perfectly now hung loosely on his frame as if draped over a rack of bones.
He crouched by the bed and clutched the patient’s wrist tightly. Staring blankly at the monitors, his spirit was seemingly long gone.
Then, I pushed the door open and stepped inside. The floor creaked under my weight.
Albus reacted as if a start button had been pressed. His head snapped up instantly. He tried to speak, but his voice failed him. For a long moment, no sound came out. Eventually, a dry, rasping sound rattled from his throat. It sounded like the wheezing of a rusted bellow.
“Carol?” he asked tentatively, his voice so raspy it was barely recognizable. “Is it you? Is it really you?”
At that, I let out a sigh. Then, I replied, “You’ve lost so much weight.”
Albus broke down, tears streaming down his face as he carefully offered me a pastry from the desk. “I know these are your favorite, so I bought out every last one in the city. Please, try one…”
I took one, put it down, and indifferently replied, “They’re too sweet. I’ve outgrown them.”
When he heard that, his hand jerked to a halt, and he wept all the harder.
Ignoring his grief, I said, “Get Martin, Oscar, and Nathan. I need to speak to them.”
They arrived quickly, the sound of their footsteps growing louder as they approached.
Oscar came in on a crutch, walking with a pronounced limp. His complexion was even paler than Albus’, while his gaze was heavy with exhaustion and despondency.
Once, this was the dashing superstar who had always shielded me. Now, he could barely even stand.
Then came Martin, the ever-calm, all-powerful head of the Berglings. He was dressed in a black long-sleeved shirt, but his
sleeves couldn’t mask the scars on his wrists.
It was a dense patchwork of old and new injuries-a truly gruesome sight to behold.
Martin spoke first. “You’re back,” he said, his voice carrying an unmistakable tremor.
Oscar staggered toward me, his eyes red with unshed tears. “Carol, I failed you… You can hit me or yell at me, do whichever you want. Please don’t leave again, okay?”
Agitated, they both reached for my arm. However, I stepped back with a frown, irritation written on my face. “Do not come any closer,” I warned.
At that moment, a sudden flurry of footsteps echoed from the hallway. It was Nathan.
Chapter 8
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I could hardly recognize him. Once the most dazzling figure in Heidorot’s elite, his hair was now stark white. There was a frantic, almost crazy look in his eyes.
His gaze was pinned on me as he approached, one heavy step at a time.
“Carol… my Carol…” he mumbled.
Nathan reached out to pull me into an embrace, but I stepped aside, letting him grasp at nothing.
Hands suspended in the air, despair flooded his features as he continued, “Carol, we learned our lesson. Please give us another chance. Just one?”
“I’m only back because this world is on the brink of collapse. I won’t let your obsession drag more innocent people into it.
Then, my gaze swept over the lifeless body on the bed.
“Stop lying to yourselves,” I added, my tone dripping with sarcasm. “Do you really think keeping her on life support while messing around with pointless occult rituals will bring her back? Caroline died a long time ago. That thing lying there is nothing more than a soulless husk.”
Only When I Gave Up Did They Care
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