Chapter 222 – Second Chance Love of the Missing Groom Novel

“Okay, I will,” she replied.

“Get here as fast as you can.”

Abigail was actually a little anxious since there were no taxis in sight at the moment. It must be serious, too -Stephen could lose cornposure before.

While she was lucky to catch a taxi soon, it still took her half an hour to reach Melville Hospital.

The instant she arrived, a nurse approached her. “Dr. Carr wants you in the OR, stat.”

“The OR?” Abigail was puzzled. “An unscheduled surgery?”

“Yes,” the nurse replied. “A patient was rushed in unconscious. Things look bad, and Dr. Carr himself is operating on her.”

Abigail understood then and quickly scrubbed up before heading into the OR, and walked up to Stephen when she saw him. “Dr. Carr.”

Stephen looked up and said, “Over here.”

On approach, Abigail saw that it was a craniotomy instead of the usual thoracic surgery… and as if realizing right then, she glanced at the patient’s face.

It really was Layla.

Even as Abigail’s face turned pale, Stephen told her, “Mick rushed her here when she suddenly fainted. Imaging showed a brain hemorrhage, and it was very urgent so I had to get involved-I want to save her too…”

Abigail paid him no attention-all she knew was that she had to save Layla, because Diarmuid had just found Layla and she could not even remember him!

Nonetheless, the ECG suddenly started beeping, while another nurse cried, “Blood pressure dropping!” “Patient is going into cardiac arrest!”

As everything seemed to go wrong all at once, Stephen actually lost composure at the surgical table.” Shit.”

“Cardiopulmonary bypass,” Abigail said.

Everyone from the nurses to the assistants tried their best to help, while Stephen passed Abigail the scalpel. “Here.”

Abigail’s eyes widened-she had never performed a craniotomy before, and it was risky.

That was when the ECG flatlined.

Abigail forced herself to stay calm. “I’ll resuscitate the patient.”

“It won’t work.” Stephen said-he knew from the start that the surgery itself was almost hopeless.

In fact, he called in Abigail because he had his own agenda.

“You never know until you try!” Abigail snapped, ignoring him and pressing her full weight on Layla’s ribs, pumping as hard as she could.

It was taxing, and she was soon sweating buckets.

Even though beads of sweat as large as peas trickled off her hair and rained over Layla’s face, she did not give up.

“I’ll save her! I won’t let her die!”

As there was still no response on the ECG, she tried the defibrillators next.

Although Layla’s body rose inches into the air from the jolt, it landed heavily soon after, and there was still no response.

“Vitals lost,” someone said.

Abigail flipped out right then. “Who was that?!”

She would save Layla whatever it took-that was the only thought on Abigail’s mind, because Layla was Diarmuid’s only family and she mattered to him.

However, even as Abigail continued with defibrillation, Layla’s body only moved in response to the jolt, but her vitals were not recovering at all.

Eventually, Stephen stopped her futile efforts. “It’s been half an hour. It’s the same even if you keep going…

Abigail’s eyes were red. “How did this happen? How?!”

Stephen actually averted his eyes, and turned toward everyone else, gesturing for them to leave.

Abigail was not aware, but everyone there was loyal to him.

After all, he had instructed many interns, and it was no issue finding a handful whom he could trust..

“Abigail,” he said after picking his words. “We need to talk.”

Abigail was standing stiffly by the surgical table, however, watching Layla’s lifeless body as if she could not hear him.

It was as if she had fallen into an icy abyss, enveloped by coldness and darkness, with nothing able to reach her.

Her mind was empty… until Stephen barked at her, “She’s dead, even if you don’t want to admit it!”

Abigail turned stiffly toward Stephen then. “You knew-you knew that she couldn’t be saved from the start.”

“Yes.” Stephen did not deny it.

Abigail’s eyes were very red. “Why didn’t you send her to another hospital? There might have been a chance.

“There was none. It happened out of the blue, and she was already in a coma when she was brought here.”

Stephen closed his eyes-this was neither what he wanted nor what he wanted to see. However, he also knew that he called Abigail here for this very moment, even though it would completely be against her will.

“There’s something I want to ask of you-I want you to announce that you’re the one who performed the surgery on her.”

What?!

At that very moment, she realized that she had worshiped the wrong person.

“I know that you’ll no longer respect me after I ask this,” Stephen sighed. “But if you don’t do it, neither Mick nor myself will survive this.”

Abigail’s lips curled up in a cold smile, and she rasped, “Did you think Diarmuid will spare Mick just because I announced that I killed her? You don’t know the man.”

“Actually, I do,” Stephen replied quietly. “As a citizen of Cloud City, it’s inevitable that I’d hear a thing or two-that’s exactly why I’m asking for your help.”

Abigail was left at a loss of words. “So, you knew there’s no saving her, and you called me here to become your scapegoat?”

“Yes,” Stephen admitted, looking her in the eye as he said so. “I know it’s out of line and absolutely terrible. for you, but there’s no other choice. This is the only way I can save Mick-he’s genuinely in love with Yvaine, and he was the one who carried her to me. She was barely alive, and he begged me to save her. Her injury was so extensive even needed a kidney transplant, and he did not hesitate to give his kidney to her.”

“Miraculously, they were a match. Mick is the reason Yvaine survived this long, and I don’t want him to suffer Diarmuid Althoff’s wrath because of this. Yes, there might’ve been hope to turn things around if Yvaine survived, but she’s dead, and there’s no doubt that Diarmuid will blame Mick after he made her lose. her memories. It’s not to mention that the inhibitor chip was exactly why she died anyway.”

“But you’re different. You’re Diarmuid’s wife, and if you claimed that it was a mishap in the surgical process and not the chip, he wouldn’t be that eager for reprisals.”

Abigail simply thought it hilarious. “Yvaine died because of Mick’s selfishness. Yes, he saved her at first, but he also killed her, didn’t he? He wanted that inhibitor chip planted because he wanted her to forget the past, and if it was never implanted, it would never have caused her coma. Are you saying that he’s not a murderer for that? Don’t you think that Diarmuid should get revenge as Yvaine’s son?”

“Mick genuinely loved Yvaine,” Stephen replied.

He did not shy from asking Abigail to sacrifice herself because he wanted to save Mick. After being friends. for years with the man, he knew how Mick felt toward Yvaine.

“Sure he is, but does Yvaine really love him back? If she did, why would she have married Andrew Althoff? Moreover, did he have Yvaine’s permission to implant that chip?”

Abigail was convinced that Mick was selfish-he had stolen Yvaine’s memories, and used love to disguise his crime of stealing another man’s wife and a boy’s mother.

“I won’t agree to this-no way. I won’t allow this to drive a wedge between my husband and myself, and you keep saying that Mick loves Yvaine, but that’s coercion more than anything.”

“It’s love,” Stephen insisted.

“I won’t agree to this.” Abigail was resolute.

“Can’t you do me this favor, seeing that I defended you before?”

“No. I’m grateful that you were on my side against Whitney Cox, and I’ll always remember that. However, this isn’t something I can help with-Diarmuid has a right to know the truth, and none of us can take that away from him.”

Stephen understood that he had no choice then. “Alright.”

Heaving a deep sigh, he stepped outside and called Mick.

When Mick entered, Stephen said, “I’ve done all I could.”

It was obvious what Stephen meant, and Mick was left staring at him with beady eyes. “Would she have lived, if I’d agreed to the surgery sooner…?”

Stephen hung his head but said nothing-that was exactly the case.

Yvaine’s headache had happened for a while, but it was Mick’s inability to find the resolve to remove the inhibitor chip that led to this tragedy.

Abigail was right about one thing: he had saved Yvaine, but he had also killed her.

Mick sighed and walked to the surgical table, and shuddered at the sight of Yvaine’s lifeless body.

He dropped to his knees with a loud thud, grasping her hand as he sobbed, his shoulders shaking as he did so. “Layla… It’s my fault. It’s all my fault… If only I’d agreed to the surgery sooner, this wouldn’t have happened… It’s all my fault…”

Mick started to bang his head against the floor, but Stephen kept his eyes closed and did not stop him.

Soon, Mick’s tears and snot were covering his face. It was as if he had been pulled into another world of sorrow beyond measure, and amid the overwhelming grief, he seemingly forgot that there were still people there with him, or the impression he was leaving.

“What am I going to do without you…” He was choking back his tears, and even as he kissed her hand, his tears pooled on the ground. “Piease, don’t leave me…”

Even Abigail turned away then, realizing that she could feel that Mick genuinely loved Yvaine. Perhaps his selfishness and misguidedness was because he was so lost in love with her.

Taking off her surgical mask, she stepped out of the operating room and into the walkway, where she stood, staring blankly into the air.

“Dr. Bernstein?” a nurse asked as she approached her.

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