At this moment, Louis was beyond reason. His hand, like a clamp, gripped the child’s neck, as if a slight squeeze would break it.
No one dared to intervene, as the intimidating presence emanating from Louis made everyone hesitant to approach, rendering the restroom momentarily silent.
Doctors and nurses rushed in, with Mrs. White shouting at Louis, “Louis, don’t do something foolish. The doctor will be here soon, Elisa will be fine. What you need to do now is stay by her side, not add another life on to your hands. How will you be by Elisa’s side then?”
Louis gradually calmed down, but his mind remained chaotic. He couldn’t forget Elisa lying on the ground, pale and covered in blood.
Elisa knew what was happening, she wanted to stop Louis from doing something foolish, but she was powerless. Her abdomen writhed in pain, her spine stinging, as if breaking piece by piece. She struggled to utter, “Louis…”
Her voice was too faint to be heard amid the crowd’s commotion.
But Louis, who had gripped the child’s neck, stiffened all over. Relaxing his shoulder, the force in his hand weakened. All his anger seemed to dissipate with Elisa’s gentle words, though his crimson eyes had yet to fade.
He dropped the child and ran to Elisa, lifting her up. His hands and arms were sticky with fresh blood, uncomfortable and repulsive. Louis’s eyes were so red they seemed ready to spill blood.
A woman holding a child, at this moment, dared not speak further. In the face of someone fiercer than her, shifting responsibility would only make her a target.
Louis carried Elisa out of the restroom and met the incoming doctors and nurses. The stretcher was waiting outside, and shakily, Louis placed Elisa on it.
Elisa was covered in blood, looking as if she had been dredged up from a pool of it.
He wanted to say something, but at that moment, he couldn’t even console himself, let alone comfort Elisa. Her white dress stained red, her face as pale as paper under the corridor lights.
Louis’s hands trembled. He attempted to wipe away the blood, but his hands were now soaked with hers. The more he wiped, the more blood there was, so he rigidly held his hands in midair.
At that moment, he felt a fear like never before. He truly loathed himself for allowing Elisa to suffer so much. If he had known it would cause her such pain, he never would have impregnated her in the first place.
He thought of Elisa’s struggles during the past eight months of pregnancy, of her lying in a pool of blood.
Following the stretcher, Louis’s steps faltered, nearly falling to his knees. Elisa half-closed her eyes, her face pallid, sobs escaping her throat, tears uncontrollably streaming down her cheeks.
“Elisa, promise me you’ll be alright…”
Elisa, gasping for breath, her gaze haunting, her abdomen swollen.
She grabbed Louis’s hand, “If… if I can’t make it, leaving behind two children, you must take good care of them… Do not be like my father… Don’t let them become like me… unwanted from birth… Promise me… Promise me… if anything happens to me, love them well.” Elisa beseeched him.
Elisa was taken to the emergency room, while Louis was left outside, leaning against the wall, his whole body covered in blood. He raised his hand, the blood dried by the wind, sticking in clumps between his fingers.
The doctor’s diagnosis was that Elisa’s condition was currently unstable. Twin pregnancies were already risky, and now with the complications of difficult labor, the chances of the twins surviving at eight months were relatively high, depending on the adults. The outcome of the surgery was uncertain; maternal mortality during difficult labor was not unheard of.
Pregnancy was like passing through the gates of hell for women.
Louis’s eyes reddened upon hearing this. “Proceed with the surgery immediately, do everything you can. I want her to live! I only want her to live!”
The hospital director, seeing Louis’s fierce expression, his heart skipping a beat, quickly nodded. “I understand.”
A tear fell into his palm, mingling with the blood remnants, creating a sticky, bloody mess.
The surgery lasted three hours, with some unexpected occurrences that necessitated a nurse bringing in bags of plasma hurriedly.
Louis sat by the door, his gaze vacant, watching the medical staff coming and going.
Mrs. White had injured her spine and scraped a large piece of skin from her knee. After receiving treatment, she called her lawyer to handle the day’s events. Then, she wheeled over to sit beside Louis, watching anxiously at the heavy surgical room door.
The children had already been delivered, a pair of dragon and phoenix twins. The nurse briefly showed them to the family before placing them in an incubator. Mrs. White stayed close to Louis, eyes glued to the surgical room door, praying for Elisa’s safe return.
“It will be okay. Elisa is a lucky child; she will surely come out safely…” She was well aware of the dangerous situation and the amount of blood shed. Her words now were merely words of comfort, as everything was still uncertain until Elisa emerged safely.
When Elisa was wheeled out of the operating room, Louis, stiffly, followed into the ward. Sweat covered his palms, his fists too tight to release, his hands still unwashed from the blood, damp and now dry.
He knelt by the bedside, seeing his hands, he quickly went to the bathroom to clean them with soap until the blood was gone. Returning to the bedside, he knelt on the floor, tightly holding Elisa’s hand, tears streaming down his face.
Elisa had nearly lost her life for these two children, and almost took his as well.
Louis clasped Elisa’s hand to his forehead, “I can’t leave you. If you go, I’ll go with you, leaving the children as orphans. So, Elisa, for the sake of the children or for me, do not give up your life.”
When Elisa woke up the next day, Louis, who hadn’t slept all night, had grown stubble on his face, prickling her palms.
Elisa’s consciousness was hazy, her abdomen throbbing in a tearing pain, gasping and groaning. Louis quickly called for help and administered painkillers.
After she took the medication, her dark eyes met Louis’s weary face.
The man before her stared at her with concern, his eyes bloodshot, with dark circles and swollen eyelids indicating tears shed. Louis had a touch of cleanliness OCD; even as a fool at the orphanage, he maintained hygiene and cleanliness, never allowing a stain on his pristine white shirt.