Chapter 73: The perfect match...
Charis
When we arrived at the hospital, there was already a group of doctors and nurses waiting for us in an underground passage with a gurney. The efficiency was impressive and somewhat intimidating—clearly, this wasn’t their first emergency involving Rhett.
Immediately, they surrounded Rhett and transferred him from the ambulance stretcher to their equipment.
Slater, Kael, and I followed the gurney using a VIP elevator that required a special key card to access. We ascended to what was the VIP floor. Everything here was more luxurious, quieter, with wider corridors and expensive artwork on the walls.
Rhett was immediately wheeled into surgery, disappearing behind the doors marked "AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY." The finality of those doors closing hit me harder than I’d expected.
Kael settled onto one of the leather benches in the waiting area, but for some unknown reason, I felt incredibly anxious. I tried not to overthink the situation, but my body wouldn’t cooperate. I started pacing the length of the corridor, my nervous energy needing an outlet.
Slater wasn’t pacing, but he was leaning against the wall, scrolling through his phone with the kind of forced casualness that suggested he was just as worried as I was but handling it differently.
After watching me wear a path in the expensive carpet for several minutes, Kael stood up and gently stopped me from pacing.
"I-I don’t know how they’re in there," I admitted. "I’m scared, Kael. He was just fine this morning. Didn’t we all eat together?" As I spoke, my voice shook with tears.
"Rhett will be fine," he said quietly, his voice carrying that steady confidence I was beginning to rely on. "Dr. Maxwell is a good doctor."
I nodded, wanting to believe him, and let Kael pull me to sit on the waiting bench beside him. Without saying anything, he pulled off his jacket and draped it over my shoulders. The gesture was so naturally caring that it made my chest tight with emotion.
We all fell into silence, the kind of heavy quiet that settles over people when someone they care about is fighting for their life just beyond their reach.