Chapter 124 A Dreadful Set of Circumstances
Jean woke up in a hospital room. A doctor held up a flashlight. “Look to the left. Look up… How many fingers is this? I’m your attending physician, Dr. Fuller. Can you hear my voice?”
Jean watched as the doctor waved his hand toward her. The doctor’s lips were moving, yet there was not a single sound.
She turned blankly to the nurse documenting her vital signs, the medical equipment, and the trees swaying outside the window. She stroked the blanket in her lap and shook her head slowly.
I can’t hear anything. The doctor faced the nurse. “Contact her family members. We need to examine her again.”
“Yes, Dr. Fuller.” Jean peered through the door and saw a few people waiting outside. She was exhausted, and with the effects of her medications, she went out like a light.
When she opened her eyes again, it was nighttime. She still couldn’t hear a thing. Jean held on to the nurse, changing out a drip. She spoke slowly. “How’s the person who came with me?”
“Are you talking about Ben Ludwig?” The nurse was about to explain when she realized that Jean couldn’t hear. She took out her phone and typed it in.
Jean’s hand trembled as she read the nurse’s explanation. Ben had realized the brakes weren’t working when they passed the first bend.
They wouldn’t be able to stop for a pit stop even if they tried to. In the emergency, Ben could only work with Jean to slow down the car by downshifting.
However, it wasn’t working for them at the speed they were going at. Ben made a bold decision, hoping they would survive. He made sure Jean held on, and he spun the steering wheel. The car rushed up the low slopes by the track.
He knew that there was an obstacle at that spot. As the car rammed into it, he shielded Jean. The image of the scene kept repeating in Jean’s mind.
She would never forget the words he whispered in her ear. A tear fell from her eye.
She looked at the phone screen again. Ben Ludwig’s legs and spinal nerves are affected. He has undergone surgery and is now under observation, but he’s not out of danger yet. Spinal nerves?
Jean had a bad feeling. Before she could return the phone, the door was hurled open. Farra barged in with a few people behind her. “You scum, why are you already awake? You should die…”
Farra yelled fiercely. She looked daggers at Jean as if she wanted to shred her apart. But Jean didn’t hear a single word. She blankly watched as Farra lunged towards her and yanked her hair, ragingly angry.
Jean’s thoughts became clearer with the pain. Did something happen to Ben?
“Madam, please calm down.” A few people tried to pull Farra away. Farra wailed and eventually collapsed on the floor, sobbing. Jean raised her quivering hand and pulled the nurse. “Ben, what happened to Ben?”
Her voice was shaking. Her eyes were unfocused. Why? Why couldn’t she hear?
What were they saying?
Jean was on the verge of a breakdown. Farra was even more enraged at Jean’s confused expression. She rushed toward the bed and struck Jean across the face.
Jean crouched on the floor. She realized she could hear after the rumbling in her ears went away. Farra dragged her by the collar. “You must pay for my son’s life!”
Jean rubbed her ears as her breath quickened. “So, what happened to Ben?”
She stared at Farra with red eyes.
“Mr. Ludwig’s spinal nerves are injured. The doctor examined him and came to the decision of amputation to save his life.” Mr. Coleman explained as he pulled Farra away.
Jean froze. She stumbled through the people in the room and dashed to Ben’s room.
Her mind was blank as she stared at the unconscious man in the bed.
Edgar had gone to the hospital director’s office as a sponsor. As he left the office, he met Jean barefooted in the corridor. She was staring intently into the room.
Farra was standing behind Jean, cursing her out.
“Mr. Royden, should we stop her?”
Edgar lifted his hand and walked toward them.
Farra tugged at Jean’s clothes relentlessly. “Tell me, what happened? There were only the two of you in that car.”
Why was it her son who was lying in the room and not Jean? She was seething with hatred.
Farra was aware of Ben’s love for Jean.
She couldn’t accept the fact that her son was injured badly, but Jean escaped with light injuries.
She raised her hand, ready to strike Jean again.
Jean didn’t flinch.
But the slap never came.
“Mrs. Ludwig, this is an accident. You shouldn’t take your anger out on her.” Edgar managed to stop Farra in mid-action.
“An accident? That’s impossible!”
Farra widened her eyes in anger. As she was about to curse them out, Myer came to stop her.
“That’s enough. The most important thing now is for Benny to wake up. Is there any help if you hit her?” The corner of his eyes was red. Ben was their one and only son.
Their dear son, but things turned out…
Ally’s parents followed behind Myer. Ally was shielded behind them. “Mr. Ludwig, don’t worry too much. If there’s anything you need help with, do tell us. Since there’s so many of you here, we’ll leave first.”
“You…”
Farra was speechless. She thought of them as family, but they were leaving when such an accident had happened?
Ally stood silently behind her parents.
Ally’s mother said in a low voice, “We have never officially agreed on the marriage. Ally is still so young. She can’t stay with a cripple for the rest of her life.”
“Leave!” Myer clenched his jaw.
Farra was sobbing in his arms.
The Sans family left the place immediately.
Looking through the window, Jean took a deep breath. She turned to Ben’s parents and kneeled before them.
Edgar furrowed his forehead, clenching his fists.
“I don’t need your apology. Get out of here now!” Farra yelled as she cried.
Jean hung her head. “I know there’s no point in apologizing. But for each day Ben stays unconscious, I’ll kneel here and beg for your forgiveness. If he really… I’ll give the rest of my life to him.”
If only she wasn’t in the car. If only Ben hadn’t shielded her at that moment.
He wouldn’t have had such an injury.
Myer was touched by Jean’s words. Even Farra, who was weeping, looked toward Jean confusedly. She snapped, “Who are you acting for? If it wasn’t for you, my son wouldn’t have…”
She passed out in midsentence.
“Doctor! Someone get a doctor!”
Jean stayed kneeling on the spot.
