Chapter 186 Gone Mad
"Mr. Heilbronn, she's here," Zack said.
The expert, a female doctor in her fifties, greeted them briefly before they all got into the elevator.
Zack led the way. As they neared Chelsea's room, they heard crying from inside.
They all paused, exchanging glances.
Nathaniel quickly opened the door. Chelsea was awake, sitting up with messy hair, clutching the blanket, and looking vacant.
Seeing them, she looked terrified and cried, "Stay away! I didn't hurt you. Go find someone else."
She was muttering the same nonsense as Maria had.
Norman was sobbing, "Poor Chelsea, how did you end up like your mother?"
Seeing the situation, the director asked Nathaniel, "Mr. Heilbronn, should we call a neurologist?"
Nathaniel nodded, "Quickly!"
He walked in, trying to calm Chelsea down. "Chelsea, it's me!"
She didn't look at him, just kept shouting, "Stay away! The father of my child is the president of Heilbronn Group. He'll give you whatever you want, just don't hurt the baby!"
Nathaniel's mood plummeted once again. He had hoped that this time, bringing in a specialist would finally cure Chelsea's condition. He had repaid her debts, and as for the baby, he had promised to provide a substantial sum for its care.
Now, it seemed like there were new complications.
In addition to her heart condition, she had developed new problems.
Soon, the hospital director arrived with a psychiatrist in tow. Everyone cleared a path at the entrance as the doctor entered and began a thorough examination of Chelsea.
"Mr. Heilbronn, Miss Thompson has schizophrenia. She'll have good and bad periods. Stress makes her unstable, but she'll return to normal after a while."
Nathaniel understood it was selective madness.
"Can it be controlled?" he asked.
The doctor shook his head, "It's tough to treat. Some patients have it for life, though active treatment can help. But no one can say how long it will take."
Nathaniel felt overwhelmed. Heart disease, now schizophrenia—he felt tied to her for life.
He turned to the heart specialist, "Can you assess her now?"
The specialist shook his head, "No, we need to wait for her to calm down."
Chelsea continued to spiral into a frenzy. Her eyes darted wildly at the specialist from Melicia, and her agitation only grew. She babbled incoherently, desperately trying to retreat, her face twisted in terror as if she'd seen a ghost.
The psychiatrist immediately noticed her reaction and quickly ushered everyone out of the room.
"Right now, the patient is feeling quite scared. It's best if everyone stays away; it's not good for her condition."
They all left the room, out of Chelsea's sight.
The specialist's visit was pointless. Nathaniel told Zack to ensure the doctor got back safely.
The psychiatrist used some techniques to calm Chelsea down, and soon she was more relaxed.
When Nathaniel came back, she was lying quietly, even looking at her phone.
Seeing Nathaniel alone, Chelsea seemed more at ease. She put down her phone and slowly sat up. "Nathaniel, I had a bad dream. We both fell into the ocean, and no matter how hard I swam, I couldn't move or bring you to shore."
Nathaniel, who feared water, felt uneasy hearing this.
"Nathaniel, you said you'd marry me when I turned twenty, right?" Chelsea counted on her fingers. "I'm nineteen now, and in half a month, I'll be twenty. Can we tie the knot on my birthday?" She looked at him expectantly.
Nathaniel's heart sank. She seemed to think she was still nineteen. He had promised to marry her back then.
If Aurelia hadn't come into his life, he might have married Chelsea. But now, he was married to Aurelia and had a baby with her. That promise was impossible to keep.
"Chelsea, you're twenty-three now," he said.
Chelsea's smile faded. "Nathaniel, are you feeling okay? What are you talking about?"
She touched his forehead, then her own, and concluded, "No fever. Nathaniel, let's buy the rings now. We only have half a month left, and you haven't proposed yet. We haven't taken our wedding photos. You promised me a grand wedding. Don't lie to me!"
Nathaniel licked his dry lips, unsure of what to say in the face of the innocent, nineteen-year-old Chelsea. At that age, she was never one to make threats or use manipulation. She was simply a naive, straightforward girl.
The psychiatrist, still in the room, said, "Mr. Heilbronn, she can't handle any more stress. She might go completely mad and never recover. It's best to meet her demands as much as possible."
Norman knelt in front of Nathaniel, pleading, "Please, don't stress her out anymore. Cure her. I don't care about my life, but I must save my daughter!"
Nathaniel had never felt so desperate. He clenched his fists, veins bulging, wishing he could take her illness upon himself to repay her.
After leaving the consultation room, he stood alone in the endless night, his back against the dark void. He drank through all the liquor stashed in the trunk of his car, yet he remained baffled by Chelsea's condition. This was the greatest challenge he had ever faced in his life.
He owed her a life, and then, in a drunken haze, he had taken her innocence and left her pregnant.
If she were to lose her sanity, he couldn't simply ignore it and let her fate unravel.
His conscience was in turmoil.
Zack had never seen their formidable CEO so utterly defeated, numbing himself with alcohol in such a state of despair.
"Mr. Heilbronn, should I take you home first?"
Nathaniel sat in the back seat, silent. After a while, he said, "Take me to Aurelia's place."
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