Chapter 149: Premonition
I crashed on my bed without even bothering to change when I got home.
Ronan and Helen could tell I was in a mood, so they left me alone.
My sleep was a mess, full of whacked-out nightmares. Crazy scenes, shifting faces, and streets kept popping up like ghosts.
When I finally woke up, I felt like I'd been hit by a truck—sore all over and totally wiped out.
After breakfast, I wanted to hit up the hospital, but Ronan and Helen weren't having it. They both had to work and didn't want me going solo, worried I'd get messed with again.
"Mom, Brad's there. He'll have my back. If I don't go, Brad's gonna be fighting this alone, and that's just sad. I gotta help him."
Ronan and Helen knew how stubborn I could be, so they drove me to the hospital and made me promise to call if anything went south.
I didn't know if it was Helen's slap that freaked Emma out, but when I walked into the ward, she just gave me the cold shoulder, staring me down without a word.
If she didn't wanna talk, whatever. I was not here for her anyway. If she couldn't respect me, I didn't owe her anything either!
I was kinda pissed too, so I ignored her and sat next to Brad to keep him company.
"You didn't sleep well, did you? You look beat." Brad brushed my hair back and whispered.
Emma's icy glare was on us, so I leaned in closer to Brad, whispering loud enough for everyone to hear, "I was worried about you getting messed with and couldn't sleep."
Brad glanced at Emma, trying not to laugh, and playfully flicked my nose before kissing my cheek.
Emma looked like she wanted to rip me apart, clenching her teeth.
It's been four days, and Daniel still wasn't waking up.
We kept bugging the doctor, and he always said Daniel's body was fine, but he wasn't waking up 'cause of some psychological stuff. Like, he had no will to live.
Brad stayed by his side 24/7, handling everything himself, and he was looking skinnier by the day.
I felt bad for him but didn't know how to help.
When it was just us in the ward, Brad would rest his head on my shoulder. I knew he was drained, both physically and mentally.
Hugh's silence and Emma's harsh words had turned Brad's heart cold.
And I was the only warmth he had left.
With Daniel not waking up, Emma stopped giving me a hard time and started going off on Brad, saying all kinds of nasty stuff. Some of it was aimed at me, but she didn't have the guts to say it straight up.
The Emma I knew had turned into a total shrew.
Brad couldn't eat or sleep, smoking all night long. Every morning when I came, the smell of smoke on him made my nose stuffy.
Hugh and Emma's lack of understanding, Daniel's condition, and our messed-up love weighed Brad down, making him quieter each day.
Brad had been ditched by his own family.
My sympathy for Daniel vanished because of how they treated Brad.
I hated how Daniel's self-imposed misery was dragging me down too.
I thought I'd be butting heads with Daniel for the rest of my life.
Brad was totally wiped, so I dragged him to the smoking room to chill.
He held me tight, whispering all raspy, "What am I gonna do, what am I gonna do."
Before I could even think of how to comfort him, Emma's wailing echoed down the hallway again.
We bolted out and saw the nurse rushing Daniel back into the ER. The nurse was yelling so loud it made my ears ring. "Didn't I tell you to take good care of him? How did this happen again?"
The glaring red letters above the double doors of the ER stung my eyes, making every inch of my body ache.
Brad stood by the window, stiff as a board.
I pulled out my phone to call Helen, but before I could even unlock it, Hugh collapsed backward, his head hitting the ground with a dull thud.
Seeing Hugh fall, Emma screamed and then collapsed too. Before passing out, she pointed at me and said, "Heartless, killer."
I was at a loss, Emma's accusation making me lose my cool, like something was slipping away fast, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't grab it.
At that moment, I really hated myself for not being able to fix anything. It wasn't my fault, yet I kept getting blamed and cursed. And I was powerless to change a damn thing.
Tears streamed down my face again. I felt wronged, sad, and cried uncontrollably.
Brad patted my head, called for a nurse in a hoarse voice, and ran down the hallway with the stretcher, disappearing from my sight.
I stood alone in front of the ER, crying until my tears dried up.
Brad came back, sat beside me, and painfully grabbed his hair, growling like a trapped beast.
"Brad, don't be like this. You're scaring me."
I grabbed Brad's hand. His hand was so cold, and I couldn't warm it up.
He suddenly pulled his hand away, clenching his right hand, and punched the wall hard.
For the sake of his family, Brad finally lost his cool.
The wall was fine, only leaving a few faint bloodstains.
Brad's hand hung by his side, trembling slightly. Blood dripped onto the floor, but he seemed oblivious.
My heart felt like it had been sawed open, with cold wind rushing in and hot blood gushing out.
I picked up Brad's badly injured hand and took him to get it bandaged. Brad resisted, but he couldn't withstand my pleading eyes, complying silently.
After bandaging his hand, we returned to the ER and sat on the cold bench, waiting.
The doctor came out, took off his mask, and leaned against the door, clearly exhausted. "The patient is temporarily out of danger but needs to stay in the ICU for observation. One more time, and even God can't save him."
Emma, supported by Hugh, cried her heart out upon hearing the doctor's words.
With someone watching over Daniel, I took Brad to the same terrace as before.
Brad leaned weakly against the railing, his despair and pain so deep.
"Baby, so much has happened recently, and you've suffered. I'm sorry."
My tears welled up again.
Every time I cried, I thought I had run out of tears, but the next time, they would still flow like a stream, and I could never wipe them all away.
Look, this was my Brad, the one I liked and who liked me.
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