His Wicked Obsession (Archer and Virginia) novel Chapter 472

This time, Madeline didn't look back. Step by firm step, she walked out of the visitation room.

...

Three days later, in the VIP ward on the top floor of Capital City General Hospital.

The air conditioning hummed silently, chasing away the summer heat outside.

Virginia wore a minimalist white French blouse and light blue straight-leg jeans, her long hair casually pinned up with a claw clip.

She sat by the edge of the bed, her hands tightly gripping Archer's large but slightly cold hand.

The heart monitor beside them beeped with a steady, rhythmic cadence.

The man in the bed was pale. The collar of his dark gray hospital gown hung slightly open, revealing a broad, pale chest wrapped in thick layers of bandages.

In this state, he had lost his usual unapproachable, commanding aura, replacing it with a rare and heart-wrenching vulnerability.

His brow was slightly furrowed, as if trapped in a restless nightmare. Her eyes reddening, Virginia reached out and gently smoothed the tense lines between his eyebrows.

At The Rusty Hub Scrapyard three days ago, the switchblade had missed his heart by a mere half-inch. The emergency surgery alone had taken a full twenty-four hours.

Thinking back to that terrifying moment made her pupils constrict in fear.

She lowered her eyelashes, her thumb gently stroking his prominent knuckles. "Archer, when are you going to wake up? Cindy has asked about you so many times. If you don't wake up soon, I don't know how much longer I can hide this from her..."

Suddenly, the fingers resting in her palm twitched.

Virginia's breath caught in her throat. She looked up in disbelief, terrified that she was hallucinating.

She watched as his thick eyelashes fluttered, his eyes darting rapidly beneath his lids. A second later, he slowly opened them.

Terrified of pulling his stitches, Virginia yielded to his grip and sat back down on the edge of the bed.

"Back then, at the beach." Archer's voice was hoarse and gravelly from his long sleep, but he emphasized every single word. "The one who saved me... was you."

She froze.

The memory of that chaotic accident from so many years ago slowly surfaced in her mind.

She had gone to the beach with The Suttons that year. In the midst of the chaos, she really had saved a drowning teenage boy. But because it was such an emergency, the moment she finished CPR and confirmed he was breathing, The Suttons had forcefully dragged her away.

She had never even gotten a clear look at the boy's face.

"That was... you?" Virginia looked at him, utter shock flashing in her clear eyes.

Archer swallowed hard, his large hand gripping hers with every ounce of strength he had, terrified she would disappear. "Yes. Why didn't you ever say anything?"