The Abandoned Wife Dumped Him First (Victoria and Elias) novel Chapter 420

Two weeks later.

Sunlight streamed through the window of the hospital room, illuminating dust motes dancing in the air.

Victoria sat on the edge of the bed as a nurse removed the IV line from the back of her hand. As the needle came out, a small red dot appeared, which she immediately pressed down with a cotton swab.

"You're recovering well, Miss Sanger. You can be discharged today," the nurse said, her tone professionally gentle as she tidied her supplies. "Remember to come back for your follow-up appointments, and be especially mindful of your emotions. You can't afford any more stress."

Victoria nodded, silently running her fingertips over her lower abdomen, a faint smile touching her lips.

Over the past two weeks, the cramping in her belly had ceased. Occasionally, she could feel a faint flutter, like a tiny fish blowing bubbles, announcing that the life within her was still vibrant.

Hawk had visited daily, bringing light soups, but he rarely mentioned Elias.

The door opened and Hawk walked in, carrying a paper bag. He was dressed in a well-pressed suit, a far cry from the disheveled state she had last seen him in, though the dark circles under his eyes were even deeper now, as if drawn with ink.

"All the paperwork is done," he said, placing the bag on the nightstand. His voice was flat. "I had your SIM card replaced and bought you a new phone. I've saved Mr. Shawn's number and my own in it. If you need anything after you leave, you can call me."

Victoria opened the bag. Inside was a silver smartphone, the screen still covered with a protective film.

She turned it on, her fingers sliding across the cool screen, feeling an emptiness in her heart.

"How…" Victoria began, her throat almost healed but her voice still raspy, "is he?"

Hawk's gaze darkened at the question. It took him a moment to answer. "Still in the ICU. The doctors say… it's not looking good."

Victoria's fingers tightened around the phone, the edge of the screen digging into her palm.

"I just spoke with the attending physician," Hawk's voice was low, betraying no emotion. "He said Mr. Shawn is essentially in a vegetative state. There's no telling when he'll wake up, or even if he will. The probability is very low."

The words "vegetative state" struck Victoria's heart like icicles.

It was a term she hadn't heard since it was used to describe Grady.

Nothing much had changed since the last time she was here. Elias was still lying on the bed, his face just as pale, though there seemed to be fewer tubes attached to him.

The lines on the monitor rose and fell with a sluggish, dull rhythm.

"The doctors say he still has a faint response to external stimuli," Hawk said quietly, standing beside her. "Yesterday, when the caregiver was cleaning him, he touched his left hand, and the monitor spiked."

Victoria's gaze fell on Elias's hands, which were resting on his stomach.

The hand that had once gripped her wrist with a force that felt like it could shatter bone, the hand whose fingertips, smelling of tobacco and cedar, had tucked her in at night, now lay still, its knuckles white, without the slightest tremor.

After a long pause, Victoria looked at Hawk and suddenly asked, "If Elias… never wakes up, what will you do?"

Hawk paused, his gaze falling on her reflection in the glass. The image was so thin, it looked as though a gust of wind could blow it away.

It was a long time before he spoke. "Mr. Shawn once instructed that if he were gone, I would follow your orders, Miss Sanger, while upholding his request to protect you."