Even if there was blood on her face, John could still recognize her at a glance.
It was his little girl. It was Nina.
The sight of the blood made his heart sink.
"Stop the car!" John said in a hurry, slamming his fist on the door. The car screeched to a halt, John pushed the door open and rushed to the ambulance by the roadside.
'How could this happen?
She was fine just a moment ago. How did she end up in an accident?'
The wind whistled against his ears, muffling the chatter of the onlookers. He ran as fast as he could. The cold wind stung his throat as he gasped for breath.
While lying on the stretcher, Nina saw John's figure running towards her.
"John..." Her lips trembled. Struggling to speak, she put her hands on her belly. "Babies..."
"Let me through!" John pushed the crowd aside and rushed in. He ran towards Nina and grabbed her hand.
Nina was no longer as scared as before. John's presence was enough to calm her nerves and make her feel safe.
"I'm her husband. Please let me get in the ambulance,"
John said to the paramedics.
"Honey..."
"Come in. Hurry up," the paramedic ordered, pushing John to get in. They then lifted the stretcher and loaded it into the back of the ambulance. As soon as the door closed, the ambulance sped off to the hospital, wasting no time.
John squatted beside Nina, holding her trembling hand. The ambulance was smothered with the pungent smell of blood.
"It's okay. You'll be fine." John put her cold hands on his lips, blowing on them to keep them warm.
Nina looked at him and muttered weakly, "Save the babies. Our..."
Before she could finish speaking, she passed out.
Just as her consciousness faded away, the last thing she heard was someone calling her name.
The sound was so familiar.
Just like her nightmares, she called out for John, again and again through the fog.
Nina then once again fell into this horrific but familiar nightmare.
At the hospital, John sat outside the operating room and waited anxiously.
Looking at the red light, he seemed to have flashbacks of his father's operation.
He had been through this stressful wait before. He should have been used to it by now, but he felt an inexplicable fear like never before.
He seemed to have fallen into an abyss and just kept falling, without any support or a place to land.
John's drooping hands kept trembling. He tried clasping them together only for them to still shake.
He was afraid that Nina would abandon him.
He was afraid that
she was going to leave him all alone.
The light of the operating room was still on and the longer it stayed lit, the more the fear accumulated in his heart.
When Vicente and Noah got the news, they rushed over to the hospital. The light still beamed red.
"What happened?" Vicente stared at the door of the operating room, out of breath. "What happened? She was fine not long ago. How did this happen?
Was it your fault?" Vicente glared at John.
John turned a deaf ear to Vicente's questioning. He stood there, empty-minded and lifeless.
"It couldn't be him. He is the last person in the world that would hurt Nini." Noah kept a cool head and calmed down. He stood between Vicente and John just in case he needed to intervene if they fought.
"Humph!" Vicente turned her head and said nothing.
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