Free Web NovelChapter 102: Chapter 102: Felix Preston Is an Insecure Child
...
The low hum of the elevator echoed dully inside the car. Sonia Quincy stared expressionlessly at the steadily changing numbers on the LED screen, not sparing Cecilia Quincy so much as a glance.
Cecilia Quincy waited a few seconds, but when Sonia Quincy didn’t answer, she asked again, "Sonia Quincy, what are you, a pregnant woman, doing at the hospital in the middle of the night?"
DING—
The elevator stopped on the third floor, but after the doors opened, no one got on. Cecilia Quincy frowned impatiently and jabbed the "close door" button several times.
DING—
"Elevator going down."
A cold, mechanical female voice announced from overhead. After it faded, silence once again filled the car.
Sonia Quincy clutched the strap of her shoulder bag, waiting with an almost detached coldness for the elevator to stop.
"Sonia Quincy!"
Cecilia Quincy’s limited patience was completely spent. She whipped her head to the side to glare at Sonia Quincy, her tone irritated as she demanded, "I’m talking to you, didn’t you hear me?"
"...I heard you." Sonia Quincy finally spoke, but she still refused to look at her directly.
She was getting angry.
"If you heard me, then why didn’t you answer?"
Sonia Quincy’s gaze shifted coldly, landing on Cecilia Quincy with the same indifference one would show an inanimate object. "Why should I answer you?"
Cecilia Quincy was stunned. "You..."
"Just who do you think you are?" Sonia Quincy cut her off, her face stony. "Why I’m at the hospital, and when I came to the hospital—what does any of that have to do with you?"
"Why on earth should I report to you?"
...
Sonia Quincy’s undisguised malice crashed over Cecilia Quincy like a tidal wave. Cecilia was dumbfounded, momentarily at a loss for words.
DING—
"First floor."
The elevator stopped on the first floor. The moment the doors opened, Sonia Quincy stepped out.
"Sonia Quincy." Cecilia Quincy hurried after her, grabbing Sonia’s arm.
"I don’t want to argue about this with you today. I just want to tell you one thing."
Sonia Quincy’s face was as cold as ice. "I’m not interested."
...Cecilia Quincy didn’t have the best temper. Being rebuffed by Sonia Quincy again and again, she was truly starting to lose it.
But the matter of Willow Quincy’s injury weighed heavily on her mind, and she didn’t want to get into a childish fight with Sonia Quincy right now.
She took a deep breath, forcing herself to swallow her anger. Maintaining her composure, she said to Sonia Quincy, "Our brother is in the hospital. He’s been injured, very seriously. He just got out of the emergency room."
"Even though you’re not part of the Quincy Family anymore, you still called him your brother for over twenty years. He’s lying unconscious in the ICU. If you could go see him, I’m sure Mom and Dad would be grateful. They might be a little less resentful of you, too."
"And you’re already at the hospital anyway."
"Heh..."
Sonia Quincy was actually in a terrible mood, but for some reason, after hearing Cecilia Quincy’s words, all she wanted to do was laugh.
She shook off Cecilia Quincy’s hand and slowly turned to look at her, her eyes and tone dripping with sarcasm.
"If Willow Quincy had died in the emergency room, then I might have actually gone to see him."
The word "die" was so vicious that upon hearing it, Cecilia Quincy’s face instantly turned ashen.
"Sonia Quincy, what are you trying to say?"
Sonia Quincy’s lips curled into a provocative smirk. "I’m saying I hope he dies."
Cecilia Quincy: "You—"
Sonia Quincy shot her a look of disgust and, without waiting for her to say another word, turned and walked away.
"Sonia Quincy!" Cecilia Quincy was so furious her eyes turned red. Unable to hold back any longer, she screamed at Sonia Quincy’s retreating back, "How can you be so vicious? No matter what, he’s still your brother! How dare you wish death on him!"
...
Sonia Quincy had no patience to deal with her and just kept walking toward the payment office.
After paying the bill and going upstairs, she dragged her exhausted body to the sofa by Felix Preston’s bed. In a now-hoarse voice, she said to Lynn Preston, "Mom has already called me five times. There’s no hiding this tonight. Lynn, go back and bring Mom here."
"Okay." Lynn Preston immediately stood up from her chair and headed out, not daring to waste a second.
"I’ll take you." Liam Joyce followed her closely, never leaving her side. His every action was a testament to his affection for her.
Sonia Quincy wearily lifted her eyes. Her gaze was dark as she stared at Liam Joyce’s fleeting figure, the disgust and hatred on her face finally unconcealed.
BEEP, BEEP, BEEP...
The monitor beeped rhythmically, each sound the best proof that Felix Preston was still alive.
Sonia Quincy’s eyes were downcast and numb as she replayed the attending physician’s verdict on Felix Preston’s injuries in her mind.
’Three broken ribs, fractured right forearm, fractured left ankle, a moderate concussion, internal bleeding in the spleen, multiple external injuries all over his body...’
Felix Preston had so many injuries Sonia Quincy couldn’t remember them all. She tried hard to recall every word the doctor had said, but she still couldn’t list all the wounds on Felix’s body.
’It was only today that she truly understood how fragile a person could be. Only a few hours had passed since she last saw him, and a perfectly healthy man was now lying unconscious in a hospital bed, tubes sticking out of him everywhere.’
Sonia Quincy had already died once before transmigrating into this world. She had died of pancreatic cancer.
Pancreatic cancer is known as the "king of cancers." From diagnosis to death, Sonia Quincy had lingered for over two years, her condition fluctuating. But it had taken less than half a day for Felix Preston to lose half his life.
’Human lives... each one more insignificant than the last.’
Sonia Quincy tilted her head back, closed her eyes, and let out a heavy sigh. After such a long, trying day, she was truly exhausted—so tired she didn’t even have the strength to speak. Even so, she stood up to look at him, to look at her Felix Preston.
She couldn’t see Felix Preston’s face clearly.
The face that always made her heart race was now completely wrapped in stark white gauze. Beneath the gauze was a heavy oxygen mask.
Sonia Quincy rubbed her eyes several times, but she could only barely make out Felix Preston’s still, long eyelashes.
"Felix Preston..." Even though he couldn’t open his eyes, Sonia Quincy still smiled at him as she said his name.
"You have to get better. You have to wake up soon. The baby and I are waiting for you."
BEEP, BEEP, BEEP...
The only reply Sonia Quincy received was the cold beeping of the monitor.
Sonia Quincy carefully raised her hand, wanting to touch Felix Preston’s face.
Felix Preston seemed mature on the outside, but he was actually quite childish on the inside. In front of Sonia Quincy, he was always like a clingy child. The moment he came home from work, he would stick to her side, inseparable.
When Sonia Quincy cooked, he liked to stand nearby and watch, making small talk from time to time. When she went to take a shower, he would sit obediently on the sofa and keep himself busy, taking her hand to lead her back to their room the moment she came out. Sometimes, if Sonia got up in the middle of the night, he would force himself to stay awake and wait for her to come back from the bathroom, even when he was so sleepy he could barely keep his eyes open.
It was just as he had once said: he couldn’t feel at ease for a single moment that Sonia Quincy was out of his sight.
He didn’t have much of a sense of security; only Sonia Quincy could be his anchor.
