Chapter 212 - 212: I can’t Lose You

Avery chews her lip and stares at Evan. Every step he takes makes her heart thud nervously in her chest. Though her vision is blurry with tears, she looks him in the eyes, silently begging him to stop. He shakes his head slightly and continues walking forward.

Suddenly the patient pushes Avery. She stumbles forward and falls to the floor. She scrambles onto her back and turns around in time to see the man put the knife on Evan's neck.

"Mrs. Howel, are you all right?" Robert asks, helping her to her feet.

She shrugs his hands off her and tries to run to Evan, but he grabs her by the wrist. She struggles, and a bodyguard wraps his arms around her waist. She kicks and squirms, but he effortlessly lifts her off the ground.

"Please calm down, Mrs. Howel," Robert whispers. "You don't want to upset the patient, do you?"

Avery goes limp in the bodyguard's arms. Robert nods, and the bodyguard quickly releases her. She grabs Robert's iPad and looks at the patient's information. According to his file, he suffered a psychotic breakdown when his wife stole his money and left him for another man. The file says he's paranoid, delusional, and violent.

She looks at the patient, trying to make eye contact. "Please don't hurt him," she said calmly. "I know your wife betrayed you, but think about the other people in your life: your parents, your family, your friends. They all love you and want to see you happy. Don't do anything that could hurt them."

Her right temple throbs and she feels dizzy. A voice seems to echo through the room.

"Olivia, don't jump," the voice screams. "Think about Avery and Gabrielle. They need you. They can't lose you. You're the only person they have in this world. What will they do if you die?"

Avery shakes her head and looks around the room. She sees doctors, nurses, and Evan's bodyguards, but none of them have spoken. She closes her eyes and rubbed her temples.

She looks at the patient, forcing herself to hold eye contact. His eyes are small and bloodshot. They flicker back and forth as he looks suspiciously around the room. Finally, they settle on Avery, and he sneers.

"Please," Avery whispers. "Don't do this. Think about your friends. Think about your family. Think about your parents."

"My parents?" the patient asks. He laughs a low, humorless laugh. "They died long ago."

"I'm sorry," Avery says. "But think about them. They put all this energy into raising you to be the successful man you are. They cared for you and sacrificed for you. This is no way to pay them back."

"Shut up," the patient says, pressing the knife more tightly against Evan's neck. "I don't give a damn about them. If you speak again, I'll kill him."

"No, you can't!" Avery screams. "I'm pregnant. You can't hurt the father of my child!"

The patient's eyes darken, and he laughs again. "The father of your child?" he asks. "Yeah, right. I know your type. I bet you've let every single one of his bodyguards f.u.c.k you. Probably some of the servants too—filthy whore."

"Get her out of here, Robert," Evan hisses. 

"I won't go," she says. "I won't let anything happen to you, Evan. I—I can't lose you."

Robert reaches for Avery, but she dodges his grasp. She stumbles forward, clutching her head. The room is unbearably bright, and her eyes hurt. She turns to look at the doctors and nurses, but their faces seem to twist and blur. 

"I heard your wife left you," Avery says to the patient. "That's not your fault. You can't let her ruin your life like this."

The patient's handshakes and his jaw are working furiously. The color drains from his face, and his skin looks waxy and pale. Avery's head hurts even worse.

Suddenly, she hears the voice again. "It's not your fault, Olivia," the voice says. "Don't punish yourself for other people's mistakes." Avery turns wildly, looking for the speaker.

The doctors and nurses look at her with concern, and a bodyguard takes a step toward her. She digs her nails into her palms, and the pain helps her focus. The room stops spinning, and the patient's face becomes clearer.

"It's all your wife's fault," Avery says. "You're right, she deserves to suffer, but right now you're only punishing yourself. She's living the high life right now—enjoying your money and keeping another man, but if you kill someone, she wins. She'll get to keep all your money, and she'll laugh at you. You don't want that, do you?"

"Shut up, shut up, shut up," the patient screams.

His hands shake violently, and the knife trembles against Evan's neck. Avery watches in horror as it slices through the skin. Dark red blood trickles down Evan's neck, staining the starched white collar of his shirt. And then everything seems to move in fast motion.

Avery blinks, and Evan has shaken the patient off and punched him in the throat. The man staggers backward, dropping the knife. He bends to get it, and Evan's polished shoe hits him square in the chest. The patient crumples, and Evan throws himself onto his back. He forces the patient to the floor, restrains his hands, and holds him down by pressing his knee into the patient's back.

"You sneaky bitch!" the man screams. "I knew you were all the same! I should have killed you when I had the chance."

Police sirens wail in the distance. The doctor runs across the room and injects the patient with a tranquilizer. Slowly his body goes limp, and his tongue lolls out of his mouth. The nervous nurses lift him onto a stretcher and secure his wrists with thick leather straps.

"Mr. Howel, I'm so sorry about this," the doctor says. "I'm going to launch a thorough investigation into this incident. You and your wife should have never been put in danger."

Evan ignores him, wrapping his arms around Avery. He takes a silk handkerchief from his pocket and gently dabs the wounds on her neck. She looks down and sees that the fair skin of her chest is covered in a layer of dark, sticky blood. A nurse rushes over and wipes the blood away with gauze and disinfectant.

"Don't worry, sir, it's not severe," the nurse says to Evan.

She sticks two bandages to Avery's chest. She tries to clean Evan, but he shakes her away, cradling Avery in his arms.

"What the hell were you thinking, Avery?" Evan asks. "Why would you put yourself in danger like that? I asked you to leave for your own good."

"I couldn't bear to," Avery says. He's holding her too tightly, and she feels light-headed and suffocated. "Besides, you're not the only one who can do the saving around here. You know, I can save you too."

"Don't ever do this again," Evan says fiercely.

Before Avery can argue, Evan's phone begins to ring. He pulls it from his pocket, scans the caller ID and scowls. He looks at Avery and then rushes to a corner of the room.

Who could it be? Avery wonders. And why doesn't he want me to hear the call?

Evan presses the phone to his ear, prepared to do battle. The adrenaline from the fight with the patient is still pumping through his veins, and he's ready to confront his grandfather once and for all.

Francis Howel sounds furious, "You ignored my warning again, boy! Did you think I was making an empty threat? Did you think I wouldn't find out about your little stunt in the hospital? Never forget that your men are loyal to me."

Evan's blood boils. He wants to take the old man by the collar and shake him violently.

"Avery is my wife, and she's carrying my child," Evan says. "What kind of man doesn't protect his wife and his child?"

"A true man looks out for himself first and foremost," Francis says. 

"I'd rather die than let something happen to her," Evan replies.

"That's what I'm afraid of, boy," Francis says. "But you're not allowed to die. Your life belongs to this family—you're our only heir. If you care about Diana's welfare, you'd better rethink your attitude."

"What do you want?" Evan asks.

"I'll be back in the country next week," Francis says. "We'll have a conversation about your future and about Diana. I expect it to be pleasant."

Evan grips his phone more tightly. "I won't allow you to hurt anyone, Grandfather," he says.

There's a soft click, and the line goes dead. Evan shoves his phone back into the pocket and kicks the wall.