When night came, Alaric still hadn't replied to Wolf's message in Darknet, so finally Nicolae and Terry concluded that he did not consider Aleksis valuable enough to be exchanged with the rest of his group.
"What do you think they will do now?" Terry asked, subconsciously wringing his fingers.
"I think they would find another way. It is clear that Alaric Rhionen does not take rash decisions. My advice is that you don't go home until the situation has settled. We don't know whether he will send someone to find you or not," Nicolae answered.
"Should we tell Uncle Caspar about this ...? Or at least Lauriel?" Terry asked again. "They certainly know better what to do."
Nicolae seemed to think. He glanced at Aleksis' pale face. She was lying in bed and breathing with the help of a ventilator. Aleksis' condition was very dire and they did not know whether she would survive or not.
"We should not add to their burden, at least until Aleksis is out of her critical condition. What is clear is that we already know Rhionen Asassins has no ill intentions towards Aleksis ... I think that's enough for now. I'm sure they won't do anything bad to the Aleksis," Nicolae finally said, "Think about it; how would Aleksis' mother and father feel if they knew that their daughter was involved with this assassin organization?"
Terry nodded slowly. Their conversation stopped when Lauriel entered with the doctor and they proceeded to do various checks on Aleksis.
"People with severe brain stem injuries are already medically dead," said Doctor Lee with a soft voice. "Sorry, there's nothing we can do ..."
The air in the room became very heavy after Doctor Lee said those words that broke their hearts. He bowed deeply and handed over several medical reports to Nicolae, which he read with furrowed brows. The diagnoses and the result of all tests made Nicolae's heart sink.
Poor Aleksis … She had experienced life threatening situations several times, and now it seemed that death really came knocking at the door. Lauriel looked as depressed as the two of them, but he still tried to calm down.
He had taken the time to go back to the penthouse and concoct a medicine that was very effective in speeding up cell recovery. He hoped that his medicine could help Aleksis' body heal itself faster.
Doctor Lee was puzzled to see Lauriel forcibly pour his potion into Aleksis' mouth, but he didn't dare say anything. He realized that the people in this room were not regular people. The girl must have been a daughter of a very important family so that the entire east wing of the hospital was made vacant for her.
The man whose long hair was tied with a red ribbon - who hadn't left the room at all - seemed very eloquent on medical terms, and so he assumed that the young man must be a very skilled doctor. Also, the other man whose eyes were blue and green looked very authoritative and seemed to know what he was doing.
"Are the parents coming?" asked Doctor Lee later. "I need to consult with them about what decision to make."
"They will arrive in a few hours," Lauriel said. "Let's talk tomorrow morning, Doctor."
"Hm ... okay then, I'll excuse myself first."
The doctor then went out and closed the door behind him.
A few hours later, when Nicolae, Lauriel and Terry almost fell asleep because they had become tired after waiting with a tense feeling, Caspar and Finland arrived. It was almost midnight when the couple entered the East Wing of Stamford Hospital, which was closed to the public. Half running, both of them hurriedly walked into the enormous and magnificent treatment room that housed their only daughter, Aleksis.
"You have arrived." Lauriel said. He was sitting on the sofa with a worried face, and he immediately stood up when he saw the door open and Caspar and Finland enter the room. The couple flew from Germany to Singapore as soon as Lauriel called Caspar to tell him about Aleksis' condition.
Caspar just nodded and didn't say a word. Finland had run over to Aleksis and knelt at the foot of the bed while holding her child's arms which was slumped to the side. Aleksis was still unconscious, and the doctors had installed a breathing apparatus and an IV drip.
Nicolae, who was standing at the end of the bed, stared at the two strangers. He could immediately guess that they must be Aleksis' father and mother.
He was secretly amazed at how handsome Aleksis' father was and how the man looked so authoritative. Was this the famous leader of the Alchemist clan? he thought to himself.
Nicolae then saw Aleksis' mother whose face was so similar to the girl he liked and inwardly he complimented how Finland was no less beautiful than her daughter. The difference was that Aleksis looked cheerful and carefree, while Finland looked very graceful and gentle. They really were the opposite.
"Mother ..." Terry, who had been sitting on the other sofa, pondering and cupping his face in his hands, belatedly noticed Finland and Caspar's presence. Upon hearing Finland's sobs, he got up and hugged his mother. "I'm sorry ... this is all my fault."
Finland closed her eyes and shook her head, "Terry ... it's not the time to look for who is at fault. I just
want Aleksis to wake up."
"But I am the one ..."
Nicolae hurriedly pulled Terry and whispered in his ear, "That's enough, leave them alone. Don't add burdens to their minds. We'd better get a drink to calm down."
Terry turned to Nicolae and then nodded. With their haggard faces, they left the room.
"We want to get some air first ..." Nicolae said good-bye. Lauriel nodded. Caspar looked at the departure of the two with an expressionless face.
"What is the diagnosis?" he asked. Lauriel took a deep breath.
"Brain stem injury." He massaged his forehead nervously, "I have given her various medicines to speed up the process of cell repair. We have to wait."
Caspar became limp after hearing the diagnosis. This was a very severe brain injury. He deeply regretted his decision to let Aleksis go to Singapore. His daughter was still too young to be sent into the outside world. He should not have let Aleksis go ...
If he had kept his daughter at home, or told her to go with London and Rune to study with Aldebar, surely this would not have happened. On the way to Singapore, he saw the various video footage of the incident that occurred at St. Mary University that morning, before ordering all the news about Aleksis to be removed from the internet.
He never expected that, in less than two weeks, Aleksis had gotten herself involved in various problems which threatened her life. He felt sad because ever since she was born, Aleksis had experienced so many dangerous situations and sufferings. She was born as the daughter of one of the most powerful families in the world, and yet he had failed as a father in keeping his daughter safe..
Caspar listened to Lauriel's explanation of what had happened with a flat face. Nobody could read his mind. He knew the incident that had befallen Aleksis was an accident, but this was no ordinary accident. There was a trigger that caused this event to occur, and he would not remain silent and do nothing. As Nicolae and Terry walked out of the room, Caspar looked at them with a deadpan expression, but in his heart he felt the two young men were hiding something.
"Kurt, I will send Aleksis' medical reports to you. Please prepare the best facility in Germany to receive her. I will bring Aleksis home tomorrow morning," Caspar told Kurt over the telephone.
The confidant sounded very surprised but he quickly controlled himself and agreed to all Caspar's orders.
Caspar felt his chest tighten. He had never been this worried about Aleksis before. He felt a flashback of the incident that had happened 18 years ago, and now, as if on repeat, Aleksis' life was threatened again ... He did not know whether this was still his karma for hurting a lot of women in the past, so that now his daughter had to bear the consequences.
This thought depressed him. His wife looked devastated. She could only sit quietly beside the bed while holding Aleksis' hand.
[Jadeith, I want you to investigate the girl who threatened Aleksis on campus; who she is and why she did it. I want these things to be clear before we leave tomorrow.]
[Okay, Uncle.]
"If she doesn't wake up tomorrow, I'll take her home," Caspar then made his decision. He would never take another risk for the safety of his only daughter.
At the cafe opposite the hospital, Nicolae and Terry sat sipping their coffee. Both were busy with their own thoughts. Nicolae was very impressed to see Caspar, but he was sorry that they had met in such an unpleasant situation.