"Nate, I'm here to...”
"You could have at least waited for the wedding to be canceled."
"What are you saying?"
"Go away! Go away!" he screams at me as he starts shaking.
"Nurse, help!" I scream as many staff members run into the room.
"Madam, get out of the room, please." They push me out.
What the hell happened?
I pace back and forth as I watch Christian leave the room, worried.
"Isabel, we had to sedate him again. They told me they need your signature to extract the fragment."
"Signature? Like, permission? What for?" I ask, trying to hold myself.
"The operation is very delicate. There is a 60% success rate, though he’ll be paralyzed."
"Oh my God. What if I refuse to have him operated on?"
"The splinter is already starting to show negative effects. He will have more and more attacks like the one before. His heart … I don't know how much it can hold."
"Are you telling me that I have to choose whether to let my husband die or disable him?"
"It's a drastic choice. But the surgery could be successful."
He might succeed … he must succeed, or he’ll hate me for life.
"Where do I have to sign?"
"Here."
I read the document in tears. After I sign it, Christian gives the order to take Nate to the operating room.
I call Nate's parents, my dad, and Alice. Lauren bursts into tears. Gabriel says they will be returning from vacation.
Cindy tries to call me. I think CJ told her what happened. I’m in no frame of mind to think about her so I apologize with a text and tell her that I’ll call her back.
I look around, hoping it's just a nightmare from which I can wake up. Tears cloud my vision and a wave of nausea assails me. I run to the bathroom, throwing up my soul. Stress, fatigue, and worry have only made the situation worse. I rinse my face and look at myself in the mirror. "It's going to be okay, Izy, regardless of the outcome of the operation. He's alive and that's what counts." I nod and rinse my face again before returning to the waiting room.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Isabel
The surgery lasts four hours—the longest hours of my life.
"The surgery went well. Now we have to wait for your husband to wake up. In a couple of days, we’ll know if the surgery succeeded."
"Thanks, Chris," I say, on the verge of tears.
"Calm down, everything will be fine. It's strange to not find positive Isabel from the university."
"I still am, but I'm also scared of Nathan's reaction if the operation fails."
"Isabel, don't always think the worst like you usually do."
