Chapter 13 - Whispers from the Past
The room erupted into controlled chaos. Doctors and nurses rushed past Julian, shouting medical jargon, adjusting valves, and injecting epinephrine. Julian pulled Lucy back into the corridor, shielding her from the sight of her mother’s seizing body.
""Clear!"" the lead doctor shouted as the defibrillator charged.
Julian’s heart hammered against his ribs. He felt Lucy trembling violently against his legs, her tiny fingers digging into his jeans. Not now, he prayed silently into the fluorescent void. Not after we fought through the fire.
After what felt like an eternity, the alarms subsided. The erratic spikes smoothed out into a steady, fragile rhythm.
The doctor stepped out into the hallway, pulling down his surgical mask, his brow furrowed with exhaustion. ""The seizure was caused by the thallium exiting her central nervous system. It was violent, but she broke the fever. The crisis has passed, Mr. Vance. She’s conscious, and she's asking for you.""
Julian collapsed against the corridor wall, letting out a breath he felt he had been holding for eight years. He knelt down, wiping the tears from Lucy’s cheeks. ""She’s waiting for us, sweetheart.""
They walked into the room hand in hand. Olivia turned her head weakly toward them. The respirator had been removed, replaced by a simple oxygen cannula. Her skin was still terribly pale, but the ghostly dullness in her eyes had been replaced by the radiant warmth Julian remembered from a lifetime ago.
""Julian..."" she breathed, her voice a fragile whisper.
Julian sat on the edge of the mattress, taking her hand in both of his, pressing it to his lips. ""I'm here, Liv. We're both here.""
Olivia looked at Lucy, who climbed carefully onto the bed, wrapping her small arms around her mother's neck. A single tear rolled down Olivia's cheek onto Lucy's hair.
""Julian,"" Olivia whispered, her grip tightening on his fingers with surprising urgency. ""Before Victoria had me moved... she whispered something to me in the ambulance.""
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Julian leaned closer. ""What did she say?""
""She said... your father didn't die of natural causes,"" Olivia shuddered. ""She said she gave him the same tea she gave me. And she said... the safe in his study contains the real will.""
