?Chapter XXX:


    ine delivered a curt, tight nod while his facial features hardened into a mask of grim determination. “Take me to him immediately.”


    Following the doctor’s brisk pace through an endless maze of sterile, fluorescent-lit corridors, he finally crossed the threshold into Stan’s ward. As he drew closer to Stan’s bedside with purposeful strides, ine suddenly froze mid-step, something unexpected catching his sharp attention.


    A young woman dressed in a pristine nurse’s uniform was awkwardly fumbling with a medical syringe, her visibly trembling hands struggling to inject some unknown substance into Stan’s pale, motionless arm.


    ine’s brow furrowed with deep suspicion as warning bells began ringing in his mind. She didn’t look remotely familiar from his previous visits, and her nervous, furtive behavior immediately raised multiple red gs.


    Sensing a presence behind her like a predator might sense danger, the nurse instantly froze in ce—particrly when she felt the weight of ine’s sharp, prating gaze boring into her back.


    She hastily bowed her head in submission and withdrew the syringe with a flurry of jerky, panicked movements that betrayed her obvious nervousness.


    “Doctor, the adrenaline injection has been administered exactly as you requested.” Her voice emerged barely above a whisper, quivering with unmistakable fear. Then, keeping her head firmly down, she scurried out of the room like a frightened mouse.


    ine’s calcting gaze remained fixed on her rapidly retreating figure for several long, contemtive moments.


    Adrenaline injection? The exnation seemed medically reasonable enough. ine’s mind was far too consumed with Stan’s critical condition to pursue this particr thread any deeper.


    ine moved with determined strides to the bedside where Stany frighteningly motionless, barely managing to cling to the thin thread of consciousness. His lips appeared severely parched and cracked, hisplexion had turned ghostly pale, and his eyes remained only half-open in a ssy, unfocused stare.


    Stan was murmuring something almost inaudibly under hisbored breath, the words barely escaping his dry lips. “Mr. Howe… Mr. Howe…”


    ine’s heart gave a violent jolt of recognition at those whispered words. He leaned in closer, straining every fiber of his being to catch each precious syble while anxiety coursed through his veins. He began gently patting Stan’s frail shoulder.


    “Stan—Stan! Stay with me and talk to me. What exactly happened to you? How did everything spiral into this nightmare?”


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    Stan appeared to summon everyst reserve of strength that remained in his failing body. With agonizing slowness, he managed to turn his head toward ine, his bloodshot eyes swimming with pure, undiluted terror.


    His voice cracked and broke like fragile ss as he struggled to choke out the words that seemed to tear at his very soul.


    “It was… it was…”


    Stan appeared to wrestle with words of crucial importance, yet his lips merely quivered helplessly, unable to form even a single coherent sentence. ine suspended his breathing entirely, every muscle taut with anticipation as he waited for the revtion.


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