Loving The Temperamental Adonis
Chapter 254: Threat

Chapter 254: Threat

Neil stood still as she approached, his eyes narrowing slightly. "Mariana," he said, his voice cold and sharp, "I want to ask you something."

Mariana ignored his tone and threw her arms around him, clinging to him desperately. "Stay with me, Xavier. She’s gone now. We can be together. Just like we were meant to. You’ve promised to marry me and I’ve waited for you and held on to that promise. She’s gone now, I will make you happy."

Neil’s body stiffened at her touch, but he didn’t push her away despite his repulsiveness. Instead, he let her hold him for a moment, his hands remaining still at his sides as she clutched on to him, crying and muttering for him to never leave her. Even though she had an identical face and body like Mia, she lacked her warmth. Whenever his Mia shed tears, he always had the urge to destroy whoever made her cry and console her with the most expensive gifts in the world, but now that her twin was crying in his embrace, all he felt was irritation and the urge to strangle her for what she’d put Mia through.

But before that, he had to make sure of something before he took his next actions with her. His patience was wearing thin, and all he wanted was to get his wife out of danger.

"Mariana," he called calmly, causing her to tighten her hold around him as if she feared he’d push her away and disappear. "Do you regret the things you did to your sister?" He asked the only question that would motivate his next action.

Mariana’s tears ceased immediately at his words. She gritted her teeth and remained silent for a while. She recalled how Mia had taken their mother’s attention in their childhood and how she’d hurt her and left her with a permanent scar on the back of her hand, then how she’d stolen Xavier and even dared to get pregnant for him when she was the one who was supposed to be in that position, expecting his baby. Though at a point when she attached the bomb to Mia, she’d felt an ounce of remorse, not anymore. All she felt was hatred, and if she were to turn back time, she’d do it all over again just to have the man she loved.

"I don’t regret it. She deserved it and I hope she was in so much pain before she burned to her death. I’m sorry about your unborn children though, but don’t worry, I will give you many children in the future." She buried her head in his chest, unaware of the heated rage swelling in his gray eyes or the darkened look he gave her. His fingers clenched into tight fists.

He’d asked her that question with the hope that there was still goodness left in her and that there was a small chance she and Mia would get back together and be family, but it seemed he had no reason to feel guilty for what he was about to do. "Good." He said, and without giving Mariana the time to register what his single remark meant, he struck her neck the same way she’d struck him and knocked her unconscious. Her body fell limp to the floor and he made no attempt in holding her.

He looked to his men and indifferently said, "Carry her to the car. We are flying back to the hospital."

---

Back at the hospital, Neil stood with the doctor, who had a displeased frown on his face after hearing what Neil said about finding a perfect match for Mia’s transplant. The doctor shook his head and said, "That’s not how it’s done, Mr. Wayner. We need the donor’s consent before doing anything."

Neil’s eyes darkened with anger, his patience hanging by a thread. "We don’t need her consent when she has no choice here," he snapped. "I don’t give a damn if you have to break your rules. If you don’t start the surgery immediately, I will make sure you never work in any hospital again. I’ll ruin your life."

The doctor was frightened by the threat but didn’t show it. He knew Neil Wayner would easily destroy his career in a blink of an eye, but he had worked as a doctor for twenty five years and had never gone against the rules. He would be no different from a quack doctor if he were to perform the procedure on an unconscious woman who was carried into the hospital like a sack of grain. They needed her consent on paper because the procedure could take her life, there are many risk to the donor that could cause a long time damage or even death, he dared not go on without having the donor sign the papers if she were to lose her life saving the the dying woman in coma.

He could never go on with that without knowing if the unconscious woman was up for it or was being forced. Thus he remained firm. "Mr. Wayner, I understand your desperation, but I cannot perform the surgery without the donor’s consent. It’s unethical and illegal."

Seeing the doctor’s firm stance, Neil asked calmly, "You mean you won’t perform the transplant without the donor’s consent no matter what I say or do, right?" When the doctor nodded, Neil pulled out a gun with a swift motion, pointing it to the doctor’s head.

Swallowing convulsively to keep the constriction in his throat at bay, Neil asked again, "Are you going to perform it now, or do I shoot you and your entire staff and get another doctor to do the transplant?"

"Mr. Wayner, I...I can’t, my_" the doctor began to say but Neil cut him off in frustration.

"Why can’t anybody fucking understand that I can’t let her die?! She’s my life for God’s sake. Her twin is no different from a devil; she’ll never give away a part of her lungs to her sister! And I won’t let my wife die!"

Neil’s emotional breakdown was evident, tears welling up in his eyes, his voice cracking. He looked at the doctor’s eyes and said, "I don’t want to shoot you, but if you still refuse to treat Mia, I will have to. Please." For the first time, his voice softened, pleading.

The doctor had never imagined a man like Neil Wayner capable of such raw emotions, much less pleading with him. He could see how much Neil loved his wife and was willing to do anything to save her. The doctor knew the feeling of being desperate to save the one you love because he’d lost his wife to cancer years ago. He understood how it could easily drive you to insanity when you couldn’t do anything. He had been a doctor but had failed to save his own wife; now, Neil could save his by making him break the rules.

"Please... don’t let her die. Save her, I will forever be indebted to you," Neil pleaded desperately, his voice sounding like it was wrenched out of his heart.

What his threat had failed to achieve, his plea did. The doctor patted his shoulder and said, "I’ll perform the transplant."

Without wasting time, the doctor called the other doctors and nurses who would assist him. Neil stood rooted in place, disbelief and hope warring in his chest. The sound of nurses rushing to prepare for surgery filled the air, a promise of life that Neil clung to desperately. He wiped his eyes with his sleeves, then slowly backed down and sat on a chair behind him, emotionally and physically drained.

Lowering his head to his hands, he closed his eyes and began to pray to whatever God would listen to his plea to save his wife. He’d never prayed in his entire life, but for the first time, he was. He was willing to give away everything to exchange for her life. He hated to imagine her lying motionless on that bed with wires attached to her. He missed her smiling face and gentle touch. He desperately wished he could turn back time and take her away from the country like he’d intended to at first; take her away to Puerto Rico where his grandma had been bothering him every day to bring her to the Galverra family house for the past months they’d been married.

He’d even planned on taking her there after giving birth and having a Spanish wedding in Puerto Rico, as she’d seemed fascinated by a Spanish wedding they saw in a movie one night at their house. He’d made a mental note to give her that exact wedding ceremony when the time came. Now, sitting here in a hospital waiting room, he felt himself standing at the edge of a knife that would cut him to pieces if something were to go wrong. His eyes burned and his throat tightened as emotions bubbled up inside him. He raised his hand and clenched his heart as a tear rolled down his cheek, a silent sob of anguish tearing from his throat.

"You have to survive this, mi amor. You have to fight for us, for our babies, and for the life we promised to have together. Our babies..." He muttered the last part like poison on his tongue. He had momentarily forgotten about them until now, and he hated the fact that the attachment he had with them when they were still in his wife’s womb was wearing off with every single second Mia’s life was hanging on the line. That realization made him break down even more.

It was like all the tears he’d not shed for twenty years came fighting their way out, and he could barely hold them back. He choked on his silent sobs and hit his chest with his fist to stop himself, but nothing he did helped. He was vulnerable to his raw emotions, left open. But when he saw through the window glass Mariana, still unconscious and being prepped for the procedure, he hardened his heart and calmed himself with the belief that Mia would be fine as long as her twin was here.

He felt no remorse for her twin. He felt nothing as they wheeled her away, believing she owed Mia that much. He wiped his tears, but his breathing was still rough from his emotional breakdown as he watched the hospital buzz with activity, the medical team preparing for the surgery. Though his heart still ached, a glimmer of hope began to pierce through the darkness.

"Hang in there, querida."