Substitute Wife For The Blind CEO

Chapter 172 - 172: Stop Right There!

They were halfway down the hallway, slipping toward the nearby waiting area, when a man in a white coat brushed past them. He was short, dark-haired, with firm steps and eyes hidden behind thick-rimmed glasses and a surgical mask. He didn't even glance their way as he entered Room 203.

Elizabeth slowed down. Something about the man's energy seemed... off. But before she could voice her thoughts, another doctor rounded the corner from the opposite direction.

"Elizabeth?" the new arrival called out, surprise in her voice.

Elizabeth turned sharply and then her eyes softened. "Dr. Noreen?" she said, both shocked and relieved. "You work here?"

Noreen smiled as they embraced briefly. "Yes! I was transferred recently. Just started a week ago. I didn't know you were in town let alone in the hospital I work. What are you doing here?"

"I came to see someone," Elizabeth replied quickly, trying to keep her tone casual. "You were transferred to Zeden General? Since when?"

Noreen chuckled. "Not long ago. They needed extra hands with some sensitive cases, especially the patient in Room 203."

Elizabeth froze, her brows instantly pulling together in a confused frown. The number struck her like a slap. Didn't a doctor pass by just now to check that same room? Eliana's room?

"What did you say?" she asked, her voice low. What was going on?

"Room 203. The girl that's been unconscious for a while. They brought me in to treat her personally."

Elizabeth's heart dropped. "You're her doctor? Is any other doctor seeing her too?" Elizabeth asked, her heart beat doubling its pace.

Noreen nodded proudly. "I'm her doctor and I'm solely in charge. That case is mine. No one else has been assigned to her since I came in. She's a sensitive one."

Hearing that, Elizabeth's breath caught. Panic surged up like a rising tide. "Then—then who just entered that room now?"

Noreen blinked, frowning. "What? Someone just went into 203?"

"Yes," Elizabeth said urgently. She turned to her guards, voice sharp. "Go get him. Now. That's not a doctor. That might be an assassin."

The color drained from Noreen's face. "What? Wait—an assassin? Elizabeth—what's going on?"

"No time to explain," Elizabeth said, already breaking into a run. "Just come with me. We have to make sure that man doesn't touch that girl."

The hallway erupted into movement as the guards charged back down toward Room 203, Elizabeth and Noreen close behind.

The click of hurried footsteps echoed through the sterile halls as Elizabeth's heart pounded in her chest.

Please, she prayed silently, please don't let us be too late.

Room 203 was silent, save for the slow, rhythmic beep of the heart monitor—the only sound defying the stifling stillness that hung in the air. The dim ceiling light cast a pallid glow over the room, illuminating the fragile figure lying motionless on the hospital bed. Shadows stretched along the corners, like silent witnesses.

The air smelled sharply of antiseptic and plastic—a cold, lifeless scent. Sterile. Almost too clean, as if to erase any trace of what might happen here.

beneath the thin hospital sheet. She looked like a porcelain doll abandoned mid-play, with

the prison of her mind,

flicker. A whisper of

twitched, followed by her eyelids

slowly, her eyes

She blinked, her vision swimming, her thoughts sluggish and disoriented. Her head throbbed—dull, heavy, like someone had

hand

Panic struck through her.

Her muscles screamed, but her body didn't move. She couldn't feel her arms, her legs. She couldn't even

to me? Where am I? She mused as another bolt of pain struck though her, bringing memories of that night and then Ivy's visit

Her voice had sounded pretty familiar. Had Ivy also hurt her or perhaps,

gaze landed on him and her

and why was she suddenly feeling anxious he was here? Wasn't he supposed to be a doctor? She

in a white coat, face expressionless, staring at the

him… it wasn't right. He didn't move like a doctor or maybe he did but

no kindness in his expression. No concern.

her? She tried to speak. To ask him who he was. But her voice was locked

heart monitor

down and

when she knew—he wasn't here to

second, she saw something flicker in his eyes—fear. Not

so why regain consciousness now? Why

problem was to finish

swift, practiced motion, he reached into the inner pocket of his

her chest when she saw that. This just

an unknown injection to

like

could see. She was

Please, someone...

hands shaking as he filled it with a clear liquid. He moved toward the IV line with terrifying calm, sliding the needle in with surgical precision. Just one press on the plunger, and it would

and then lowered his thumb

could press it,

"STOP RIGHT THERE!"

the

Daniel froze.

Behind her stood Dr. Noreen, her coat barely settled on her shoulders, stunned into momentary silence

hell do you think

how could he

was the hesitation that

hurled the