True Love Waits

Chapter 653 His Life Hung In The Balance

One of the doctors gestured for the soldiers to pipe down. Then he said, "We removed five bullets from Colonel Li's body. The good news is that most of the bullets didn't cause much damage on their own. The bad news is that a couple of them tumbled, and tore through several vital organs. We got to him in time, but he's in a coma. We don't know if he'll regain consciousness. It all depends on his will to live. We're taking him to the ICU."

Everyone fell silent after the doctor was finished talking. 'It all depends on Wesley's will to live...'

Wesley was wheeled to the ICU. Blair silently followed the group of nurses and doctors.

She saw him lying motionless in the bed with an oxygen mask on, face drained of all color, as if he were already dead.

The heartbreaking scene stirred up her emotions again. She tried her hardest to fight down her sadness and managed to collect herself. She trusted Wesley; he promised to come back and protect her. He never lied. He was going to make it.

Since Wesley's condition was severe, the soldiers had no choice but to let his parents know. Baldwin and Cecelia hurried there, but Wesley was still unconscious.

Cecelia had seen her son wounded many times. The bandages, casts, slings and so forth were just part of the job. But seeing him lying in the ICU, covered in tubes and wires made her sob uncontrollably. Blair held back her tears all this time. However, Cecelia's cries opened her floodgates as well. She covered her mouth and ran to the ladies' room, crying at the top of her lungs, tears streaming down her face. She remembered how energetic and healthy he usually looked. This was the first time she saw him hurt, and it was a serious injury to boot. His life hung in the balance.

A dozen soldiers were wounded in varying degrees; Wesley lay in the ICU, motionless, covered in tubes and wires; Cecelia cried hysterically in Baldwin's arms. As these scenes replayed in her mind, Blair suddenly understood the reason why Wesley didn't want to get married.

If she were Wesley, she might do the same. No one wanted to make their loved ones worry every day and suffer sleepless nights.

But the country needed heroes like Wesley. Wherever the fight, whoever the enemy, the country would send their best. He followed a different path from others, a path of sacrifice, a path of service. He stood ready to defend the nation, ready to fight for what mattered. When the people needed him, he was there.

In Blair's eyes, Wesley was a hero.

to Wesley's strong will to survive, he lived. Soon, he started breathing on his own. Three days later, he was transferred to an exclusive ward. He was better but he still hadn't

nurse. Blair would come help after she was off work. When she saw the nurse was about to wipe

Cecelia, I told you Wesley always took good care of me. Now it's my turn to take care of him." She had already seen

Blair's eyes, Cecelia was moved and nodded. Blair was

of the ward. Blair and Wesley needed

the towel in a basin of warm water, wrung it, and began to wipe

at his wounds-some were deep cuts and some were minor scratches. She tried to avoid wiping the gauze

on his body. It pained her heart to see these wounds. Poor guy. Stabbed, shot. He had to be in

who wounded Wesley so badly. They were so cruel. Didn't they know she was waiting for

tend the machines, and be there when Blair could not be. But the day- to-day tasks like

all her time to taking

voice in the ward. What they didn't know

"Do you remember when we were training freshmen at your university? One day, our chief went to the girls' dorm to check the sanitation. Eight girls blocked his way and flirted with him mercilessly. They were brave, but they chose the wrong guy. Chief is a guy who'd been taught all sorts of tricks to resist torture. It was nothing for him to

surrounded by a group of beautiful women. She

ever get through to that guy? And it backfired, really. Far from being tempted, he was a rock. I heard that our chief wore an angry face the whole time, as if he were about to throw those girls out of the building! And they paid for it, too. He was so hard on them the next day in training. Few, if any of us, would have been

then?" Blair's curiosity was

paused to recall more details. Then he went on slowly, "Those eight girls were too tired to walk after their punishment and they all lay down on the playground to rest. One of them was ballsy and reported Wesley to the principal. But it only compounded her misery.

what Talbot was saying. It did sound like Wesley's style. He was

remembered how she tried to flirt