Chapter 194: Reckoning and Recovery

After Emma, Priya, and Laura stepped out to return to the room where Monica had been transferred alongside Heidi and Chloe, Eric was left alone in his hospital room. Staring up at the ceiling, he suddenly noticed that the aching pain in his fractured left arm and leg had vanished. He gave them a tentative wiggle and realized that thanks to his system’s recovery abilities, he was completely healed, save for a faint, lingering sensation caused by mental suggestion. Once he verified he was fine, he drifted into thought.

"Hopefully, after everything that happened, this will be the last of it," Eric said in his head.

"Click."

Eric turned toward the door to see Caleb opening it and stepping inside, with Katie right behind him. After shutting the door, the two walked over to the right side of Eric’s bed. Katie immediately pulled Eric into a hug, and he embraced her back. Releasing him from the hug,

"I came by because I bumped into Emma, Priya, and Laura, and they told me you were awake. How are you feeling?" Caleb asked.

"Hmm... in pain, obviously, but I’m fine," Eric answered.

"Good to hear," Caleb replied, looking visibly relieved.

"I’ve already spoken with the team at Trinity. If you’re still stuck here three days from now, you can just sign off online and we’ll conduct the meeting via video call. Caleb and I will run the meeting right from your room here," Katie chimed in.

"I see. That’s probably for the best. It’s not like I’m going to make a miraculous full recovery in three days," Eric replied.

"It’s all taken care of, so relax and get some rest. Leave everything to your big sister," Katie said with a smile, gently stroking Eric’s forehead.

"So... what’s the deal with Jason?" Eric asked.

The room plummeted into silence. Neither of them spoke a word, letting Eric’s question hang heavily in the air. Katie shook her head softly while Caleb crossed his arms over his chest, a somber expression on his face. After a long moment,

"Your dad asked me earlier if I knew a good criminal defense attorney. Naturally, I told him I didn’t have any contacts or recommendations since we specialize in corporate law, not crime," Katie said.

"Huh... my dad is still trying to protect Jason?" Eric asked, taken aback by Katie’s words.

"Quite the opposite, bro. Uncle Martin wants to press full charges against Jason and force him to suffer the consequences of his actions. He’s planning to sue Jason both in civil and criminal court," Caleb answered.

"Oh... really?" Eric asked, bewildered.

"Yeah... he dumped every bit of evidence on the police earlier. It turns out this isn’t Jason’s first time pulling something like this. According to your dad’s statement, back when Jason was in college, he nearly killed a guy just because he wanted the guy’s girlfriend, hiring someone else to do the dirty work. Your dad paid off the victim so the case wouldn’t go further, but he laid out the whole story earlier," Caleb answered.

"On top of that, the police have already secured evidence regarding Jason’s plot to murder your dad and harm your younger sister, provided by your mom, Vivian, and Melissa... looks like this time your brother has zero chance of slipping away from his troubles like he used to," Katie added.

"Sigh... I’ve known since we were kids that he was twisted, but I never realized it went this far," Eric said.

"Same here, bro. I had no idea Jason was that far gone either," Caleb replied.

"Click."

Eric, Caleb, and Katie all turned toward the opening door as Ruby walked inside. Her eyes landed instantly on Eric, who was now conscious. A look of sheer relief washed over her face as she shut the door behind her and walked over to Eric’s right side. Katie stood up from her chair to give Ruby her seat. Before sitting down, Ruby threw her arms around Eric, hugging him tightly, and he returned the warm embrace. Settling into the chair,

"Where’s Dad?" Eric asked.

Ruby didn’t answer right away. She paused, staring down at Eric, who was still resting in bed and looking over at her. After a few silent moments,

"Dad’s at the police station right now. He left earlier with Mr. Norman," Ruby answered.

"Oh... I see," Eric replied softly.

"Dad... refused to step inside. Before leaving, he stood right outside your door. When I asked him why he wouldn’t come in, he said he didn’t deserve to step inside and see you, that he was too ashamed to look you in the eye," Ruby added.

Eric went quiet, shifting his gaze toward the door before looking back at Ruby, with Caleb and Katie standing right behind her. Ruby remained silent, hanging her head low. Eric reached up with his IV-bound hand and gently rested it on Ruby’s head.

"Thanks for coming," Eric said.

"Yeah... I’m so sorry... Eric," Ruby said, bursting into tears.

Silence descended over the room once more, broken only by the sound of Ruby’s soft sobbing and the quiet beep of the heart monitor, its leads still hooked up to Eric’s chest despite him being awake. Shortly after, a few nurses stepped in alongside a doctor to check on Eric’s condition, asking Caleb, Katie, and Ruby to step outside for a moment.

"Doctor, can I be moved to a different room?" Eric asked.

The doctor turned to look at Eric, who was now sitting upright and staring back at him with a serious expression.

"Oh, of course. This is the ICU, so you’ll be transferred to a regular room right after this checkup," the doctor said with a warm smile.

"Hmm... alright. Could you please put me in the same room as Monica, Heidi, and Chloe? I assume you know Heidi, right?" Eric asked with a faint smile.

"Ah, that’s right. Very well, I’ll talk to the department handling room assignments. For now, let’s focus on getting your examination done," the doctor said.

The doctor began asking Eric various questions, checking for any sudden spikes in pain, asking about his mental state, and running through a series of physical checks. Once the checkup was wrapped up, the nurses unhooked all the cables attached to Eric’s body except for his IV line. They all stepped out and shut the door behind them, though Eric could still see Caleb, Katie, and Ruby standing right outside the room window.

Caleb flashed a gesture letting Eric know he’d be moved to a room as soon as the medical reports were finalized. Katie also signaled that she needed to step away for a moment to take a call after getting a text, holding up her smartphone toward the glass before turning to walk off. Caleb then took his leave to head back to Avery’s room, leaving only Ruby standing in front of the glass window. Tears streamed down her face as she smiled, pressing both hands against the glass.

Eric rested his head back against the pillow behind him. "Sigh," he let out another long breath.

"Hopefully there won’t be any more trouble down the road after this," he said in his head, closing his eyes.

***

About two hours later, down in the inpatient wing, a few male nurses pushed Eric’s bed into a spacious room, with Ruby trailing close behind. As the door swung open, Emma, Priya, and Laura, who were watching over three curtain-partitioned cubicles, pulled back the drapes.

Their faces lit up instantly. Eric spotted Chloe sitting upright in bed, eating an apple and giving him a small wave. Even with her face lightly bandaged and bruised, she still looked effortlessly gorgeous. Eric then glanced toward the cubicle across from her, where Heidi sat with Laura right beside her.

Heidi appeared to be doing alright, her face was mostly unscathed, though her arm was set in a cast and her head wrapped in bandages. She let out a relieved smile at the sight of Eric, her face brimming with tears as if she wanted to leap out of bed and wrap her arms around him, even though she couldn’t.

Then, over at the far end right beside Chloe, Eric saw Monica lying in bed. Her face was heavily bruised yet still stunning, her neck secured in a brace, and both her arm and leg held in casts in the exact same position as his. But when Emma whispered something into Monica’s ear, Monica slowly raised her hand and flashed Eric a weak thumbs-up.

A sudden wave of relief washed over Eric. The two nurses carefully maneuvered his bed into the cubicle right next to Heidi and directly across from Monica. As they finished adjusting his bed and prepared to leave,

"You can leave the curtains open, please," Eric said.

Both nurses smiled and nodded, stepping out without pulling the drapes closed. Laura then opened the left curtain so Eric could clearly see Heidi, while Priya pulled back all of Chloe’s curtains, giving Eric a full view of her.

"Thank God you three are okay... I was worried sick," Eric said.

"I’m... I’m doing okay... sob... sob," Chloe stammered.

"Same here... me too... sob... sob," Heidi chimed in.

"Sob... sob... sob." Eric couldn’t hear Monica’s voice, but he could hear her quiet sobbing from across the room. He could also see Priya, Laura, and Emma wiping away tears, even as bright smiles lit up their faces.