章節 84: Gramps
As Liam ran to the car, his thoughts went into chaos, his mind preparing him for the worst possible outcome. The distance between him and the vehicle closed rapidly, the surrounding noises faded out slowly.
Reaching the car, time seemed to slow down. The noises all around him disappeared entirely as Liam looked through the shattered window.
Inside was an elderly man, slumped over the steering wheel, with a thin trail of blood flowing from his nose. Small, sharp glass shards were embedded in the right side of his body.
This elderly man was his grandfather—the only person who had been in Liam's life since the beginning.
"No," Liam thought in despair as he slowly reached inside the car. His trembling hand moved towards his grandfather's neck, searching for a pulse.
As his fingers pressed against the skin, Liam's face turned pale, and a cold dread washed over him. Nothing. No pulse.
A deep sense of emptiness overcame him, as though he had become entirely disconnected from the world. Yet, he kept his hand there for a few more seconds, hoping against that something would change.
Just as he prepared to drag his grandfather out of the car to perform CPR, he felt it—a faint beat. A pause, then another weak beat.
Relief went through him, removing the despair for a moment. Wasting no time, Liam ripped the car door off its hinges and carefully reached in. Gently lifting his grandfather, he carried him in his arms and conjured a portal in front of him.
On the other side of the portal was a hospital room—a place Liam recognized from the Doctor Strange movie in his previous life. As soon as the portal fully opened, he rushed through it, unsummoning Incursio and closing the portal behind him.
Liam ran into the nursing room ahead, shouting, "Doctor Palmer!"
Inside, a brown-haired woman stood up abruptly, startled by the sight of a man holding an elderly figure in his arms.
"I need help with my grandfather! His car was hit by some kind of explosives!" Liam's voice was urgent as he approached her.
Despite her initial surprise and confusion, Christine Palmer didn't hesitate. She moved into action immediately upon seeing the elderly man's condition.
"Get him on this crash cart," she instructed, motioning to a nearby cart as other nurses, drawn by the commotion, came over.
Liam carefully laid his grandfather down while Christine began her examination.
"Push the cart and take him to the room five doors up ahead on the right," she directed.
Liam complied, pushing the cart down the hallway as Christine conducted her initial observations.
"Airway clear," she noted to a nurse beside her as she cut open the elderly man's shirt. Another nurse who had just joined them began assisting. "No entry wounds near the lungs."
The nurse next to her wrote everything down as Christine continued. "Spine condition unknown. Minor external bleeding and nasal hemorrhaging. Possible internal injuries."
"Grab the F.A.S.T. scanner," Christine instructed one of the other nurses, while she herself began gathering multiple medical supplies and tools. Liam, unfamiliar with most of the things she used, stepped back to stay out of the way.
One of the nurses approached him and asked him to wait outside.
He nodded, exiting the room as the doors shut firmly behind him. Once alone, a mix of countless emotions overwhelmed him.
To remain aware of whatever happened inside, Liam created a small portal, no larger than his hand, in the top corner of the emergency room. Through it, he kept watch, ready to intervene if necessary.
Time passed as the nurses worked tirelessly. Eventually, one of them went out of the room to give Liam an update.
"Your grandfather is stable now, but there were small amounts of internal bleeding. We're taking him to another room for an MRI scan to ensure there's nothing more serious," she explained.
Relief swept over Liam, and for a moment, the weight on his chest was lifted. Even though there might still be bad news, his grandfather was stable for now.
As the adrenaline went away, anger took its place. Though he felt frustration toward himself, Fury, and others, the ones he hated the most at that moment were Hydra. It wasn't just anger; it was a refusal to understand their motives. "Why would they do this to other people?" he thought repeatedly.
But he already had an answer no matter what anyone said: Their motives didn't matter.
'They will pay for what they did to Gramps,' Liam thought, watching as his grandfather was wheeled away infront of him for further tests.
An hour passed, and Liam now sat by his unconscious grandfather's bedside.
"He was lucky," Christine said, standing beside him. "There was only minor trauma, a concussion, and some external injuries. He'll wake up soon. That said, we'll need some form of identification."
Liam nodded, knowing full well he couldn't provide it. 'If I reveal myself, Hydra's remnants might come for her, I'll also be destroying all records later.' He thought. 'When Gramps is well enough, I'll bring him to the Sanctum. No more lies and I'm completely done with this spy bullshit.'
'After that, Hydra will experience hell. Especially Pierce—he won't get off as easily this time.'
Christine interrupted his thoughts. "Have you ever had your eye condition checked? And… how did you know my name?"
Liam instinctively touched his face, realizing his sunglasses were gone, then he remembered that he had lost them when he summoned Incursio. "It's nothing special," he said, brushing off her first question. "And your name? I read about it in a magazine about another neurosurgeon here."
Christine raised an eyebrow, clearly skeptical, but chose not to press any further. "A nurse will bring you paperwork soon," she said. "I need to check on my other patients now."
"Thank you so much," Liam said as she left. "I won't forget this."
Minutes after Christine departed, his grandfather began coughing, his eyes openened slowly.
"Where am I?" he asked, his gaze falling on Liam as he looked around.
"The hospital, Gramps," Liam replied. He quickly gave a brief explanation of what had happened.
"What happened to your eyes?" his grandfather asked, with concern in his voice.
"I'll explain later, Gramps," Liam said gently. "You don't need an extended stay, so you'll be discharged in about four hours. After that, I'm taking you somewhere new."
"Why not my house?" his grandfather asked, his brow furrowing.
"I'll explain more about that later." Liam answered.
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