Chapter 50: Dragging Her Into Your World

Evan spent the next two hours crouching in front of the operation room, his back against the cold wall as he stared at the closed doors without moving.

He had been told repeatedly that he needed to return to his room and rest, but he refused every time, unable to bring himself to leave while Lumi was still inside.

The pain throughout his body had barely eased, yet he didn’t seem to notice it anymore. His thoughts remained fixed on the person behind those doors, replaying the few fragmented memories he could still remember from his Rampage and wondering how many injuries he had caused her.

Another hour passed.

Then another.

Finally, the light above the operation room went out.

Evan immediately stood up, his tired body protesting as he pushed himself away from the wall. The doors opened moments later, and a doctor stepped out, looking exhausted after the long operation.

Evan rushed forward. "How is she?"

"She is stable."

Evan’s shoulders loosened slightly, but the tension in his expression remained. "Stable?"

"She lost a considerable amount of blood and suffered multiple fractures and internal injuries. We managed to stop the bleeding and repair the worst of the damage, but..." The doctor paused, his expression becoming slightly puzzled. "There was one thing we didn’t expect."

Evan immediately looked at him. "What?"

"The blow to her abdomen should have caused much more damage to her liver than what we found during the operation. When we first examined her, we were concerned that the injury might be fatal, but somehow, the liver had managed to survive the impact."

Evan’s brows furrowed. "Somehow?"

"Yes." The doctor shook his head slightly. "I honestly can’t explain it. The damage was severe, but not nearly as severe as it should have been considering the force of the attack."

He let out a quiet breath, still looking bewildered by the medical results. "It was almost a miracle that she survived that particular injury."

Evan’s expression darkened.

A miracle.

He didn’t feel relieved hearing that word. If anything, it made the guilt sitting heavily in his chest even worse. Because whatever had saved Lumi’s life, he had still been the one who put her in that condition.

A few minutes later, the doors of the operation room opened again, and Lumi’s bed was slowly pushed out through a special hallway connected to the recovery ward.

The hallway was separated from the visitors’ area by a large glass panel, allowing Evan to see her clearly without entering the restricted section.

Evan immediately stepped closer to the glass.

Lumi lay completely still on the hospital bed, her face unusually pale beneath the soft glow of the medical lights. Several monitors were attached to her, quietly displaying her heart rate and other vital signs, while an IV line ran into the back of her hand.

For a moment, Evan simply stood there.

The girl who had been talking, laughing, and arguing with him inside his mental space now looked so quiet that it made his chest tighten.

The doctor stopped beside him.

"We need to monitor her for a while until she regains consciousness," he explained. "For now, everything is stable, but we don’t know exactly when she’ll wake up."

Evan’s eyes never left Lumi. "How long do I have to wait?"

The doctor gave him a tired smile. "That depends on her body. It could be a few hours, or it could take longer."

Evan remained silent.

Then, a familiar voice came from behind them.

"I’ve told you... a mere citizen could only end up like that girl, or worse, end up in the afterlife if they become your Guide..."

Evan’s expression immediately hardened. He slowly turned around.

Luke stood a short distance away, his face stern as he looked through the glass at Lumi lying unconscious in the recovery ward. Alexandra followed behind him, her expression composed as she quietly observed the scene.

Evan’s gaze narrowed. "Who told you she was a mere citizen?"

Luke looked at him. "Everyone knows."

His voice carried no hesitation.

"A girl without a single trace of Guiding energy was never meant to stand beside an SSS-rank Sentinel. You knew that from the beginning, Evan. The Committee knew it. The doctors knew it. Even the Pei family knew it."

Evan remained silent.

Luke’s gaze shifted toward the glass.

"Look at her."

Evan did not need to.

He had already been looking at her.

"She is lying in an operating room because of you," Luke continued, his voice growing harsher. "Multiple fractures. Internal injuries. Severe blood loss. She nearly died trying to stop your Rampage."

Evan’s fingers slowly curled at his sides.

"If you had listened to the Committee and accepted another Guide, perhaps she would still be living an ordinary life right now. She would be attending her little college, studying something suited her, worrying about nothing more serious than her exams."

Each word struck harder than Evan expected.

Luke continued without giving him time to respond.

"But you insisted on keeping the Fated Connection."

Evan’s eyes lowered.

He remembered Lumi standing in front of him. Her frightened voice, her ridiculous thoughts and the way she had still walked toward him even after knowing what he could do.

And now she was behind that glass, unconscious because she had followed him into a place she never should have been.

Luke’s voice became colder.

"So tell me, Evan. What exactly did you give her by dragging her into your world?"

Evan said nothing. For once, he had no answer.

Luke watched him in silence for a moment before adding, "You wanted a Fated Guide. You wanted to reject the Committee’s decision and keep the connection that was supposedly meant for you. You got what you wanted."

His gaze hardened, "And look at what happened to her."

Evan’s jaw tightened. A small part of him wanted to argue. He wanted to say that Lumi had chosen to come with him.

That she had refused to stay behind.

That he had never forced her.

But another part of him remembered the moment her body went limp in his arms.

The blood on her lips.

The blood covering his hands.

His stomach twisted.

Luke’s next words were quieter, but somehow more painful.

"If you had left her alone, perhaps her fate would have been better."