Chapter 5 A sharp pain shot through Katherine's head, and blood quickly blurred her vision. Her face went pale as a ghost. Theodore's worried voice broke through the chaos. "Belle! Katherine! Are you guys okay?" Katherine struggled to open her eyes, and when she did, she locked onto Theodore's anxious gaze. He was usually so calm and collected. Even when someone had a gun pointed at him, he never seemed fazed. This was the first time that he looked so rattled. Katherine tried to say something, but all that came out was a painful cough, along with a mouthful of metallic-tasting blood rising in her throat. When they finally lifted the shelf off her body, Katherine heard gasps all around. "Oh my god, she's bleeding everywhere!" "There's a screwdriver stuck in her stomach! With this much blood loss, could it have pierced any organs?" Even Theodore-who had been focused on Isabelle just moments before-dropped down beside Katherine to check on her. His voice shook as he said, "Just hang in there for a bit longer. I've already told the store manager to call an ambu- lance." As soon as he finished talking, the store manager came over looking really serious. "Mr. Bagnall, there's a multi-car crash up ahead, and only one ambulance has shown up. Who should we save first?" It felt like time just stopped. Katherine could hear her heart pounding in her chest. In all the chaos, she looked at Theodore with desperate eyes. "Theodore... I..." Just then, Isabelle started coughing hard, cutting off her words. "Theo, my chest hurts so much. Am I going to die?" After saying that, she tilted her head and passed out. The hesitation disappeared from Theodore's face. "Katherine, Belle has a bad case of hemophobia. It could be really dangerous. "Just hang in there for a bit longer. I'll get you a private doctor to help you soon.' With that, he swept Isabelle into his arms and rushed off. Katherine felt blood surging wildly through her veins. A cold wave washed over her and she couldn't stop shaking. 0.0 % 09:43 Finally, despair took over and she fainted. When she woke up again, she found herself in a hospital room. A nurse was checking on her after the surgery. "You're lucky, Mr. Bagnall got all the surgeons here. Otherwise, you could've died from those serious injuries." Once the nurse left, Theodore walked in looking a bit worn out and saw that Katherine was awake. His voice was surprisingly soft. "The doctor said you won't have any lasting issues. You just need some time to heal." Katherine couldn't help but think about how he had ditched her back then. She shut her eyes, ignoring him. "You shouldn't be here. You should be with Isabelle." Theodore stopped in his tracks. "Katherine, don't be like that. This was an accident, and Belle is innocent as well." Katherine let out a bitter laugh. "She tried to slap me! That's why we crashed into the shelf! I ended up getting hit by it and almost died! And now this is just going to get swept under the rug?" Theodore paused for a moment, deep in thought. "She didn't do it on purpose. I'll make it up to you. Remember how you wanted to go to Long Beach? I'll take you there after the wedding." Katherine had brought up wanting to go to Long Beach so many times before, but he always shot her down each time. Last time, he even looked at her coldly and said, "I'm really busy right now. Don't bring up stuff like that again. It's a waste of time." But now, just to stop her from holding Isabelle accountable, he was actually making such a dramatic "sacrifice." But honestly, the only reason Katherine wanted to go to Long Beach was that it was where Maverick had told her he loved her. She missed him so much that she wanted to go back there with Theodore's heart beating inside her chest. Since Theodore wasn't who she truly wanted, but now, the promise meant nothing to her. Theodore was about to say something else when his assistant suddenly knocked and walked in. "Mr. Bagnall, Ms. Danford says her leg hurts a lot and wants you to check on her." Theodore stood up and said one last thing, "Belle has no one but me here in this country. I'll come see you later." With that, he just walked away without looking back. As she watched him leave, Katherine sneered inside. Theodore remembered that Isabelle had no one around for support, but he totally forgot that she came to this city all alone, thousands of miles from home, trying hard to fit in while everyone disliked her. But he'd never been there for her anyway. She wouldn't need him in the future either."