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Chapter 67- The Cost Of A Heart

Author: Beauty m.j
last update Last Updated: 2025-06-29 06:07:25

Chapter 67: The Cost of a Heart

The early morning sun painted the sky in soft gold as it rose over the private hospital. Inside, everything was still. Leo remained unconscious, though the tension that had gripped the room for days had slightly eased. Machines hummed steadily, and nurses passed quietly, aware of the emotional weight that saturated the air.

Matteo sat in the corner chair beside Leo's bed, his fingers gently wrapped around his little brother’s. It had been a long night, filled with fear and waiting—but Leo was alive. Breathing. And that was more than they’d had before.

Fatima had stayed the night after Matteo returned from the lodge. Dominic had left hours earlier to respond to an attack on one of his warehouses—an emergency that pulled him back into the world he rarely let touch Matteo and Leo.

As the clock ticked toward eight, the door opened, and Dr. Rahman stepped inside with another nurse and a folder pressed to his chest. His expression was serious but not panicked
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  • Burning empire   Chapter 68: Between Life And Blood

    Chapter 68: Between Life and Blood The hospital lights never dimmed. Not in the private surgical wing, not in the waiting room where Matteo sat, stiff and silent. The sterile white walls didn’t care about the anxiety bleeding out of him. They held no warmth, no comfort—only silence, machines, and the soft echo of footsteps. Dominic stood across from him, arms folded, leaning against the wall. His face gave nothing away. But his eyes—they burned. It was 8:56 PM. Four minutes to surgery. Dr. Rahman appeared in the hallway, fully scrubbed in. He gestured for Matteo to follow. Matteo rose like he was floating, leaving behind his fear for a moment as he walked beside the doctor. They stopped in front of the surgical theater’s outer glass wall. Beyond it, nurses prepared the equipment. A heart-lung machine stood by the operating table, quiet but ready. Dr. Rahman spoke gently. “He’s sedated. Intubated. Stable. His vitals are holding, which is good. Now, we begin the process of removi

  • Burning empire   Chapter 67- The Cost Of A Heart

    Chapter 67: The Cost of a HeartThe early morning sun painted the sky in soft gold as it rose over the private hospital. Inside, everything was still. Leo remained unconscious, though the tension that had gripped the room for days had slightly eased. Machines hummed steadily, and nurses passed quietly, aware of the emotional weight that saturated the air.Matteo sat in the corner chair beside Leo's bed, his fingers gently wrapped around his little brother’s. It had been a long night, filled with fear and waiting—but Leo was alive. Breathing. And that was more than they’d had before.Fatima had stayed the night after Matteo returned from the lodge. Dominic had left hours earlier to respond to an attack on one of his warehouses—an emergency that pulled him back into the world he rarely let touch Matteo and Leo.As the clock ticked toward eight, the door opened, and Dr. Rahman stepped inside with another nurse and a folder pressed to his chest. His expression was serious but not panicked

  • Burning empire   Chapter 66: The Sound Of A Blink

    Chapter 66: The Sound of a BlinkThe morning light poured gently through the hospital windows, casting golden shapes on the walls. The machines beside Leo's bed hummed their quiet rhythm, each beep a cruel reminder of time passing without change. But something in the room felt different this morning. There was a shift, not big, but present. Matteo sensed it in the air, the same way one senses rain before it falls.Matteo stood by the bed, fingers brushing softly along Leo’s arm, just beneath the IV line. His heart had grown tired from hoping, but he hadn’t stopped. He couldn’t.Dominic was behind him, pacing slowly. His phone buzzed again, and he didn’t answer."It’s been four days," Matteo whispered.Dominic stopped. “I know.”Matteo turned toward him, his eyes glassy. “He should’ve woken up by now.”Dominic didn’t speak. Instead, he walked to Matteo and placed a steady hand on his back.Then the door opened. Dr. Rahman entered, a folder in hand, his face serious but calm. Matteo’s b

  • Burning empire   Chapter 65: Stillness, And The Storm Within

    Chapter 65: Stillness, and the Storm Within The soft hum of machines was the only sound in Leo’s hospital room. Outside, the city carried on in its usual rhythm, cars moving like blood through veins of streetlight. But inside these four walls, the air was too still, like everyone and everything had paused to wait for a single boy to open his eyes. Matteo sat at the side of the bed, one hand gently wrapped around Leo’s small fingers. Dominic stood near the window, arms crossed as he watched the boy sleep. Neither spoke for a while. Leo's lips were pale. His hair, usually wild and full of stubborn curls, had gone flat, pushed aside by days of lying still. The oxygen mask covered most of his small face. Matteo whispered, mostly to himself. “I’d give anything to see him smile again.” Dominic didn’t answer immediately. But he turned, his dark eyes catching Matteo's. “I know you would,” he said, walking slowly toward him. “You always do.” Matteo looked up, tired eyes flickering with

  • Burning empire   Chapter 64-- Coma

    Chapter 64: ComaThe hospital room was quiet except for the soft beeping of machines and the occasional whisper of air from the oxygen vent. Leo lay still, his small chest rising and falling slowly under the white sheets. The world outside was moving, shifting with the coming morning, but inside that room, time had stopped. Matteo sat on the chair closest to the bed, unmoving, except for his fingers that gently rubbed Leo's knuckles.The sky outside was still dark, but it was the kind of dark that hinted at light. A promise that morning would come. Matteo leaned closer, placing his forehead softly against Leo’s hand."You once told me you'd live forever, remember? You said you’d outlive me, outlive the stars." He smiled sadly. "You’re not allowed to go back on that now. Not like this."Dominic entered the room quietly, carrying a blanket over one arm and two cups of something warm. He paused at the doorway, watching Matteo with an unreadable expression. Then, he walked in, handed Matt

  • Burning empire   Chapter 63: Where It Hurts to Hope

    Chapter 63: Where It Hurts to Hope The wind over the hospital helipad was sharp, pulling at Matteo’s hoodie as he stepped out of the helicopter with Leo cradled in his arms. The boy's breathing was faint, but steady under the oxygen mask. Matteo’s heart didn’t slow, not even for a second. Two nurses met him, a gurney rolling fast beside them. "Mr. Rossi, please place him here," one of them said calmly. Matteo did, hesitating only long enough to brush a hand through Leo’s damp hair. “I’m right behind you, Leo. You hear me? Right behind you.” The nurses wheeled him away, the white doors swinging open like a gate to a battlefield Matteo had hoped to never return to. --- The waiting room was too cold, too white, and too quiet. Matteo sat curled in one of the chairs, fists clenched between his knees, still wearing grass-stained jeans and an old hoodie. Every few seconds, his eyes flicked to the hallway, hoping for a doctor. Hoping for anything. He didn’t cry. He couldn’t. His phon

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