Home / Romance / After Three Years: She Wakes Up / Chapter 171 - Chapter 180

All Chapters of After Three Years: She Wakes Up: Chapter 171 - Chapter 180

207 Chapters

Chapter 171

A sharp, startled intake of breath was replaced by a shocked squeal of delight. Startled, I tried to remove my fingers from his grasp. Connor held on tighter, a smirk playing across his lips. Seems he was serious about the “no secrets” thing. I didn’t realize he meant how he felt about me–for everyone else as well. He wasn’t going to hide our new relationship, or at least not his feelings for me. So much for discretion…“It sure took you too long enough!” Allison shouted from the other side of the room, her voice muffled as she spoke around the gauze covering her face and neck. “I…” Her next words died as she stared, open-mouthed, at how my fingers were interlaced with her brother’s. I’m sure that if her face wasn’t so tightly bound in bandages, I’d see the evidence of the shocked blush on her honey-tan skin from here. Ally looked up at her brother, then back at me, and then back at our hands, and slowly closed her mouth. “Well lookie here,” she began to tease, “I knew it!”

Chapter 172

[Ariana]Three minutes later a small team of technicians entered the room, pushing carts and large machines, their faces blank and professional.“Hello Ms. Davies,” a kind young man spoke to Ally, “I’m your anesthesiologist. We will need to put you under sedation for this process,” he informed her. Ally nodded, as if she had expected this, presenting her arm for the nurses as they added another IV drip for the medication. Putting her asleep meant that it was going to be painful–too painful to bear awake. Knowing this made my stomach twist into knots for my best friend. Whatever this “treatment” entailed was far more invasive than any of the ones I use as part of my healing arts. “Dr. Clark,” one of the technicians turned towards Connor, using the name he used at HMG. “Everything is ready to proceed.” Josh gave Allison a quick, chaste kiss. “I’ll be waiting in the hall,” he informed her, nodding towards her brother in understanding. “When you open your eyes, I’ll already be back. You

Chapter 173

“Help?” I asked, curious. “How? Our medicine is so different?” Connor’s work was more tech based, using semi-organic nanobots that directly repaired damaged tissue before being absorbed into the body. My treatment used stem-cells to regenerate damaged tissues. Along with acupuncture, herbal tonics, and other techniques to aid in circulation of blood, it restores the natural electric currents of the body to aid in healing. Similar ideas, yes, but very different approaches."I have some theories about how our treatments, when used together, could complement one another. I’ve been following your research for a very long time," he confessed. “The way your medicine channels and focuses the body’s natural rhythms including its inner electrical connections, might have potential as a supplemental guidance system of sorts, for my nanobots.”“Doesn’t your nanobots already have a system that does that?” I asked, curious. Connor was a thorough researcher as Dr. Andrew Clark, and as Ouroboros,

Chapter 174

As we finished washing up, Connor directed me to a different door than the one we had entered, leading to a narrow, sterilization room. Just inside hung several hazmat suits, the type specifically designed for doctors working on potentially infected patients, and other delicate procedures. “These are level 4 suits,” he explains as we step into sleek suits printed with the Ouroboros Biotech logo.Level 3 suits were used for the most contagious viruses.“I didn’t know they made level 4 suits,” I expressed, impressed. “Ours are the first,” he explained proudly as he helped me find the right sized suit. They were slimmer than I was used to, far lighter as well. “We designed these to work specifically for this procedure," he continued, placing our suits in a small tube where they were sanitized before being conveyed to the other side of the nearby sanitation chamber. "This material will not only keep any of our contaminants from entering our patient's body, but also protect us from any na

Chapter 175

I followed Connor out of the sanitizing room to a corridor so narrow that we had to walk in single file. The walls were thick plastic, perfectly sealed, protecting us from anything that could possibly cling to the outside of our suits. Eventually, the corridor ended, and a set of heavy doors slid away to reveal a large, open room. It almost felt like a warehouse, with cement floors that must be easy enough to hose down and disinfect, and tall blank walls. In the center of the room was a bed surrounded by one more set of plastic curtains that provided another layer of safety between the procedure and the outside environment. And at the heart of that space, lying on the bed, was Connor's sister, and my best friend, Allison Davies. Taking a deep breath, I surveyed our environment. To the right of the bed was a cart holding trays each with a variety of surgical instruments laid upon its surface. Some of the tools looked unfamiliar, possibly proprietary, but most of them were pretty sta

Chapter 176

Everything seemed to happen all at once.One moment, Allison was stable, her heart rate normal. Her body healed.And then the next moment, as if flipping a switch, all at once the machines around us began to sound a woeful siren that set all our hearts racing as the positive effects of the procedure fell apart.Feeling helpless, I stood there, shocked, watching in horror as her body began to jerk, her mouth open in a silent scream of pain that she shouldn't be able to feel, as if her body was burning through her sedation faster than the IVs could provide relief. Worse, her body was using up the nanobots before the treatment could be complete. She was still healing, only now the healing had stopped, and in some areas even reversing. "She's in pain. Can we up the dosage?" I begged the anesthesiologist. He shook his head. "It's already at the maximum dose for a person of her size. Any more holds a risk of…""Give her more," Connor ordered, shouting over his shoulder. "Do your job!" I'

Chapter 177

The air between us stilled as time seemed to stop. Allison was in pain. I’d do everything in my power to help her. Except for this. I wasn’t even sure I could still do it, even with my instrument. Other than that one time at the convention, I haven’t even touched a violin since my mother begged me to give up music. That was 7, almost 8 years ago. Before my father’s death. Before my failed marriage. I was a completely different person back then. "I can get a violin,” Connor lifted his hand, ready to direct his staff to do just that. “I’m sure we have something in-house that would work. We…”"Not just any violin," I interrupted. "It needs to be MY violin–specifically, the one I used during my initial experiments. I need to have a soul-tight connection to the instrument, otherwise it won't work.”“It needs to be my Stradivarius,” I thought but did not say, knowing exactly how pretentious it would sound. Stradivarius violins were rare, irreplaceable, and priceless. I had learned from

Chapter 178

I turned towards the waiting cart. “Should we start the music,” Connor asked. I shook my head, “I need to place all of the needles first. I’ll signal when it’s time.” Before the true healing could start, I needed to tune the needles with the sound of my voice. After that, I had to place every needle precisely, and only when that task was complete could the music start. I explained everything quickly as he helped the nurses stabilize Allison’s condition. They had managed to quiet her screams with enough sedatives to drop an elephant, but her body was still thrashing as it rejected the effects of the nanobots. She wouldn’t last much longer.Turning towards my needles, I tried to block out the sound of the machines. For this to work, for the energy of the music to find its way into the needles, I needed to place them precisely, which meant having a clear head and steady hands as I positioned them. One wrong placement could ruin the alignment, which for someone in Allison's condition,

Chapter 179

It was a small miracle. The first needle, the one I was touching, began to vibrate again. “The needles are working again,” I gasped, stunned. I tried singing out the anchoring note once more, a bright, clear, open A, and as I did, Connor slowly removed his hand from my shoulder. The needle began to shake. And then sputteredAnd finally came to a complete standstill. It was working just a moment ago. Why did it stop? Where did it go wrong?Thinking I just needed to repeat the note, I tried it one more time. But nothing happened. The needle was still, and as I touched it, as cold as the dead. Sensing my disappointment, Connor placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder. “You tried, Ariana…” The needle twitched under my fingertip. Was it Connor’s voice that made it jump?“Say that again,” I encouraged. “What you just said.” Connor squeezed my shoulder nervously, “Ariana…it’s okay. The nanobot serum is almost ready for injection. You’ve tried your best, Ari…” The needle began to hu

Chapter 180

[Connor–a few minutes ago]“Do you know the melody of my song?” she had asked. I’ll never forget her melody. It’s been engraved in my heart for the last seven years, since I first heard her play it, draped in golden sequins, shining like a star on a small stage in the middle of her father’s company party. It wasn’t the first time I’d seen her, but it was the first time I noticed her, really noticed her, for the gem that she is. She shined like a star, energy flowing from her center, touching all who watched her with the rich warmth of her music. I wasn’t the only one affected. As soon as the bow caressed the string, releasing the first, tantalizing notes, the whole room stilled, mesmerised. At the time, I assumed it was because of how beautifully she played, that everyone’s heart had been stirred and swayed, pausing to hear every clear, heart-calming note. Now I know differently. There is magic in her song. Something deeper than just the melody. Something healing. “Yes,” I rep

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