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Sawyer’s blood ran cold.
“STOP!” he roared, sprinting toward her.
Whether it was his voice or his sudden desperate sprint toward Ellie, something spooked the driver. Instead of running Ellie over, the car swerved and sped off, disappearing down the road.
Sawyer barely noticed. His entire world narrowed to the sight of Ellie lying motionless on the ground.
He fell to his knees beside Ellie, his hands trembling as he reached for her. Blood trickled from a gash on her forehead, and her body lay motionless. His heartbeat thundered in his ears, drowning out everything except the ragged, barely-there sound of her breaths.
“Ellie! Ellie, can you hear me?” He cupped her face, his own panic reflected in her barely open eyes.
Her breaths were faint. Shallow. As if she was already slipping away.
“No. No, no, no—stay with me.” His fingers fumbled for his phone, dialing emergency services with hands that wouldn’t stop shaking.
The wait for the ambulance felt endless. Time stretched and collapsed all at once, everything blurred together—too fast, yet agonizingly slow. One moment, he was holding Ellie in his arms, trying to keep her conscious. The next, she was being rushed into an ambulance, and he was right there with her.
The thought of losing her—of watching her slip away like Olivia once had—sent ice through his veins. The mere possibility made his vision darken, his chest tighten until he could barely breathe. He clutched Ellie’s cold hand between his palms, his pulse hammering as he waited for the ambulance to reach the hospital.
Hours passed in agonizing silence. Ellie had been taken into surgery. The doctor’s words kept replaying in his head.
“She might not make it.”
It was as if someone had reached inside him and ripped his soul apart.
Sawyer didn’t move. He didn’t react. He just sat there, gripped by the same suffocating fear he’d felt years ago—when he had lost Olivia. All Sawyer could see was darkness. Memories threatened to drown him.
But this wasn’t Olivia.
This was Ellie.
So why did the pain feel exactly the same?
The way he had been informed about Olivia’s burned body all those years ago… the same suffocating weight crushed his chest now.
He couldn't breathe.
Time blurred. People came and went. But he didn’t move until, at last, the doctor emerged.
Sawyer shot to his feet at once.
"She’s stable," the doctor informed him. "She has injuries, but we’ve treated all the critical ones. She should be fine."
Sawyer’s legs nearly gave out.
If it weren’t for Henry catching him at the last second, he would’ve collapsed right there.
Sawyer slumped back against the wall, exhaling sharply. For the first time in hours, he allowed himself to breathe.
As he steadied himself, Henry approached him with a reassuring voice. "Mr. Stark, Miss Ellie will be moved to a normal ward soon. Don’t worry—she’s much better now."
Sawyer nodded, rubbing his face before finally opening his bloodshot eyes.
Then, as if a thought suddenly struck him, he turned to Henry.
"Henry… what happened to Tony? Is he okay?" His voice was hoarse. "Ellie will worry about him when she wakes up. I don’t want her to worry about anything. Not a damn thing." His voice held an edge of desperation, as if he was clutching at something slipping through his fingers, something he refused to lose again.
"I’ll find out right away, Mr. Stark," Henry said before stepping away.