Zhane paused when he heard Hera inhale sharply — a shaky, broken breath — as if she were about to gasp but forced herself to stay quiet. He could hear her soft sniffles, the sound of her struggling to hold back her emotions.


    Hera’s nose stung, her chest tightening painfully at the news. Guilt and sorrow weighed heavily on her, but she fought to keep her emotions in check. She didn’t want to burden Zhane with her pain, so she bit down the sobs wing at her throat, burying her growing emotions deep inside.


    After a moment, Zhane continued in a low, steady voice, "Aside from the head injury and blood loss, the gunshot wounds didn’t hit any of his internal organs. But he did suffer several broken bones and fractured ribs, so he’s been put in a cast. There’s still a significant risk he could fall into a vegetative state... but if he wakes up within a month, we can rule that out."


    Zhane’s jaw tightened unconsciously as he thought about Leo’s condition. The damage had been severe — during the blood loss, the oxygen and blood supply to Leo’s brain had briefly stopped, and his heart had nearly given out.


    For a few terrifying seconds, Leo had technically died. If not for the quick action of the doctor traveling with him, who performed intensive resuscitation and emergency first aid, Leo wouldn’t have made it.


    Even then, with Leo’s broken ribs, the chestpressions had been incredibly risky — one wrong move, and the shattered bones could have punctured his organs. Fortunately, the doctor had assessed the situation fast enough and managed the resuscitation carefully, preventing any fatal internal injuries. If not for that, Leo would already be gone.


    The situation had been extremely dangerous — only someone highly skilled could have managed to pull Leo through it. Fortunately, Leo had a good eye for talent and had hired a doctor capable enough to save his life in such a critical moment. If the doctor had been even a few seconds slower, theck of blood flow to Leo’s brain could have caused irreversible brain damage — or worse, death.


    Leo had been incredibly lucky.


    But Zhane chose not to exin all of this to Hera. He feared that if she heard just how close Leo hade to dying, she would break down again. So he kept those details to himself, telling her only what she needed to know for now.


    Still, hearing that Leo might end up in a vegetative state made Hera want to cry out — but before she could, Zhane quickly added more, as if he was sandwiching the bad news between pieces of hope. Hera felt like her heart was riding a rollercoaster as she listened to him continue.


    "But don’t worry," Zhane said reassuringly. "We have a month’s window to stimte Leo’s brain and consciousness. And even if he’s fallen into a vegetative state afterwards, his auditory and other senses are still functioning. He can still hear us. We just need to keep talking to him, reminding him, giving him a reason to wake up."


    "Just because someone is in a vegetative state doesn’t mean they’re gone. Leo was lucky — really lucky. We’ll do everything we can to help him. And besides," he added with a small chuckle, trying to lighten the mood, "with Dave’s annoyingly loud mouth around, even the dead would wake up."


    Hera sniffled, a softugh escaping her lips despite herself.


    Zhane was right — crying wouldn’t help. What they needed now was to focus on what they <i>could</i> do to help Leo.


    Even though Leo was temporarily out of immediate danger, there was still a risk ofplicationster on. His body was at its weakest, and even a minor infection could prove fatal. That was why Zhane had ordered his doctors and nurses to check on him every two hours, making sure no problems would go unnoticed.


    Fortunately, Zhane’s medical team was made up of highly meticulous and skilled professionals — graduates from the most prestigious medical schools in the country, with some even poached from top institutions overseas.


    He was confident that Leo was in the best hands possible. Still, Zhane couldn’t rxpletely. He knew he had to remain hands-on, personally overseeing everything to make sure nothing went wrong.


    He couldn’t bear to see Hera so heartbroken, drowning in sadness at the sight of Leo lying unconscious. That was why Zhane was determined to do everything he could to save Leo. Even as he exined the situation to Hera, he was also reminding himself to stay strong.


    After chuckling at Zhane’s joke about Dave, Hera wiped her tears and seriously considered staying by Leo’s side to talk to him. After all, wasn’t that how people tried to stimte someone in aa or a vegetative state?


    Still, she knew deep down that, for now, all they could really do was leave it to fate — and to Leo’s own will to survive. If he managed to wake up within the month, they could celebrate. But even if he didn’t, even if he slipped deeper into unconsciousness and became a vegetable... it wouldn’t be the end of everything. There was still hope, and they would face it together, no matter how long it took.


    But even though Hera tried to make it sound hopeful, deep down, her heart was breaking.