Chapter 27 - The Walk to the Operating Room
The corridor seemed unusually peaceful as Lucia's bed rolled slowly toward the operating suite.
Doctors walked beside her.
Nurses checked equipment one final time.
The tiny stuffed rabbit rested near her shoulder.
Both bracelets remained secured around her wrist.
Hope.
Brave.
Elena walked on one side of the bed.
Adrian walked on the other.
Neither spoke.
Words no longer felt necessary.
Lucia's eyes opened briefly.
She looked first at her mother.
Then toward Adrian.
Very slowly...
She reached out her tiny hand.
Adrian gently held it.
Her fingers curled around his thumb exactly as they had on the airplane.
The memory struck everyone who had witnessed that first meeting.
The flight attendant, who had stopped by the hospital before leaving Iceland, watched quietly from the end of the hallway.
She wiped away a tear.
"You found each other again," she whispered.
Dr. Voss checked the clock.
"We're ready."
The surgical doors stood open.
Beyond them waited bright lights, silent machines, and an operating team already scrubbed and prepared.
Elena bent down.
"I'll be right here when you wake up."
Lucia blinked once.
Whether she understood or not, nobody could say.
The anesthesiologist smiled gently.
"We'll take good care of her."
The bed began moving again.
Just before crossing the operating room threshold, Lucia's monitor emitted a soft alert.
A nurse glanced down.
"Doctor..."
Voss stopped immediately.
"What is it?"
The nurse looked from the monitor to Lucia, then back to the screen.
Her expression shifted from concern to confusion.
"This can't be right."
"What can't?"
"The pressure inside her pulmonary artery..."
She stared at the newest reading.
"...it's suddenly improving."
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Every member of the surgical team paused.
No one could explain how a value that had worsened for days had begun changing only moments before the operation was about to begin.
