Chapter 11 - The Long Night
For the next twenty-four hours, Marcus Vance practically lived in the hospital. He had transformed the VIP waiting area into a makeshift war room. Lawyers marched in and out, building a watertight criminal case against Arthur Pendelton. Financial advisors scrambled to freeze Arthur's assets and allocate massive funds into Sarah’s medical care.
Throughout it all, Leo remained by Marcus's side. The billionaire had bought the boy new clothes—soft pajamas, a warm jacket, and fresh shoes—but Leo refused to throw away his duct-taped sneakers. He kept them tucked under his chair.
"Why do you keep those, Leo?" Marcus asked softly during a quiet moment at 3:00 AM. They were drinking hot cocoa, looking out over the city lights.
Leo looked down at the battered shoes. "My mom taped them for me," he said quietly. "She stayed up all night doing it so I wouldn't get made fun of at school for having holes in my shoes. It's the last thing she did for me before she got too sick to get out of bed. If she... if she doesn't wake up, they’re all I have."
Marcus felt a sharp pain in his chest. He reached over and gently squeezed Leo's shoulder.
"She is going to wake up," Marcus said.
Just then, the double doors of the ICU swung open. The surgical team from Geneva, looking exhausted but determined, strode into the waiting room. Dr. Aris followed closely behind.
"Mr. Vance," the lead surgeon said in a thick Swiss accent. "We have administered the regenerative therapy. Now, we wait."
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"How long?" Marcus asked.
"By morning, we will know if her body accepts the cells or rejects them. The next few hours are critical."
