Chapter 466 The Last Line Of Defense
Rose felt a sharp pain in her chest.
For a moment, the room seemed to tilt.
"What do you mean?"
Hadn’t Robert said Ryan had emergency blood products prepared?
Owen immediately sensed the urgency in her voice.
"Mr. Knight does have a dedicated supply. It’s stored under specialized conditions, and some of the products require very specific handling. But I don’t have the highest level of access to the records."
He hesitated.
"I asked someone to check. They told me the supply has been gone for quite some time."
Rose’s head began to buzz.
She closed her eyes tightly.
"I understand."
She ended the call.
Then she hurried toward Ryan’s room.
A major operation already carried enormous risks.
Ryan’s severely impaired clotting function made controlling surgical bleeding one of the biggest concerns.
The tumor itself was in one of the deepest and most dangerous areas of the brain, surrounded by critical structures.
And because treatment had been delayed for so long, the boundary between the tumor and healthy tissue was no longer as clear as the team would have liked.
Every factor made the surgery more difficult.
They needed every possible safeguard.
And now one of the most important ones was gone.
Rose pushed open the door.
Ryan was already awake.
He knew this hospital well.
He’d spent years coming here for consultations, scans, treatments, and long stretches of observation.
Always alone.
Always surrounded by the sterile smell of disinfectant that he had come to despise.
The moment he saw Rose enter, he stopped trying to remove the IV.
A faint smile appeared on his lips.
"I knew you’d lose your patience eventually."
Ryan leaned back against the pillow.
His voice was indifferent, as though being dragged halfway across the world against his will was hardly worth arguing about.
Rose took a deep breath.
She walked over and sat beside the bed.
"Then I’m sorry."
She said it quickly.
And without the slightest trace of sincerity.
Ryan almost smiled.
Rose turned toward him.
"Where are your blood products?"
Ryan looked at her.
"Didn’t you keep a reserve for emergencies? Owen says he can’t find it."
Ryan didn’t answer.
Rose’s chest rose sharply.
"Tell me where it is."
She stared at him.
"I’ll have someone arrange transport. It can be here as early as tomorrow."
She wasn’t going to accept silence.
Not this time.
After a long pause, Ryan finally said, "It’s gone."
Rose frowned.
"How?"
She didn’t believe him.
"You haven’t had surgery. You haven’t used it."
Ryan’s expression remained unchanged.
"I used it."
Rose froze.
"When?"
Ryan reached over and took her hand.
His gesture was strangely gentle, almost as though he were the one comforting her.
"For Ariel."
The room fell silent.
Rose stared at him.
Her mind seemed to stop functioning for a moment.
Then the memories came rushing back.
Ariel falling from the building.
Ryan jumping after her.
Ariel badly injured.
The blood loss.
The desperate need for compatible blood products and clotting support.
And then—
The emergency supply Ryan had sent.
Rose’s eyes slowly widened.
She looked into his face.
Ryan remained completely calm.
There was no regret in his expression.
No resentment.
No attempt to defend himself.
He had simply done what he believed he had to do.
When Ariel had been in critical condition, he’d used the emergency supply he’d spent years preserving for himself.
Every bit of it.
He hadn’t kept anything back.
Ryan’s own blood-management plan had always been complicated. Because of his clotting disorder and the potential need for emergency surgery, the products he had stored weren’t something that could simply be replaced with whatever happened to be available.
𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚
Some had been specially prepared and matched for his specific needs.
The supply had been limited.
And after Ariel’s accident, it had all been used.
Rose’s hands gradually turned cold.
Her fingertips went numb.
"...There wasn’t any left?"
Her voice was barely audible.
"We only needed some, didn’t we?"
Ryan looked at her.
"The remaining products weren’t usable."
Rose stared at him.
Ryan gently squeezed her cold hand.
"They have strict storage and handling requirements. Once certain products are opened or prepared for emergency use, the remainder can’t simply be put back into long-term storage and treated as new."
His voice remained almost casual.
"It was safer to use what was needed for Ariel and discard anything that couldn’t be safely preserved."
Rose’s eyes suddenly reddened.
She yanked her hand away.
"Ryan, are you insane?"
Her voice broke.
"You used everything?"
Ryan didn’t answer.
Rose stood there, staring at him.
He had taken the last thing that might have protected his own life...
And used it to save their daughter.
He hadn’t told her.
He hadn’t even let her understand how important those products were.
At the time, he’d made it sound almost insignificant.
Just an emergency supply.
Something wealthy families kept on hand.
Nothing worth worrying about.
And she had believed him.
Rose’s throat tightened.
Ryan raised his chin slightly.
"I am Ariel’s father."
His eyes were calm.
"I wasn’t going to let anything happen to her."
He paused.
"If I had to make the same choice again, I’d make it again."
Rose couldn’t speak.
She had expected many things from Ryan.
She hadn’t expected this.
He had handed Ariel the last line of defense he’d been saving for himself.
And he’d done it without asking anyone to thank him.
"I told you."
Ryan’s voice was quiet.
"This surgery isn’t necessary."
He had already accepted his fate.
Years ago, he’d been given a prognosis that left him with few good options.
Conservative treatment had bought him time.
That was all he’d ever expected.
And now the loss of his emergency blood products made surgery even more dangerous.
Ryan didn’t want Rose carrying the weight of his death.
If she helped operate and he died on the table, she would spend the rest of her life wondering whether she’d made the wrong choice.
He didn’t want that for her.
He would rather she hated him.
Rather she forgot him.
Anything was better than letting her live with the thought that she had failed to save him.
Rose felt completely drained.
Her vision blurred.
She refused to let the tears fall.
She clenched her jaw and forced her voice to remain steady.
"Even so, we’re operating."
Ryan looked at her.
"I’m not afraid of taking a risk."
Her voice was quiet but firm.
"What I won’t do is nothing."
She turned away.
"That’s not who I am."
As for the missing blood products, she’d find another solution.
She had to.
There had to be another way to modify the surgical strategy, another way to manage the bleeding risk, another option the team hadn’t considered yet.
Problems were solved by finding solutions.
Not by sitting around being afraid of them.
Rose took two steps toward the door.
Then she stopped.
Without turning around, she said, "You should get some rest."
Ryan remained silent.
Rose’s fingers tightened at her sides.
"It’s not your illness that hurts me most."
Ryan’s eyes narrowed slightly.
"It’s your refusal to let us try."
The door closed behind her.
Ryan was alone again.
The light in his eyes gradually faded.
He turned toward the window.
There was no fear on his face.
Only a deep, exhausted numbness.
He had spent too many years living with the knowledge that death was waiting for him.
He had already made peace with it.
Then—
The door opened again.
Ryan turned his head.
Something landed on the blanket.
A phone.
Rose’s phone.
The screen was still lit.
A message thread was open.
Ariel.
Ryan’s gaze settled on the screen.
There was a new voice message.
His eyes slowly focused.
He hesitated.
Then he pressed play.
A child’s sweet voice filled the quiet room.
"Dad—"
Ryan froze.
The word seemed to cut straight through the numbness he’d built around himself.
Ariel.
She had never called him that before.
Not once.
Ryan stared at the phone.
His usually cold, controlled expression faltered.
For several seconds, he didn’t move.
Then his hand moved almost before his heart could catch up.
He pressed replay.
The voice came again.
"Dad—"
Ryan closed his eyes.
And listened.