After Surviving the Apocalypse, I Built a City in Another World - Chapter 860

Chapter 860: Another Finding
Alterra General Hospital

Victor walked to and fro the door of the operating room. Vanessa didn’t leave in the end, though primarily to make a point against her brother who seemed to believe she was there superficially—possibly due to Garan.

While she had a habit of looking for the man, she really did want Juni to survive. Whether it was for basic morality or just to avoid the guilt and liability, she didn’t really dwell on it for now.

It took another hour or so before the doctors came out. Victor immediately met Volohov and a few assistants. Betty was also there, and her task was to heal Juni as needed. After all, the operation was on critical internal organs and they didn’t have the machines in order to keep patients alive during operations. At least not yet.

“Her situation is temporarily stable, but we’re still studying how to completely heal her,” the doctor said, heaving a deep breath. “His metal was rust in and on itself. Now Juni has a very bad case of tetanus.”

Victor’s hands clenched into a fist, but he loosened it to calm himself down. “The Research Lab is already working on its cure.”

Volohov nodded, “Well, I trust in the team.”

“Is the rust unusual?”

“Rust itself can’t cause tetanus, but the rust attracts the spores of a bacteria called Clostridium tetani. In Terran, there would be an incubation period, but here…”

This meant that this world’s version of this bacteria was much more potent and dangerous. Further, it was from an elementalist, which had known capabilities to have much more potent effects than anything else.

Victor heaved a deep breath while Vanessa stood beside him, acting like a concerned relative. “What… could happen to her?”

“Tetanus causes severe muscle spasms, seizures, and difficulty in breathing. If left untreated, she just wouldn’t be able to breathe anymore.”

“What?”

“We implanted a tube on her,” Volohov said, “The lack of oxygen in her brain would cause her to remain unconscious for a long time.”

Although they didn’t have synthetic material usually used to make such tubes and medical tools, they did have rubber which was a decent alternative.

“She would likely remain in a vegetative state, at least for a while.”

“Even in the hospital?”

“She’s still breathing thanks to her being here,” the doctor explained. However, the look of the doctor on him shifted a bit, and it made Victor even more nervous.

“And… there’s something else you would want to know.”

Volohov then looked at Betty who nodded before stepping forward. Vanessa also gave this one a bad look. Betty—the beautiful aborigine blonde who was also a healer. They had the same elements and occupations, and it was natural for Vanessa to feel a sense of competition with her.

“I have awakened a new skill the past few days, it’s called Bodily Assessment Skill,” she said. “The skill would help me see the basic status of a person’s health, though it consumes a bit of mana.”

The story of how it awakened was a bit… unusual.

That man named Tom came to her, saying his chest hurts, asking for her help and she did heal him.

She knew this man as her eyes always gravitated towards him when he was around. He was not very handsome, but he had a very kind heart. She also saw him cook for the kids during their picnics and she thought how great a father he would be.

Also, seeing healers consumed contribution points so she just did as she was asked. She thought, no one would be willing to waste precious contribution points if there was really no issue, right?

However, the ‘illness’ just didn’t seem to get better. She felt very very worried, so she healed and tried to understand what was going on, and this went on for many days.

She was shocked to trigger the skill in the end.

This was a skill that would’ve awoken in Betty sooner or later but, with Tom’s help, it came much sooner.

Betty looked at Vincent to state her findings, “When she was healing, I used the skill to make a preliminary check on her,” she said. “It’s still in the early stages but the skill managed to register it. In her, I found a little thing.”

It was very little because it was very, very, young. Perhaps it was only a few days old, or a week at the oldest.

Victor’s eyebrows furrowed, confused. “What?”

“Miss Juni is pregnant.”

For the first time in his life, Victor’s knees buckled and he fell down on the floor in weakness.

…

Victor held the woman’s pale and cold hand, his sad eyes looking at her greying face. The tubes were barely keeping her and his baby alive, and the sight was heartbreaking.

He had already asked a favor from the team to send his father a message to handle things in the valley, as he’d be staying here until they needed to.

“Please be alright…” he said, looking deeply at her, and the tools that were keeping her alive. He looked at the mechanisms and knew that Alterra already had electricity at this point, though apparently limited to a few places for now.

If his heart wasn’t so heavy, he’d be incredibly amazed.

“Hang on, Juni, please hang on,” he begged, burying his head in the back of her hand.

He shouldn’t have let her come. Or at least he shouldn’t have let his guard down when his woman was so close to their enemy.

It was his fault. He underestimated that man. A man who could survive so long—a lot of which he was even alone and without backing—was naturally not weak.

Now his love was in danger, and so was their child.

He stayed like that for hours, just staring, and he only took away his eyes when there was a knock on the door.

It was Vanessa, and she was already cleaned up and was even wearing a nice dress. “Brother, it’s time for you to rest.”

In fact, Vanessa had been walking around the territory and buying things to distract herself from the worry and guilt. However, as she shopped, she ended up just burning in jealousy at the convenience and lifestyle of everyone.

Although Limestone Valley had been greatly improved, how could it compare to the well-planned Alterra?

Now, they could even have ice cream as they walked!

Then she encountered Garan and her eyes brightened. Sadly, he wasn’t alone and still with his children.

Her heart clenched at the picture they made, her stomach boiling in acid.

She approached them, wearing her new dress, but Garan didn’t pay attention to her. He was carrying the two chubby babies, and his eyes were on them. In contrast, it was that woman who greeted her.

“Aren’t you supposed to be with your brother?” The bitch asked and Vanessa had no choice but to go to the hospital again.

Vanessa stayed for a while, but she really couldn’t bear to look at Juni. Seeing her reminded Vanessa of what she could’ve been thinking. Regardless of her intent, there was probably a part of her that had wanted Juni gone for good.

Vanessa wasn’t ready to face that thought.

What made it worse was that she was apparently pregnant! If something happened, wouldn’t she be haunted by these two lives?

Vanessa’s defense mechanisms was denial. And she absolutely could not handle it mentally if the baby perished and if he was truly her brother’s blood.

“Hasn’t it been only a week since you’ve been with her?” Vanessa asked, looking genuinely suspicious. “Are you sure it’s yours?”

Unexpectedly, Victor stood up and went to her.

Slap!

Her head rang, unable to comprehend what had just happened. She barely noticed the sting on her face compared to the shock her heart felt. “Brother? Did… did you just slap me?”

“You’re a grown woman,” he said, “You should know when to watch your mouth better.”

Vanessa was absolutely aghast. No one had ever raised their hands against her, and the last person she expected this from was her loving brother!!

“Brother, you jerk!” she yelled, running away with tears threatening to fall down her eyes.

Victor sighed and tiredly sat back down, holding the woman’s hand again.

“You were right, Juni,” he said, looking as if he’d aged a decade. “You were always right.”