"Doctor Aria, he is slipping. We are losing him," Stuart exclaimed, watching Joshua's heartbeat decrease on the ECG. Although Aria was nervous, she tried to stay as calm as possible. Joshua's condition was not that severe yet, and they could still revive him. The moment he had been pushed into the operation theater, they had provided him the blood transfusion, while Aria tried to stop his bleeding.

The method to do so was very complicated, but she had come across a technique when she had visited London a few months ago. During the conference, they had discussed how to tackle hemophilic cases. "Doctor Stuart, monitor the blood flow and inject the antihaemophilic globulin," Aria commanded, and Stuart took over, injecting the globulin through Joshua's veins, while Aria worked on removing the bullet.

The moment she pushed the forceps inside, Joshua started to bleed profusely. The man had long slipped into an unconscious state. So, they had not used anesthesia on him. Aria, carefully removed the bullet, grateful that it had not penetrated deep inside. Once the bullet was out of his body, she stitched up his wounds, trying to reduce the man's bleeding. However, just as they had expected, he continued to bleed.

Aria nodded at Stuart, and once again the man induced another round of antihaemophilic globulin. They waited a long time, hoping for the animal blood to work on Joshua, and to their happiness, it did. Although he did not stop bleeding, it was not that severe as before. "It is working," Stuart exclaimed, marveling at Aria for remembering this technique, which he had forgotten completely.

"Let's close his wounds and see what would happen," Aria suggested, and Stuart nodded, assisting her with her work. Together, they cleaned his wounds once again and stitched them, making sure to be as careful as possible.

"Nurse, heartbeat," Aria queried, and the nurse immediately reported the patient's condition to them. "He seems to be okay for now. But until he opens his eyes, he is still in danger." Aria commented, and Stuart sighed, observing the man who had turned as white as snow. "Good work everyone." Aria sighed, hoping that her technique would work, even though the chances of failing outweighed it.

"Nurse, keep an eye on him and keep me informed." Aria did not forget to add before opening the operation theater and coming face to face with the anxious people who had been waiting for her since the time the surgery had started. Besides, Ian too had joined them, and he looked at her hopefully, trying to gauge her reaction.

"I have done my best. Now, it is up to Joshua." Aria relayed what she had prepared to tell them.

"What do you mean, Aria?" Noah could not stop himself and held her by her shoulder, his hold on her strong and painful. But Aria did not flinch, for she knew that the man did not have any intentions of hurting her. It was only out of concern for his friend. "Please tell me he is out of danger."

"I wish I could say that, Noah. But no. Joshua is not out of danger." Her words were like a huge blow to the three people, especially to Ivy, and she gaped at her sister in fear. She rushed to her and stared at her, pleading through her eyes.

"Aria, please tell me this is not true. Tell me he is fine, and he would wake up soon. Please." Ivy begged, tears leaking out.

"No, Ivy. I can't. Joshua's condition made it arduous for us to operate on him. Aria took a look at Ian, hoping that at least he would understand her, and thankfully, the man did.

"What condition, Aria? What happened to him?" Ivy queried, looking back and forth between her sister and the two men. She could see that they were hiding something from her with the way they were hiding from her gaze. "For god sake, someone tell me what is wrong with him."

"Ivy, Joshua is suffering from hemophilia. It is a condition where blood does not clot. I mean, the patient won't stop bleeding." Aria explained and observed how her sister's expression turned from confusion to terror. "Yes, until he gains consciousness, Joshua is in danger. But I am certain, he will. He responded to our treatment, and his bleeding was reduced. We will monitor him for a few hours to see how his body responds to our treatment."

Aria's last words reignited the hope that everyone had lost, and they stared at her in happiness, especially Ian. He knew how difficult it was to operate on patients with hemophilia, and he was grateful that Aria had given her best. Suddenly, Ivy hugged her sister, startling her, and Aria pushed her away at once. "Ivy, don't. I stink of blood. Let me wash up first. Otherwise, we both will be smelling the same. I am sure the boys would not want that to happen."

Aria tried to lighten the mood, and it worked. Ivy giggled while Noah's lips cracked into a smile. Ian too did not look as depressed as before. Aria sighed in relief and pressed her sore shoulder. Noah saw her tired expression, the seven-hour surgery had exhausted her completely. 'Aria, thank you.' He thanked her silently and watched her walk away from them, towards her office.

When nobody was noticing, he slipped away from the group and followed her. Aria was just about to close the door behind her when Noah pushed it in, surprising her. "Noah," She exclaimed, patting her chest. "You scared me."

Instead of apologizing for his behavior, Noah just padded towards her, closing the distance between them, and pulled her flush, hugging her tight. Aria at once tried to escape from his embrace. However, the man was having none of it. "Aria, thank you." He muttered, his soft and sincere words stopping the girl from fighting to get away. "Thank you very much for saving my friend."

"Noah, it's my duty," Aria replied at once, not hugging the man back. "Noah, will you please let me go? I stink of blood."

"I don't mind." The man deadpanned, not allowing her to move.

"But I do. I don't want you to smell like blood. So, please."

"Can we just stay like this, please?" Noah's plead made Aria melt, and she gave up. The couple stood still for a long time, hugging each other before Aria's stomach rumbled loud, breaking the silent and calm moment.

Aria closed her eyes, embarrassed by her stomach's loud mating call while Noah chuckled, amused by his girl's reaction. "Get washed. We will go eat once you do." Noah suggested, his eyes shining with mirth, and Aria ran away at once, unable to meet the man's teasing expression. Before she closed the door to her washroom, she did not miss Noah's laughter, reverberating loud in her office.