"Right, that's the girl who always wears headphones, keeps her head down all day, and never raises her hand to answer questions in class. I've been in the same class as her for a year, and I don't think I've ever heard her speak."
"Oh my god, a car accident? Is it serious?"
Listening to the surrounding students' discussions, Alice raised her eyebrows slightly, and the pen in her fingertips stopped.
Jessica Campbell.
In the talent-packed, star-studded Midtown High School, she was definitely a standard invisible person.
She didn't have the dazzling aura of an honor student like Gwen, nor the arrogance and dominance of Flash Thompson, and unlike Peter, she didn't occasionally draw the whole class's laughter and attention by being bullied by Thompson.
She always sat silently in the corner of the last row, covering half her face with her hoodie, always playing music in her headphones, never interacting with anyone, and never participating in any group activities. She was like a gray shadow, arriving silently, leaving silently, and never intersecting with anyone.
Even the extremely sensitive Alice had almost never noticed this classmate in her daily life.
She was just like a desk or a chair in the classroom—clearly always there, yet never on anyone's mind.
"The car accident was very serious," Vice Principal Morita's voice rang out again. "A heavy truck carrying radioactive chemical agents collided head-on with their family car at an intersection."
The whispers in the classroom stopped instantly, and everyone held their breath, looking at the homeroom teacher on the podium.
"Jessica's parents and her seven-year-old brother all unfortunately perished in the accident. Jessica is currently in the intensive care unit at the city center hospital with multiple fractures throughout her body, severe internal organ damage, and exposure to radioactive chemical agents. She remains in a deep coma to this day."
This news exploded in the classroom like a bombshell.
Even the naughtiest boys, who usually caused trouble, shut their mouths at this moment, their faces filled with shock and disbelief.
They might not know Jessica, and might not remember this invisible classmate, but phrases like "only one survivor out of a family of four," "parents and brother all perished," and "deep coma in the intensive care unit" struck every boy and girl like a heavy hammer, hitting their hearts hard.
They were still at the best age of their lives; death, separation, and the destruction of a family—these words were as distant to them as stories in a textbook.
But now, this tragedy had happened to their classmate, happening less than ten kilometers away from them.
Alice finally remembered who Jessica Campbell actually was.
Jessica Campbell must be the future Jessica Jones.
In the Marvel Universe, she was that superhero with super strength, flight, and mental defense abilities, a core member of the Defenders, that seemingly unruly but actually sharp-tongued and soft-hearted heroine who would forever guard Hell's Kitchen in the darkness.
And this seemingly accidental car accident was the turning point in her life.
"The school has already contacted the hospital. If anyone finds this news difficult to accept or needs to talk to someone, the school's counseling office will be open to everyone at any time over the next week," Vice Principal Morita said after delivering the heavy news, sighing deeply. "Children, take care of each other."
After speaking, he nodded to everyone and turned to walk out of the classroom.
In the classroom, students gathered together, discussing the accident, their faces full of sympathy and sadness.
Peter, Gwen, Harry, and Alice naturally gathered in the empty seats in the back row of the classroom.
Peter's eyes were filled with undisguisable sadness and sympathy.
He knew too well what it felt like to lose a loved one.
Having lost his parents at a young age and been raised by Uncle Ben and Aunt May, he could understand Jessica's current despair better than anyone else in the class.
Overnight, her home was gone, her parents and brother were all gone, and she was left alone lying in a cold intensive care unit, with even the hope of waking up being slim.
The feeling of the sky collapsing—just thinking about it made his heart tighten.
After a long while, he said in a low mood, "She was actually a very good person. Once, I was tripped by Thompson, and my books scattered all over the floor. The whole class was laughing, but only she walked over and helped me pick them up one by one. Although she didn't say a word and just turned and left after picking them up, I have always remembered it."
Gwen's eyes were slightly red, and she took out a tissue to gently wipe away the tears at the corners of her eyes.
She was the kind of girl with strong empathy, smart and kind, who couldn't bear to see others suffer, even if the person was a classmate with whom she had almost no interaction.
She bit her lower lip and said firmly, "We should go to the hospital to see her. Even if she can't wake up now, we should go keep her company and let her know that she is not alone."
"I agree." Harry's face lost its usual nonchalance. He took out his phone, checked the time, and said to the three, "After school, I'll have the driver bring the car to the school gate, and we'll go together. I'm familiar with the hospital; I'll make a call, and we'll be able to visit outside the intensive care unit."
Alice looked at the three and nodded gently, "Count me in."
In fact, she could take out her phone right now, call Wesley, and have him deliver the Loom Moth restorative fluid to the city hospital within twenty minutes.
That magical liquid, capable of regenerating broken bones and repairing organs, could make Jessica wake up from her deep coma within a few hours, allowing her damaged internal organs and bones to heal completely without leaving even a single scar.
But since she had remembered who Jessica Campbell was, and since she hadn't managed to prevent this car accident beforehand, there was no need to do so now.
This car accident had taken everything from Jessica, but it was precisely the radioactive chemicals leaking from that Military truck that were undergoing a violent and irreversible genetic recombination within her broken body.
Those seemingly fatal radiations were rewriting her genetic sequence bit by bit.
This life-or-death genetic recombination would transform this ordinary high school girl, Jessica Campbell, into a super-powered high school student with immense strength, and eventually, the future superhero Jessica Jones.
If she rashly used Umbrella Corporation's restorative serum now to forcibly interfere with the cell repair process in her body, it would very likely interrupt this genetic mutation and completely erase the future Jessica Jones.
She had no right to deprive a girl of the chance to become a hero.
Everyone was absent-minded during the afternoon classes.
Even Peter and Gwen, usually the most diligent, were distracted from time to time.
Harry was even worse, lying face down on his desk, staring blankly out the window while spinning his lighter over and over with his fingertips.
Alice, on the other hand, didn't overthink it.
Because all she could do was stand guard nearby, and if Jessica's vital signs showed any signs of collapse, she would immediately intervene to save her.
Beyond that, she could only watch and wait.
As soon as the afternoon school bell rang, the four of them stood up almost simultaneously and headed toward the school gate.
Harry's black Rolls-Royce was already parked steadily at the school gate.
The car was very quiet; no one spoke, and the atmosphere was exceptionally heavy.
Harry told the driver to hurry, and the black sedan merged smoothly into the traffic, driving toward the city hospital.
Twenty minutes later, the car stopped at the entrance of the city hospital.
The four of them opened the car doors and walked into the hospital building.
The hospital's distinct smell of disinfectant instantly filled their nostrils.
The white corridor seemed endless, and the people coming and going wore expressions of anxiety, sorrow, or numbness.
From time to time, the stifled sobs of family members drifted through the hallway, along with the monotonous beeping of machines—every sound spoke of the heaviness of life and death.
Harry had made arrangements in advance, and after checking the information, the Nurse at the front desk immediately led them toward the intensive care unit.
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