Chapter 322



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“Is Hayden’s family here?”

The nurse’s voice echoed down the hallway. For the first time in his life, Joseph felt as if his feet were bound with stones and he couldn’t even move.

Until he came to in a moment, “Here, here I am.” Pushing people aside, Joseph said in a trembling voice, “I’m here.”

With the consent form for the operation in hand, the nurse looked at Joseph blankly, as she had seen this kind of scene every day.

“The patient’s left chest cavity was punctured by a steel rod and was close to the heart, so the risk of the operation is quite high. The doctor is going to perform an emergency operation, but first he has to sign here.”

It felt to Joseph like a bomb had exploded in his head and he couldn’t imagine what it was like to have a steel rod in his chest. He froze.

“Sir…sir, are you all right?”.

Joseph signed his name mechanically and felt that everything around him had disappeared. He began to stare at the operating room door without looking away.

Ten minutes after the nurse entered the operating room, there were noises coming from the hallway.

Dante, Freddie and Cleveland were here.

“How’s my sister?” Freddie asked frantically.

Biting his lips tightly, Joseph’s eyebrows were literally shaking. He stood there like a statue and repeated the nurse’s words in a bit.

“What happened?” Freddie suddenly grabbed the collar of Joseph’s shirt and shouted with bloodshot eyes.

“Joseph, is this how you’re taking care of my sister?”

“Maybe it’s not so bad.” Holding Freddie, Cleveland looked at the operation schedule and said worriedly, “We don’t know how it will all turn out yet. The doctor is performing the operation now, so don’t panic.”

But Freddie seemed not to hear Cleveland’s words and tightened his grip on Joseph’s neck, “Joseph, remember how you promised me you’d take care of her? She’s my sister!”.

Joseph slowly looked up and met Freddie’s eyes. His eyes were bloodshot and seemed to be holding back pain. He didn’t even want to speak when Freddie finished.

“To you, she’s your sister. But to me, she’s my life.”

Everyone paused at his words.

Pulling Freddie’s hands, Cleveland comforted him, “They’re already going to operate on Hayden. Let’s wait to see the result.”

The light in the operating room went out in half an hour and the doctor in charge came out of the operating room. Looking at all the people, he took off his mask and took a deep bow, “I’m sorry, we’ve done our best.”

Freddie can barely stand upright and would have fallen to the floor had it not been for Cleveland.

The gurney rolled out behind the doctor in charge. Pinching the corner of the white sheet, Freddie didn’t dare lift it. Then he began to cry inconsolably.

Dante’s eyes also turned red and even the eyes of the once indifferent Cleveland trembled.

Joseph just stood there mechanically, he was like an overwhelmed child. Unlike Freddie, he couldn’t even approach the gurney and refused to believe that she was under that white sheet.

He regretted arguing with her this morning and not expressing his deep love for her before it was too late.

“How come you are all here?”. Looking at the saddened five men in the hospital, Anna asked in bewilderment as she held two take-out packages in the hallway.

“What happened?”

Dante was the one closest to her. He frowned and said in a hoarse voice, “Stop asking, he didn’t make it.”

Anna paused and rested her eyes on the stretcher that was covered by a white cloth. Lowering her eyes, she let out a sigh, “Hayden and I had done everything we could to send her to the hospital as soon as possible.”

Dante nodded and suddenly felt something was wrong. Then he stared at Anna and said, “What did you say?”

“What?” Anna paused and said, “Hayden and I had done everything we could…”.

While Dante was questioning Anna, Joseph had run over to the gurney and lifted the white cloth. It was a plump, middle-aged woman lying on that gurney and her face was frighteningly pale.

Freddie recoiled in fright and fell back on Cleveland’s arm. “This is not my sister.”

Joseph’s hand clutching the white cloth trembled, but after regaining his composure, he covered the body and walked toward Anna feigning calm.

“Where’s Hayden?”

“I was going to look for her. I just bought dinner, we haven’t eaten yet.” Scratching her head, Anna looked around.

“The hospital is short-staffed and Hayden used to be a medical student, so she volunteered, she’s probably still helping out.”

Suddenly, Joseph walked past her and disappeared before Anna could finish speaking.

Looking at Anna, Dante asked the nurse to take the deceased patient to the morgue and bent down in front of the bed to apologize for alarming her.

Anna was still confused, and asked them, “What happened?”

Magnus was the one who was present at all times, so he was the only person who could explain what happened.

Seeing everyone looking at him, Magnus thought for a while and hesitated, “Well, the nurse who let us sign the consent form for the operation said that the patient was Hayden Downey, so Mr. Beckham thought that…”.

“Right…”. Anna finally realized what had happened, “Hayden and I brought her in. Then Hayden asked the nurse to call her name if she needed any family members. But the nurse must have been busy and got confused.”

“So…” Magnus frowned, “So, what do we do now?”

“Well go home and do whatever they want.” Anna shrugged, “Our car just hit a track guard and was towed away for repairs, so there’s nothing to worry about.”

At her words, everyone was relieved.

Freddie finally took it all in and was relieved. Leaning against Cleveland, he muttered, “Joseph is a psychopath.”

Cleveland rubbed his hair and asked, “Do you want to see your sister?”

“No.” Freddie shook his head, “It’s too late now, let’s go home already. I have shows to do tomorrow.”

After Freddie and Cleveland left, Magnus hurried off as well. Standing in the hallway with dinner, Anna felt a little uncomfortable.

“Let’s go, Joseph will host a Hayden dinner.” Dante looked at her, “I have a sample design to show you, are you interested?”.

“Of course!” Anna’s eyes suddenly lit up.

Looking at the take-out package she was carrying, Dante said, “Wow, lucky me. I hadn’t had dinner yet.”

Joseph finally spotted Hayden the ambulance bay after looking all over the hospital. He was helping the doctors and nurses get patients out of the ambulance. Her pink gown was covered in bloodstains, but she looked serene in the midst of the chaos.

At last her heart stopped beating wildly.

“Now you don’t have to exert all your strength. More people are coming, so you should save some energy.”

Wiping his sweat in the ambulance, a doctor smiled at Hayden.

“Are you one of the new interns? How come I’ve never seen you before?”.

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