Chapter 468 Because of One Injection
Linda had a baffled look on her face after hearing Courtney’s words. She then asked, “Are you talking about the surgery you were observing before you fainted?”
Courtney nodded with great difficulty. Upon seeing that, Linda let out a breath of relief. Linda then looked at her with a helpless gaze and said, “Come with me.”
Linda brought her to the ICU, where they changed into asepsis clothes. The automated door swiftly opened for them after it detected their presence.
“You are talking about him, right?” Linda pointed at a man with multiple tubes connected to his body. “We already had his death notice prepared to be sent out, but Vice President Hass must have been unwilling to let the man go, since it is rare for him to personally perform an operation. None of us had much hope when the vice president gave the patient one last injection. Who would have thought that it was because of this one injection that the man came back to life! He sure is one lucky man.”
The man had his head shaven and wrapped in bandages because of the craniotomy. With the oxygen mask covering half his face, he was barely recognizable.
Courtney slowly walked toward him. Her every step felt like there were weights of thousands of kilograms tied to them.
“Who is he to you?” Linda curiously asked as she stood behind Courtney.
As Courtney stood there in the quiet and dim room, her voice seemed to reverberate in the cool air of the ward.
“Lover,” she choked.
After saying the word she had kept to herself for the past 5 years, her tears started rolling down her cheeks uncontrollably. She had finally admitted to herself that she couldn’t forget about him even after all this time. Despite how she didn’t want to admit it, she still couldn’t control her true feelings from bursting out and experiencing heartache in the face of death.
She realized that there was no point for her to cling on to the past and make breaking up the only option they had.
Vice President Zayn was there in the room when they entered. He quickly reassured Courtney, “We still don’t know when the patient will wake up, but he is no longer in critical condition. The craniotomy was a success. All that is left is proper aftercare.”
“Thank you so much, Vice President Zayn.”
She could finally feel at ease after expressing her gratitude to Alexander’s attending doctor.
Alexander continued to show no signs of waking up. Courtney waited by the door for a little longer, but due to the staff shortage in the emergency room, she had to leave him and go back to work. Though, she didn’t forget to give Josh a call before that.
“He is alright now. The operation was a success, but he is still in the ICU. We will be observing him for 2 more days before we transfer him to the normal ward,” she informed the assistant.
“That is great. Sorry for the trouble, Miss Hunter.”
“It is fine,” she answered before she began to worry again. “How is Jordan? Does he know about this?”
“We hid it from him. Oh, right. Old Master Duncan is still hospitalized. Please don’t let him hear about this,” Josh reminded.
“Got it.”
“Miss Hunter,” the man added, “Madam Fiona would like to have a word with you. Could you spare her a moment?”
Courtney paused for a moment and eventually said yes.
The other side of the phone was quiet for the next few seconds before a familiar woman’s voice rang out. “Courtney, it is me.”
“I know, madam.”
“I never thought there would come a day we would get in contact again because of something like this. I will be needing your help with Alexander.” Courtney couldn’t help but notice how feeble Fiona’s voice sounded. She could only imagine how worried Fiona was about not being able to enter the hospital premises.
“It is something I should do. Please don’t worry, madam. The operation was a success.”
Not only for Fiona’s sake, Courtney emphasized the word ‘success’ to give herself reassurance.
“I can now be at peace knowing that he is in your safe hands. Why don’t you come over and spend some time with us after Alexander’s discharge? Everyone misses you.”
Courtney hesitated but still agreed in the end.
Melrose City Hospital was open to take in patients and visitors again the next morning, after the scene of the accident had been cleaned up.
Courtney had spent the night before in the ICU. She didn’t even know when she fell asleep by the bedside, but when she woke up, she was greeted by the sight of Fiona standing by the window, waving at her. Fiona had a simple white dress on, and in the crook of her elbow were a black handbag and a thermal lunch box.
“You haven’t had breakfast, have you? I brought you your favorite seafood porridge.”
Now that they were in the office, the older woman opened the lid of the container and passed a ladle to Courtney, for which Courtney thanked her.
“You don’t have to be so polite to me. I am the one who should be thanking you. I would have kept on worrying if it wasn’t for the fact that you are here to take care of Alexander and Grandpa,” Fiona sighed.
Hearing that, Courtney reassured her again, “Mr. Duncan has been regaining his health. He will soon be strong enough to undergo surgery.”
“And it is all thanks to you for breaking his walls down.”
It was probably because it had been some time since they last met that Fiona seemed slightly uncomfortable. Instead of asking about Alexander’s condition, she was more curious about how Courtney’s life had been.
“None of us knew that you were pregnant when you left us. We wouldn’t have let you do that if we knew. We made it difficult for you.”
She began to choke up when she said that, but still continued, “I am sure it has been hard for a young lady like you to raise two children by yourself.”
“Madam, please don’t feel bad about it.” She hurriedly put down the ladle and passed some tissue to the older woman. “It was nothing. Tina has been with Elijah all this while. I also had my Aunt Alicia to take care of me after I gave birth to Josie. She brought Josie back to our home country after she turned 1 year old. So, it wasn’t that hard on me.”
Fiona wiped her tears and only spoke after she had calmed down. “All in all, it was the Duncans who owe you. You lost so many years of your life because of us. You and Alexander, too…”
She stopped before she finished her words. “Let’s not talk about this. Courtney, I have a presumptuous request I would like to ask of you.”
“Do tell.”
“If you aren’t against it,” Fiona suggested, “I would like you to be my daughter. I will treat you like my own. This is also a chance for me to make it up to you.”
Courtney froze as she didn’t expect to hear those words. She didn’t know what to say in return.
Fiona then continued, “I know that you don’t want to be with Alexander anymore, but you and him can’t possibly stop being in each other’s lives altogether. You have 3 children together, after all. That is why I came up with a way for everyone to compromise. I don’t have a daughter either. Can you let me treat you like one?”
Fiona had a sincere expression on her face as she spoke. She didn’t seem like she had any hidden intentions of suggesting so.
“Madam…” Courtney meekly called out, but she stopped talking as she hesitated.
“Do you not want that?” Fiona’s eyes seemed to dim in that instant. “Do you still hold a grudge against Alexander? Even if it is for Jordan’s sake, are you still unwilling to—
“That is not it,” Courtney quickly explained. “Let’s talk about this after Alexander regains consciousness. My head is a mess now. I honestly don’t know what I should say. But I really have no intention of holding grudges against anyone.”
Upon hearing that, Fiona sighed with relief, “That is good, then.”
“I’ll bring you to pay Alexander a visit,” Courtney offered after the conversation had come to an end.
“Oh, sure.”
Knowing that Courtney would be there in the hospital, Fiona paid her son a short visit at the ICU he was in before she left. She dropped by again in the afternoon, along with Jordan. Cameron and Gale,who had also come to see Alexander, had brought Tina and Josephine along as well.
The corridor outside the ICU suddenly became crowded that afternoon.
Even though Jordan looked like he usually did, his grip on his mother’s hand was tight.
“It is alright.” Courtney gently caressed his hand. “He can be transferred to the normal ward after he wakes up. It won’t be long before he is discharged from the hospital. Don’t worry, Jordan.”
Josephine was the youngest among the crowd, and naturally, she didn’t stand out much as she mingled with the rest of them. Her palms were pressed against the window of the ward as she peered at the man who had tubes all over his body inside the ICU. A concerned expression began to make its way across her face then.
