"Don't worry, your daughter is fine," the female doctor scratched her head awkwardly, feeling guilty for being so focused on the previous surgery.
"Oh, she's fine? Thank goodness," Harrison breathed a sigh of relief, tears welling up in his eyes.
The tension on Dominic's lips naturally relaxed, his eyes turning upward as if to say, "I knew she wouldn't fail."
But Gordon, he stretched his neck to peer into the operating room.
A surgery that was doomed to leave the patient in a vegetative state or result in death had been turned around by Alessia. Was Alessia really that amazing?
As Gordon pondered, he saw the doctor tightly holding Harrison's hand. "Uncle, could you tell me the name of that young lady and where she worked before? The surgery she just performed was simply stunning, even more exquisite than our attending physician's technique."
Harrison, still shedding tears, was suddenly grabbed and felt a bit disoriented.
Quickly realizing the situation, he gave a bitter smile and patted the doctor's hand. "You want to know? Even I want to know. I misjudged her, thinking she was just a naive girl from the countryside who didn't know anything. Heh... I'm getting old. I can't help but feel reluctant to yield to the younger generation. This is ultimately the world of young people."
Harrison's words were full of meaning as he glanced at Gordon.
Gordon's lips twitched with a hint of being affected. Then he realized, no, he was almost swayed.
He didn't deny Alessia because of her abilities; it was because he feared she would harm his wife.
But if Alessia's medical skills were indeed so remarkable, he couldn't help but be tempted.
Gordon remained silent, quietly stepping aside. Doctors and nurses from the operating room emerged one after another, and finally, Alessia came out.
The director and the attending physician followed her, talking to her with excitement in their eyes.
The director and the attending physician nodded from time to time, asking questions like students seeking guidance from a teacher.
Gordon felt his mouth dry and swallowed hard. As the head of the Laroux family, he was surprisingly nervous at this moment.
When Alessia and the doctors reached the door of the operating room, they stopped. The director nodded approvingly at Alessia. "Dr. La Rosa, today's surgery really impressed me."
Alessia replied calmly, "You're too kind, Director. I want to thank you for today. Without your permission, I wouldn't have been able to perform surgery for my friend."
"It's nothing," the director chuckled, seeming eager to chat with Alessia for hours.
But Alessia's eyes showed a hint of fatigue. She glanced at the room where Jessie was pushed out and declined, "Director, I'll go to the ward with my friend first."
"Sure, sure," the director realized his lack of tact. A surgery lasting over two hours must have been tiring. He shouldn't have kept her chatting. But he was just too excited and couldn't help himself.
Full of enthusiasm, the director turned to the attending physician and said, "Organize all the medical staff who participated in the surgery just now. We'll have a debriefing in the conference room."
"Great!" the attending physician readily agreed. After standing for over two hours, he didn't feel the least bit tired.
The attending physician hurried off to arrange the meeting, and the director leisurely followed behind, a pleased expression on his face.
Gordon quietly followed the director all the way to the corner of the elevator, where no one else was around. Only then did he step forward and call out to the director, "Director!"
"Mr. Laroux!" The director was taken aback when he heard Gordon's call, then warmly greeted him, "What brings you to the emergency building? Is there something wrong with Mrs. Gordon?"
Gordon frowned awkwardly and glanced back, then lowered his voice to inquire, "What's the background of Dr. La Rosa, who performed the surgery just now? Is her medical skill really so remarkable?"
"Oh... I see," the director looked at Gordon, then glanced down the corridor, suddenly understanding why Gordon was asking.
However, he didn't know the relationship between Gordon and Alessia. He thought Gordon came over because of Evelyn's illness. "Mr. Laroux, to be honest, Dr. La Rosa's medical skills are definitely worthy of praise. But her background, as I promised, cannot be revealed to anyone. I'm sorry, but I can't tell you directly." After a pause, he said, "However... I can give you a hint privately. If Dr. La Rosa performs the surgery, the success rate can reach eighty percent."
Gordon took a deep breath. Even such a high success rate was on par with Dr. Athena's.
Gordon's heart was racing with excitement. But after the excitement passed, he calmed down.
He had just said he wouldn't acknowledge Alessia, but now he wanted to ask Alessia for help? Obviously, that was impossible, and he couldn't afford to lose face like that.
"Mr. Laroux?" The director noticed Gordon's change in expression and asked in confusion.
Gordon snapped out of his thoughts and shook his head at the director. "It's nothing. I'll think about it."
"Alright, if you can, please don't delay too long. Treating Mrs. Laroux sooner rather than later is also beneficial for her health," the director sincerely said.
Gordon nodded, then glanced at the corridor before boarding the elevator with the director.
Leaving the emergency building, Gordon didn't rush back to the inpatient department. Instead, he sat on a bench for a long time, lost in thought, before finally picking up the phone to call Tiffany.
"Tiffany, it's me, Uncle Gordon. I just wanted to ask about Dr. Athena's whereabouts. How's your investigation going?"
On the other end of the phone, Tiffany sat on the sofa with a laptop in front of her. She had the phone on speaker, and upon hearing Gordon's words, she furrowed her brows slightly before replying in a gentle voice. "Uncle, don't worry. I should have the results by the day after tomorrow at the latest."
"Really?" Gordon was delighted, dispelling the clouds of worry that had engulfed him earlier.
"Of course. I've made progress on my end. I've already passed the test of the international hacker organization and made a lot of new friends. They're all very talented hackers, so there should be no problem asking them to help find Athena."
Tiffany sounded very confident.
Upon hearing this, Gordon's last bit of concern vanished. He no longer needed to turn to Alessia. He stood up from his chair in one swift motion.
"Alright, Tiff, I'll leave this matter to you."
"Don't worry, Uncle. I have other matters to attend to, so I'll hang up now," Tiffany said, her eyes fixed on the computer screen.
"Okay, then you go ahead." Gordon hung up with a hearty laugh.
Tiffany looked at her darkened phone, the smile disappearing from her face. On the computer screen was a chat box.
TiffByte: Senior, have you still not been able to find Athena's whereabouts?
Badger: No, we haven't.
M: Why do you insist on finding Dr. Athena? It seems like she doesn't want to be found?
TiffByte: Senior M, you can't find Athena's whereabouts either?
M: Sorry, no. Dr. Athena is too good at hiding, you might as well give up.
Give up? How could she? She had already boasted to Uncle Gordon. If she couldn't deliver, where would she put her face?
Right.
She could ask Dom. Dom had been a top-notch hacker since over a decade ago. With his intelligence, he must be even more formidable now, and he would definitely be able to help her find Athena.
Thinking of this, Tiffany started typing on the keyboard.
TiffByte: "Alright, there's no other way. But I won't give up. If any of you have any information, please let me know."
M: Don't worry, if we find out, we'll definitely tell you.
TiffByte: Thank you, Senior M. I heard that the second round of tests is personally conducted by Eagle and Cobra, is that true?
M: That's correct. Keep up the good work.
TiffByte: Thank you.
After sending these messages, Tiffany closed the laptop with a smile.
Next, she was going to find Dom.
At the hospital, Dominic accompanied Alessia to take Jessie to the ward. Seeing Harrison sincerely regretting his actions and Jessie out of danger, Alessia didn't stay long. She walked towards where Bianca was.
Just as they stepped out of the ward, Dominic grabbed her from behind.
Alessia turned around in confusion and saw Dominic holding her hand. "Mr. Carter, is there something else?"
Dominic looked at Alessia, remembering her confident and radiant appearance earlier. The light in his ink-black eyes became fiery, and the corners of his lips curved up. His pupils were filled with Alessia's figure as he tucked a strand of her loose hair behind her ear.
"In the future, you can call me Dom."
Alessia's confusion deepened. "Did the accident earlier injure your brain?"
Dominic suddenly deflated, not knowing why Alessia's words had hit a nerve. His expression turned cold. He said sternly, "Alessia, I'm giving you another chance because of the three kids and because you seem to like me. Don't be ungrateful."
What?
Alessia suspected she had misheard, and then she saw Dominic pulling her to walk. "Okay, stop dawdling, let's go see Bianca."
Dominic walked briskly, and Alessia almost couldn't keep up. She was so focused on walking that she didn't have the energy to pull her hand back.
"What are you two doing?"
Riley walked up from the stairs and happened to run into Alessia and Dominic. His gaze fell on Dominic's hand holding Alessia's.
Dominic and Alessia both stopped in their tracks.
"Brother, you're here. It's nothing, we're just going to see Bianca," Alessia pulled her hand back.
Dominic didn't withdraw his hand, walking towards Bianca's ward with great momentum.
Riley stepped forward and squeezed between them, forcibly releasing Dominic's hand. He locked eyes with Dominic.
"Don't take advantage of my sister."
"That's the mother of my children," Dominic retorted, then finally let go of Alessia's hand, straightened his clothes, and walked ahead with long strides, heading to Bianca's ward.
Riley followed behind and pulled Alessia's sleeve. "Did you reconcile with Dominic?"
Alessia shook her head in disbelief at Dominic's sudden change. "He probably got brain damage in the accident today."
As she spoke, she continued walking forward.
"Brain damage? That explains it." Riley pushed up his glasses and followed along.
In the orthopedic ward.
Bianca watched the nurse who was about to change her IV drip, her face flushed, her fingers tangled together, and finally she asked.
"Nurse, is this medicine harmful to pregnant women?"
The nurse stopped her movements and looked at Bianca. "Are you pregnant?"
When the nurse asked this question, Alessia, Dominic, and Riley happened to arrive at the door of the ward. They all heard it.
The three of them almost simultaneously stopped in their tracks, holding their breath and listening to what Bianca would say next.
***