At the mention of Lucas, Rachel realized what had happened. Her hands flew up to her mouth, and she
asked in a serious tone, "What the hell happened to you last night? You were acting like a toddler.
You're not like that."
"It's nothing." Jack grabbed her hand, showing every intention to continue.
Rachel moved aside to evade him. "Let's make everything clear first."
At her insistence, Jack turned over and lay back on the side, one hand resting on the back of his head.
He looked up at the ceiling and snorted, "Fine! I admit I was jealous."
Hearing Rachel's laughter, he smiled and continued, "But I'm relieved to know that he's going to be a
father."
That explained the mercurial shift of his mood that time.
Rachel was a little speechless, but sweetness bloomed in her heart.
Just then, Jack suddenly turned them over and pressed her on her back. With a smirk on his face, he
murmured, "Of course, I can only rest assured completely if you become a mother, yourself."
After that, the bedroom was filled with sounds of sweet lovemaking, and it was like love redirected the
sunlight outside the window.
Rachel was late for work. When she arrived at the office, she saw several people surrounding her office
door and several nurses standing anxiously at the side and looking completely overwhelmed.
One of the nurses walked over, took her hand, and led her toward the exit. She whispered, "Rachel, I
think it will be better if you go somewhere else and stay for a while."
"What's going on?" she asked in confusion.
The nurse sighed slightly and said, "Last week, the director performed a surgery. Before the operation,
a member of the patient's family gave him a cigarette. Now, the patient's post-operative recovery isn't
looking too good, so the family have come to stir up some trouble."
Rachel frowned. This kind of thing was common within a hospital's setting. Once, a nurse was reported
for eating an apple given by a patient's family.
Now, the director was probably not in the hospital, so the patient's family could do nothing but wait in
the department office.
She thought for a while and asked, "Where is that patient now?"
"He's in ICU. His temperature was a bit high yesterday." The nurse pursed her lips in concern.
"Let me have a look." Rachel handed her bag to the nurse and asked her to put it aside for her first.
She turned around to head toward the ICU when the nurse grabbed her arm. She shook her head
slightly and said, "Rachel, forget it. Even the director avoids these things. You'd better not get involved
in it. The family members are being unreasonable. If something happens, I'm afraid that you'd become
their scapegoat."
Shaking her head, Rachel smiled and said, "We know about the director's medical skills. Besides, I just
want to inspect him."
This kind of complication was not only related to the operation, but also affected the patient's quality of
life after the operation.
She slowly walked up the stairs to fifth floor, changed into sterile clothes and mask, and entered the
ICU. The patient himself pulled at the oxygen tube from his nose and lay on the bed wearing a harsh
frown on his face.
Rachel walked up and took a look at the monitor beside.
Her face darkened. "Why did you take off the oxygen tube yourself?"
"Doctor, am I dying?" He placed one hand on his belly and sighed. "If I'm dying, you must tell me. Don't
hide it from me. Save me from this suffering and just let me die. Don't save me."
Rachel was struck speechless. While helping him insert back the oxygen tube, she comforted him,
"Don't worry. If you are dying, our hospital won't send you to the ICU.
Besides, it's just a minor operation. You don't have to be so nervous."
The patient propped himself up by pushing up from both arms against the bed. He was looking
distinctly more energetic than before.
However, his mood changed in the blink of an eye. His head drooped, and he said listlessly, "Don't lie
to me. I usually watch TV dramas at home.
Few people who had entered ICU made it out of it alive."
Suppressing her anger, Rachel took a few deep breaths and kept telling herself over and over that he
was a patient and was understandably emotional. After a few breaths, she said slowly, "You were
transferred to the ICU because your vital signs were not stable. And it would be more convenient for us
to observe you twenty-four hours here."
She carefully observed the patient's expression and made sure that he was less volatile. Then, she
continued, "Your last operation did not involve a major surgery as compared with those of other
patients. Many patients who underwent such an operation can be discharged in less than a week. As
long as you feel relieved and have a good rest, I believe that you will soon be able to leave the
hospital."
After she said those words, the patient closed his eyes and said nothing.
Rachel stood aside looking at his vital signs for a long time, but she saw nothing serious.
Emotions were crucial in the recovery of a patient after any operation, but that fact was generally
ignored by people. They believed that any complications were caused by doctors' inappropriate steps
during the operation.
Coming out of the ICU, she took off her aseptic clothes and was about to leave when the patient's
family unexpectedly filed out of the elevator.
She tried to avoid the confrontation, but a middle-aged woman who was running toward her suddenly
pulled at her arm.
"Are you Dr. Rachel? Now that such huge problem happened and your director is missing, then
shouldn't you be the one responsible for all this?" She choked at the other person's words. Such
unpleasant greeting definitely hit its mark and made her feel sad.
With an expressionless face, Rachel said, "I only checked up on the patient's situation. You don't need
to worry."
"No need to worry?" Another person, a younger-looking woman, pointed at the door of the ICU. "Our
patient was move to that room. It's not a big deal? If nothing went wrong, then shouldn't he be sent
directly to..."
Before she had finished speaking, a man covered her mouth from behind and glared at her. "You will
never pay attention your words. You can't say everything out loud without thinking!"
Wearing a black jacket, the man looked young. However, half of his hair was fully white.
After hearing what he said, the woman did not refute and instead took a few steps back obediently.
The man pulled his jacket tighter around his body and said with a smile, "Dr. Rachel, my wife is
currently very anxious, so she wasn't heeding her words. I apologize. The thing is, we would like to
know what actually happened here. Before the operation, one of the doctors told us that it was just a
minor operation and that we didn't need to worry about it at all."
He was still questioning her, but at least his attitude was much more rational.
Thus, Rachel ended up patiently explaining what had transpired. When it came to the key point, she
couldn't help herself from making several gestures in front of the man. At the sight of the man's nod,
the rest of the family seemed to calm down.
With a slight cough, Rachel cleared her throat and continued, "The family accompanying the patient
should play a comforting and guiding role. They should never be more nervous or uneasy than him. So,
how can the patient rest at ease?"
"Yes, you are right. We will pay more attention to it in the future," the man said, glaring at his wife.
The woman didn't dare to retort. She just touched her nose and glared at Rachel impatiently.
However, the doctor was suddenly out of sight. Rachel took her things and tried to leave for the day.
She stepped into the elevator. Suddenly, the closing doors opened with a ding, and Eric and Linda filed
into the elevator cab one after the other.
Rachel was surprised. "Aunt! Eric! What are you doing here?"
"I was planning to go to the mall nearby to buy some clothes with her. The thing is, we were too early,
and the mall is not yet open." Eric shrugged his shoulders. He still wore an expression of frivolity, but
since his mother came back, he had become noticeably more grounded and calmer.
Linda lightly shoved his shoulder and admonished in an affectionate tone, "This boy is not reliable at
all!"
Even so, her eyes were smiling. It seemed like the relationship between mother and son had vastly
improved.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Rachel held her arm and smiled, "Then, why don't you come with
me to my office and stay there to rest? The mall will open in just a few minutes at ten, anyway."
Suddenly, a voice rife with suspicion and uncertainty spoke out from behind them, clearly reaching
everyone's ears. "Linda?"
The three of them turned their heads almost at the same time. Rachel recognized the voice as that of
the man who previously talked with her.
He took two steps forward, looking a little excited. His eyes seemed to be a little moist, and his hands
were drooping on both his sides, continuously clenching and releasing.
Eric frowned and asked, "Do you know my mother?"
"Yes, we are old friends who haven't seen each other for many years." The man was all but choking on
his sobs.
As soon as he finished speaking, the man's wife suddenly pushed her way through the crowd. She
grabbed the man's arm and pulled him behind her, saying fiercely, "What old friend? We don't know
her."
Didn't he call her name just now?
Rachel and Eric looked at each other. They didn't believe what the woman said, but they didn't ask
further. Moreover, Linda stood aside and looked at her phone like the events were none of her
business.
She had already forgotten the past. Even if she used to be an old friend, she could no longer remember
him.
When they went into her office, Rachel prepared two cups of tea for them. Besides, it was time to make
rounds in the wards, so she forgot what had happened just then and went back to her work.
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