Chapter 374
After his chat with Joshua, Ross found himself completely thrown off his usual routine with a beautiful woman in his arms. It seemed like dawn was breaking before he finally drifted off to sleep.
Through his drowsy haze, he heard Danielle’s voice. Ross didn’t open his eyes and just pulled her closer against him. “Danielle, let me sleep a little longer.”
Danielle bit her lip and whispered in his ear, “Your grandmother’s here.”
It took Ross a moment to process this. He cracked his eyes open and sat up in bed. “Grandmother.”
Janice cleared her throat disapprovingly. “Just look at yourself. Danielle’s foot isn’t even healed yet, and here you are crowding into her bed. Do you think your six-foot-one frame doesn’t take up space?”
Ross' hair was tousled, his hospital gown slightly disheveled. The usually gentle man now had an unexpectedly roguish charm about him. “Grandmother, this bed’s big enough.”
“That doesn’t mean you should come here bothering Danielle. You’re both unmarried, and this is a hospital, no less. Aren’t you worried about what people will say?”
Her words carried more than a hint of pressure for them to get married.
Ross smiled, “Don’t worry, Grandma. My wife will only be Danielle.” He rested his hand on Danielle’s waist. “Everyone in this hospital knows Dr. Shelly belongs to me.” His gaze shifted to meet Danielle’s eyes.
Danielle didn’t argue because it was true. After the earthquake incident and her devoted care when he returned, the entire hospital had already gossiped plenty about their relationship.
“Well then, you’d better treat Danielle right. Don’t make the same mistake you made last time,” Janice warned.
“I understand, Grandma.” Ross wasn’t some heartless player. Last time, he simply hadn’t recognized his own feelings. He changed the subject. “What brings you to the hospital so early today, Grandma?”
Janice sat down and explained her reasons. The mention of Jameson immediately sparked her anger.
Shermaine had also learned about Jameson’s transfer to Horington, but she just smiled without comment. His decision was clearly based on his certainty that she wouldn’t save him and his complete lack of trust in her abilities.
It didn’t matter to her anymore. Danielle genuinely didn’t care whether Jameson lived or died. He could do whatever he wanted.
Meanwhile, in Horington, Jameson had been admitted to Horington General Hospital. The specialists he’d been so confident about now planned to perform surgery on his kidney first to address that problem. The much more challenging heart surgery would have to wait for further evaluation.
Jameson was in terrible shape, completely weak and exhausted. What he never expected was that Natalie would also end up in Horington for treatment. Luckily, she had no idea he was there.
Natalie was dealing with complications from her allergic reaction. Dark pigmentation spots covered her entire body. The doctors back in Basterel couldn’t do anything for her condition, so she’d come to Horington hoping the dermatologists here could help.
“Doctor, you have to find a way to get rid of these dark spots on my skin,” Natalie pleaded.
The doctor reviewed her medical records and previous test results, then had her run through another round of examinations at the hospital. But the pigmentation was so deeply embedded that nothing worked–not medications, not treatments, nothing. He was completely stumped.
“Ms. Keller, there’s nothing I can do for your condition. Surgery won’t work, skin grafts aren’t an option, laser treatments are useless, and medications won’t help either. I’m afraid you’ll need to seek another opinion elsewhere,” the doctor said.
That was when Natalie completely lost it. She started screaming at him about how he was supposed to be Horington’s best dermatologist, but he couldn’t even cure a simple skin condition. She called him a quack and every other name in the book.
The doctor’s face went dark with anger, but he kept his composure and had the nurses escort her out.
Once they’d gotten her out of his office, Natalie just stood in the hallway yelling and cursing at everyone who walked by. She spent a full hour ranting before finally putting on her mask and heading to the bathroom.
Natalie couldn’t bear to look at herself in the mirror anymore. She hated how hideous she looked now. She stared at the dark bumps covering her hands and scrubbed them desperately under the running water, rubbing so hard her eyes turned red from the effort.
Then, a woman spoke up behind her, “I know a place that might be able to cure your skin condition. Want to give it a try?”
Natalie spun around to see a nurse standing there. Without thinking twice, she asked, “What place?”
The woman handed her a business card. Natalie glanced at it and saw “Southern Horington Consla Laboratory” printed on it.