Henry lay still on the hospital bed, eyes half-closed, but his ears were wide open.
As Lucy kept talking, he slowly lifted his good hand and waved a little.
"Stop," he said softly.
Lucy turned to him quickly, worried. "Henry?"
"I’m fine," he whispered. "You don’t have to say more."
But in his heart, Henry was boiling.
What’s wrong with her? he thought, staring at Adriana.
’She looks so cold. No shock, no tears? Not even a little guilt? We just made up yesterday. Shouldn’t she feel at least a little bad? I got beaten up because of her.’
He clenched his jaw slightly.
’She’s rich. Maybe she’s just used to hiding her feelings. That’s it. She’ll help. She has to help.’
Lucy sat down again, biting her lower lip.
Just then, the door opened and a young man in a doctor’s coat stepped in. It was Dr. Chen.
He looked around and said in a serious voice, "Who’s Henry?"
Henry raised his hand weakly, putting on his best sick face.
"I am..."
Dr. Chen walked closer and pulled out a paper from his clipboard.
"You need ergency surgery," he said. "There’s so... severe spinal compression and internal hemorrhage."
Henry’s face went pale on purpose. "W-what?"
Dr. Chen nodded. "You’ll need to pay $50,000 for the surgery."
Henry looked like the news had crushed his soul. He slumped deeper into the bed.
Lucy gasped and started crying.
"We don’t have that kind of money! We don’t even have a little! What are we gonna do?"
Dr. Chen shook his head and gave a small sigh.
"If you can’t gather the money soon, he might not wake up next ti. The pressure on his spine is—dangerous. And the bleeding... it could spread."
He looked at Adriana and threw in a few more big dical words.
"Cerebral hypoperfusion... and delayed hematoma formation could begin in less than 24 hours."
The room went silent for a mont.
Then Adriana spoke. Her voice was calm, but her eyes were sharp.
"Cerebral hypoperfusion and delayed hematoma formation?" she repeated.
The trio looked at her.
Henry blinked. Lucy stopped crying for a second. Even Dr. Chen’s eyebrows lifted.
Adriana tilted her head slightly, her arms crossed.
"If what you’re saying is true, he wouldn’t be in the condition to talk properly," she said, her voice cool.
"Hypoperfusion ans his brain isn’t getting enough blood. He would be dizzy. Slurring. Not looking as if he could talk for the next 20 minutes."
Henry froze.
Dr. Chen gave a nervous laugh. "Well—maybe it’s early—"
"And delayed hematoma?" Adriana went on.
"You really want to believe a CT scan already caught a delayed hematoma that hasn’t even happened yet?"
She walked closer, her heels clicking on the floor.
"That surgery you ntioned costs no more than $12,000 in this hospital. My friend is a doctor too, and I learnt a thing or two.
Now tell , Mr. Doctor, how co the surgery cost will reach $50,000?"
Dr. Chen’s face went pale, like soone had just caught him stealing cookies.
He fumbled with the notepad in his hands, flipping the pages fast.
"Wait, wait... Uh, are you Henry... Fairychild?" he asked, peeking up from the paper.
Lucy quickly shook her head. "No! Our last na isn’t Fairychild."
Dr. Chen blinked, like the lights finally turned on in his brain.
"Ah! My mistake! I—I must’ve mixed the files. Sorry about that!" He turned around fast, already heading to the door.
But Adriana stepped forward and said in a calm voice, "Wait."
Everyone froze.
"Before you go," she said, "why don’t you show us the receipt for Henry Fairychild’s surgery? Since you confused him with this Henry, and the bill is so high, I’d like to see it. After all, fifty thousand dollars is no joke."
Henry, Lucy, and Dr. Chen all looked like soone had dumped a bucket of ice water on them.
Lucy’s face turned pale. Her mouth opened and closed, but no sound ca out.
Henry sat up straighter and said in a louder voice than before,
"Why do you even care? That’s soone else’s business! Maybe that other Henry wanted a VIP room and all those luxury treatnts. That’s why his surgery costs more!"
Dr. Chen gave a quick nod.
"Y-Yes! That must be it! We can’t show you the files though. It’s private. Patient stuff. You know, hospital rules."
Then, like his shoes were on fire, he rushed out the door.
Adriana didn’t stop him this ti. Her expression stayed calm, but her eyes were sharper than ever.
She looked closely at Henry’s face. The swelling and bruises looked real.
Then her eyes moved to Lucy.
She noticed the faint red marks on Lucy’s cheeks—like soone had slapped her... or like she’d slapped herself for show.
Adriana let out a quiet breath.
So this is your plan, she thought. You hurt yourself to gain sympathy... just to get money out of ?
Inside, she felt angry, but she didn’t show it.
Henry looked at Adriana with soft eyes. His voice was gentle, like he was trying to make peace.
"Adriana... do you have so kind of misunderstanding again?"
Adriana gave a small smile and shook her head. Her face stayed calm, but her eyes were sharp like glass.
"No," she said. "I couldn’t be any more clear."
Then she turned toward the door and added, "I have so work to do. I’ll leave first."
She was just about to step out when Lucy suddenly stood up, her eyes filled with tears.
"Wait!" Lucy cried.
"Please... can you help pay for the surgery? We barely have any money. We’re desperate."
Henry weakly reached out a hand like he was trying to stop her. "Lucy, no... don’t ask her that..."
But Lucy shook off his arm and snapped at him, her voice shaking,
"How can I not?! You already owe $100,000 because of Mom’s illness! We can’t take this anymore! You have to work three jobs to keep up with expenses!"
Henry turned his face away, his eyes red. "Don’t say any more..." he whispered.
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