A Replacement Bride

Chapter 83

"What? He is dead, and it's going to stay that way, no matter what you do, so what are you insinuating? Are you questioning my judgment?" The doctor's face changed when he heard Katherine's words because it seemed to him that the lady doubted his professionalism.

However, Katherine ignored the doctor and reached for the needles in her pocket. She then undressed the patient and took three needles, pricking all of them on his chest somewhere around the heart.

"What are you doing? Why won't you let the deceased rest in peace?" When the doctor saw what Katherine was going to do, he extended his arm to get a hold of her, his face turning sour.

"That's enough! Jeremy! Let her try!" Joaquin shouted with a darkened look on his face.

Jeremy was unhappy when he heard that, standing there in a sulk without interfering with Katherine. He then gazed at Joaquin and asked, "Mr. Levisay, she may be an impressive doctor, but now that the patient is dead, why can't she just let the deceased rest in peace?"

"I believe in her." Joaquin looked at Katherine, who was concentrating on her treatment, after replying to Jeremy. Upon hearing that, Jeremy looked away bitterly, thinking he was better off not watching the process.

In the meantime, Katherine's forehead appeared to be covered in cold sweats as she placed her needles on different spots of the patient's body, one by one, her face slowly turning pale. After using up all the 108 needles she had, she heaved a sigh of relief and put them away a few moments later. Although the entire treatment was rather impressive to watch, Katherine was surprisingly covered in so much sweat that her clothes were all drenched. When the treatment was over, she went weak in her knees and nearly collapsed onto the ground. At the same time, she felt a burning sensation that was accompanied by a tingling pain in her chest, frowning while feeling intense discomfort.

Not long after that, the patient, who was thought to be dead, suddenly coughed and opened his eyes. In that instant, everyone else was stunned and dumbfounded by what they saw, especially Jeremy, who cast doubts on Katherine's capability. At that moment, he was surprised yet embarrassed to witness the miracle. He then peeked at Katherine, only to notice her pale face with a pair of furrowed eyebrows that indicated to him that she was exhausted and unwell. "I'm sorry for doubting you." Jeremy puckered his lips, begrudgingly apologizing to Katherine while his cheeks were flustered.

"Can the other patients hang in there?" Katherine suddenly felt unwell as the burning sensation in her chest continued to bother her. In fact, it even intensified so much that she felt as if something was moving inside her blood veins, making her feel so dizzy that she felt like vomiting blood out of her mouth. I'm not in the condition to treat anyone right now.

"They can hang on for two more hours at most," Ben answered Katherine's question on Jeremy's behalf just as he felt slightly better.

"Sure. Just give me a room." Katherine nodded, feeling her breath warmer than it usually was.

"Come with me." Joaquin gazed at Katherine, noticing how sweaty she had gotten due to her drenched clothes that accentuated her slim figure because they seemed as if they were tightly wrapped around her body. While Joaquin walked away with a darkened look on his face, Katherine rolled her eyes upward and caught up to him.

Although Joaquin had his own private lounge at that place, Katherine beat him to the room and immediately locked the door behind her as soon as they arrived before the man could react. In response to the lady's unexpected reaction, Joaquin was left standing outside the lounge while smiling in embarrassment. At the same time, Katherine collapsed onto the ground after closing the door and sat down there weakly. She then took off her clothes, fixing her gaze upon the rose birthmark on her chest. Due to its bright red appearance, it seemed even more glaring than anything else in sight, like it was burning. This is strange.

While the rose birthmark initially looked like it wasn't in full bloom yet, it now seemed like a rose that had fully blossomed. In fact, Katherine could even smell the scent of the flower's fragrance wafting in the air as she knitted her eyebrows and wondered what was going on. Why has the rose birthmark changed so strangely? Knowing little about the birthmark's origin, Katherine could only recall bits and pieces of what her grandmother told her about it earlier. Therefore, she had no idea what was going on with the changes in her birthmark.

Caught in her train of thought, Katherine continued to sit on the floor weakly as her body felt like it was burning from head to toe. It wasn't until a few moments later that the burning sensation within her body finally subsided. At the same time, she was covered in sweat all over her body as if she was just rescued out of the water from drowning. Suddenly, she heard knocking on the door, followed by Joaquin's voice. "Are you alright, Katherine?" In response to the call, Katherine decided to close her eyes and take some rest until she felt better. Then, she struggled her way back onto her feet with the wall and stood up before answering the door.

In the meantime, Joaquin, who was standing outside, was worried when he heard nothing on the inside. As he was about to knock again, the door was open, much to his surprise. At the same time, he caught the fragrant scent of a rose, which reminded him of something he had left forgotten many years ago. As soon as Katherine's silhouette came into view, he was left with a stunned look on his face. Am I seeing things? Or does Katherine's skin seem fairer and smoother? It's almost as if her skin is shining.

"I'm fine, but can you please get me a set of new clothes?" Katherine struggled to regain her footing with her hands on the wall, staring at Joaquin while weakly asking him a favor.

When Joaquin heard Katherine's voice, he looked away, his ears turning red. He then coughed and hid his awkwardness. "Alright, I'll get them to prepare your clothes."

After the female soldiers delivered some clean clothes from Area Seven, Katherine bathed and got changed, finally feeling refreshed. Meanwhile, Joaquin happened to exit the lounge at the moment, but Katherine didn't notice the change in the man's expression as she went ahead and said, "Let's take a look at the rest of the patients." After all, the rest of the patients were severely injured due to the lethal damage they took. Therefore, Katherine reckoned it was a miracle that they were still alive up to that point.

While Jeremy and Ben sat on the ground in exhaustion, Katherine went on to examine the patients' condition before she began to treat them. At that moment, she realized her treatment was somewhat easier than it previously seemed to her, not having noticed the changes that were going on with her body. This is strange. This treatment used to be an uphill task for me, but it's now a piece of cake. At the thought of that, Katherine was surprised by that miraculous change, as she only took 2 hours to treat all six of the patients without feeling tired at all. It was then that she realized how much the change of her rose birthmark mattered to her.

Katherine was reminded of the rose birthmark she saw earlier as she continued to examine a few other patients' conditions. After making sure the patients were alright, she went on to tell Ben to come with her. "Everything should be good now. Ben, please come with me to collect your medicine later. You should fully recover in about seven days."

"Alright." Ben nodded in response.

"I shall excuse myself if there is nothing else important. As for the payment, you could make it to me later." Katherine sterilized her needles, glimpsing Joaquin at the same time. Property © of NôvelDrama.Org.

"Allow me to see you out." Joaquin was wondering deep down why Katherine seemed and felt like someone whom he was familiar with as the fragrant scent that wafted from her body filled his nasal cavity.