A Replacement Bride

Chapter 84

Katherine looked up and fixed her gaze upon Joaquin without showing any signs of rejection. Then, the two of them made their way to the infirmary, but as soon as they got there, they were greeted by Jeremy, who was standing at the door. At that moment, Jeremy gazed at Katherine with a pair of flustered cheeks, ashamed of his ego for doubting the lady who ironically proved him wrong later.

"I'm sorry for doubting you earlier, and I must admit that you're an impressive doctor." Jeremy stood in Katherine's way and apologized to her after a few seconds of hesitation.

"No worries," Katherine replied, seemingly unconcerned with Jeremy's apology.

Although Jeremy still had something he wanted to say, he noticed Joaquin's gaze and swallowed the words that were forming at the tip of his tongue. He then shifted his eyes to Katherine shortly before he turned around and scurried away.

"Does everyone around here behave as he does? He is cute, isn't he?" Katherine looked at Joaquin after having her eyes glued to Jeremy's back.

Joaquin raised his eyebrows upon hearing the lady, feeling something different about her since the first they met at the hotel. There is something about this lady. Now that we've spent some time together, I realize she is not only just a skilled fighter but also a good doctor. It's strange that no one knows a talented woman like her in Cechirus, but seriously, how has no one ever heard of her name? "You're not so bad yourself either." Joaquin gave an ambiguous reply, but Katherine played dumb in response to that.

As the duo exited Area Seven, they were greeted by the sight of a black Land Rover right outside the place. While Joaquin circled around the car to get to the driver's seat, Katherine went straight to the front passenger seat upon opening the door. The moment Joaquin was seated, he heard his phone

ringing and looked down at it with a frown. However, he didn't answer the phone call right away as the phone continued to ring non-stop.

"Aren't you going to answer the call? Maybe it's something urgent." Katherine advised Joaquin to pick up the phone out of kindness, fixing her gaze on the man's expression.

Joaquin then grunted and picked up the call when the phone rang once again. "Mr. Levisay, this is a call from Hovington Hospital. We have a patient here who has been admitted to the hospital due to an injury. Nevertheless, the reason we called you was that your number was the only contact we could find in her call log. So, could you please come over?" A man's voice was heard from the other side of the phone, instead of the usual skittish voice Joaquin was expecting.

Upon hearing the news, Joaquin responded with a cold voice, his face darkening a little. "What? She is hurt? What happened?"

"She was caught in an accident, and it appears that she's been severely wounded. Right now, we're trying our best to stabilize her condition, but at the same time, we'll need her family members to sign some papers," the person on the other side of the phone honestly answered.

"I'll be on my way now." Joaquin hung up the call right away.

Meanwhile, Katherine could roughly tell what was going on, judging from the words that came out of Joaquin's mouth. The next second, the man stepped on the gas pedal and sped off on the road without even bothering to ask Katherine whether she wanted to tag along with him. However, Katherine only responded by curling her lips upward while looking outside the window. As he kept his foot steady on the gas pedal, the car traveled on the highway at lightning speed for the next two hours until they arrived at Hovington Hospital. It wasn't until Joaquin parked his car that he realized Katherine had been sitting next to him all the time. While he appeared to be hesitant about that, Katherine sensibly stepped

out of the vehicle upon noticing his reaction. She then smiled and replied, "Don't worry about me. I'll find my way back."

"Alright." Joaquin looked at the lady in silence and responded with a grunt before dashing into the hospital.

When Joaquin arrived at the emergency ward, he saw the door closed with a young nurse standing outside. As soon as she saw Joaquin, she quickly walked up to him and asked, "Are you Beatrice Muller's next of kin?"

"How is she now?" Joaquin radiated a cold aura, his face showing an intimidating expression.

"Her condition is pretty serious because the nerves around her legs have been severely damaged." The nurse proceeded to hand over a document to Joaquin. "We need your signature on the paper as confirmation before we proceed further."

Joaquin took the document and began to skim through the lines quickly before a concerned look appeared on his face. Beatrice's condition is pretty serious, and amputation seems to be the best way, but she is too young to lose her legs. Isn't this a little too harsh for her? At the thought of that, he knitted his eyebrows, his eyes glued to the words on the papers without saying a single word at all. A few moments later, he asked, "Is there no other way?"

"Well, you could contact some of the most well-known neurosurgeons from abroad and see if any of them could treat a damaged nervous system because I'm afraid that's not something we're capable of at the moment," the nurse replied.

Joaquin's heart sank when he heard that because he reckoned Hovington Hospital was just as good as the ones in Bellerium. Therefore, the doctors would likely not be able to help if Beatrice's doctor couldn't. Nevertheless, he insisted that the doctors from Cechirus were just as good as those abroad. Thus, he had no intention of seeking help from abroad.

"Alright, I get you. Please have the operation postponed." Joaquin returned the document to the nurse.

The nurse paused for a second and took it. "Sure, as you wish, Sir." She turned around and returned to the emergency ward upon finishing her sentence.

Two hours later, Beatrice was finally taken out of the emergency ward. While she was still unconscious, the bruises on her face were apparently noticeable. "Her condition is stable for the time being, but like I suggested, I think it's better for her to go through an amputation. You might want to make up your mind in no more than a week because if you fail to do so, she could suffer from necrosis that may spread to the rest of her body. By then, it'll only get worse." The doctor, who seemed to be in his forties, made his point in a serious manner. After offering Joaquin his word of advice, he turned around and walked away.

On the other hand, Joaquin sat beside the bed, having his eyes glued to Beatrice, who was unconscious with a darkened expression. A few moments later, he reached for his phone and gave Ben a call. "I want to know the truth behind Beatrice's accident. Find out what happened and let me know. Besides, I'll need you to contact and bring the best neurosurgeon in the country to Hovington Hospital."

"What's going on, Mr. Levisay?" Ben was stunned, as if he could see Joaquin's stern look even though he could only hear his serious tone.

"Beatrice is caught in an accident, and she may need to have her legs amputated," Joaquin answered his question directly.

"What? An amputation? That's serious. Why didn't you ask Miss Cornell for help? She is an impressive doctor, and maybe she has a way to…" Ben paused mid-sentence and said, "I'll get on with the investigation right away, Mr. Levisay!" He hung up the call as soon as he finished his words.

In the meantime, Joaquin furrowed his eyebrows, with Ben's words repeatedly echoing in his mind. If Katherine agrees to treat Beatrice, there is a chance that Beatrice could keep her legs. Despite theAll text © NôvelD(r)a'ma.Org.

thought of that, he immediately gave it up because he was aware of the bitter rivalry between Beatrice and Katherine, knowing it wouldn't be appropriate to approach Katherine for help in that regard. Therefore, he gave up the idea of asking for Katherine's help, thinking he should wait until Beatrice came around while trying to figure out who the culprit was.