Serena reached out and steadied him, her voice soft. "I have family that I care about deeply, too. You don't need to thank me. Mr. Flint will be here soon, and he'll be
fine."
She paused, then added, "You're getting on in years. Your health is more important than anything. If you don't rest properly, he'll recover, but you'll be the one to collapse."
The old man, his eyes filled with tears, nodded vigorously.
This scene unfolded before Derek's eyes.
He stood frozen, watching Serena's delicate profile under the soft lights.
When she faced strangers, her expression wasn't as cold as it was when she looked at him.
Even her voice was gentler when she spoke to them.
Especially her words, "I have family that I care about deeply, too," which felt like a sharp blade stabbing into his eardrums.
Family she cared about deeply?
Who?
Her family from the slums?
How long had she been back with her slum family?
And they had already become the family she cared about so deeply?
Then what did the four years she spent with the Wynn family mean?!
Just the thought of Serena now directing all the gentle care she had shown him and
the Wynn family over the past four years toward another family...
...left a strange, bitter taste in his mouth.
For the past four years, the family she cared about was them, the Wynns!
How could that change in such a short time?
How could she belong to someone else?
After helping the old man up and saying her piece, Serena left.
As she walked away,
she didn't spare him a single glance.
It was as if he were truly just an insignificant... stranger, or even less than a stranger.
"That young woman... she's incredible! To think she actually stabilized the patient's condition with just a few needles."
on
"I just called Mr. Flint, and as soon as he heard the name 'Serena,' he jumped out of bed and said he was on his way. I've never seen Mr. Flint so worked up."
"Who is that girl, anyway? Even Mr. Flint, the most difficult person at Starlight Royal
Medical Center, would rush to the hospital at her word?"
"You know, Mr. Flint doesn't even give Mr. Wynn the time of day."
In fact, he had often argued with Mr. Wynn over numerous cases.
Of course, those arguments had always ended with Mr. Wynn coming out on top.
"I heard a while back that there was
a master of traditional medicine at our hospital who pulled the Blackwoods' daughter back from death's door. They said that master... was just a twenty-year-old girl.
"Then... wasn't that the girl from just now?!"
"I heard even the hospital director is incredibly respectful to her... With skills like
that, I'd be willing to get on my knees to talk to her!"
"What's been going on with Mr. Wynn lately? He seems a bit off..."
"After the emergency procedure failed, he just stood there like he was in a daze, unable to offer any professional advice..."
"Yeah, if that miracle doctor hadn't stepped in, we... we would have all been in serious trouble!"
All around him, the doctors and
nurses muttered amongst
themselves as they pushee
the
now-stabilized patient toward the
operating room, following MP Flint's
instructions over the phone.
Derek's face went from ashen to deathly white.
The immense weight of his failure made his legs feel weak, and he sank to the floor.
His mind was filled with images of Serena's indifferent expression, her cold words, and the scornful remarks of the other medical staff.
His pride and self-esteem as a genius doctor had once again been crushed to dust by Serena.