Chapter 4

"Doctor, when can my brother undergo surgery?" Holding the payment slip, Brianna Diaz looked at the doctor expectantly.

"The indicators for Bed Five are all declining. He'll probably pass away in about an hour. You've finally made it this time. Go and say hello to your brother. I'll arrange the preoperative preparations now." The doctor immediately instructed the nurse after speaking. Brianna Diaz promptly left the ward. She initially wanted to inform her brother the good news, but upon thinking of Bed Five, where a person had been hit by a car and sustained fatal injuries, she felt it might be better to check on that person first.

Before reaching the ward of Bed Five, seeing the suffering of the patient's family, Brianna Diaz silently stood at the door and whispered a thank you to the person. Only then did she return to her brother's Room 9.

Her brother lay on Bed Seventeen. Seeing Brianna Diaz approaching, he naturally greeted, "Sister, why are you coming so late today?"

"Sister has good news for you; you're going to get a kidney transplant!" she said softly.

"Really?" Upton Diaz's eyes immediately lit up with excitement, but then he looked skeptical, "But where do we have the money? Our house..."

"I won second prize in the lottery yesterday. We have enough for your surgery and hospitalization fees. If everything goes smoothly, we might even get our mortgaged house back," she said, weaving the lie she had thought of on the way. She knew she would have to keep this from her brother for the rest of her life, and she also knew that the one million today was indeed the result of winning the lottery—she had inexplicably gained an extra seven hundred thousand.

"Bed Seventeen, preoperative preparation!" The head nurse led the nurses in, and Upton Diaz was soon taken out for preparation. Brianna Diaz cheered him on and accompanied him into the operating room before being stopped outside.

"Brianna Diaz!" At this moment, a loud shout exploded behind Brianna Diaz. Turning around, she saw Mrs. Adams, her face bruised and bloodied.

"Mrs. Adams? You..." Before she could finish her words, Mrs. Adams slumped to the ground...

...

The red light in the operating room was glaring. Brianna Diaz hugged herself, shrinking in the corridor between the two operating rooms. One moment she looked to the left, hoping her brother's surgery would go smoothly, and the next she looked to the right, praying for Mrs. Adams's safety.

"Right here!" With a voice not far away, two patrol officers entered the floor and stood not far from the operating room. Moments later, the light in Mrs. Adams's operating room went out, and then the door opened, and a nurse pushed a bed out, followed by a doctor.

"How's it going?" Brianna Diaz was about to rush over to ask, but one of the police officers had already spoken.

"The patient is out of danger and there's no concern for her life, but her injuries are quite severe. Not only is her left arm broken, but she also has two broken ribs and multiple soft tissue bruises all over her body, with severe bruising." The doctor's response surprised Brianna Diaz, and the other police officer had already approached the bedside. "Ms. Adams, we are police officers. We received a report from the hospital that you were assaulted and sustained multiple injuries. We've come to investigate. Could you please tell us who assaulted you, where it happened, what time it was, and..."

"No one!" Mrs. Adams's voice was sharp, and she shook her head excitedly. "No one hit me, no one!"

Both police officers were stunned, and the doctor stepped forward. "What do you mean no one hit you? Where did all your injuries come from? Look at your arm and the bruises on your body; it's quite obvious..."

"Adams, dear, it was my own doing!" Mrs. Adams exclaimed loudly. "It was me, taking a morning stroll, not paying attention, and I tumbled down myself! I, I rolled down the stairs!"

"Stairs?" The doctor was astonished, while Mrs. Adams was resolute. "Yes, indeed, the stairs, the ones by the hospital's rear garden!"

The doctor was speechless at her words, while the police officers tried to console her. "Mrs. Adams, please don't get agitated. We are patrol officers, and above all, guardians of justice. Please, do not fear retaliation. Tell us what exactly happened."

The two officers patiently inquired, yet Mrs. Adams insisted firmly that she had injured herself and there had been no case of assault. The doctor looked puzzled, and the officers, in the end, had to reluctantly make a record and leave. After all, if the person involved didn't want to press charges, it was challenging for them to pursue justice on her behalf.

The officers made a brief record and departed, and Mrs. Adams was escorted back to her ward by the nurses. After everyone left, Mrs. Adams looked at Brianna Diaz standing nearby and gritted her teeth. "Close the door!"

Brianna Diaz guiltily shut the door, and as soon as it clicked shut, Mrs. Adams began to berate her. "Wretched girl, I was kind to you, and how could you harm me? If it weren't for your pitiable brother, would I have helped you make connections? I asked you, you said yes, and I arranged everything for you. Yet, in the end, you backed out on me! If you were afraid, you could have told me. Why did you leave without a word? What was that at the hotel? Who is he? He's the prince of our city, capable of making C City tremble with just a stamp of his foot. Yet, you stood him up like that? He came looking for me, and I couldn't find you anywhere. Where were you?"

Brianna Diaz was full of remorse, wanting to explain, but Mrs. Adams's last sentence left her dumbfounded. She reached for her phone, confused, and picked it up. "It's, it's on me."

"No battery?"

"Yes, there's still half battery!"

"Then why didn't you answer my calls all night? You ignored two of them, and later on, you turned it off!" Mrs. Adams's anger surged as she spoke. "Are you trying to kill me, Brianna Diaz? Do you know, I spent the entire night looking for you? If I had found you, would I have been beaten like this?"

Brianna Diaz was apologetic. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Adams. I didn't mean to stand you up. It's just... I was in a car accident, and then, everything was chaos. My phone didn't ring at all! I didn't ignore your calls, and I didn't turn it off..."

"No calls?" Mrs. Adams, with a huff, rummaged through her small bag on the bed and found her phone. "Look at how many times I called you? You ignored me twice, and now you refuse to admit it!" She pressed the phone indignantly. "You say your phone didn't ring. Is it my phone malfunctioning?"

Three seconds, five seconds, and the phone remained silent, while Mrs. Adams's phone emitted the voice message, "The number you dialed is powered off."

Brianna Diaz froze, then looked at the phone, baffled, not understanding what was happening. Mrs. Adams, however, reacted quickly. "Call me!"

Brianna Diaz immediately dialed the number, but when Mrs. Adams's phone rang, a string of unfamiliar numbers appeared on her own phone.

"This..." Brianna Diaz was stunned, not understanding how such a strange thing could happen. Mrs. Adams, on the other hand, looked at her. "Your SIM card has been replaced. What were you doing last night?"

"I didn't do anything... I..." Brianna Diaz looked helpless. "I was just taken by the person in the car accident, and then, and then he, he..."

"What?" Mrs. Adams's mouth fell open. "You, you were...?"

Brianna Diaz shook her head quickly. "No, no..."

"Was it your choice?" Mrs. Adams's eyes showed a surge of rage.

"Not really, well, um, in any case, he also gave money."

Mrs. Adams paused for a moment. "How much?"

Brianna Diaz hesitated greatly. She wanted to say a million, but felt it wasn't right. After much deliberation, she whispered in Mrs. Adams's increasingly furious eyes, "Five hundred thousand."

Taking a discount, it was the answer she could make. But Mrs. Adams was stunned. "Five hundred thousand? Who is so generous? Who took you away?"