Chapter 97: Your Mother Asked Me to Pick You Up

Seeing she hadn’t fallen, Mr. Lynch sighed in relief. He looked toward the newcomer and asked in surprise, "Samuel, what are you doing here?"

Samuel Ford didn’t answer. He swept Amanda Vance into his arms, laid her on the bed, and looked up at Mr. Lynch. "What happened to Dr. Vance?"

"Exhaustion. Let her get some proper rest."

He had just checked the child’s pulse; the internal bleeding had slowed considerably. The surgeons had already rushed the boy into the operating room, and hopefully, he could be saved.

After hearing this, Samuel Ford lowered his gaze to Amanda Vance. Her face was pale, just like after she had treated his father. No, this was worse. She hadn’t fainted that time.

"Just how much work did you people assign her?" he asked in a low voice, his tone tinged with displeasure.

’She was so tired she passed out. Just how exhausted must she be?’

Mr. Lynch sighed. "There was a major car accident today. My teacher is an incredible doctor, and it’s all thanks to her."

Normally, the Traditional Chinese Medicine department doesn’t participate in this kind of emergency rescue. We mostly handle post-operative recovery and conditioning. But we can’t ignore Dr. Vance’s sublime skill with the Golden Needle. She single-handedly shattered the notion that Chinese medicine is effective but slow, restoring a patient’s vital energy while treating their injuries. This greatly reduces the difficulty of subsequent surgeries.

It’s a wonderful thing, but the Nine Revolutions Needle technique is incredibly difficult to learn. For now, we can only rely on her.

Even if I were to master it, I could never achieve her level of perfection. I could handle milder cases, but I doubt I could save someone as severely injured as the patient just now.

Hearing this, Samuel Ford pressed his lips together. He couldn’t say anything more. She was a doctor, and saving lives was her calling.

But, as he looked at her, an emotion he could only describe as heartache welled up within him.

At this realization, the look in Samuel Ford’s eyes shifted.

"Doctor, my son can be saved, right?" the mother of the child suddenly asked, grabbing Mr. Lynch’s arm. Her eyes were filled with desperate hope.

Mr. Lynch couldn’t give her a definite answer. He could only say, "We will do everything we can."

The mother was clearly unsatisfied with this answer, but she also knew that as long as he was still in the operating room, no one could make any guarantees. Still, she couldn’t help but seek some comfort, muttering, "Paddy will definitely be okay."

’Paddy?’ Hearing her, Samuel Ford glanced at the woman and finally remembered where he’d seen her.

’Wasn’t the classmate who bullied Colt named Paddy?’

’He was one of the injured?’

Samuel Ford lowered his eyes and said nothing. It was too noisy here. After a moment’s thought, he carried Amanda Vance to the empty hospital room next to Mr. Ford’s and laid her on the bed. Only when he saw the furrow in her brow relax did his own expression soften.

This time, Amanda Vance’s stamina was completely depleted, and she slept until the afternoon. When she glanced at the time, she shot awake with a start. School was already out, and she hadn’t picked up Jean yet.

She threw back the covers to get out of bed, but the sudden movement made her head spin. Luckily, she caught herself on the bed just in time to keep from falling.

"What’s wrong?" Samuel Ford asked, striding over to her as soon as he entered the room and saw her state.

"President Ford?" Amanda Vance looked at him in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

Suddenly remembering something, her eyes widened in even greater surprise. "Were you the one who helped me earlier?"

Samuel Ford nodded and handed her the glass of water he was holding. "I was just passing by. Do you have something urgent to attend to?"

"It’s nothing major, I just need to pick up my son from school."

"Don’t worry. I’ve already called my driver. I told him to pick up your son when he goes to get Colt and bring them both here to the hospital."

Hearing this, Amanda Vance breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you, President Ford."

"You’re welcome." Samuel Ford gestured with his chin, indicating for her to drink the water.

Knowing her son would be picked up, Amanda Vance was no longer anxious.

At the school gate, Felix Ford stood on his tiptoes, craning his neck as he scanned the area. ’Where’s Mom?’

Jean Vance had planned to wait for Felix to leave before showing himself, but seeing his brother just standing there, he also glanced outside. There was no sign of their mother.

’Did something happen to her?’

’No, that can’t be right. No matter what, Mom always comes to pick me up.’

Realizing something, he quickly pulled out his phone to check his mom’s location. She was still at the hospital.

His brow furrowed. Just then, he saw someone approaching Felix Ford and quickly ducked behind a pillar.

Felix Ford, who had been eagerly waiting for his mom, sensed someone approaching and turned around in delight. "Mom!"

The word was barely out of his mouth when his smile froze. Seeing who it was, his eyes filled with panic.

"Young Master?" Rocco dug a finger in his ear, not quite sure he’d heard right. ’Did he just say... Mom?’

’Since when did he have a mom?’

While Rocco was bewildered, Felix Ford was terrified. He wasn’t afraid of the man himself, but he was afraid Rocco would see Jean. ’If he finds out, Dad will definitely find out too.’

At this thought, he quickly began pushing on Rocco’s leg, trying to steer him toward the car. "Let’s hurry and go home."

’No matter what, I can’t let him find Jean.’

While thinking, he stealthily slipped a hand into his pocket and pressed a single button.

It was an emergency speed dial that Jean had set up for him, dialable with a single press. Jean had set his own number to 1. Felix had wanted to make their mom number one, but Jean had refused.

After making the call, he worried that the person on the other end would speak, as he would have no way to explain it.

Fortunately, no sound came from the other end. He breathed a sigh of relief but also began to wonder if the call had gone through. The thought that Jean could appear at any moment made him even more anxious, so he quickly pulled Rocco into the car.

Once seated in the back, he finally took out his phone and switched it to silent mode.

The incoming audio was muted, but the person on the other end could hear their conversation perfectly.

"Why did you come?"

"To pick you up." Rocco was baffled by the question. Then, as if remembering something, he slapped his forehead. "Oh, right! I almost forgot. President Ford is at the hospital. Dr. Vance was busy saving lives today and is too exhausted to leave work, so she couldn’t pick up her son. He asked me to pick you both up and bring you to the hospital. Young Master, do you happen to know what Dr. Vance’s son looks like? I’ve never seen him before."

’Oh, but you have seen him,’ Felix thought to himself. ’He looks just like me.’

He would never say that out loud, of course, but the thought only made him more anxious.

’Dad sent Mr. Rocco to pick us up, and now he’s supposed to take both of us to the hospital.’

’Mom’s at the hospital, and so is Dad. When we get there...’

Felix couldn’t help but press a hand to his forehead as sweat began to bead on his brow. ’It’s over, it’s all over. Jean’s whole plan is going to fall apart.’

’We planned for every possibility, but we never calculated that Dad would have someone come and get both of us.’

He was frantic, staring intently at his phone and praying that Jean, having heard everything, wouldn’t come out. If he did, everything would be ruined.

Before he could finish the thought, a familiar voice called out his name. "Felix Ford."

He snapped his head up. ’Oh no, Jean’s here.’

And at that very moment, Rocco also turned to look...