Chapter 232 - 231: Actually... I am Michael White

「At the hospital.」

Nina Jennings took the scented candle, sniffed it, and then looked toward Frank Lowell.

"Brother Van, is there a research lab in the hospital? There’s probably something extra in this candle."

If they could identify the unknown ingredient in the candle, they might not have to wait for the blood test results.

"I have a private research lab on the top floor. I’ll take you there."

With that, Frank Lowell stood and led her out.

The top floor of Lowell Hospital was exclusively for the Lowells. As the deputy director, Frank Lowell spent most of his time working up here when he wasn’t seeing patients, so he had made sure it was fully equipped.

Old Mr. Lowell remained unconscious, just as before, and all the monitors beside him confirmed his vital signs were normal.

Grandma Lowell also looked exhausted and had fallen asleep on another empty hospital bed.

Charles Lowell quietly called for the medical staff and had them hook Grandma Lowell up to the same set of monitors as Old Mr. Lowell.

The two brothers and their wives, Yvonne Lowell and Leo Grant, the old butler, and Silas Lynch all sat to one side.

Charles Lowell pondered for a moment. "Nola, do you think you could ask the master physician, Michael White, to make a trip here?"

It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Nina Jennings and Frank Lowell. He just wanted an extra layer of assurance for the old couple.

After all, when it came to medical skill, even the most influential experts at home and abroad wouldn’t dare claim to be better than Michael White.

Yvonne Lowell froze for a second. ’Wait, is the master physician Michael White supposed to be available today or not?’

Snapping out of it, Yvonne Lowell quickly said, "I contacted her before I came, but I haven’t heard back. I’ll try calling again in a little while."

’That damned Old Man Jennings! Useless Old Man Jennings! That stinking old man starts a mess and doesn’t clean it up! Let’s see how she plans to get herself out of this one!’

"Mm, that’s good." Charles Lowell also let out a small sigh of relief. Having hope was better than having none.

The room fell silent once more, leaving only the hum of the machines.

A glint appeared in Leo Grant’s eyes as he sat to one side. His girlfriend’s reaction wasn’t quite right.

Someone sitting across from her might not have noticed, but he was right beside her and could clearly sense it. Something was off. Very off.

’Recalling the last time he saw Michael White at the main hospital... her build, personality, and tone of voice...’ He felt like he’d just stumbled upon another huge secret.

When the hospital director came up with the test results, he saw the eight of them sitting as quiet as mice, just staring at each other. For a moment, he was unsure whether he should enter.

Yvonne Lowell, who was facing the doorway, saw him first. "Director," she asked, "are the results in?"

The director pushed the door open and walked in, his expression grim.

"Yes, Miss Lowell, but both of their blood tests came back mostly normal. We haven’t identified the cause of their condition."

Yvonne Lowell took the reports and compared them carefully. She quickly noticed something was wrong and tapped her finger on the stack of papers.

"Then why are the markers that are outside the normal range almost identical for both Grandma and Grandpa?"

The director was taken aback for a moment before quickly replying,

"They’re both elderly and have their share of age-related ailments. It’s not that strange for some abnormal markers to overlap."

He had just compared the two reports and noticed the same thing, but he didn’t think it proved anything.

"And what if two people were poisoned with the same substance? Wouldn’t the abnormal markers in their bodies also be identical?" Yvonne Lowell asked pointedly.

"Well, that is the logic, yes..." The director suddenly choked on his words, as if a hand had clamped around his throat.

After a long moment, he finally found his voice. "But... but we didn’t find any toxins in their systems!"

’Are we supposed to wake the old couple up, have them do a urinalysis and gastric fluid test, and then let them go back to sleep?’

’Time to wake up, Mr. and Mrs. Lowell! Get up so you can go back to sleep!’ Was that the plan?

Yvonne Lowell raised an eyebrow. "There’s a profession abroad called Poison Master. You’ve heard of it, haven’t you, Director?"

The straightforward director nodded. He had studied abroad before, and given his background in neurosurgery, he had some understanding of the topic.

Poisons can kill, but they can also cure.

Poison Master has always been a controversial profession.

Yvonne Lowell looked at him with a half-smile. "Well, if medical equipment could detect everything, would Poison Masters still exist today?"

What she didn’t mention was that there was an international leaderboard for Poison Masters.

They weren’t ranked on whose poison could kill the fastest, but on whether the poison could be detected, and if an antidote could be developed.

The director was left speechless. ’She has a point,’ he thought, ’but why do her words sting so much?!’

"I’ve figured it out!" Nina Jennings burst through the door, holding a candle that was soaking in a beaker of water.

"The candle contains trace amounts of juice from the Soul-devouring Flower! It activated a latent poison that Grandma and Grandpa had previously ingested. That’s why I sensed their pulses were in disarray from the beginning!"

「Just ignore me, I have no idea if that’s a real thing, I’m just making stuff up (;´༎ຶД༎ຶ`;)」

Frank Lowell trailed behind her, his face a mask of misery. He’d never in his life seen someone conduct a test in such a brutally simple fashion.

The moment they entered the lab, Nina Jennings had asked if he wanted to give it a try.

The second he nodded, Nina Jennings gouged out a chunk of the wax, plopped it in a petri dish, and told him to go play with it off to the side.

When he looked up again, he saw that she had already gone to the other side of the lab. She’d picked up a match, lit the candle directly, and was leaning in to smell it.

’The woman was insane! Anyone who’s passed a ninth-grade chemistry class wouldn’t dare do that, let alone a doctor!’

But before he could even try to stop her, Nina Jennings had doused the flame with water, grabbed the beaker with the soaked candle, and stormed back to the patient room.

"Good heavens, doesn’t this sound just like something out of a palace intrigue drama?" the younger Mrs. Lowell said, patting her chest.

"Like when someone sends two different gifts to a pregnant concubine. The Imperial Physician inspects each one and finds no poison, but once the two items are brought together, the baby is lost?"

Nina Jennings was amused by her words and gave her a thumbs-up.

"Auntie, your description is perfect! Right on the money!

It’s not a huge problem, though. The person behind this is an idiot who actually bought a counterfeit poison.

In Grandma and Grandpa’s case, two acupuncture sessions should be enough to neutralize the poison. After that, they’ll just need some time to recuperate and they’ll be good as new."

Hearing this, the elders in the room let out a collective sigh of relief.

The director’s eyes went wide. His mouth opened and closed a few times before he shut it sheepishly.

Her tone was so certain, which meant she already had a solution.

Besides, the fact that she could identify the cause just by reading a pulse proved one thing: when it came to poisons, Miss Jennings was far more skilled than he was.

"Then we’ll leave Grandma and Grandpa in Nina’s hands. There’s no need to rush the master physician, Michael White. Nola, remember to send your apologies," Charles Lowell said, a smile finally gracing his features.

Nina Jennings froze, her eyes darting to Yvonne Lowell with a desperate look that screamed: *What’s the situation?! What am I supposed to say?!*

Yvonne Lowell stared back with a completely wooden expression: *Don’t ask me, I don’t know either. Figure it out yourself. It’s up to you whether you want to come clean or not.*

Dead-fish-eye attack, *biu~*

Nina Jennings looked toward the ceiling, speechless. ’Why did I have to be so mysterious before...?’

’I’m so done. No more pretending. Time to lay my cards on the table. I can’t keep covering up this lie anymore!’

She gave a slightly unnatural cough and said with a sheepish grin, "Well, you see... I’m actually Michael White."