Chapter 226
Chapter 226
It was because Abigail knew Valerie would back Greg up that she didn't rush over immediately when he said he wouldn't be moving alone.
However, it surprised her that Valerie would bring a surgeon along.
Clearly, Old Madam Buckley had envisaged every possible situation.
This was not something any ordinary elderly lady would've thought of, or Abigail should say this was a habit developed from countless practical training.
Abigail had a whole new recognition of this elderly lady before her eyes after recalling Charlotte's words. "Sorry, that was rude of me," she apologized as her tone softened.
Valerie waved her hand, probably surprised that Abigail would apologize. "We've sought help from other doctors, but none of them dared to do it. I'm sure you're aware of Greg's temper. He forbade anyone to find or inform you because he didn't want you to worry. Since you're here now, can you please take a look at him?"
Valerie was no longer self-aggrandizing as she was only a mother worried about her son's life.
Abigail nodded in agreement and entered the operation room. Even when she had mentally prepared herself, Greg's bloody body still took her by surprise.
"Benjamin, hot water."
She couldn't stand seeing Greg this unkempt. He shouldn't be this filthy even when he’s severely injured. The Greg she knew was mighty and exuberant, someone everyone respected and looked up to.
At that, Abigail's heart couldn't help aching, and her eyes turned red-rimmed.
Valerie dared not look inside until Benjamin brought water into the theater, after which she sneaked a peak to find Abigail wringing a hot towel to wipe Greg's face with.
The woman was all focused, and her gaze was nothing but gentle. The affections beneath her eyes, too, were laid bare, and Valerie suddenly felt awful. Similarly, she was once a woman who yearned for love, so why did she have to be so fussy about her son's?
Greg loved Abigail, and though Abigail was emotionally reserved, her love for him was still evident.
The two were originally a wonderful couple who loved each other. However, she had totally forgotten her original aspiration all because of Abigail's identity in Hitman Island. She began caring about her clan's future like many others would.
Alas, she was really getting on in years.
At that, Valerie slumped onto the chair, looking like she had aged a decade in a heartbeat. If she hadn't been fussy about these things, would Greg endanger his life and challenge Hitman Island so that Abigail would have nothing to worry about in the future?
And if Greg didn't head for Hitman Island, would he be severely injured?
It's all because of me and my stupid brain, isn't it?
Who'd have thought she believed in others' hearsay and got ruffled in the end when she had been highly reputed her whole life? It was so much so that she not only had gotten her son in grave danger but had also caused her and her future daughter-in-law to be estranged.
The revelations had Valerie feeling increasingly terrible the more she thought about it.
However, Abigail had no clue about Valerie's state of mind. It wasn't until after she cleaned the blood off Greg's body that she realized his injury wasn't as severe as she had thought. He just looked gruesome because of the blood and filth on him.
After thoroughly examining Greg, she concluded that his most serious injury was on his shoulder. With a bullet stuck in his still-healing wound, it was now reddened and infected.
With that, she hurriedly called out to an assistant only to discover there was none because of the secrecy.
So she looked toward Benjamin, who stayed in the room, and said in a low voice, "Wear a surgical gown and help me out."
"But I'm not a doctor." He was stupefied.
"You at least know how to hand me tools, don't you?"
If Abigail could, she would never have asked Benjamin. She was starting to miss having Amy around at that moment.
Who knew how Amy was doing and when she could be discharged?
Abigail tucked her rambling thoughts away and said after Benjamin had suited up. "Later, hand me the scissors, hemostat, and whatnot. You better hurry up and learn what's what now."
While speaking, Abigail had given Greg the IV drip, for he was getting feverish.
Honestly, this man didn't know how to take care of himself at all! She had just known him for so long, and his plethora of injuries had already rendered her speechless as a doctor.
Greg Buckley was genuinely the worst patient a doctor could have.
Benjamin, on the other hand, felt overanxious. He wasn't even this nervous when he followed Greg to a free-for-all. Why do all these things look the same!?
The sound of a scalpel slicing through flesh traveled to his ears while he was looking at the medical instruments, giving him goosebumps instantly.
At the same time, Greg grunted from the excruciating pain as he regained consciousness.
"F*ck!" he cursed through gnashed teeth, dripping in a cold sweat.
However, Abigail simply apologized monotonously. "Sorry, I forgot about the anesthesia."
Though she had described it that way, her tone indicated that she had deliberately 'forgotten' to give him anesthesia.
Benjamin was floored. She was no doubt the only person who would dare to operate on Greg without giving him any anesthetic.
Thinking he was hallucinating, Greg opened his eyes slightly, and sure enough, there it was— Abigail's aloof face. But he also sensed that she was pissed.
Sh*t! His heart skipped a beat, and he couldn't care less about the pain he was feeling anymore. "What are you doing here, sweetheart?" he asked hurriedly with a smile.
"Be serious; I'm operating now. Please call me Dr. Kain."
Abigail slapped the back of Greg's hand so hard that it reddened in an instant.
However, he dared not cry out in pain, for his beloved seemed to be genuinely pissed.
"Try to hold it in; the hospital has run out of anesthetics. You have a bullet stuck in your shoulder, and it's already infecting the wound. It has to come out."
Abigail on doctor mode had petrified Greg so much that he dared not utter a word.
Ran out of anesthetics? This was his private hospital, one that was dedicated to treating him. They might run out of anything but definitely not anesthetics. It could only mean that Abigail was currently livid if she described it that way. Clearly, she wanted him to feel the pain.
Alas, what else could he do but suck it up when his beloved had already put it that way.
"It's fine. I can hold it in," he said through gnashed teeth.
However, just as he finished his words, Abigail ran the scalpel across his flesh again, causing the veins on Greg's forehead to pop from the excruciating pain.
If this were any other doctor, he would've mangled them and chucked them out, but this was Abigail, his beloved. What was more, he was at fault in the first place. So he dared not utter a word of complaint even if he was on the verge of passing out from the pain.
Benjamin watched Abigail wield the scalpel on one side and the bloodied shirt plus Greg's impending rampage from experiencing excruciating pain weakened him in the knees.
He was then struck with an epiphany—no one probably dared call themselves ruthless if Abigail said so about herself.
It could be from the nervousness or that he was frightened, but a layer of sweat had gathered on his forehead.
"Hemostat," Abigail called out emotionlessly. She couldn't be bothered to look at Greg's face, much less care about how much pain he was in, treating him as though he was just a synthetic cadaver for her to experiment on.
Benjamin immediately searched for what Abigail needed. But what the heck is a hemostat?!
Greg couldn't hold on much longer, and seeing how lost his assistant was, he lashed out at the poor guy. "Do you f*cking know what's a hemostat or not?!"
Greg's shirt was drenched in his sweat at this point.
This was probably what it felt like to have one's flesh sliced away piece by piece, wasn't it?
Alas, a guy can piss anyone off but his love, especially when she's a doctor! Greg mused as he took deep breaths to ease the pain.
Benjamin was now even more nervous after being yelled at.
However, Abigail calmed him down with a deadpan tone. "Don't worry, take your time. Google if you really can't find it; follow the pictures."
Greg, on the other hand, was exasperated. He was a living, breathing human, and one without anesthesia to get through the pain at that. Was Abigail really intending to torture him to death?
Even as patient as she was, Benjamin dared not actually take his time as he handed the hemostat to her in two shakes.
Abigail seemed somewhat disappointed, but she only paused for a moment before continuing with the operation, which lasted for half an hour.
However, the half an hour felt like forever to Greg, who collapsed from exhaustion when he finally heard Abigail's crisp, distant 'done', as he panted on the operating table like a fish on its last legs with a horrifyingly pallid face.
Benjamin was on tenterhooks this whole time, afraid that Abigail would really torture his boss to death during the operation.
Now that it was finally over, he collapsed on the floor and shuddered in fear.
Meanwhile, Abigail sorted out the space, and when she saw how exhausted Greg looked, she pressed her slender finger on his newly stitched-up wound. The pain came so suddenly that he didn't manage to fight it, howling in an instant.
"What's wrong?!" Valerie asked reflexively when she heard Greg's howl from outside, but she dared not enter the theater.
Neither Abigail nor Benjamin answered her.
"Does it hurt?" asked Abigail coldly as she looked at Greg, whose veins were protruding from the excruciating pain.
"N-No."
He tried to pull a smile, but Abigail only pressed on the wound harder, causing him to draw a cold breath in pain, nearly passing out.
"How about now?" Her tone was still laced with frost.
This time, Greg thought he saw hints of anger and pain in her aloof gaze, reeling him for a second. "Yes," he hissed.
"That'll teach you! If this ever happens again, I'll stitch up a drawing on your body. Do you wanna bet? Have you forgotten what you promised me, Buckley?! Your body's mine! Who gave you permission to abuse it?! You think this hurts? Well, this hurts even more!" Abigail released her finger on him, which now was stained with his blood, and pointed at her heart. "Dig this out first the next time you do anything stupid again."
With that, she turned around and left resolutely, not even having a sliver of affection. However, Greg's eyes were red-rimmed with oncoming tears.
She said to dig her heart out first the next time he did anything dangerous… Property belongs to Nôvel(D)r/ama.Org.
This woman was a savage, a tyrant, having not a hint of gentleness in her, and she had even tortured him to the brink of a meltdown, yet Greg thought his heart was filled with nothing but love at that moment.
His lips curved into a smile as he lay on the operating table, and the arch grew wider until he actually laughed out loud while tears rolled down from the corner of his eyes.
No one would be able to understand how glad he was to have Abigail by his side right then and how happy he was that she cared immensely for him.
Benjamin was floored when he saw Greg laughing and crying at the same time. "Mr. Buckley, you haven't gone mad, have you?"