Chapter 2

Immediately, everyone around me looked at me as if they were watching a show unfold.

"How could such a doctor exist? I don't want to be treated in this hospital anymore. What if I die from something as simple as a cold?"

"Get the hospital staff to come out and explain this to us patients!"

"Exactly. Aren't doctors supposed to save lives? How could they paralyze someone?"

All the public outrage was directed squarely at me. I immediately realized that Joanna must’ve already cried her eyes out and told her tragic tale.

Quinton suddenly pushed through the crowd, held Joanna tightly in his arms, and glared at me, his eyes red. "Fiona, how could you be so cruel? You’ve always been jealous that Joanna’s more beautiful than you—was ruining her life really necessary? I want a divorce!"

"Gosh! Even her own husband is calling her out. What kind of person is she?"

"Why hasn’t the hospital fired her yet? Where’s the management?"

As the voices around me rose in anger, I finally spoke. "Joanna, I wasn’t even working during your hospitalization. I never touched your surgery. Why are you accusing me of illegally practicing medicine and ruining you?"

The moment I said that, everything fell silent. How could a doctor who wasn’t even on duty be the one who harmed her?

The commotion had grown so loud that it attracted both security and hospital management. Alec came over and asked what had happened.

I explained everything from start to finish. Alec frowned and said, "This has nothing to do with Dr. Xavier. She hasn’t stepped into the hospital in the past week."

As soon as Alec spoke, the crowd’s attitude shifted.

"Wait, she didn’t do the surgery? Then why was the patient targeting her?"

"Yeah! The hospital should make the real surgeon come out and explain this!"

Alec looked down at Joanna, still sitting on the floor, her legs motionless. He seemed just as shocked by her sudden paralysis but remained calm. "Miss, we’ll investigate this medical incident thoroughly. But you need to find the person who actually performed your surgery."

Joanna’s tears streamed down her face. "It was Fiona’s apprentice who operated on me! She said Fiona taught her everything she knows about surgery!"

I was stunned and looked toward Elaine Darcy, who had just arrived. She was assigned by the hospital to study under me. Elaine had always been obedient and well-behaved, and this wasn’t her first time handling surgery on her own. How could something like this happen?

When I looked at her, I saw that her eyes were already swollen from crying. "How could something so serious happen?" she whispered.

"Dr. Xavier, I followed your surgical procedures. I told you I thought something was off, but you scolded me. You insisted on the wrong method, and that’s what caused all of this!"