Chapter 5

Just as Jeremy turned to head back to Daniel's room, his eyes flitted past the hallway window, and something caught his eye. Camilla's car was still parked outside.

Before he could dwell on that, a loud crash rang out from somewhere down the hallway, followed immediately by a young woman's scream.

Jeremy's expression changed at once. The sound had come from Daniel's room. Although it was a double room, the other bed was unoccupied.

Daniel had already completed all of his scheduled treatment for the day, so why would someone go into his room—and a young woman, no less?

…

Inside the room, after recovering from her initial shock, Charlotte snatched away the phone and shouted, "This is a hospital, not some kind of sleazy joint! How dare you watch this kind of stuff here?"

Daniel's face was deathly pale. Cold sweat covered his forehead, but he still forced out the words, "I'm... sorry..."

But Charlotte refused to drop the matter.

"What, you think saying you're sorry fixes everything? Did you even think about how other people might be affected if you watch this here?"

As she spoke, she pointed at the bottle on the bedside table.

"And you're drinking alcohol, too!"

By then, the color drained from Daniel's lips as well. His heart was pounding violently, and his head spun. At the very next second, he collapsed backward onto the bed, both arms falling limply to his sides. The monitor beside him erupted into piercing alarms.

Charlotte froze.

The door burst open, and Jeremy rushed into the room.

Charlotte had inherited Harriet's booming voice, so he'd heard every word before he'd even reached the door.

"Shut up! The phone is mine, and I gave him the wine!" Jeremy snapped at her, his face grim, before swiftly running an emergency check on Daniel.

"Arrhythmia. Get the defibrillator and prep the operating room. He's having a flare-up. We need to operate immediately," Jeremy commanded while performing CPR.

When he didn't get an answer, he glanced up to find Charlotte frozen solid, her face pale from fear. She never thought that just a few words from her would put a patient in such a serious condition.

Her heart was lodged in her throat.

Seeing her frozen in place, Jeremy raised his voice, his anger finally coming out.

"What are you just standing there? Go!"

Charlotte instinctively bristled at his sharp tone, but when she met his terrifying gaze, she finally realized that now wasn't the time to kick up a fuss.

"Y-Yes… I-I'll go get the kit…"

Soon, several members of the hospital staff rushed in with the defibrillator cart.

"You—take over the chest compressions. And you two, move the patient into the operating room. I'll be there immediately."

Jeremy doled out the instructions, his voice crisp and steady.

Standing in the doorway, the pale-faced Charlotte watched everything unfold. Her hands twisted nervously at the sleeves of her uniform.

"He opened his eyes! The patient has opened his eyes!" one of the staff exclaimed in joy.

Jeremy hurried over and grasped Daniel's hand.

"Dr. Coops… am I… going to die this time?" Daniel said weakly.

Jeremy slipped the notebook back into his hand.

"Don't be ridiculous. It's your birthday today. I haven't even celebrated it with you yet. You've got nothing to worry about. As long as I'm here, you're not going to die."

But Daniel's eyelids had already grown too heavy. He couldn't manage another word. As his eyes slowly closed, his gaze drifted toward Charlotte standing by the door. It looked like he wanted to apologize.

"Take him to the operating room now!" Jeremy shouted.

The staff immediately wheeled the bed out, and he followed close behind. Just as he reached the doorway, Charlotte grabbed him. Her pale hand clutched the sleeve of his white coat, as if she were afraid or seeking some assurance from him.

"Hey…" She had a hard time uttering the words, but she did anyway. "I didn't mean to do it. I didn't know his condition was that bad. H-He'll be fine, right?"

She was terrified that someone was about to die because of her.

Jeremy flung her hand off before saying coolly, "I'll definitely save him."

Charlotte stood there, her lips pressed tightly together as she watched his figure disappear down the hallway.

…

Inside the car, every time her phone chimed, Camilla picked it up almost immediately. However, every notification turned out to be work-related, leaving her disappointed for some unknown reason.

She couldn't help remembering how, in the past, whenever she spent time alone with Zachary, Jeremy would become unbearably jealous. While she'd been willing to clarify things with him the first few times, it started becoming an annoyance to her.

But ever since they began giving each other the cold shoulder, Jeremy stopped caring about what she did. Even today, when she'd deliberately filled in his number while making the hotel reservation, he'd maintained his cool and didn't care about it at all.

For some reason, she didn't like that. Perhaps she just wasn't used to it.

"Camilla, why hasn't your assistant come over to start driving yet?" Zachary's voice rang out.

Snapping out of her thoughts, Camilla locked the screen and replied, "I asked Kate to get something. She'll be back soon."

After a brief pause, she seemed to remember something.

"It's pretty late right now, Zachary. Are you sure you still want to leave tonight?"

Zachary nodded. "Of course! I heard tomorrow's sunrise at the beach outside the city will be the most beautiful one in years."

Of course, he made that up on the spot. The truth was, he knew it was Jeremy's birthday today, so he arranged for someone to change the duty roster, ensuring that Jeremy had to work a night shift.

Feigning curiosity, he asked, "Why do you ask? Is there some special occasion happening today?"

Camilla shook her head. "No. You're the patient. Nothing is more important than your needs. I'll tell Kate to come back as soon as possible, so that we can go."

She sent a text to her assistant, Kate Turner.

"Forget it. We don't need to wait any longer. Just send a car to pick him up later. Come back and drive us."

She had deliberately sent Kate off for so long just so she could wait until Jeremy came looking for her. If he had been willing to take the opportunity to reconcile and let bygones be bygones, she had been prepared to bring him along as well.

Unfortunately, even though she'd given him a chance, he didn't appreciate it.

"Got it, Ms. Sloan," Kate replied soon after.

Camilla rubbed her forehead. The pressure Ralph put on her, Zachary's illness… Everything was weighing down on her shoulders. Jeremy was her husband, yet not only could he not help her with her burdens, but he had also been sulking with her for ages now.

That only fueled the frustration burning inside her.

Just then, her phone started ringing. Jeremy's name appeared on the screen, and she instinctively straightened in her seat.

Zachary's face darkened at her reaction, but even so, he maintained a faint smile. "We're just taking a trip to the beach. Don't tell me that Jeremy feels the need to check up on you when I'm just a weak and sickly patient?"

Camilla tightened her grip on the phone, but her expression remained calm. "He's always been such a petty man. Let me see what he has to say this time."

But when the call connected, it was the sound of a woman's sobs that rang out. Camilla's face turned ice-cold, and her gaze sharpened.

"Who are you?" she demanded at once.

Zachary had never seen this side of Camilla before, and he was alarmed.

But at the very next second, a familiar voice called out, "Camilla! Jeremy is being so mean to me!"