’She and Miles Harrison must not be that fated to cross paths,’ she thought. ’It probably won’t be easy to run into him.’
Especially in a city as big as Veridia.
The first thing Rory Linden did after getting in the car was call Gregory Linden.
Normally, a hospital was supposed to follow up with patients after their surgery.
Public hospitals, due to their sheer volu of patients, might not be able to follow up with every single one, but private hospitals prided themselves on their service. Regular follow-ups with every patient were standard procedure.
Charlotte Rhodes’s condition had been serious. Logically, Sanctum Hospital should have known about it.
If there had been a problem with the surgery, they definitely would have found a way to contact her, even when she was abroad.
The call connected quickly.
Rory Linden got straight to the point. "Director Linden, have you conducted any recent follow-ups on the patient Charlotte Rhodes?"
"Of course! She’s one of our high-priority follow-up cases. We just contacted her by phone a little while ago."
Gregory Linden’s tone was certain.
Rory Linden believed him.
Even though Sanctum Hospital had many wealthy and influential patients, as Sean Harrison’s mother, Charlotte Rhodes would surely be one of those given special attention.
The hospital wouldn’t dare be negligent.
Rory Linden told him the truth. "A friend of mine visited Auntie Rhodes a few days ago and said she wasn’t doing well. I’m not sure if sothing went wrong during her recovery."
"That... shouldn’t be possible, right? For the first month, we made house calls, and recently we’ve been calling her weekly. She always said she was doing very well."
Gregory Linden had faith in the hospital’s standard of service in this regard.
However, he didn’t dare ignore what Rory Linden was saying.
After all, her relationship with Sean Harrison was unusual; it was natural that she might know sothing.
Gregory Linden added, "I’ll have soone follow up again tomorrow. If possible, we’ll make a house call to check on her."
"Okay, thank you."
Rory Linden thanked him.
Gregory Linden then took the opportunity to ask about Rory Linden’s situation. When he learned she had chosen to go to Celestria University Affiliated Hospital, he felt it was a bit of a sha.
「Back at ho.」
Just as Rory Linden walked in, she heard Leo Linden’s laughter.
Then, Ryan Sterling’s voice drifted over. "Do you like it? If you do, I’ll buy you more next ti!"
"I love it!" Leo Linden replied.
Although she didn’t know what the two were talking about buying, Rory Linden couldn’t help but worry.
Last ti, Ryan Sterling had bought so many Legos.
She had tried to give Ryan Sterling money, but he had refused to take it.
Still, Rory Linden cherished the trust Leo Linden had in Ryan Sterling.
Leo Linden had, after all, suffered from selective mutism before. For him to trust soone so much and laugh so freely was a rare thing.
When Ryan Sterling saw Rory Linden walk in, he quickly stood up. "Ms. Rory, um, Leo and I made plans yesterday for to co over... I’ll give you a heads-up before I co next ti."
He knew it wasn’t really appropriate for him to just show up like this.
"It’s okay. You’re Leo’s friend. Next ti, if you two make plans, you can just co over. No need to give a heads-up."
Rory Linden was rarely at ho.
’It would be good if Ryan Sterling could co over often to keep Leo company,’ she thought.
She paused, then added, "As long as it doesn’t interfere with your classes."
A smile spread across Ryan Sterling’s face. "It won’t. We’re on break already."
Leo Linden’s eyes sparkled. "Wow! Does that an Mr. Sterling can co play with every day?"
In fact, Leo’s preschool was also on break.
Unfortunately, Rory Linden had no ti to spend with him, so she had to enroll him in the preschool’s daycare program.
Rory Linden was wracked with guilt.
She felt like an unfit mother.
Ryan Sterling smiled. "Sure I can. When your mom has a day off, we can all go to the amusent park together."
Leo Linden looked at Rory Linden. "Mama, when do you have a day off?"
"..."
Rory Linden was stumped.
The Cardiac Surgery Departnt she worked in was currently full. She had quite a few patients of her own, and at the very least, she couldn’t skip her rounds for even a single day.
Even for her days off, she had to make arrangents well in advance.
Ryan Sterling said, "Actually, I could just take Leo myself."
"...Let arrange my schedule." Rory Linden ntally calculated her on-call roster. "The day after tomorrow, Sunday, would that work? But we can’t stay too late. I have to go to the hospital for my rounds."
"Okay!!"
Leo Linden jumped up and down on the spot.
He ran over and threw his arms around Rory Linden. "Mama, I love you!"
Rory Linden then looked at Ryan Sterling. "Mr. Sterling, it’s fine if I just take Leo."
She felt that, given their relationship, it wasn’t quite appropriate for them to take Leo to the amusent park together.
Before Ryan Sterling could speak, the smile on Leo Linden’s face vanished.
He stared pleadingly at Ryan Sterling, not daring to say a word.
The little boy hoped Ryan Sterling would go, but if he was busy, going with just his mom would be great too.
Ryan Sterling glanced at Leo, then back at Rory Linden, and asked cautiously,
"Ms. Rory, can I go with you? I’ll buy my own ticket and pay for my own lunch. I’ll stick with you the whole ti and won’t wander off. Is that okay?"
His question made Rory Linden laugh. "Let’s go together. If you’re with , how could I let you pay? If you co, your only job is to help look after Leo."
"No problem!"
Ryan Sterling agreed readily.
-
「On Sunday.」
The three of them set out together.
Since Rory Linden’s car was still at the dealership, Ryan Sterling had to drive.
The amusent park was enormous.
They spent the whole morning there but only managed to get through two sections of the park.
Rory Linden could barely walk anymore.
’Wandering around an amusent park for four hours is more exhausting than performing a ten-hour surgery!’ she thought.
The three of them had just gotten off a roller coaster. Leo Linden tugged on Rory Linden’s hand and asked in his sweet, childish voice, "Mama, can we ride it again?"
Before Rory Linden could answer, the phone in her pocket rang.
It was a call from Gregory Linden.
Ryan Sterling could see that Rory Linden was tired and offered, "Ms. Rory, you can go sit over there for a bit. I can take Leo to go play."
Rory Linden was a little worried. "Are you sure?"
"Yes!"
Leo Linden raised his hand.
In Rory Linden’s eyes, Ryan Sterling wasn’t the most reliable person, so she couldn’t help but instruct Leo Linden, "You have to listen to Mr. Sterling, and hold his hand wherever you go, understand?"
Ryan Sterling bent down and picked Leo Linden right up. "Don’t worry, Ms. Rory."
Watching the two of them walk away, Rory Linden rembered that she had just silenced Gregory Linden’s call.
By now, the call showed up as missed.
Rory Linden called him back.
Gregory Linden inford her that the follow-up team from Sanctum Hospital had already paid a visit to Charlotte Rhodes’s ho.
"Charlotte Rhodes’s condition is indeed not great. We’ve advised her to co to the hospital for a check-up. After she found out you were in Veridia, she said she still hopes to co see you."
Gregory Linden explained simply.
Rory Linden’s attitude toward Charlotte Rhodes was purely that of a doctor responsible for her patient.
As she saw it, she had perford Charlotte Rhodes’s surgery, and now that the recovery wasn’t going well, she had a responsibility to see it through.
"Tell her to check my clinic hours and co then. My appointnts are fully booked, so she’ll have to ask a volunteer to add her to the list."
Rory Linden now had the appointnt slots of a departnt director.
Furthermore, the Cardiac Surgery Departnt at Celestria University Hospital was one of the best in the entire northern region.
Her appointnt slots were snatched up the mont they were released.
If Charlotte Rhodes wanted to see her anyti soon, she would have to get an add-on appointnt.
The weather was hot.
Rory Linden hung up, found a nearby stall to buy a popsicle, and sat back down where she was before.
She had just taken one bite of her popsicle when her phone rang again.
She thought it was Gregory Linden again, but when she picked up her phone, she saw the na on the screen—
Sean Harrison.
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