Love at First Sight? Mr. Harrison Has Been Scheming All Along-Chapter 272: If the Patient Goes Into Ventricular Fibrillation, Be Ready to Resuscitate
As Charlotte Rhodes spoke, her entire body trembled uncontrollably, and her face grew pale.
"Auntie Rhodes, please calm down. I promise you, this has nothing to do with Sean Harrison."
Rory Linden knelt, trying her best to calm Charlotte Rhodes.
"Impossible!" A look of fury crossed Charlotte Rhodes’s face. "I haven’t been able to reach Evan Hollis for two days. This has never happened before!"
"Auntie Rhodes..."
"I’m not at Elysian Hospital anymore! Evan Hollis paid for my surgery here! What more does he want? I gave birth to him, I raised him, and now that he’s made it big, does he want me dead?"
Charlotte Rhodes’s voice trembled.
There was little logic to her words.
Several doctors and nurses stood nearby, a defibrillator at the ready.
They were prepared to resuscitate her at a moment’s notice if she went into ventricular fibrillation.
"Auntie Rhodes, President Harrison is your son—your own flesh and blood. No matter what you’ve done, he would never do anything to harm you."
Rory Linden took out her phone. "I can call President Harrison for you, but you need to calm down first."
In her current state, Charlotte Rhodes’s heart couldn’t take the stress.
If she were to argue with Sean Harrison on the phone and something happened to her...
"Flesh and blood? I wish I’d never given birth to him! I should have thrown him out back then! I should have brought Lion home sooner and not let him suffer so much..."
As Charlotte Rhodes spoke, her eyes welled with tears.
In her mind, all the hardship Evan Hollis had endured was a result of the choice she’d made back then.
She had chosen Sean Harrison over adopting him.
Rory Linden found Charlotte Rhodes to be both ignorant and ridiculous.
But she couldn’t afford to provoke her.
"First, take a deep breath and calm yourself," Rory Linden said, demonstrating the action. "Come on, inhale..."
Charlotte Rhodes had just called Sean Harrison.
She had started screaming the moment he answered. After a few words, Sean Harrison realized communication was impossible and hung up on her.
Charlotte Rhodes tried calling several more times, but he hung up each time.
Rory Linden pulled her phone from her pocket.
She saw several unread messages from Sean Harrison.
He said he was touring a robotics company with Leo Linden.
He had even attached a few photos.
The most recent message had been sent just a few minutes ago.
Sean Harrison: [If you need to call, give me a heads-up. I’ll find somewhere private.]
Rory Linden sent a message back: [I’ll probably need to call in a little while.]
Soon, she received a one-word reply from him: [Okay].
Rory Linden put her phone away and tried to reason with Charlotte Rhodes. "Auntie Rhodes, we live in a society governed by laws. Even President Harrison doesn’t have the right to just lock someone up whenever he pleases."
"Evan Hollis hardly knows anyone in Celestria! He has such a good personality, and he’s with me every day. He couldn’t possibly have any enemies. Besides him, who else could it be!"
Charlotte Rhodes wasn’t quite as agitated anymore.
She was convinced this incident had to be related to Sean Harrison.
Rory Linden seized the opportunity to ask, "Auntie Rhodes, are you sure Evan Hollis doesn’t know many people in Celestria? He’s been by your side this whole time, and yet he can produce hundreds of thousands at a moment’s notice. Have you ever wondered where he gets his money?"
Charlotte Rhodes’s cloudy eyes stared blankly for a moment.
Clearly, this wasn’t the first time she had considered such a question.
It was just that...
She chose to willfully ignore it.
Evan Hollis was so young, an orphan, and he worked in a hospital. Even with the money he might have saved during his years at Elysian Hospital, it didn’t add up to his level of spending.
"Auntie Rhodes, President Harrison is your son. Even if you don’t believe he’s a good son, I think you should at least believe that he’s a man with principles. He wouldn’t do something so heinous."
Even though Rory Linden didn’t know the details of Sean Harrison’s past, she had always held this faith in him.
Charlotte Rhodes sat on the bed with her hands in her lap, not responding for a long time.
Rory Linden said tentatively, "Why don’t you rest for a while? Don’t worry. There might be news soon."
Charlotte Rhodes’s eyes darted about before she said, "No. Call Sean Harrison now. I need to ask him myself."
...
A momentary silence fell over the hospital room.
The nearby doctors and nurses straightened their postures.
Worried that something might happen to Charlotte Rhodes, they remained ready to resuscitate her.
Rory Linden’s hand was in her lab coat pocket, fingers gripping her phone tightly. She hesitated for a moment before saying, "Alright, I’ll call him for you now. But you have to promise me you won’t get agitated, for the sake of your own health."
"Mm," Charlotte Rhodes said.
Rory Linden took her phone out of her pocket, hesitated, and then said, "Auntie Rhodes, there’s something else I think you should know."
Charlotte Rhodes looked at her.
Rory Linden glanced at the doctors and nurses first. "Could you all wait outside? The air in here is getting stale, and having so many people in the room isn’t good for the patient."
She wasn’t wrong, but her intention was obvious.
Soon, only Rory, Charlotte, and the caregiver remained in the room.
Rory Linden began, "Back when you were at Elysian Hospital, your cardiac function suddenly declined. We detected a certain kind of psycho-stimulant in your blood—an illegal drug that is only available overseas."
Charlotte Rhodes’s expression held a hint of surprise, but she quickly regained her composure.
It was as if she wasn’t particularly surprised.
Rory Linden continued, "This drug isn’t currently available in our country. The doctors at Elysian only discovered it after sending your blood sample overseas for analysis. This class of drug is extremely damaging to the heart, which is why your condition suddenly deteriorated."
...
Charlotte Rhodes sat on the bed, listening quietly.
Her reaction was completely unexpected to Rory Linden.
Since she had already come this far, Rory Linden decided not to hold anything back.
"This class of drug places an immense strain on the body, especially the heart. Even athletes are forbidden from taking large doses. If someone were to give this to a heart patient, it would be a death sentence."
Rory Linden watched Charlotte Rhodes intently as she spoke.
The older woman’s composure was unexpectedly steady.
She was like someone who already knew the answer to a riddle, patiently listening as someone else read out the puzzle.
Rory Linden decided to stop beating around the bush. "Auntie Rhodes, when did you take this drug? And what did the person who gave it to you say?"
Charlotte Rhodes’s fingers clenched the thin fabric of her hospital gown as she slowly began to speak.
"Don’t you try to drive a wedge between us. Evan Hollis is my son. He’s the only person in this world who would never, ever harm me."
