Chapter 153 A Stomachache
Chapter 153 A Stomachache
Jack's explanation still turned out to be useful, even though Rachel said he didn't have to explain.
She felt as if a burden was lifted from her shoulders when he came clean and told her everything.
She wasn't sure if he had noticed that she was angry.
"So you just got back?" she asked, pretending to be calm despite feeling a little awkward.
When he saw that she was willing to talk to him, Jack felt so happy that he couldn't stop himself from smiling.
"That's right. I've just been so busy recently. Some days, I don't even get to sleep." Jack tried to sound as pitiful as he could.
He pointed under his eyes and added, "Look at my eyes. Even my eyes have bags under them."
Rachel was in no mood to look at the dark circles around his eyes. "Focus on driving!"
As time went by, the temperature got higher and higher, and Eric's wound healed quickly.
His head had been shaved before the operation, and it started to grow hair.
He would touch his short hair every now and then. Thankfully, the scar on his head was not as deep as he had imagined.
People said that if a man was still good-looking with buzz cut, then he was a real handsome guy. Whenever Eric stared at himself in the mirror, he thought he had gotten even more handsome than before. And this made Rachel sick.
It had been more than a month since he got injured. He couldn't wait to hang out with his friends.
Many of his friends and colleagues had come to visit him at Rachel's house.
She had seen all of his friends. They were quite different from the ones Eric had fun with in the bar.
So whenever they dropped by to come pick him up, she didn't have to worry.
After two more days of hanging round with his friends, Eric got bored and asked Rachel if he could go back to work.
Eric was looking better every day, and he seemed like he was already fit to work, so Rachel gave him the go signal.
Now that Eric was out of the house, she felt relieved. But she didn't want to go back to work so soon.
She did hear that Kevin's license was revoked for his negligence of the patient.
It was quite lucky that he wasn't charged for criminal liability, but he would no long be able to continue his career.
James was the one to tell her the news. "He's a man whose avarice knows no bounds," he signed.
Kevin confessed that he was afraid of being replaced by Rachel.
So when Rachel gave him some advice, he refused to take it and insisted that he was right.
He made the wrong decision during the operation, which resulted in the patient's death.
Rachel didn't know what to say. Once a person was affected by their inner demon and obsession, it was easy for them to forget why they had become a doctor in the beginning. Every doctor would face the same dilemma in their career, and it was up to them if they would face it head on or give up.
James changed the topic and asked her if she would go back to the hospital. Rachel pondered for a moment; she wanted to refuse but she couldn't say it outright.
A lot of things had happened to her recently, and she lost her drive. She was not as dedicated to her work as she once was.
She wasn't ready to go back to the hospital just yet. She was not mentally or psychologically prepared.
She told James what she was thinking, and he acknowledged her concerns. He thought of something she might be interested in. "We are going to send two doctors to France for further education. Perhaps you'd like to give it a try, Rachel?"
Rachel was taken by surprise. She wasn't able to speak for a good thirty seconds, but James could hear her breathing on the other line. "To France, you say?" Rachel said each word slower than the previous ones.
"You heard me right. The training will last for two years. If you're willing to go, I'll send in your recommendation. You're still young after all, there are so much more that you can learn!"
Rachel still couldn't believe what she had just heard. She now had the chance to further her studies and train to become an even better doctor for two years...in France.
"I..." There was hesitation in her voice.
"You don't have to answer me now. There's still some time. You can think about it. If you want, I'll reserve one quota for you."
"Okay, thank you."
She hadn't told anyone about this opportunity. It was quite an attractive offer to be able to go abroad and further her study, but it would also mean leaving behind her life in Ninwell City for two years.
Rachel couldn't decide and she was lost in thought. She would take out her books and read to calm herself down and keep her mind occupied in her spare time.
She couldn't take this decision lightly. It was a step forward into the unknown, but it was also a step forward into her future.
Rachel was very hesitant. On the one hand, she had been insisting on her career for so many years. On the other hand, if she wanted to go, she must make a clear break with the current situation.
The thing that made her want to go so bad, was her own lack of experience. After what had happened to the last patient, she felt that her skill in medicine was insufficient.
She raised her book to her face and drew deep sighs.
Just as she was thinking, the person had changed her life came back.
The garage door opened, and she heard him parking the car. Rachel prepared to greet him.
She knew it was Jack, since nobody else would drop by. It was already past 9 p.m. after all.
It was raining, so she figured it would be best not to go outside. She peered her head out of the window to catch a glimpse of the driveway.
She stood by the window for a while and went downstairs with an umbrella. She knew that Jack might not have brought his own.
It had been a few minutes since she started waiting. She was sure that she heard the car park in the garage, and the engine was already turned off, but nobody came out.
She got tired of waiting and decided to go to the garage and see what was happening.
The door was tightly closed, and nobody went out. Rachel set aside her umbrella and approached the driver's seat. She knocked on the glass to catch the attention of the person inside the car.
Rachel could see someone inside, but he was motionless. She could see that his head was resting on the steering wheel.
She kept tapping on the door to alert him. "Hey! Jack!"
The man inside the car stretched out his hand and rolled down the window after he heard Rachel shouting at him like a lunatic.
Rachel was relieved that there was no smell of alcohol. She tried to nudge him, and was careful not to be too forceful. "Jack, are you okay? What happened?"
He raised his head and turned on the dim light inside the car. His handsome face was covered by the strands of his messy hair. He was still half-asleep but he could see a blurry vision of Rachel's face.
Seeing him put one hand on his stomach, she guessed he might have a stomachache. She tried to open the door, but failed.
He pressed a button and the door was unlocked. She approached him and asked softly,
"Stomachache?"
Jack nodded with his eyes closed. He gripped his right hand and pressed it against his stomach. His face was turning pale.
Rachel sniffed at him to check if his breath smelled of alcohol, but it was something different.
"I'm taking you to the hospital."
"No, thanks," he groaned. Jack held onto her wrist and leaned onto her shoulder. "We don't need to see a doctor. This is just because of what I ate."
"What in the world did you eat?"
"Spicy Hunan Cuisine," he said as he tried to muster a half-smile.
"Just sit with me for a while. Please."
In truth, Rachel would rather bring him to the hospital to get his stomach pumped immediately, but Jack had other plans. He latched his arm around her waist and held onto her like a koala. He even buried his face on her neck the same way he did to a pillow.
Fortunately, the space in the car was big enough that Rachel didn't knock her head against the roof or the window.
Jack savored the moment to feel the warmth of her breath and the softness of her skin.
He held onto her for dear life, as if it was the cure to his stomachache.
Rachel tried to push him away but Jack held her even tighter now. "Don't move, please. Just a little bit more."
"Jack, you need to go see a doctor."
"The doctor's right here. You're all the medicine I need."
"Jack stop being an idiot. If you don't want to go to the hospital, you should at least take some medicine, or drink some warm milk!" she retorted.
Jack rubbed his head against her neck and said, "I can't move right now, can you please carry me upstairs?"
Rachel grunted at him. "Damn it, Jack! You knew you couldn't handle spicy food, why didn't you just order something else?"
Jack laughed at her anger. To him, Rachel was most charming when she got angry. "Are you worrying about me?" he said.
Rachel sighed and looked away.
Seeing that she wasn't answering him, Jack decided not to press her. Holding onto her was more than enough progress for him.
He wasn't asking for much. All he wanted was for the two of them to be closer.
It continued to rain heavier and heavier, until the sound of the downpour of rain was all that could be heard tonight.
Beside her ear, she could almost hear Jack's light breathing. She couldn't help but glance at him. She saw the bareness of his face, from his forehead to his chiseled jaw.
She couldn't see his eyes because they were closed, but from what she recalled, Jack's eyes were magnificent. It held a fieriness unlike any other.
Rachel remembered that she had once seen the vote of the most handsome face on the Internet.
There was a man who was more than 1.8 meters tall, with a pair of strong-looking arms and well- defined legs. He had a handsome face that was highlighted by his well-framed jaw.
It was a foreign male star with the highest vote and the reason for the selection was that his face was incredibly handsome, it was as if God had favored him above everyone else on the planet.
Almost everyone agreed with the results, save for one comment. In that comment was a photo of Jack. He was wearing a black suit and a white shirt, and you could only see the side of his face.
And yet it was more than enough to garner everyone's attention as soon as they saw the comment.
Even the blogger himself wanted to know his name.
Everyone else just assumed that he was a prince or something. What attracted them the most was his eyes, the intensity of the way his eyes looked would make anyone swoon and fall to their knees.
A lot of different kinds of people saw the photo. Some said he was the rising star in the entertainment industry, and some said he was a South Korean celebrity.
One comment said that it was the profile picture of a best actor. Rachel happened to see that comment.
She clicked the photo and she was sure that it was none other than Jack. It was definitely him. Material © of NôvelDrama.Org.
He rarely exposed himself in the media, especially not in the entertainment industry. Only people in the business circle of Ninwell City were familiar with him.
Not many netizens could recognize him.
Rachel browsed the comments section for a long time at that time and found that each comment was more ridiculous than the next.
Nobody had any idea that he was the president of the MK Group. Nobody had seen him before on the internet before then.
But it was the Internet, it would circulate the web sooner or later.
However, the photo disappeared from the comments section after a few hours.
Rachel figured that MK Group's publicists must have taken measures to take the photo down as soon as they saw it.
When she came to her senses, the mysterious handsome man on the Internet was quietly rubbing his face on her neck again.