Chapter 31
Now that she was crying, Celine sounded less like she was questioning Jack and more like behaving in a spoiled manner. As a result, the coldness in Jack's eyes finally died down.
Jack reached out and held Celine in his arms, coaxing her as he always did when she was sad and in tears. He patted her on the back gently and whispered in her ear, "I didn't sleep well last night, that's why I'm in a bad mood today. Don't be angry."
Meanwhile, at the hospital, a chubby boy called out, "Pretty Rachel..."
Feeling the boy move in her arms, Rachel patted him on his butt and warned, "Mendes, don't move, or else the needle will prick you in the wrong place."
The young boy turned around and saw a nurse holding a glittering needle and smiling at him like a witch. With a shiver, he turned back to Rachel's arms, grabbed her clothes, and begged pathetically, "Rachel, you give me the injection, please! I don't want to get it from this witch."
The nurse, Celia Xu, closed her eyes and took a deep breath to control her impatience and said,
"Fatty, come here!"
"Oh, no! The witch is coming!" As the chubby boy in her arms pretended to cry, Rachel had to hold his chest with one hand to prevent him from squishing his broken arm. ■3
Celia gnashed her teeth in anger.
Rachel patted the boy's butt again and smiled. "No more kidding, or we'll have to give you two injections."
However, the boy still didn't listen to her and continued to twist and turn in her arms. Rolling her eyes, Celia grabbed the back of the boy's collar and pulled him. Then, grinding her teeth, she asked, "Fatty! You think you can take advantage of Dr. Shen just because she's nice?"
Mendes Xu just stared back at her with puppy dog eyes.
Already at her limit, Celia pressed the boy down onto the chair and threatened him, "Don't move, or I'll throw you out!"
Upon hearing this, the boy suddenly burst into tears,
bawling so loudly that everyone in the room turned to look at him.
Celia just stood there at a loss with the needle in her hand.
She hadn't expected that the boy would actually cry.
Anger dissipating, she called in a low voice, "Hey, Mendes..."
However, Mendes ignored her and turned to Rachel as he wiped his eyes with one hand. "Waah! Dr. Shen! I want my mommy..."
Rachel sighed and looked at the other patients and hospital staff who were all looking at the scene with curious eyes. In order to prevent any gossip, ■3
she grabbed the boy and said to Celia, "Celia, can you stop being so mean to your brother?"
Finally, everyone realized that the boy was the younger brother of this beautiful nurse called Celia Xu.
But the age gap between them was large enough for them to be mother and son.
Celia lowered her head and said sulkily, "I... I don't know why he's crying!"
The boy buried his head in Rachel's arms again, continuing to shed tears.
Rachel didn't know why this wimpy kid could cry so easily either. She didn't know the first thing about coaxing a child.
Together, Rachel and Celia tried for a long time to get the boy to stop crying, but nothing worked. In just minutes, Rachel's white coat was stained with the boy's tears and snot.
Enduring the discomfort, Rachel stretched out her hand to raise the boy's head so that she could try talking to him. At that moment, she accidentally bumped her hand against her pocket and felt something. Immediately, she remembered that her colleague had given her a chocolate bar before getting off work yesterday. Since she didn't like chocolate, she had just kept it in her pocket and forgotten all about it. Fortunately, even she knew that chocolate could come in handy for coaxing children!
Taking out the chocolate bar from her pocket, ■3
Rachel patted the boy and said, "Mendes, look what I have in my hand!"
"No way!" the boy replied, refusing to raise his head. Undeterred by this, Rachel continued in a soft voice, "Look, I have some chocolate for you."
Celia was even more dumbstruck by this than her brother bursting into tears. 'Is there something wrong with my ears?' she wondered, holding the needle in her hand.
'How could Dr. Shen be speaking in such a soft tone? No way! I must have misheard!'
However, as the conversation between them continued, Celia had no choice but to accept what she was seeing in front of her eyes. As soon as he heard the word "chocolate," Mendes pulled away and looked at Rachel's hand.
Celia had the honor of watching Rachel continue to comfort the small boy.
Rachel, who was famous for her cold demeanor, was now trying to soothe the boy in her arms in a soft voice.
Her soft eyes and slightly upturned lips made her look like a loving mother. Eventually, the boy in Rachel's arms stopped crying.
Leaning against her chest, he waited for her to open the wrapper and give him the chocolate bar. While he was distracted by the chocolate, Rachel glanced at Celia and shot her a wink.
Although Celia was still surprised, she immediately sprang into action. Squatting down, she pushed Mendes's sleeve up to reveal his chubby arm. ■3
For a moment, it seemed as if Mendes was about to put up a struggle, but he was quickly distracted by Rachel's words. The moment he got the chocolate in his hand, Celia jabbed the needle into his arm. However, the boy was so caught up with eating the chocolate bar that he didn't even realize!
Now that they had given the boy the injection, both Rachel and Celia let out a sigh of relief. They didn't know why Mendes had given them so much trouble today.
After they were done with the task, Celia held out her arms and said, "Dr. Shen, give him to me. I'll take him back."
However, to her surprise, Mendes turned away from her. "No! I want Rachel to take me."
"You brat!" Celia cried out. Before she could continue scolding her brother, Rachel cut in and said,
"Don't worry, I'll take him back. You can carry on with other work."
"Okay then. Thank you very much," Celia said. She didn't know how to deal with Mendes, and she felt grateful to Rachel for being so understanding, even if it was a little out of character for her. "You're welcome." With these words, Rachel bent down and picked Mendes up, but it was only when she straightened up that she realized just how heavy the boy was!
As she waddled around, almost losing her balance, she heard someone say, "Be careful!" ■3
Then, she felt a pair of arms holding her on both sides to steady her.
It was lucky that she hadn't stood up immediately after picking the boy up; otherwise, she would have fallen for sure. It was also lucky that someone else had been there to catch her just in time. Breathing a sigh of relief, Rachel stared at the boy in her arms, wondering how he could be so heavy. In her eyes, he had to lose some weight or it would be hard for him to even walk. Nevertheless, she did not have the courage to rob him of the chocolate bar in his hand.
This whole time, Mendes had been happily eating the chocolate in his hand, only getting startled when he heard someone shout "Be careful!" He blinked and looked at Rachel in confusion. Once she had steadied herself, Rachel looked up to thank the person who had caught her just in time.
The words had almost left her lips when she saw who was standing in front of her.
Why was he here now even though he had given her a lift to the hospital only this morning? Was he following her?
She held back her thanks and looked at Jack helplessly. "Why are you here?" she asked.
"I'm here to visit someone," said Jack indifferently.
Upon hearing this answer, Rachel finally relaxed. Fortunately, he had not said that he was ■3
here to see her.
Celia looked between Rachel and the stern man and suggested, "Dr. Shen, how about I take Mendes back?"
Hearing this, the boy in Rachel's arms immediately protested. "No, no, no! I want Rachel to carry me!"
'I would beat him up if he wasn't already hurt! Does he really think that I won't teach him a lesson?' Celia grumbled to herself inwardly. Rachel tightened her grip on Mendes, afraid that he would slip out of her arms when he became too excited.
She hastily nodded to Jack and said, "Carry on then. I'm going to take this patient back first."
Then, she turned to Celia. "Celia, I'll take care of Mendes. Please continue with your work."
"Okay." Celia shot one last curious glance at Jack before leaving. Then, Rachel began walking away with the boy in her arms.
But it seemed that she had underestimated his weight once again! She had barely taken a few steps when he began slipping out of her arms.
She was unable to hold him as she walked even if she leaned back a little.
She stopped and tried to bounce him up higher into her arms, but to no avail. She was already starting to feel out of breath. "Mendes, shall we take a walk downstairs?" Mendes shook his head immediately. Feeling her body shaking, Rachel said helplessly, "Okay, ■3
okay. Please don't move, okay?"
It was definitely time for this boy to lose weight!
She was trying her best to carry him back to his ward when she heard the familiar voice behind her say, "Let me do it."
The man walked up and took the boy into his arms.
Unexpectedly, the boy who had refused to be carried by Celia allowed himself to be held by Jack without a word of protest.