As the meeting ended, the leader cast me a displeased look.
“Work matters, but so does family. I don’t ever want to see today’s situation repeat itself. If this project succeeds, the position of project department director will be yours, provided no more mishaps occur.”
I nodded, agreeing to everything without hesitation.
Once he left, the strength I had been clinging to deserted me. My hand slipped from the table, and I collapsed backward, crashing into the chair before sliding to the ground.
“Millicent!” My assistant’s cry cut through the room.
I tried to wave it off and push myself up, but a stabbing pain in my lower abdomen robbed me of every ounce of energy.
Before I could utter a word, the world went dark.
The next thing I knew, violent jolts and bumps shook me awake.
And when my eyes focused on what lay ahead, I almost lost control of my expression.
My mom, together with my uncle Blake Coleman’s entire family, stood at the ER entrance, their voices echoing through the night.
“How can you call yourselves doctors? Don’t you even know how to diagnose? My daughter’s pain is in her lower abdomen; this is clearly gynecological! What does it have to do with the appendix?”
Blake shoved the doctor, his voice booming like a heavy drum.
“Don’t think I don’t see through you! You heartless doctors just want to squeeze money, claiming my niece has appendicitis, ordering piles of useless tests. When the tests show nothing, you force her to transfer! You bloodsuckers, do you find the suffering of common people so delicious?”
The doctor tried to stay calm.
“The patient’s pain is sharp and worsening in the right lower abdomen, accompanied by chills and high fever. This is a textbook case of acute appendicitis. Surgery must be performed at
once.”
“Bullshit!” My Aunt Anne snapped, spitting right in the doctor’s face. “I’m a woman, I know women’s illnesses best. Millicent’s symptoms are clearly gynecological. My sister already said Millicent didn’t come home last night, so what does that mean? It means she went to a hotel with a man, got carried away, and now something down there went wrong. You think you can trick us with some appendix surgery? Dream on!”
The crowd thickened around us. My mind spun under the sharp grip of pain, but one truth rang mercilessly clear: if I didn’t give in today, even if I collapsed and died, no one would care.
With trembling fingers, I seized the doctor’s arm and whispered between gasps, “Please… help me register for gynecology.”
The bed was pushed through a long corridor. The lights above me flickered like ghosts, swimming in and out of my pain–blurred vision.
1/2 35.0%
6:43 pm D G
swimming in and out of my pain–blurred vision.
From somewhere far away, I heard my mother’s trembling voice, “Millicent, don’t be afraid. Mom won’t let anything happen to you.”
The moment her words fell, a male doctor hurried out of the gynecology office that had received the notice.
As he stepped forward to take the hospital bed, my mom suddenly raised her hand and slapped him across the face.
The doctor froze, stunned in disbelief. The nurse beside him instantly darkened her expression. “Ma’am, why are you doing this? Why are you hitting people?”
my My mom’s eyes blazed with fury as she pointed at him. “You bring a man to examine my daughter’s private parts, what kind of vile intentions do you carry?”
The doctor, as though already used to scenes like this, remained steady and answered calmly, “Ma’am, it’s the lunch hour now. I’m the only doctor available. The patient is in severe pain. I’ll only perform a simple exam first. I won’t touch her private parts.”
I no longer had any strength. Almost pleading, I clutched my mom’s sleeve so tightly that my knuckles turned white, yet no words could escape my lips.
All I wished was for a shred of mercy, any doctor would do, even a simple painkiller would have been enough.
The pain had nearly broken me.
But she only patted my hand, her eyes flashing with a strange smile I couldn’t understand.
“Millicent, don’t worry. Mom knows exactly what you want to say. Mom will never let you enter that examination room.”
The doctor, seeing me drenched in cold sweat and pale as paper, quickly motioned for the nurse to push the bed into the room.
My mom, noticing this, instantly ordered my uncle and aunt to hold the bed still, her screams echoing hysterically through the corridor.
