Chapter 173
Callum paused to think for a moment before he finally relented and said, “It’s nothing. I eavesdropped on some people in the hospital that wanted to harm you. I found out before they could do anything, and…”He heard a conversation between two people that morning. They were plotting in the corridor to knock Elspeth out and take her away.However, he didn’t notice they were carrying switchblade knives.He immediately tried to stop them, but the two men panicked and tried to flee from the scene, and they managed to cut him in the chest.“So, you stopped them for me? The fever is caused by the inflammation of the wound, isn’t it?”Elspeth didn’t know why, but as she spoke, she couldn’t help but feel like crying. Every word was like a needle poking at her heart, and she teared up from the pain.Callum knew she would be worried, so he didn’t want to tell her. However, he didn’t expect her to cry over it.His heart ached when he saw this. He pulled her into his embrace and gently comforted her. “It’s okay. It’s a small injury. It’s not like I haven’t been hurt before. You don’t have to feel this way.”She cried like a child for the very first time, and her nose twitched uncontrollably. “You were hurt this time because of me. Even if I didn’t get hurt, I could still feel the pain from your wounds as if they were mine.”He pinched her nose softly. “I’d be even sadder if you were the one that had gotten hurt.”With a solemn face, he continued, “Elspeth, I’m just glad you’re not hurt.”He was happy that he was able to stop something bad from happening to her.“Miss…”Just then, someone rapped on the door.The two of them pulled away from each other instantly. Callum let go of her hands, allowing her to open the door.The man at the door smiled kindly when he saw her. “Hello, Miss. I’m the Jonesons’ family doctor, Dr. Leonard Hyde. Old Mr. Joneson asked me to come and take a look at Mr. Winthrop’s condition.”As he spoke, he subconsciously glanced at Callum. He could sense an icy, unfriendly aura exuding from Callum. It was somewhat intimidating.“Okay, come in.”Leonard looked kind and friendly, so Elspeth didn’t refuse him. She let him into the room and allowed him to take a look at Callum.After a careful examination, his face became solemn, and he couldn’t help but frown.“Dr. Hyde, what’s wrong with Callum?”Leonard stared off for a while thoughtfully before letting out a sigh. “His wound isn’t an ordinary cut. There was poison on the knife. The poison is now spreading throughout his body. The situation doesn’t look very good.”A pang shot through her heart, and she asked, “What kind of poison is it?”“I can’t tell. This type of poison is rather strange. I’ve been practicing medicine for so long, yet I’ve never encountered such a poison before… Maybe it’s because I don’t know much about poisons, so I can’t tell from a glance.”That being said, how could the doctor hired by the Jonesons be incompetent?The fact that he knew nothing about the poison meant that such poison was rare, not to mention hard to be treated.Elspeth looked at the wound on Callum’s chest and felt it was familiar. She thought for a while but couldn’t remember who had suffered a similar injury.“Thank you, Dr. Hyde. Please think of a way to prescribe a medication to suppress the toxins from spreading.”Leonard nodded. “I will. Don’t worry.” Then, she saw him off and went back to Callum. He looked up at her worried expression and smiled comfortingly. “It’s okay. Don’t worry. Aren’t I fine for now?”Even if he was okay for now, he still looked pale to everyone else.She shot him a look. “You might be okay now, but what about when something happens? What should I do if you die?”“What are you talking about? Nothing will happen.”“But Callum, I feel like I’ve seen this kind of wound before.”This seemed to pique his curiosity. “Where have you seen it before?”“I think it was…” Elspeth narrowed her eyes and suddenly remembered something. She quickly took out her phone to call Harper.“What’s going on, Elspeth?”It sounded chaotic on Harper’s end. He seemed to be in a meeting.“What was the injury that you had last time?”Although he didn’t know why she would suddenly ask that, he still answered honestly, “I was bitten by a poisonous snake. If it weren’t for the miracle doctor, I would have died a long time ago.”Elspeth’s eyes lit up at his words. “Yes, a poisonous snake!”With that, she hung up the phone and began to study Callum’s wound.His flesh was turned out, and there was dark blood leaking from the wound. The tissues around it were damaged. These were the symptoms of a wound after being bitten by a poisonous snake.“Callum, your wound is caused by a cut from a knife dipped in a snake’s venom.”Callum listened to her conclusion and asked in a serious tone, “Then, what do you think we should do next?”“It’s very simple. We just need to use ginkgo. I’ll get Sonny to get it.”The ginkgo she had right now was reserved for Frank, and it could only be used once. Thinking of this, she immediately decided to call Sonny.“Elspeth, what’s the matter?” It was rare for her to call first. Sonny couldn’t help but feel surprised.“Mentor, do me a favor.”He seldom heard her addressing him in such a way, and his hand trembled slightly. The chess piece in his hand almost fell. “Elspeth, what happened?”She had a temper, and she was arrogant, so she rarely called him a mentor.Yet, here she was, addressing him as a ‘mentor.’ It was as if she had had a change of heart.Elspeth thought about it and asked, “Do you still have century-old ginkgo? The older, the better.”Her request made his heart ache for a bit. “What do you need it for?”Century-old ginkgoes were hard to come by, and the longer it was preserved, the rarer they would be. The one he had was eight centuries old, and it took him a lot of effort to find it.“Saving one life is better than building a reputation for yourself. Of course, I want to use it to save a life.”Sonny listened to the impolite tone on the other end of the line and pursed his lips indignantly. “Can’t you be nicer to me? I’m your mentor…”However, Elspeth wasn’t in the mood to joke with him. “Ship it over immediately. I want to see it in four hours. Get it done right away.”With that, she couldn’t be bothered to bicker with him any longer and hung up the phone.She then turned to look at Callum. His lips were pale as the toxins spread across his body. He was on the verge of losing consciousness.“Callum! Stay awake! Hang on, Callum! I’ll definitely save you!”Although he was starting to slip away, he forced a weak smile to reassure Elspeth.However, in the next second, his head fell to the side, and he passed out.“Callum!”Her pupils narrowed in terror. The light she had in her eyes drained, and she was extremely worried. All she could do now was wait patiently for Sonny to deliver the herb.
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