The Man Who Waited vs. The Man Who Wasted novel Chapter 175

It was actually quite embarrassing.

The doctor nodded in understanding. "In that case, we'll skip the X-ray and just monitor it. If the pain doesn't subside, bring her back in."

"By tomorrow, the bruising on the shoulder is going to look incredibly severe. Don't panic when you see it; it's just pooling blood. Keep applying ice packs. The most critical thing right now is her pregnancy, so we absolutely cannot use any strong painkillers or anti-inflammatory drugs."

Julian opened his mouth, clearly unsatisfied with the prognosis.

Jocelyn quickly cut him off.

"If the doctor says I'm fine, then I'm fine. He has years of medical experience. I think we can trust his judgment."

The doctor chuckled warmly.

"Your husband is just fiercely protective of you. It's rare to see a man care about his wife this much these days."

Jocelyn smiled through the absolute awkwardness. "It’s not like that. He's just a friend of mine."

The doctor shot her a highly skeptical look.

"Right. 'A friend.' Well, tell your 'friend' to carry you back out so I can call my next patient."

Jocelyn saw the knowing smirk on the doctor's face and mentally threw her hands up.

"Fine. Don't believe me."

Back in the car, Jocelyn couldn't stop thinking about the words 'strict bed rest'.

Her father was still recovering in the hospital.

The massive, looming war with Adrian and the Lowell family was still entirely unresolved.

She had a mountain of fires to put out. How the hell was she supposed to lie in bed for three days?

As if reading her mind, Julian spoke up.

"Your father's condition is stable. As long as he stays in the hospital and receives care, he'll fully recover. As for your war with the Lowells, that can go on pause. Nothing is going to implode in the next three days."

Jocelyn let out a long, defeated sigh.

He was right. She had no other choice.

When Maria opened the door to the apartment and saw Jocelyn being carried in sideways by a man, she nearly had a heart attack.

"Miss Jocelyn! What on earth happened?!"

Julian answered before Jocelyn could get a word out.

"Her shoulder sustained a heavy impact and needs to be iced repeatedly. More importantly, her pregnancy was slightly compromised during the incident. The doctor mandated three days of absolute strict bed rest. Maria, please make sure she doesn't leave that bed."

Maria's eyes instantly welled up with tears of sheer panic.

"This is the only photo I have of just me and my dad."

In the photo, there was no Diana. There was no Jeremy. It was just a father and the daughter he loved.

"You look incredibly sweet," Julian said softly.

"And beautiful."

She had been stunning even as a child.

Julian's phone suddenly buzzed in his pocket. It was a contact he had inside the police department.

"Mr. Vance, we interrogated the suspects. They are uniformly claiming this was a random act of street violence caused by a personal grudge. They insist no one hired them. Whoever orchestrated this is incredibly powerful and paid them extremely well. The suspects would rather die than give up a name."

Julian hung up the phone and stood in total silence for several long seconds.

When he finally spoke, his voice was chillingly calm.

"I'm going to get the ice packs."

He had barely taken a single step when Maria practically kicked the door open, sprinting into the bedroom in a total panic.

"Hide! Hide him right now! Adrian Lowell is at the door!"