Chapter 170 Please Practice Safer Ways
Goosebumps crawled across Sierra’s scalp. She tensed up, fixating her gaze on Josephine as her facial expression shifted unpredictably.
After a while, she turned and beamed at Lewis. “It was a slip of the tongue. You know I don’t mean it.”
Lewis looked at her, expressionless. He said warningly, “There’s a difference between being careless and downright foolish.”
Sierra’s smile froze. Lewis’ words were hurtful.
“Are you criticizing me?” asked Sierra in disbelief. Was Lewis actually telling her off?
“I’m not criticizing you. I’m merely reminding you.”
Sierra’s eyelids twitched. She and Lewis had always been casual in their everyday conversations, but that didn’t mean he could embarrass her in Josephine’s presence.
She glared at Lewis and pouted as she left, her heels clicking against the floor.
After Sierra left, Lewis glanced at Josephine.
Josephine was calm. She wasn’t gleeful just because Lewis reprimanded Sierra; that was how they flirted with each other. She would have been thinking too highly of herself if she had thought Lewis was siding with her.
After all, she had flattered herself countless times before, and Lewis proved her wrong each time.
There wouldn’t be room for imagination when there’s no anticipation whatsoever.
His words and actions wouldn’t hurt her in any way, too.
Josephine handed him the documents she held.
Lewis stared at her for a while before taking the documents and leaving.
Josephine’s belly started aching again. She propped herself against the table, waiting for the
pain to subside. Then, she drank some water and weakly sat on her chair.
She had nothing to do in the afternoon, so she leaned her head on her table and rested.
Her phone’s notification ringtone woke her up.
She picked up her phone and saw it was a message from Lewis. He asked her to go home first without giving her a reason.
Josephine looked at the time. It was 5.30 pmn.
She packed her things and clocked off. Then, she hailed a cab and headed for the hospital.
She was running short on painkiller pills. While she was there, she could drop by and visit Mrs. Jinkins. It had been a while since she met Mrs. Jinkins.
She was in luck at the hospital as the doctor was the one she had previously.
The doctor remembered Josephine well because she couldn’t speak. She looked through Josephine’s medical records, and her expression was indescribable.
She probably gave up putting it in words and wrote down a referral for Josephine to get some examinations done before they discussed it further.
After the examination, the doctor read the report with a solemn face.
“You’re having another inflammation, but this time, it’s cervicitis. Did you take the medicine I prescribed?”
Josephine was stunned. She pressed her lips into a thin line and shook her head. She couldn’t even recall when the doctor prescribed any medications for her.
The doctor sighed, too weary to continue. She promptly gave Josephine her medication and instructed, “You’re getting an infusion, and make sure to come for your follow-ups regularly. Take your medicine as prescribed if you don’t want to develop cancer. Abstain from intimate activities, and please practice safer ways if you really can’t do so.”
Josephine had been here too frequent to feel shy. Although it was embarrassing to hear such advice, she didn’t blush.
She nodded, took the medication from the doctor, and went to the infusion room. Familiar with the procedures, she handed over the referral form and stood in line.
There were many patients in need of infusion that night, but most came with companions. She was the only one waiting alone.
Sitting across from her was a couple. The girl was undergoing an infusion while her boyfriend sat beside her, concerned. He massaged her belly for her from time to time.
Josephine pressed her lips together and averted her gaze.
She suddenly received a text from Quintin. Josephine read it.
“Where are you? I think I saw your brother again.” The text came with a photo showing Sierra and Lewis attending a gathering arm in arm. Josephine glanced at it, the ache in her heart no match for the one in her belly.
Quintin texted again, “I hope your brother didn’t tell you off last night.” He continued, “I distributed some flyers today, and several people dropped by to claim their pets. The owner of that husky you liked claimed it too.” Another message came in right after. “But two of the dogs in my shelter are expecting. I’ll give you two puppies later.” That message was followed
by, “I must watch out for them after this, or they’ll get themselves pregnant again.”
Texts streamed in continuously; Quintin was engrossed in the one-sided conversation. Josephine had barely typed a sentence when he fired a few more messages.
Josephine decided not to reply.
Quintin went on for some time and returned to the first question, “Where are you?”
Josephine was reluctant to be too close to him, afraid that Lewis would lose his reasoning again and treat Quintin like he treated Mrs. Jinkins and Avery.
She really dared not provoke Lewis again.
Josephine took a deep breath, locked her phone screen, and put it back into her pocket.
It was already 10 pm when the infusion was completed. Josephine came to Mrs. Jinkin’s ward and gently knocked. There was no response, so she cracked open the door and peeked through the gap.
She realized the bed was empty. Horrified, she flung open the door.
She froze, her hands and feet turning cold. Her thoughts ran wild-what could have happened to Mrs. Jinkins when she was absent? Was Patrick here again?
Just as she had a bee in her bonnet, Mrs. Jinkins came out from the washroom.
“Josie?” Mrs. Jinkins was in a hospital gown, holding a pair of crutches. She looked more feeble than she used to be.
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