CHAPTER 130
Alan raised his eyebrows slightly. "So, you're here for the little saint as well. Are you..."
He looked her over, noting her relatively healthy appearance, and hesitated before asking, "Do you have a heart problem?"
"It's not me. My brother has a very serious heart disease. He's in critical condition and could die at any moment. His only hope is the little saint. I need to find him and beg him to treat my brother."
Arianna's gaze was intense, filled with desperation, as if Alan was her only hope in a vast ocean of uncertainty.
"Dr. Woods, you and St. John both attended the conference. Can you tell me who he is?"
Alan’s slender fingers tapped lightly on the tabletop. He was silent for a moment before responding with a question rather than an answer,
“Arianna, since you’re looking for St. John, you’ve probably already read up on his situation. He doesn’t treat just anyone. What are you prepared to use to convince him?”
It was a very realistic question. Finding the little saint was one thing, but getting him to agree to treat someone was another.
Arianna had thought about it before, and she responded with unwavering seriousness,
“I’ll do anything as long as he’s willing to heal my brother!”
Alan was not surprised by her answer. Having been a doctor for so long, he had seen countless patients with family members just like her. Their desperate words were all too familiar to him.
He didn't beat around the bush with Arianna. He opened his lips again and asked bluntly, “Arianna, are you powerful enough or rich enough?”
Arianna was lost for words at that instant.
She neither had power nor money...
Rumour had it that many powerful, influential people had sought the little saint’s treatment only to be turned away. As someone who had neither, how naive was she to even think she could ask him for medical help?
Arianna couldn’t help but laugh despite herself. “Dr. Woods, do you think I’m overestimating myself?”
She lowered her eyes and pursed her lips tightly.
Alan stared at her intently, as if searching for the right words to comfort her.
The next second, Arianna looked up again. Her eyes now held a firm resolve, showing her willingness to give everything.
“Dr. Woods, I might be all alone in this world, but I’m willing to exchange my own life for Charlie’s sake.
“My younger brother is different from me. His heart has been weak since birth. His entire childhood was spent in a hospital bed. While other children enjoyed their childhoods, his life depended on constant injections and medication. He wakes up every day to the smell of disinfectant and goes to sleep surrounded by it. He can never do anything that excites him, even a little bit.
“He’s only seventeen now and has never managed to stay in school for more than a few days. The beauty of this world is something he has never experienced. Life has its ups and downs, its sweet, bitter, and sour moments, but all he has ever tasted is bitterness. For more than ten years, he has endured the bitter taste of medications.”
Arianna’s nose began to tingle as she spoke. She raised her head slightly and blinked a few times before continuing as calmly as possible,
“The doctors said he has a year at most, and maybe he’ll be lucky enough to get a suitable heart for a transplant. But some terrible things happened recently that aggravated his condition. His heart nearly stopped a few days ago, and he’s been unconscious in the ICU ever since.
“If he continues to remain unconscious like this, he might… He might never wake up again, and his life will end here.”
Arianna had kept those words to herself, burying them deep in her heart for far too long.
She had no one to confide in. Rochelle—despite being her best friend—had troubles of her own, and Arianna was unwilling to burden her further. As for her parents or Xander, neither were people she could share her feelings with.
At that moment, she was at her limit of suppressing all her emotions. After meeting Alan, whom she regarded as an ‘old friend’, she could not help but spill it all out.
Once she finished, Arianna smiled awkwardly and said, “I’m sorry for unloading all this on you, Dr. Woods.”
Alan listened quietly until she finished speaking, noting her reddened eyes.
It was the second time he had seen her cry.
Arianna never showed her vulnerability in front of him. Her stubbornness could be quite exasperating. During past treatments, she never uttered a word about her pain, no matter how severe. Even when her entire body was trembling, she never cried out in agony, maintaining a facade of strength.
Throughout Alan’s career as a doctor, she was the most unforgettable patient he had encountered. Her impression was so lasting that he had been concerned when she vanished without any news a couple of months ago.
He had worried that she might have gotten injured, insisted on hiding at home while enduring it alone, and eventually succumbed to the injury without anyone realizing…
In an unauthorized act, he had looked into her case records and went to find her home address.
There, he met her landlord and discovered that she had already moved out. The landlord did not know where she had gone.
He originally thought it would be difficult to meet her again, but fate had other plans.
Doctors witness it all—childbirth, old age, sickness, and death. They are often considered 'hard-hearted,' their emotions not easily moved. Strangely enough, Arianna was a patient whose tears always moved him unexpectedly.
He instinctively felt compelled to help her because he wanted to see her smile again.
In his opinion, bright smiles suited Arianna best.
He took out a tissue and handed it to her.
Arianna took the tissue, gently pressed it against the corner of her eye, and said gratefully,
"Thank you."
Alan picked up his coffee, took another sip, and then whispered, "You don't need to look for St. John anymore."
