Chapter 145 - 143: Beatrice Lynn?
Cecilia was taken aback by the woman’s attitude. Before she could say anything else, the woman walked over to a nearby window, pulled out her phone, and started texting.
’How is this the reaction of a wife whose husband has just collapsed and is now hovering between life and death?’
But Cecilia knew she was an outsider, and it wasn’t her place to comment on Director Lawson and his wife’s situation. At least the woman was here now and could act as family in an emergency—far more useful than a student like herself.
Not long after Cecilia sat down, Director Sanders, the department head, arrived on behalf of the university.
"Cecilia, what happened?"
Director Sanders had clearly rushed over, his shirt soaked with sweat. The worried expression on his face was far more genuine than that of Director Lawson’s wife.
"They’re still trying to save him," Cecilia explained.
Director Sanders looked around and noticed the woman by the window. His brow furrowed. "Is that Mr. Lawson’s wife?"
Cecilia nodded but didn’t say anything else.
Director Sanders sat down with Cecilia to wait. About half an hour later, the light above the emergency room door went out, and they both shot to their feet.
The door opened, and John Lawson was wheeled out on a gurney. He wasn’t awake yet, but the clear rise and fall of his chest showed he was still breathing.
Seeing this, Cecilia let out a huge sigh, feeling as if a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders.
Only then did John Lawson’s wife notice he had been brought out. She hurried over and asked, "Is he saved? Is he going to be okay?"
Director Sanders glanced at her before turning to the doctor. "Doctor, what exactly happened to him?"
The doctor calmly removed his mask and first instructed a nurse, "Take the patient to his room."
Only then did he turn to the others. "He’s not in any immediate danger, but we’ll need to run more tests to determine the cause of this sudden episode. Try not to worry. His vital signs are stable, so he’s not in critical condition."
Hearing this, Cecilia and the others let out a collective sigh of relief. But the image of Director Lawson suddenly collapsing still left a knot of fear in Cecilia’s stomach. ’No matter how I look at it, this doesn’t seem like a minor issue.’
"Doctor, when will he wake up? Can we go to his room to see him?" Director Sanders asked.
The doctor replied, "He should wake up this afternoon. You can go, just try to keep it quiet."
Cecilia and Director Sanders both nodded. When they turned around, they saw that Director Lawson’s wife had once again moved to the side and was busy on her phone.
Anyone who didn’t know better would have thought she was some busy executive.
Director Sanders’s expression soured. He shook his head and headed to the hospital room with Cecilia.
"He was perfectly fine. How could he just collapse like that?"
Inside the room, Director Sanders stood by the bed, muttering, "He seemed perfectly fine when I saw him yesterday..."
Cecilia fell silent as she watched the unconscious John Lawson in the hospital bed. She just couldn’t feel completely at ease.
A few moments later, a young nurse came in holding a stack of papers. "Who is the patient’s family? The fees need to be paid downstairs."
Cecilia and Director Sanders said in unison, "I’ll go."
The words were barely out of their mouths when John Lawson’s wife walked into the room, just in time to hear the nurse.
"I’m his family. I’ll go pay."
The woman took the bill from the nurse, glanced at it casually, and muttered, "Wow, that’s expensive."
But even as she said it, she turned and walked off in her high heels to pay.
Watching her leave, Cecilia grew even more puzzled. She truly hadn’t seen any concern or anxiety for Director Lawson from this woman, yet she seemed to be doing what was necessary.
It was just that her attitude was so strange.
"Cecilia, why don’t you head back to the university?" Director Sanders suddenly said. "There’s no point in both of us waiting here. The doctor said Mr. Lawson is stable for now, so you can go back and not worry. I’ll keep an eye on things, and I’ll let you know when he wakes up."
"Director Sanders, I don’t have any classes this afternoon. Why don’t you go back? I’m sure you’re busy with department matters," Cecilia offered.
Director Sanders waved his hand dismissively. "I’m here on behalf of the university. Don’t worry about it. Just go."
With that, Cecilia finally nodded. "Alright, then I’ll come see him tomorrow after he’s woken up."
As she was going downstairs, she happened to run into Mr. Lawson’s wife again by the elevators on the first floor. This time, Cecilia approached her. "Excuse me, ma’am. Has Mr. Lawson ever had something like this happen before?"
Cecilia was a beautiful young woman, and it was obvious that as his student, she cared deeply for John Lawson.
Charlene Miller gave Cecilia a second look before replying, "No, he’s always been perfectly healthy. It’s so hot today, it was probably just heatstroke!"
Such a casual guess made it clear she wasn’t taking the matter seriously. In that instant, Cecilia lost all desire to speak with her.
As Cecilia turned to leave, Charlene Miller seemed to offer a perfunctory, "Thanks for your help today."
Cecilia could hear the insincerity in her tone, but she still replied, "You’re welcome," before leaving.
’I have a sinking feeling,’ she thought, ’that Director Lawson’s marriage is on the rocks.’
After leaving the inpatient building, Cecilia walked past the outpatient building toward the hospital exit. Just then, Beatrice Lynn happened to be coming out of the outpatient building’s west entrance.
She was holding a freshly printed report.
"Pregnant."
She had already taken a home pregnancy test and gotten two lines, but she had come to the hospital for confirmation, afraid the test might have been inaccurate.
And just as she’d suspected, she was really pregnant.
Beatrice Lynn was a mess of complicated emotions. She didn’t feel scared, but she wasn’t happy, and she certainly wasn’t sad.
For a moment, it seemed the question of whether or not to keep the baby didn’t bother her in the slightest. She had only one thought: she had to tell Cecilia Sterling.
’Why?’
’Because she knew Shawn definitely wouldn’t want Cecilia to find out.’
’And that was exactly why she had to be the one to tell her!’
Just as she looked up, the most eye-catching figure in the crowd made Beatrice Lynn freeze. For a second, she thought she was hallucinating.
’Cecilia?’
After staring for a couple of seconds, Beatrice confirmed that her eyes weren’t deceiving her. That person was Cecilia.
A vicious glint flashed in her eyes, and she hurried to catch up.
"Cecilia!"
Cecilia was waiting for a ride by the side of the road when she heard someone call her name. She turned instinctively and saw Beatrice Lynn standing before her, looking somewhat haggard.
Cecilia was a bit surprised to see her. ’Now that I think about it,’ she realized, ’I haven’t seen Beatrice in over a month.’
’The last time I saw her was when we made that bet in the school cafeteria. She was so haughty and aggressive back then, but now she was completely different, looking utterly listless, as if she’d lost her spark.’
The only thing that remained the same was the undisguised hatred and hostility in her eyes.
Cecilia looked at her, let out a soft laugh, and greeted her, "Beatrice Lynn?"