Unwanted Marriage: Honey, No More Divorce!

Chapter 689: Would He Be in Danger Without the Antidote?

The call to Milo soon connected. Michael said, his tone urgent, "Milo, something happened to Jake. Send doctors over immediately!"

However, the voice that answered was not Milo’s.

"Mr. Lucas, Dr. Lawrence is performing an operation. Can you brief me on the situation there? I will arrange for someone to go immediately," said Milo’s assistant.

Milo Lawrence may only be an attending physician at the hospital but his father owned the hospital. It was a known fact that Milo would be taking over the management of the hospital one day.

While he might not have an actual official title like Chief Executive Office or something similar, he had a substantial amount of authority in the hospital.

Likewise, his assistant had quite a bit of authority himself.

It was a crucial period for Michael. If he needed doctors, Milo’s assistant would definitely send a team.

"Jake is having a bad nosebleed. There’s a lot, a lot of blood..." As Michael spoke into the phone, he glanced at Jake beside him.

There were numerous scrunched-up balls of blood-soaked tissue papers on the ground.

"Please remain calm, Mr. Lucas. I will send a team of doctors there immediately," informed Milo’s assistant.

After the call ended, Michael spoke to Jake, his voice trembling, "Jake, don’t be afraid. Your mother and I will protect you."

Clumsily, he used several more pieces of tissues and tried his best to stop the blood that was still flowing out of Jake’s nostrils.

The bleeding refused to stop.

"Jake, did you knock into something? Or..." Michael did not finish his question. He had already realized that it could not be a simple injury. There would not be so much blood otherwise.

It had to be the poison in Jake acting up.

A month had passed since they were poisoned. There was enough time for the poison to act and attack Jake’s immune system.

"Is it because of the poison?" There was worry and fear in Michael’s eyes as he asked Jake.

Jake had not wanted to worry his parents, but it was impossible to keep his symptoms under wraps now. He nodded glumly.

"Jake..." Leah called out shakily. Her eyes were red and she was trembling in fear.

She knew about the poison and also that there was only one dose of the antidote.

Her brother and father had chosen to let her have it.

"Jake, I’m sorry," Leah apologized, her head hung low.

"It has nothing to do with you. Leah, go wait outside. Don’t look." Jake was still trying to protect his little sister.

He knew Leah was timid and would be scared by the sight of so much blood.

Realizing that Leah was not leaving, Jake said to Zess, "Zess, please bring Leah out."

"No!" Leah shook her head vehemently. "I want to stay with Jake."

"Be good, Leah," Jake insisted. "I will go look for you when the bleeding stops."

Leah continued shaking her head. Jake met Zess’ eyes and nodded.

Zess reached out to hold Leah’s hand. "Leah, let’s wait outside."

"No, I want to stay with Jake. I don’t want to wait outside." She began to cry.

Not knowing what else to do, Zess picked her up. "Leah, listen to your brother. We won’t be able to help him here and he’ll just have more to worry about. Let’s wait for him outside, okay?"

Leah was small, and despite struggling, could not get out of Zess’s arms. freeweɓnovel.cѳm

She knew she was of no help in the room. She also knew that Zess was right, that Jake would only have to worry about her as well if she insisted on staying in the room with him.

Sobbing, she cried, "Zess, it’s all my fault. I ate the last antidote pill."

She had not wanted it. She wanted Jake to have it.

...

"It’s not your fault, Leah." Her heart aching, Zess wiped the tears off Leah’s face.

She consoled the little girl, "Your condition was more serious and you needed the antidote urgently. Your brother and parents would definitely have chosen to save you first.

If your brother was the one who was in a worse state, then we would have let him have the antidote first. If that was the case and Jake blamed himself, would you be happy?"

Leah shook her head.

Zess continued, "That’s why you mustn’t blame yourself. We must trust the doctors.

Your brother will be fine."

Leah blinked her large luminous eyes. Tearfully, she looked at Zess. "Zess, you did not take the antidote either. Did you get any nosebleeds?"

Zess shook her head. "I’m older and my immune system is better. I haven’t had any nosebleeds."

She wasn’t telling the truth. She did get a nosebleed; a few of them, in fact.

It was just that her immune system was better than Jake’s. After all, she was an adult.

She got the first bleed two days ago. At that time, she had brushed it off as a regular nosebleed.

The day before, however, she had another nosebleed just before bed. That was when she realized that something might be wrong.

Now that Jake was experiencing the same symptoms, Zess knew her nosebleed was due to the poison in their bodies.

She had not told Wendy and the others because, like Jake, she did not want to add to their worries.

Before the antidote was ready, there was no point in telling everyone she was showing symptoms too.

Inside, Wendy and Michael’s attention were all on Jake.

Jake’s nosebleed had not abated yet.

However, the flow of blood seemed to be slowing down and he was not bleeding as copiously as before.

His face was getting worryingly pale due to the amount of blood lost.

Michael held Jake, making sure his head was tilted back and limiting the amount of blood that was flowing out.

"Jake, is this the first time you’ve had a nosebleed?" Michael asked Jake earnestly, trying his best to remain calm.

Jake was contemplating if he should tell the truth when Michael said, "Jake, you have to tell the truth at a time like this."

"It’s not the first time. It’s happened many times before this, but all those other times, the bleeding stopped after a while. I didn’t expect it to bleed non-stop today," replied Jake.

"So, if you managed to stop the bleeding today, you would not have told us about it, right?" Michael tried his best to control his emotions.

Jake did not answer him.

Michael got visibly angry. His tone sharp, he scolded, "Jake, this is serious! How can you hide it from us? Don’t you know how much danger you are in? What if something happens to you? What will your mother and I do then?"

"Why are you shouting at him?" Wendy reached out to calm Michael when he saw him blowing up at Jake. "Jake must be terrified now and yet you’re still screaming at him. What kind of father are you?"

Michael closed his eyes and took a deep breath to steady himself.

He knew Jake was well-behaved and mature for his age. The boy must have kept it from them so they would not be worried.

However, at this time Michael wished his son was less selfless.

"I’m sorry..." Michael apologized after a few seconds of silence.

He should not have shouted at Jake.

Wendy was just about to say more when the sound of footsteps could be heard outside.

A big group of doctors entered the room. "Put him on the bed," instructed the doctor in charge.

Michael immediately picked Jake up and deposited him on the hospital bed.

Then the doctors closed in on Jake. Micahel and Wendy were pushed away from Jake’s bedside.

They could only peer at him through the gaps between the doctors.

After checking Jake, the doctor called out, "Send him to the examination room now!"

...

They watched as Jake was lifted onto the gurney and wheeled out of the room.

Wendy and Michael followed him.

Leah in her arms, Zess followed after them.

"Slow down, Wendy." Michael called out in a worried voice. He saw her hurrying after the gurney Jake was on and worried about her safety. She was pregnant and really should not be running about.

"I’m fine," Wendy quickly reassured Michael before running after the gurney again.

When they reached the examination room, Wendy and Michael could only watch as Jake was pushed in.

Wendy had to take several deep breaths before her breathing slowed to normal and evened out.

Milo soon appeared.

He rushed over as soon as he heard the news upon completing his operation.

"How is he?" Milo asked anxiously when he saw Wendy and Michael standing outside the room.

"We don’t know. He hasn’t come out yet." There was disquiet and unease in Michael’s voice.

He was worried that something bad would happen to Jake.

Leah had just recovered. Michael and Wendy had just gotten a weight off their minds.

Their relief was short-lived.

"Milo, how is the antidote coming along?" Michael looked desperately at Milo, his hands reaching out to clutch at his friend’s arm as if it were a lifebuoy.

"I checked with the research lab this morning. Unfortunately, the antidote is not ready yet," Milo said with his head lowered, as if he was personally guilty for the delay.

"Isn’t your hospital one of the best?" Losing control of his emotions, Michael shouted, "Didn’t you put the best researchers in the industry on the job? Why is it taking so long? It’s just one tiny antidote, but it’s been a month and yet it’s not ready yet!"

"Michael, calm down." Milo had done all he could. "I want to get the antidote ready as soon as possible too. The group of researchers has been working on the antidote round the clock, taking breaks only for essential rest and food.

"Do you need more staff?" asked Michael. "Money is not an issue. Help me gather all the best researchers in the world. It doesn’t matter how much it costs as long as they manage to come up with the antidote!"

Michael, all the researchers in the lab now are the cream of their respective fields."

Milo sighed. "It’s not a problem with staffing."

"What is it then? I don’t care about anything else. I want that antidote ready!"

Michael insisted, his eyes frenzied.

"Michael, calm down." Wendy hugged Michael tightly.

She wanted to console her husband but did not know what to say.

She was worried out of her mind too.

"I will ask them to hurry. Don’t worry, it will definitely be ready within the next few days." Milo seemed to be making Michael a promise, but at the same time, he was setting a deadline for himself.

Jake was symptomatic. They could not afford to wait anymore.

It was quite a while later when a doctor exited the examination room. Soon after, Jake was wheeled out.

"Jake..." Wendy squeezed her eyes tight at the sight of her little boy lying on the gurney. Her eyes began to tear.

She then turned to the doctor and asked, "How is Jake?"

"We managed to stop the nosebleed for now. His immune system is behaving abnormally. From here onward, he will continue getting nosebleeds, and it will get worse every time it happens.

Other than nosebleeds, he might also start showing other symptoms.

If we cannot get the antidote to him within a week, I’m afraid his life will be in danger," the doctor gave it straight to Michael and Wendy. "Before the antidote is ready, all we can do is treat his symptoms. As for the nosebleeds, we can only try to stop the bleeding."