Evander was thrilled to see Evelyn. He wanted to say something, but he couldn't. He tried to express his feelings with his hands, waving them around, and forming them into letters. Evelyn could see the joy in his face.
Evelyn stood at the end of the bed, smiling at Evander, and then she turned to Sheffield. "Get him on CRRT. You and I both know he needs it. And put him on the waiting list for a new kidney. When he gets better, he can change to ordinary dialysis."
"You're right," Sheffield replied after a pause. He turned and asked a nurse to get a room ready for CRRT.
Nova was so anxious that she grabbed the nurse by the arm. She yelled, "Oh, no! We don't want CRRT. It's too expensive. We don't have the money for that! Don't listen to her!"
Evelyn cast a sidelong glance at her and told Tayson, "Go to the registrar and tell them to put it all on my tab."
Hearing this, Nova shut up. She knew Evelyn was rich. Feeling embarrassed, she walked back into the room and remained silent.
"Yes, Miss Huo." Tayson left to do as he was told.
Sheffield led the doctors and nurses out of the ward. Before he left, he told Evelyn quietly, "I'll be in my office. I need to finish up some paperwork and write a prescription."
Evelyn nodded.
Now there were only three people left in the ward, and the place was much quieter. Evelyn walked up to Evander and looked at the middle-aged man. The excessive water accumulation swelled his limbs and caused other problems. "Uncle Evander, why didn't you tell your family you were sick?" she sighed, feeling sorry for the man.
Evander shook his head with a smile. Evelyn didn't know what he wanted to say. He made unintelligible sounds, occasionally grabbing Evelyn's hand and gesturing. After a long while, he finally realized that he couldn't speak. So he took out his phone and typed on it. "Don't spend any more money on me, kiddo. I'm really sick. I'm used to it.
Evelyn shook her head. "Listen to the doctors, Uncle Evander. Take care of yourself and you should live past eighty."
Evander typed again. "Why aren't you home celebrating the New Year?"
"My friend is a doctor. I came here with him. And come to find out the patient we rushed here to save was you."
Evander understood.
Later on, Evelyn couldn't stay in the ward because the doctors came to get him. They were going to wheel him to the OR for intubation surgery. "Uncle Evander, take care of yourself. I'll come visit in a couple days."
Evander smiled and nodded, waving goodbye to her.
Regardless of everyone's surprised gaze, Evelyn walked into the office. The love of her life was typing away on the computer. She asked worriedly, "So what are his chances? Honestly."
When he saw her, Sheffield immediately pulled the chair next to him and said, "Sit down first."
Evelyn sat on the chair and watched him typing on the keyboard. He seemed to be prescribing medicines for Evander. He explained patiently, "Even if we transferred him to another country, he'd still be aced out. A transplant would help, but there's a long waiting list. Before the kidney transplant surgery, he'll need dialysis. This is serious. He's dead without it."
"Well, you can start trying to find a donor. I can put up more money if need be."
Sheffield stopped typing and asked, "How do you know the guy?" He could see the worry in her eyes.
"Tell you later." It was a long story. But if he wanted to know, she would tell him.
Sheffield arched an eyebrow, printed out the prescription, and asked another doctor to give it to Nova. "Tell her to go to the pharmacy tomorrow morning. It should be ready by then," he told his colleague.
After making sure that everything was set, Sheffield left the office with Evelyn.
As soon as they left, the doctors on duty began to gossip.
"I guess Dr. Tang and Miss Huo know each other."
"Seems like. They left together." "Wow, are they dating?
They make a perfect couple."
"I don't think so. Isn't Miss Huo getting engaged to someone else?"
"Who knows!"
By the time they left the hospital, it was already after midnight.
Since he started changing his clothes, Evelyn had been staring at something on her phone intently. She hadn't said a word in a bit.
When they got into the car, she immediately pulled out her phone and started scrolling. Sheffield asked as he fastened the seat belt, "What are you looking at?"
Evelyn put her phone away. "When I was surfing the Internet to learn about renal atrophy, I found an interesting novel about a domineering CEO." So she started reading it.
Sheffield couldn't believe that a CEO like Evelyn would be interested in a novel like that. "Aren't you a domineering CEO yourself?"
"Well, yes, but the novel is about a man. I'm a woman."
"Yes, you are," Sheffield agreed. Then he thought about it. "But your dad is an overbearing CEO. Do you need to read a novel about it?" Carlos was indeed bossy.
"This novel is funny. So I read some of it."
"What's so funny?"
Evelyn looked at Sheffield's belly. "Listen to this: 'he lifted his coat and showed his 32 abdominal muscles.' My dad doesn't have 32 abs. Do you?"
Sheffield lowered his head and lifted his clothes. After counting carefully, he replied, "Nope. I have only eight, I think. The CEO in that novel must be a cob of corn!"
"Haha…" Evelyn couldn't help bursting into laughter.
Seeing the smile on her face, Sheffield also smiled, "Any more ridiculous lines?"
Evelyn stopped laughing. "Nothing memorable. But I remember something I read before. The girl told the guy, 'Sorry I was unable to keep our baby.' The guy smiled and said, 'It's okay. You were pregnant with twins. We lost one, but we still have the other.' That's just dumb. When one twin dies, the other goes too, right?" The writer must have thought the readers were idiots.
However, on hearing what she said, Sheffield replied in a more serious tone, "It's true. I heard about it. It happened to one of the pregnant women in our hospital. She was a star. She was the talk of the hospital for a while." Although he was not an obstetrician, he had contact with gynecologists and obstetricians occasionally. So from time to time, he heard the strangest things.
Evelyn was at a loss for words. "Okay! I'm ignorant!" So the writer was accurate after all.
"No. I wouldn't have believed it either if I hadn't come across it before!" Then Sheffield started the engine, and they left the hospital together.
"Yes, it's super rare."
"Now, about Evander… Who is he?"
"He used to work for my family." Evelyn began to tell him about Evander.
He used to clean the Huo family manor. He was a pitiful man. Since he was a child, he had been mute, and was somewhat silly.
Normally, the Huos would never hire someone like him. But he gained Carlos' gratitude.
One day when Terilynn was in primary school, she snuck out of her school to buy snacks during recess. When she crossed the street, she encountered a kidnapper hired by a rival company. They wanted to get back at Carlos and were going to hurt her.
At that time, Evander was working as a street sweeper. Seeing the man take out a dagger intending to stab Terilynn, he raised the broom and hit the kidnapper's wrist—hard.