Chapter 16

Brian sat quietly opposite Charlotte. He never had much hope in this emotional "miracle doctor", especially after her earlier words. Keeping her was a last gamble. Charlotte knew nothing of his doubts. She finished the charts and then checked the scans. At first, nothing stood out. After ten minutes, she noticed something on his brain CT—near the optic nerve was a thin white thread-like mark. She frowned and compared the other scans—none of them had that mark. It was strange. Henry saw her expression turn serious and asked, "Dr. Mandy, what's wrong? Did you find something?" She showed him the CT and pointed. "Did the doctors explain this?" That mark looked off to her. Henry shook his head. "No. We saw it the first time, so the hospital reran the test. The second scan showed nothing, so they said the machine must have glitched. We ran a few more scans, and it was all clear." Charlotte's surprise grew. In her experience, a test didn't have a glitch—that mark was no accident. After thinking for a few seconds, she asked Brian, "You said you were poisoned. Do you know what kind?" Henry answered, "The toxin was complicated. I forget the details. Dr. Mandy, is his sight really tied to the poison? It was neutralized long ago." A poison that lethal should have killed him. Charlotte said, "The poison may be neutralized, but that doesn't mean everything is fine. The effects are complicated. Even if it doesn't directly blind him, there could still be indirect damage. I must confirm exactly what it is before I can treat him." Henry brightened up. "Do you mean once we confirm it, you can cure him?" Charlotte laid the papers down. "I have a theory. We need one more detailed scan, and I must know if the poison matches what I suspect. If it does, I'm confident I can cure him." She spoke with a quiet certainty. Henry hadn't heard such words from any doctor in a long time and grew excited. "That's wonderful! Wait here, Dr. Mandy. I'll fetch the poison file." With that, he dashed out. Now, only Charlotte and Brian remained in the room. Silence settled, and neither of them spoke. Brian was naturally quiet, while Charlotte didn't want to slip up. After a while, she felt thirsty, so she rose and poured herself a glass of warm water. When she finished, Brian said, "Please pour me one as well." Charlotte pursed her lips. He sure knew how to order people around. Still, for a billion dollars, she poured him a glass. "Here." She stepped over and offered it to him. Brian reached out to her based on the sound, but he misjudged the distance, and his hand hit her wrist. Charlotte's fingers stung from the shock, and the cup dropped. Unluckily, it landed on his thigh, and water soaked a wide patch of his pants. Charlotte gasped and grabbed some tissues. She pressed them to his leg and muttered, "Why did you lift your hand so high? Are you okay? Did it hurt?" Brian frowned, not expecting this to happen. It wasn't hot, but the wet fabric felt awful, and her hand was pressed on his thigh. He was unused to any woman touching him like that except Charlotte. He suspected she did it intentionally, and anger flashed in his eyes. "What are you doing?" His large hand clamped her wrist and yanked it away. Charlotte had no idea he would react so strongly. As she was bent over to wipe his pants, she lost balance when he pulled her. She toppled forward onto him. "Ah!" Her cry turned shrill as her head hit his chin. They crashed together on the couch. Brian winced, frowning harder as his expression darkened. However, Charlotte didn't notice. She ended up half sitting on his lap while leaning against his chest, with one hand braced on him. Brian lay nearly flat under her. Their current pose was quite suggestive.