Chapter 6

"Mom!" Breaking free from Amy, Crystal rushed to her mother's side. The hemorrhaging Marlene was sent to the operating room immediately. But half an hour later, the doctors were still delaying the surgery. She grabbed a doctor who was hurrying past her to get some clarification, only to receive shocking news. "We're incredibly sorry, Ms. Hoffman. It's not that we don't want to save her, but Ms. Knott just went unconscious from the sight of all the blood. Mr. Rimmer has reassigned all the doctors to her ward to examine her." Crystal hurried to Amy's bed, where Stephen was holding her anxiously in his arms, just as expected. The doctors standing around the bed were helpless, even though they weren't incompetent. But Amy was perfectly fine—or, in other words, she was faking it. With the severe look on Stephen's face, what doctor would dare call Amy's bluff and go toe-to-toe with the big boss? None of them did, for fear of losing their jobs. But Crystal had no such qualms. After all, her mother's life depended on it. Immediately, she grabbed the bedpan from the patient next door and splashed its contents viciously onto Amy's face. So, Amy wanted to act, huh? Crystal didn't believe she could maintain that act with a mouth full of human excrement. "Ahh!" The second she fell to the floor, Amy sprang up as though zapped by a bolt of electricity. The stench of urine filled the entire ward. Distraught, Amy ran to the bathroom, her screams practically echoing through the corridor. "Crystal, what the hell was that?" Stephen roared from behind her. Now wasn't the time to argue with him, and Crystal didn't have the time to explain either. She grabbed the hematologist and turned to run. This was a race against death, and every second was precious. Only after seeing the doctors wheel her mother into the operating room did Crystal finally sink to the floor, gasping for breath. But only a few minutes into the operation, Stephen stormed in with a sobbing Amy. "What do you think you're doing?" Having dealt with them for this long, Crystal knew they would return for payback. She drew out the sharp knife she had prepared in her pocket, blocking the entrance to the operating room. "I'll stab anyone who dares come any closer!" she cried. "I won't let you in, even if it costs you your lives!" Crystal's eyes were bloodshot as she pointed the blade toward the two people in front of her. But Amy didn't care. In a fit of tears, she demanded an answer from Stephen. Stephen had no choice but to calm her down and ask what she wanted. She batted her eyes, filled with self-righteous indignation. "I'm not seeking justice for myself, Crystal. Your mother's been hogging all the medical resources, leaving the ones who really need them without the care they deserve." She smirked. "Your mother needs a blood transfusion, doesn't she? Fine, then. For however much blood you donate to the other patients, I'll donate the same amount to your mother! How about that? That sounds pretty reasonable to me." Crystal listened dispassionately to Amy's noble-sounding excuses. So, trying to save her mother was "hogging all the medical resources", but Amy summoning all the doctors in the hospital over a fake emergency wasn't? She knew, though, that Amy wasn't someone she could reach with logic. If she could get them to stop pulling these shenanigans and let her mother go, she was willing to do anything. A thick needle punctured Crystal's vein, and the bag filled up milliliter by milliliter, climbing to 200, 400, 800… After taking a full liter of blood, Crystal struggled to sit up. Her consciousness flickered like a candle in the wind. "We can't take any more! This is already the limit her body can handle!" "Keep going! Don't you dare stop!" She could hear Amy arguing with the doctors, but she didn't have the strength to utter a word. Her body grew colder and colder until a piercing pain shot though her abdomen. "Blood! There's so much blood!" The last thing Crystal saw before losing consciousness was the glaring crimson stain between her legs.