The security guard gave him passage. James pushed the door open. The Callahans gathered in the hallway of the hospital. Wearing worried expressions, they paced back and forth. James approached them and asked, “What happened?” With a tearful voice, Thea explained, “We don’t know either. A bunch of people appeared out of nowhere and started to stir up trouble. They said someone died in our hospital and demanded compensation. Now that they’ve made a big scene, even the reporters have made their way here. We had no choice but to close the hospital temporarily.” Lex was on the phone. He was calling some big shots to help resolve the crisis. “You reek of alcohol. Why are you here? Are you here to cause more trouble for us?” Gladys rebuked James upon smelling a whiff of alcohol on him. “Dad, grandpa, this is bad. There are now more people outside. They’re saying there’s something’s wrong with our medicine.” Tommy ran in in a panic. He lost his footing and collapsed to the fl
It was silent for a few seconds.Then, a thirty-year-old muscular man with a metal rod in his hand stepped forward. Wearing a vicious look, he pointed the metal rod at James. He roared, “Who the hell are you? What makes you think you have the right to speak?” He was frothing at the mouth and was behaving aggressively. Thea was scared out of her wits. Fearing she would be assaulted, she hid behind James’ back. “That’s right. There’s no need for you to speak. We demand compensation!” “If you don’t pay compensation, we’ll wreck Eternality Hospital.” “What a useless place. If you aren’t up to standards, don’t establish yourselves at Medical Street. Get out of here!” The crowd started heckling. Not even a single Callahan dared to show up. The situation outside was volatile. It would be problematic if things got out of control. “Shut it, all of you. Wait for your turn to speak,” James roared with an annoyed look. He would not have cared less if this was not the Callahans
James stood and turned to look at Thea. “You’re the chairman. Order the finance department to pay the compensation.” “James, w-what…” Thea was at a loss. She thought James would resolve the problem. However, after his posturing and empty words, he was now advising the Callahans to pay up. An angry rebuke came from inside the building, “What are you doing, James? Ten million dollars? Are you kidding me? I wouldn’t be surprised if you colluded with these people to swindle money out of the Callahans.” It was Gladys. James whispered in Thea’s ear, “There’s something wrong with the medicine.” “H-How can you be sure this medicine was prescribed by us? What if someone’s trying to frame us?” Thea glanced at James. If they paid compensation before getting to the bottom of this incident, would it not be equivalent to acknowledging their mistake? James said, “Listen to me. Appeasing the family of the deceased is our top priority. As long as we pay compensation and calm them down, ev
James had a loud voice. His roar stunned the angry crowd gathered outside Eternality Hospital. The boisterous crowd immediately fell silent. James pointed at a man whose face was swelling. “You, come here and sit. I’ll take your pulse.” The man immediately sat before James and ranted, “You’re compensating me no matter what. Do you know what I do for a living? I’m the manager of a large corporation with a monthly salary of fifty thousand. My illness got in the way of my work, and I was fired. I won’t settle for anything below a few hundred thousand.” James glared at him. His glare was penetrating. The man chickened out and muttered silently, “I’ll be fine with a few thousand.” “Show me your arm.” The man extended his arm. James took his pulse. “So, you came to Eternality Hospital because you have skin irritation. What does this have to do with us?” James slammed the table and rebuked him, “You must’ve eaten something to trigger the swelling. Why are you blaming us?
“Holy, is he that impressive?” “Seems like it.” “He’s the true God of medicine. He’s even better than Dr. Fallon.” The onlookers were in a heated discussion. They were especially stunned after finding out it was James who treated Thea. Meanwhile, James continued treating his patients. A fifty-year-old woman approached him. Taking her seat, she took off her hat. Wearing a mean look, she snarled, frothing at the mouth, “My head hurts. After eating your medicine, I lost most of my hair.” “Quiet,” James snapped. To keep them in check, James had to raise his voice. As expected, the woman who was shrieking fell silent. “Extend your arm.” She extended her arm. James took her pulse. Then, he said, “This has been a chronic problem of yours. You’ve had this headache and insomnia for more than a decade. It was these that led to your hair loss. What does your condition have to do with us? How about this? I’ll prescribe medicine to you for free. I guarantee your conditio
Thea made haste. Soon, the transfer was made. The deceased’s family was satisfied and carried the stretcher away from Eternality Hospital. James was quick too. With his unrivaled medical knowledge and amazing convincing skills, he dissuaded all the patients who came to make trouble. “Alright now, get going. There’s nothing to see here.” James stood and waved the onlookers away. Eternality Hospital was one of the largest hospitals on Medical Street. The commotion had attracted many passers-by, including a few distinguished doctors from the neighboring hospitals and clinics. “Hold it…” At that moment, a voice boomed. Huh? James turned and saw a fifty-year-old doctor in a white suit approaching him. James frowned. “Is anything the issue?” “This is Medical Street, where all the clinics and hospitals rely on their true abilities and not through some silly publicity stunt to be recognized. Eternality Hospital has pushed it too far this time. What if everyone else follow
“I thought someone died in Eternality Hospital. “ “I thought something was wrong with the medicine.” “Tsk, it was all an act.” “How shameless of them.” Disinterested, the crowd dispersed. In the hallway of Eternality Hospital, Gladys rebuked James, “What are you doing? That was the perfect advertisement opportunity. Now, you’ve ruined it all. What do you mean by a publicity stunt? Does this look like one to you?” James took a seat and lit a cigarette. Lex asked, “What’s going on, James? Did you really arrange for this?” “Arrange?” James’ face darkened. “How would I have the time for this? With so many things going wrong all at once, does this look like a publicity stunt to you? If we don’t say so, do we admit something was wrong with our medicine? Do you know how much damage that would cost us if the media got to the bottom of this?” Tommy stepped forward and said, “Are you trying to say something was wrong with our medicine?” James nodded. “Most likely.” Tommy
Lex stormed off. Tommy wore a scheming look on his face. Thea and her family did not stay at the hospital for long and returned home. “I’m so pissed.” Upon reaching home, David broke into a fit of rage. “It’s obvious they’re trying to frame Thea. It has to be Howard and his family. After Thea became the chairman, they lost all opportunities of embezzling the company’s funds. And so, they’re trying to bring her down.” James took a seat and said coldly, “That should be obvious enough.” Thea looked at James and asked, “How did you know something was wrong with the medicine?” James replied, “I’m a doctor, after all. I can tell a patient’s condition just by taking their pulse, and I noticed they all consumed the same medicine. That means it wasn’t outsiders targeting Eternality hospital. Rather, it’s someone in the family. Besides, they only switched some of the medicine for substandard ones as they didn’t want things to get out of control. After all, the medicine isn’t fatal.