A Replacement Bride

Chapter 85

"Joe? Joe!" Half an hour later, Beatrice finally opened her eyes, whereupon tears began to roll down her eyes the moment she saw Joaquin right in front of her.

"I'm right here." At the sight of Beatrice's vulnerable state, Joaquin was overwhelmed by sympathy. He then sat next to her bed and caressed her head, gently patting it.

Nevertheless, Beatrice cried even louder as she covered her face with her hands. "I bet I look ugly now, don't I? Leave me alone, Joaquin. I don't want you to see me like that." The lady struggled in an attempt to shove Joaquin away, but after a fierce struggle, her face turned pale just as she looked at the man in horror and despair. "Joe, what's wrong with me? Why can't I feel my body?"

"It's alright. Just quit squirming. I'll make sure you're going to be okay." Joaquin gently caressed Beatrice, trying to comfort her.

"You must be lying to me, right? What's wrong with my body? What's wrong with me? Why can't I move at all? Joe, am I… Am I…" Beatrice was devastated, unable to accept the grim reality.

In the meantime, Joaquin had no idea how he could console Beatrice due to her overwhelming emotions. Therefore, he had no choice but to send for the doctor, who quickly arrived to check on Beatrice. After that, the nurse was instructed to inject her with some sedatives in order to calm her down. Minutes later, Beatrice began to fall asleep, much to Joaquin's relief.

With a stern look on his face, the doctor said, "The patient is getting a little too agitated, and that isn't good for her recovery. Thus, you might want to keep her calm all the time and avoid provoking her. For that, I'd advise you to agree with the surgery so that she can be treated as soon as possible, Mr. Levisay."

"Alright, I heard you," Joaquin replied with a cold grunt. Upon seeing the doctor out of the ward, he returned to his seat in a preoccupied manner. While Beatrice continued to remain asleep, Ben's call came in. As soon as Joaquin saw the incoming call, he immediately rose from his seat and went to the balcony to answer the phone.

"I've found out what happened, and the details have been sent to your inbox. Check it out." Ben seemingly wanted to say more than he did, although he didn't in the end.

After replying with an affirmative hum, Joaquin hung up the call and checked out his inbox, in which he found a new email. When he viewed its content, he was shocked, whereupon he deleted it. After a few moments of silence, he called Ben back and said, "Please continue the investigation with this matter." Joaquin responded with a cold and intimidating voice, even more so than the time he told Ben to investigate the truth behind the accident in which Beatrice was caught earlier.

"Mr. Levisay…" Ben sounded hesitant.

"I don't believe she'd order a hit on Beatrice just because she was jealous of her. I'm not going to buy that story because I know what kind of person Katherine is. She will never do anything like that. Keep investigating the matter! Leave no stone unturned!" Joaquin interrupted Ben's words and went ahead to make his point heard before hanging up the call.

Staring at his own phone in silence for a while, Ben proceeded to make another phone call.

In the meantime, Joaquin continued to stand on the balcony for a while more as he tried to reach for his cigarette in his pocket, but when he couldn't find anything at all, he recalled that he had already quit smoking a long time ago. Therefore, he rubbed the fabric inside his pocket with his fingers before he returned to the ward with a cold look on his face. Seeing Beatrice still in her sleep, Joaquin was sure she wouldn't wake up anytime soon because he thought the sedation would last for at least two hours. Thus, he left the hospital and made his way to Soulin International.

In less than ten minutes after Joaquin left, Beatrice opened her eyes and came to her senses. Due to the compact space within the ward, she was able to overhear Joaquin's tele-conversation from the balcony. Therefore, she knew everything about the conversation Joaquin was having with Ben. "What's so good about Katherine? What has she done to deserve your trust so much?" Beatrice was seen with hatred written all over her face, her eyes turning red as they were filled with rage. Frustrated, she thumped her lap, only to realize her legs felt nothing. Her face quickly changed as she pressed the bell next to her nightstand to call for help.

In less than 5 minutes, the doctor and the nurse hurriedly arrived, only to be stunned when they saw Beatrice awake. However, Beatrice ignored their reaction and questioned them coldly. "What happened to my legs? Why can't I feel anything at all?" Deep down, she couldn't believe her legs would be numb because she was the one who faked the car accident. Nonetheless, she couldn't explain why she couldn't feel her legs at all since the moment she woke up.

"Miss Muller, your legs are currently in a paraplegic condition because the nervous system within them has sustained serious damage in the accident you were caught in, but since Mr. Levisay hasn't signed the consent form to approve the surgical amputation, we haven't proceeded with any further surgical treatment." The doctor adjusted the glasses on his nasal bridge, honestly answering Beatrice's question.

Beatrice was shocked upon hearing what the doctor said, staring at the latter in disbelief. "What did you just say? Come again!"

"You heard me, Miss Muller. No matter how many times you want me to repeat it, I'm still going to say the same thing. So, I'd advise you to remain calm because agitation will only take a toll on your health at the moment. For now, I hope you're going to accept our suggestion and let us treat you. Furthermore, there are many types of prosthetics that are well developed in the international market these days. Therefore, your paraplegic condition isn't going to bother you in your life at all…"

As the doctor was still going on about his point, Beatrice was too disturbed to continue listening to any of those words because all she had in her mind was the harsh truth about her paraplegia. How come I'm paralyzed?! That accident was a fake one that I planned to set Katherine up! At the thought of that, Beatrice's vision suddenly became more and more blurry before she eventually passed out.

When he arrived at Soulin International, Joaquin went straight to Katherine's doorstep and rang the doorbell. Not long after that, Katherine answered the door and was seen in a white casual outfit with two hair buns on her head. When she saw Joaquin at her doorstep, she was stunned. "To what do I owe you the pleasure? Is there something I can help you with?"

"I have a patient, who is suffering from necrosis in her leg, here. Can you save her?" Joaquin hesitated in silence, but when Beatrice's look flashed across his mind, he decided it was necessary for him to speak up.

Katherine, who had turned around and made her way toward the house, heard the man's words and knitted her eyebrows. "Necrosis? Was it caused by a traffic accident? I think I can save the patient, but I need to know who I'm going to be treating."

"Beatrice," Joaquin answered while following behind the lady.

"I'm sorry. No can do." Katherine rolled her eyes upward, seeing no reason for her to rescue Beatrice due to their restrained relationship. Belonging to NôvelDrama.Org.

"Just name a price." With a nonchalant look on his face, Joaquin tried to do his best to change the lady's mind.

Nevertheless, Katherine only looked back at the man like he was a clown. "Do I look like I'm in desperate need of money? I'm not interested in saving her."

"Katherine…"

"Enough. We're talking about necrosis here. There is nothing I can do about it. What do you think I am? God? I can't treat all illnesses." Katherine raised her hand and interrupted Joaquin's words.

Staring at the lady's indifferent face, he decided to keep quiet and stopped persuading Katherine.

"There is still a chance she can live if she has her leg amputated as soon as possible. However, time is not on her side; if this drags on, she may even lose her life. Furthermore, she can still carry on with her life with prosthetics." Katherine noticed Joaquin's dismay and offered him her word of advice out of kindness. After that, she left Joaquin to it and went on to attend to her business.