Chapter 6 – A Man Like None Other
The moment he saw Jared emerge, William was filled with delight. He then ran up to Jared. “You’re finally here, young man. This way, please.” Holding onto Jared’s hand, William heaved a sigh of relief. “Mr. Sullivan, since I have made you a promise, I would definitely turn up.” Jared was cognizant that William was worried that he would stand him up. Feeling embarrassed, William could only smile awkwardly. “After you, young man.”
Given how servile William was behaving, everyone in the hotel wondered who Jared was. When Josephine saw how proudly Jared was walking in contrast to her obeisant father, she fumed, “What’s wrong with you? My father had waited for you at the door for half an hour, and didn’t you notice that his condition seems to be deteriorating? Do you even know how to heal someone?” Josephine had resented Jared from the very beginning. However, she gave him the benefit of the doubt after being impressed by how he stopped William’s condition from getting worse.
A short while later, when she noticed William’s cheeks losing color again, she felt Jared was a scammer, looking to cheat them out of their money. “Josephine, stop making a fuss and apologize at once,” William barked with a stern look on his face. “There’s no way I’m going to do that. Look, he’s barely a fully grown man. How can he be a miracle doctor? I think he’s nothing but a con artist.” Glaring at Jared, she felt he was the reason William didn’t want to see the doctor. When Josephine refused to obey him, William was so furious that he began to have trouble breathing.
Cough! Cough! Just when he was about to speak, William ended up coughing intensely instead. “Dad!” Josephine dashed forward to support William. Nevertheless, she was given a fright when she saw the black blood William had coughed out. At the sight of the scene, Jared furrowed his brows at once. Evidently, William’s injury was worse than he thought. In fact, he was surprised how William managed to survive for so long.
“Quick, carry your dad to a room,” Jared ordered Josephine, who was already in a panic. Unfortunately, she didn’t move at all because she didn’t trust Jared. Frowning at Josephine’s inaction, Jared snapped, “Do you want to watch him die?” After she was shouted at, Josephine quickly helped William to a private room in the hotel. Inside, Jared searched for William’s pulse right away. However, his expression turned grim the moment he did. While Jared was treating William, a bespectacled man in a white doctor’s coat barged into the room. “Dr. Watson, quick!
Take a look at my dad. He has just vomited blood!” The moment she saw him, Josephine felt as if she had managed to grasp a sliver of hope. “What? Let me see.” Jonathan, the doctor, quickly opened his medical bag. “Move away.” Josephine pushed Jared aside and held William up. “Dr. Watson, my dad’s life in your hands now. Please save him!” she pleaded. At that moment, William was close to losing consciousness as his breathing was increasingly labored. “Don’t worry, Ms. Sullivan. I will do my best.” Just as Jonathan spoke, he began to take William’s pulse.
The longer he did so, the more intense Jonathan’s frown became. Josephine was unsettled when she noticed his expression and didn’t dare make a sound. “Ms. Sullivan, Mr. Sullivan’s damaged lung is the cause of his hidden ailment. This is a chronic disease that needs to be treated slowly. However, someone has forcefully kicked his immunity system into overdrive. Although it might seem effective in the short run, it would only cause his condition to further deteriorate. I’m afraid Mr. Sullivan is in a precarious situation now. Before I came, who did you bring Mr. Sullivan to see?”
Jonathan explained in a grave tone. When she heard the doctor’s words, Josephine flew into a fit of rage and looked in Jared’s direction. It was he who had treated her father just now. As it was just as the doctor had described. Her father did make a turn for the better, but Jared’s method ended up hurting William more. “You con man! If anything happens to my father, I’ll never forgive you!” Josephine roared at Jared with a scowl on her face. If not for the fact that she was supporting William and could not leave, she would have lunged at Jared to beat him up.
“How can you accuse me of being a con man? Have I cheated anything out of you? If not for me, your father would have been a corpse by now. I can’t believe how ridiculous you can be!” Jared snorted. He hated how Josephine kept insisting he was a scammer and how nasty she was despite being a woman. “You…” Despite feeling incensed, Josephine knew that the priority was saving her father, and it was not the time to argue with Jared.
“Dr. Watson, I beg of you, please think of a way. Please…” Josephine felt so distraught that she was on the brink of tears. Opening his medical bag, Jonathan took out a black pill and put it into William’s mouth. Then, he proceeded to open a bag of silver needles and inserted them into William’s acupoints. “Doing this won’t save him. You will only harm him,” Jared commented when he saw Jonathan’s acupuncture technique, making the latter knit his eyebrows.
“What are you trying to say? Are you doubting me? Don’t tell me you know acupuncture.” Acupuncture was part of traditional medicine. Unlike modern medicine, where one could master it between three to five years, one needed at least eight to ten years before one could master acupuncture.
In fact, some might not even do so despite decades of learning. Given that Jared only looked about twenty years old, Jonathan figured that there was no way he would be a master at it, even if he had started learning in his mother’s womb.
