Suddenly There Are Three (Bailey and Artemis)

Chapter 150

Stunned at first, Felicity swiftly caught on. “Have you found Anonymous?” she asked impassively.

“No, not Anonymous,” Edmund offhandedly replied.

As Cadence thoroughly despised Anonymous, Bay could not show up in that identity, or things could

otherwise get more complicated than they need to be.

“Who is it then?” Felicity continued to press.

Edmund pondered over it before he offered her an ambiguous answer. “I have a friend from overseas

who is a leading expert on the surgical discipline. She has had experience performing similar

procedures with positive results and reckons the success rate to be at least fifty percent.”

“What?” Felicity shot up from the couch in a state of agitation. “F-Fifty percent? Are you saying that she

is confident of achieving fifty percent in succeeding with the operation?”

“That's right. Doctors would usually provide more conservative estimates to give themselves more

leeway, so I suppose that, by quoting a fifty out of hundred, she must be at least seventy percent

certain of success.”

Felicity strode forward briskly and seized him by the wrist. “Where is she? When will she be able to

come to Hallsbay?”

Lowering his gaze, Edmund calmly replied, “Artemis has already gone to reach out to her himself. I'm

sure he'll have her brought in in another two or three more days.”

While Felicity stared at him, her eyes swept back and forth across his face several times in deep

scrutiny. “Are you sure this isn't something you've come up with to fob me off?” she asked solemnly.

Edmund could not restrain his own amusement. “This concerns Grandpa's life, Aunt Felicity, so how

could I possibly joke about something like that? Rest assured that my friend will be able to save him

and return a healthy Old Mr. Chivers to both the Chivers and the Luthers.”

Gritting her teeth, Felicity acted as though she had come to a decision. “Fine. I'll give you all three

days. If I don't see this friend of who you speak by then, I'd have Cadence helm the operation no matter

what. When that time comes, none of you should expect to be able to talk me out of it.”

“Of course. We shall abide by whatever you say.”

In the ward of the medical base.

Leaning back against the backboard, Artemis had a look of gratification about him while he savored the

oatmeal served to him by Bailey.

This is well worth getting injured for!

“Edmund called me just now. He said that he had recommended a friend of his but had yet to reveal

that it was me. Neither did he reveal that it was Anonymous. That's why I'm a little concerned that your

mother and uncle might be strongly opposed if I were to show up. Do you think that you could, perhaps,

send Old Mr. Chivers abroad for the operation instead?”

Swallowing the oatmeal in his mouth, Artemis raised his eyes to regard the wintrily woman with a

frown. “Do you think that they would allow Old Mr. Chivers to fly overseas by himself at this juncture?”

That got Bailey stumped.

It makes sense, I suppose. There is probably no one else out there who would be amendable to a

proposal like this, either.

Artemis reached out to wrap his hand around the fingers she was using to hold the spoon reassuringly.

“You need only focus on preparing for the operation. Let me handle the rest of the stuff. Although my

mother has her opinions about you, she'll never try to take the matter concerning my maternal

grandfather too far.”

“Opinions”? I have to say, this guy is grossly underestimating his mother's degree of animosity toward

me, as that old lady probably wouldn't hesitate to skin me alive if she could.

“Why are you endangering yourself to help me, Artemis? We haven't known each other for that long

and had only met on a handful of occasions, so why are you risking your own life like this?”

Artemis' lips curled into a smile. “I started slow, so how else would I be able to make up for the time I

lost and win your favor?”

She was left speechless by that.

Three days later, Artemis appeared inside the living room of the Chivers residence alongside Bailey.

Felicity promptly approached and grabbed her son by the hands while she completely ignored the

woman beside him, who she hated to the very fiber of her own being. “Didn't you fly overseas to enlist

the aid of an expert? Where is he? Have you managed to convince him to come?” she said anxiously.

Following that, she snorted and started chiding, “Why on earth did you bring this woman here? Surely

you're not expecting this seamstress who is only capable of putting together a couple of awful clothing Property © NôvelDrama.Org.

designs to pick up the scalpel and operate on your grandfather?”

Amusedly, Bailey's brows perked up. “They are indeed downright awful, Mrs. Luther. You should keep a

close eye on your precious daughter to make sure that she doesn't put on the terrible gowns that I've

made for her coming-of-age ceremony. It could end up being quite the embarrassment for your family,

you know.”

“You...” The older woman jabbed a finger at her in rage. “Who do you think you are, throwing your

weight around here?”

The smile on Bailey's face only grew brighter. “If memory serves, you got married and left the Chivers

residence some thirty years ago and have adopted the Luther family name as your own since. As far as

that goes, you no longer have any direct ties to the Chivers family. As for myself, being wedded to your

nephew makes me the lady of the Chivers residence and will continue to be so for the next half of my

life. Even if I were to die, I should also die as a member of the Chivers. That effectively gives me more

of a say in this matter than you do.”

“You. You...” Clutching at her chest, Felicity staggered back while she glared at Artemis in a fury.

“Whoever allowed you to bring this woman back to the Chivers residence? Shoo her off. Get her out of

my sight,” she roared.

“I'm afraid I can't do that,” Artemis replied blandly. “She's the one I had painstakingly brought in to

operate on Granddad, so you'll have to endure it even if you do not wish to see her. For Granddad's

sake.”

“Painstakingly” was quite the understatement as that knife nearly claimed his life.

Staring with eyes widened, Felicity regarded him in sheer disbelief, so much so that even her voice was

shaking. “C-Could she be that friend Ed had spoken of? The overseas expert? Uh uh. No way. This is

way too ridiculous. Simply absurd. A-Are you sure you've not mistaken, Ed?”

She promptly turned to regard Edmund with eyes unblinking in a desperate hope to hear him affirm her

assertion for himself.

“Bailey is indeed a surgical specialist, Aunt Felicity. Her breadth of knowledge is exceptional, and she is

confident of a fifty percent success rate in this particular operation. Though I understand that you have

your own misgivings toward her, I hope that you'd be able to temporarily set aside your own differences

and allow her to operate on Grandpa first. Let's make a priority of preserving Grandpa's life and leave

everything else to be discussed at a later time.”

“Absolutely not. I won't stand for this,” Felicity did not even pause to reconsider before she voiced her

objection. “I'd never put your grandfather's life into the hands of this woman. Being upset that Simon

wouldn't marry her, she also resents me for thwarting her dream of marrying up into social prominence.

Hence, she's taking this opportunity to get back at us. All of you will be throwing your grandfather's life

away by entrusting him with her.”

Bailey found that to be somewhat hilarious. This overtly imaginative old lady's sense of victimhood is

way over the top, isn't it?

“I'm not going to comment on that because this is obviously a family issue that you'll have to work out

between yourselves internally. Tell you what, I'm going to head back first, so ring me up when you've

come to a decision.”

Artemis nodded softly. “I'll have Ken drive you home. Have yourself a good rest. I'll call you again later.”

There was to be no let up from Felicity, who advanced two steps forward to seize Bailey aggressively

by the wrist. “Since you claim to be a surgical specialist, then tell me; Which hospital are you with, and

what are your qualifications?”

Bailey exhaled and leisurely replied, “Medicine is merely my personal interest. I've never worked with

any hospital, and neither do I possess any recognized professional degree.”

Felicity's face twitched hard as she glared at her in dismay. “What exactly is a human life worth to you?”