Cough, cough...
Serena Feng stifled her laughter and spoke to the unconscious Lance Quinn: "Lance Quinn, even though you can't hear me, I feel it's necessary to explain myself. Right now, I'm just a doctor. As a doctor, what I'm doing is not wrong. In front of a doctor, there is only a patient—no distinction between male and female. Right now, you and I are simply doctor and patient, so please forgive my lack of propriety."
With that, she reached out to touch the hem of Lance Quinn's robe.
With medical scissors in hand, she felt ready for anything.
Snip, snip—no matter how tricky the clothes, one sharp cut and they'd be off in a flash.
Of course, Serena Feng would never take advantage of someone in a vulnerable state. She was a doctor, with her own professional code. She'd never, like some attending doctors, use the chance to get handsy with a patient.
Most of Lance Quinn's injuries were on his upper body, so Serena Feng only cut away his upper garments. As for the lower half?
Serena Feng graciously left him his trousers.
Actually, the moment Serena Feng touched Lance Quinn's clothes with the scissors, he woke up.
He was always highly alert; that cold sensation, even if he was unconscious, would instinctively put him on guard.
If Lance Quinn hadn't trusted Serena Feng, the moment she picked up the scissors would have been her last.
He was curious to see what she'd do next.
If she dared to harm him, Serena Feng wouldn't live to see the sunrise. And if she even tried to touch his mask, the result would be the same.
In the end...
He discovered that Serena Feng had cut his clothes off.
Whoosh—his face went beet red, even his ears burned. To avoid the embarrassment, Lance Quinn decided to keep playing dead as long as his life wasn't at risk.
"Huh? His temperature's gone up—he's got a fever. Wasn't he fine just now?"
As soon as she finished cutting his clothes, Serena Feng noticed Lance Quinn's body temperature was high. A flash of concern crossed her eyes as she carefully felt his forehead.
Ahem, Serena Feng had no idea—Lance Quinn was blushing, but he really was running a fever. His wound had gotten infected.
Serena Feng quickly drew out a fever-reducing agent from the Smart Med-Pack. Relying on her practiced skill, she closed her eyes, grabbed a syringe, and prepared to give Lance Quinn a fever shot.
She thought about giving him a shot in the butt, but after a moment's hesitation, settled for giving him the shot in his hand instead. If this guy ever found out she'd undone his trousers for an injection, he'd probably bang his head against a wall...
After the fever shot, Serena Feng grabbed some alcohol to clean Lance Quinn's wounds. With the poor lighting, she could only do a rough job.
She poured a whole bottle of alcohol over the wound, then used a medical cotton swab to wipe it down, doing her best to clean the surrounding area and prevent infection. As for bandaging and applying medicine, that would have to wait until tomorrow.
The wound at his chest had split open again, so Serena Feng could only clean it, dab on some medicine, and re-bandage it. As for stitching it up again, that would have to wait until morning.
The worst problem was the broken rib. Serena Feng knew how to set bones, but in these conditions, she didn't dare touch it—if she got it wrong, Lance Quinn would have to suffer all over again.
Ignoring Lance Quinn's broken rib, Serena Feng packed up her things, took off her outer robe, and draped it over him.
"Lance Quinn, this is all I can do for now. Hang in there until morning, and I'll treat your wounds properly then."
With that, she yawned, rubbed her eyes, and planned to sit for a while. But seeing the situation, she decided to stand and paced around in circles.
"Can't sleep, can't sleep. If I fall asleep out here, I'll probably catch a cold. Doctors can't afford to get sick—Serena Feng, hang in there. If the doctor goes down, it's trouble for the patient too."
Lance Quinn was pretending to be unconscious, hoping for some peace and quiet, but Serena Feng kept muttering nonstop. He was so annoyed he could die, but couldn't say a word, so he just shut his eyes and silently told himself: Ignore Serena Feng, ignore Serena Feng.
And then, and then...
Whether it was the severity of his injuries or something else, Lance Quinn drifted in and out of consciousness, while Serena Feng kept bouncing and pacing around, busy all night and forcing herself to stay awake.
Every half hour, she checked Lance Quinn to make sure his fever was down. In the middle of the night, feeling her way in the dark, she set up IV drips for him—one bottle to prevent wound infection, another of glucose to replenish his energy and fluids.
Speaking of IVs, Lance Quinn was really a poor soul.
With the darkness, Serena Feng kept missing his veins, sticking Lance Quinn's hand more than a dozen times before finally hitting it, and ended up jabbing him awake.
Lance Quinn wasn't unfamiliar with IVs; he'd seen them before in the stone chamber, a very rare thing. He knew Serena Feng didn't want outsiders to know about this, so he cooperated by pretending to be unconscious.
After finishing the IVs for Lance Quinn and tidying up, dawn had already broken. Serena Feng stood up and stretched.
For doctors, staying up all night was routine. Even though she knew it was bad for her health, as a doctor she had no choice—the profession meant being on call twenty-four hours a day.
Though exhausted, Serena Feng managed to hold on. But just as she finished stretching, a small pebble struck an acupuncture point on her back with a crisp snap.
"Lan..." After holding out all night, Serena Feng collapsed, and as she fell, Lance Quinn flipped over, caught her, and gently laid her on the ground.
The moment Lance Quinn flipped up, there was a loud crack—he reset his own broken rib.
"Serena Feng, this time we're even." After laying her down, Lance Quinn turned and walked away, not bothering to return her outer robe.
He couldn't help it—his clothes were in tatters, all thanks to Serena Feng. Taking her robe wasn't a big deal.
As soon as Lance Quinn left, Serena Feng woke up.
Lance Quinn wasn't like Terrence Valen—he calculated everything, making sure his departure wouldn't put Serena Feng in danger.
He acted only because he didn't want Serena Feng clinging to him, demanding he escort her back to the city.
His identity made things inconvenient.
Serena Feng climbed up from the ground, rubbed her sore neck, and looked around. She instantly knew it was Lance Quinn who had knocked her out.
"Bastard! He actually left me here alone. All that care I gave him last night was for nothing." Serena Feng gnashed her teeth in anger and stomped hard on the blood-stained scraps at her feet.
"Shameless jerk! You really think I'd cling to you over this? You're overthinking it."
The more she stomped, the angrier she got.
"What 'repay kindness with kindness, repay hatred with hatred'? I've saved you more than once, but you? You only saved me once and think that cancels out my consultation fees?"
"Petty, petty—I've never seen a man as petty as you."
The more Serena Feng stomped, the angrier she became. On top of not sleeping all night, she soon ran out of energy, and after a few stomps, she was panting and slumped against the boulder.
Looking down, she realized she was wearing only her inner garments—her outer robe had been taken by Lance Quinn. Serena Feng froze, then slapped her forehead and wailed in agony.
"Heaven's out to get me! Now the rumors in the Eastlyn Imperial Capital will flare up again. Why am I so unlucky? Lance Quinn, you're a walking disaster—nothing good ever comes from meeting you."
Serena Feng was on the verge of tears.
Once again, she woke up disheveled in the suburbs. It looked like the rumors that had finally died down were about to start up all over again.
Serena Feng was furious. At this moment, she didn't know whether to blame Caleb Wang, Lance Quinn, or herself...