A Replacement Bride

Chapter 158

"Me?" Xavier pointed to himself in bewilderment as he blinked at Katherine innocently. "I don't recall having any stuff to do."

She shoved a set of keys into his hand and urged, "I'm sure you have. Now, hurry up and go back home, as in your apartment upstairs. Come back down for dinner later. Bye!"

Just like that, Xavier was practically frog-marched out of the door, and he was still in a daze as he stood out in the hallway. He glanced at the keys in his hand, and it took him a while to register what had just happened. Did Katherine just give me an apartment? One that's worth a dozen million?

At the thought of this, he couldn't care less about the reason why Katherine had been so eager for him to leave. He hummed happily as he went upstairs to check out his new abode.

Meanwhile, there was an amused smirk playing on Joaquin's lips as he gave Katherine a knowing look.

She cleared her throat and turned to address him primly, "Don't you have work to do or something?"

"The only work I have today is to stay here and keep Grandma company," Joaquin answered matter-of- factly.

He looked and sounded so serious that Katherine paused in surprise. A second later, she said, "Fine, then. Stay here and take care of her for me while I head out for a bit."

She had to drop by Theodore's research institute and go through the results of the latest clinical trial. At the same time, she was going to assess the patients' conditions and how they were reacting to the drug.

"Where are you going?" Joaquin asked curiously.

"The research institute," Kathereie replied frankly.

"Be safe," he said.

She put on a change of clothes and left home after that.

It had been a while since she had been to the research institute. Upon her arrival, she made a beeline for the laboratory first to review all the patients' data that had been compiled

"Oh, you're here, Miss Cornell," Dina said cheerily when she saw Katherine in the laboratory. "A few of the patients who have recovered have already been discharged, but Mr. Muller brought in several new patients for the clinical trial. Would you like to see them?"

"I don't see any records of discharge here." Katherine asked as she flipped the documents she was holding. "Which patients have been discharged?"

Dina did not try to hide the details from Katherine and answered dutifully, "Mr. Rosenburg and Mr. Rhodes. They were both discharged yesterday after Professor Muller evaluated their vitals and recovery process. He deemed them both healthy enough to leave."

Katherine frowned when she heard this and pulled out Alex's folder. Her face turned grim when she read the last report. "Is Mr. Muller at the research institute right now?"

"Yes, he should be in his office. He's been holed up at the research institute these days," Dina replied, not at all noticing the shift in Katherine's expression. Without another thought, she bustled off to do her own work.

Shoving the papers back into the folder, Katherine pondered on this for a quick moment before she moved on to another patient's medical record. She flipped through the folder, then took the record with her as she marched toward Theodore's office.

Theodore had evidently aged since the last time they met, and the gray in his hair was becoming more conspicuous. He also looked like he was balding. It seemed as if recent times had been rough for him.

When he saw Katherine walk into his office, he set down the instant ramen he was eating and dabbed the corners of his mouth with a tissue. Then, he stood up and gave a self-effacing laugh as he asked, "What brings you here? You could have called me before you came. What is it? Did something happen?" Content rights belong to NôvelDrama.Org.

She pulled out a seat and cut to the chase. "Dina told me that two patients were discharged, so I came to ask you about it."

He immediately knew something might be wrong when he caught the look on her face. He resumed his seat and pressed anxiously, "Is there a problem?"

"Not with Mr. Rhodes." Katherine stared at the man in front of her sullenly and asked, "But do you think you could get Alex to come back here right away?"

Theodore's heart leaped to his throat. He demanded in a shaky voice, "W-What happened to Alex? Is he okay?"

"He won't be if we don't bring him back for further observation," she said solemnly. A grim look registered on her features as she elaborated, "The results might have been favorable in his case, but you failed to consider that he was comatose for nearly twenty years after he took a bullet to the head. We can't discharge him and guarantee that nothing will happen to him, nor that he has fully recovered. He must be kept here for at least three months of observation, and it's only after he does not display any complications that we can declare him as fully recovered and have him return to normal life."

Theodore gulped at this, and without wasting another second, he pulled out his phone and called the Rosenburgs.

The line had only just been picked up when the person on the other end started yelling, "Professor Muller! We agreed to let Alex take part in the clinical trial because we trusted you. You promised us that the medication your research institute came up with could revive brain cell activity, so why is Alex's condition deteriorating? What did you do to him?" He faltered, and all the color drained from his face as he asked urgently, "How is he doing now?"

"He's barely hanging on! The doctor said it'll only be a matter of days now. I was going to look for you, but you spared me from having to call you myself. Explain yourself, Professor Muller! How do you suggest this whole thing be resolved?" The woman's voice was getting more shrill with each sentence she churned out, and it was clear that she had lost all patience.

At this point, Theodore had broken into cold sweat. He turned to Katherine for help.

Katherine made no response when she saw the despair on his face. She pursed her lips. Looks like things are far worse than I imagined, she thought gravely. Alex had been discharged just yesterday, and now he was in a critical state.

She took a deep breath and plucked the phone right out of Theodore's hand, then asked, "Where's the patient now? I need to see him right away."

The woman was in no mood to entertain Christina's question, and she was also agitated. "Who the hell are you? I'm warning you, if anything happens to Alex, I will have both your heads! Just you wait!"

"Unless you want him to die right now, you'd best stop arguing with me. I don't have time to hash things out with you. Tell me where the patient is now," Katherine bit out icily.

The longer they dragged this out, the more critical his state would be. If that were to come to pass, Katherine might not be able to resurrect him.

Meanwhile, the woman on the other line stopped talking after she heard Katherine's warning. It took her a minute or two before she said begrudgingly, "We're at the Sacred Heart Hospital, Hovington."

Katherine hung up and turned to Theodore saying, "Send for a car. We have to get to Sacred Heart Hospital right now."

An hour later, both of them showed up at the hospital where Alex was supposedly getting treatment. Prior to their arrival, Theodore had given the hospital director a heads-up, so now he was standing by the entrance waiting for them.

His gaze fell upon Katherine first before he explained to Theodore, "The patient is in ICU right now, and he's not looking very good. We marked him as a critical-stage patient just ten minutes ago, and his heart stopped beating for a while."

"Got it," Katherine said impassively as she walked at the front of the group.