Chapter 2 Getting Her to Donate Blood

• Sitting on the toilet in a cubicle in the hospital’s ladies’ room, Lara forcefully wiped the gushing tears away and then threw the paper tissue on the ground. It didn’t take long before her eyes turned red and swollen.
• Just then, someone called her name outside, but she ignored it and kept on wiping her tears. Suddenly, someone opened the door to her cubicle. “Someone’s here!” she yelled without looking up, thinking that the person would leave. To her dismay, the person’s shadow was still hanging over her head. She couldn’t help but look up and say with a frown, “Someone’s—”
• A tall figure was standing in front of her, looking straight at her face, its deep and dark eyes reflecting her outline. “Dr. Sullivan?” the man said in a cold voice.
• Lara was so startled that she forgot to respond.
• “Lara Sullivan?” The man frowned, his voice deeper than it was just now.
• Just then, the nurse came in, and her face blushed at the sight of the man standing in the ladies’ room. “Dr. Sullivan, this man’s… looking for you.”
• “Looking for me? Sir, you—”
• “You’re Rh negative?” the man interrupted her.
• Lara nodded subconsciously. The next instant, a large hand grabbed her wrist and dragged her out of the ladies’ room. Feeling the pain in her wrist, Lara wanted to stop, but she couldn’t shake the man off at all. “Sir, we’re at a hospital. Could you please calm down and explain to me what’s going on?”
• However, the tall and straight man pulled her along by the hand with remarkable ease. Lara felt like a rabbit as he dragged her along, causing her to stumble along the way. Finally, they came to a stop, but before she could steady herself, she was shoved, grabbed on the shoulder, and pushed down on a chair. “Take hers. Her blood’s AB negative.”
• Upon seeing Lara, Peter Birch of the blood bank immediately recalled her blood type. “Dr. Sullivan!” He rolled up her sleeve right away without doing a blood test on her.
• At the sight of the fine needle, Lara finally realized that they were getting her to donate blood.
• Lara didn’t resist as blood-red liquid flowed along the fine plastic tube into the blood bag. After 400cc of blood was drawn from her, she got up, her hand pressing down on the cotton swab as she took a glance at the man who was about to leave. “Shouldn’t you thank someone after having blood drawn from her?” Lara’s blood was Rh negative, which was very rare. She regularly donated blood twice a year of her own will, but today… She felt like she was kidnapped to do so.
• The man paused in his tracks. As he turned around, his gaze fell on Lara like that of a cheetah staring at its prey, causing her to regret what she had just said. “It’s a doctor’s duty to save lives,” he replied.
• For the second time in a single day, Lara felt depressed because of her job. “Well, it is a doctor’s duty to help patients get rid of their illness, but that doesn’t mean we should save lives by sacrificing our own,” she replied with a cold expression, showing not the slightest hint of humbleness.
• Surprise flickered in the man’s eyes as his gaze fell on Lara.
• “I think I deserve a ‘thank you’ from you.” Lara had a stern expression on her radiant face.
• The man couldn’t help but eye the woman before him again. Then, as a meaningful smile played across his scarlet red lips, he took out a gilded business card and shoved it in her hand. “You may come to me anytime with this card to ask for a reward,” the man said. Then, he added, “I can help you make that man give up all his property too.”
• He actually overheard my conversation with Eric outside the operating room… Lara thought. Glancing at the business card, she committed the name on it—Damian Langston—to her memory in silence.
• Despite having blood drawn from her in the middle of the night, Lara didn’t feel unwell at all. After doing her rounds on the wards, she went back to her office and didn’t return home until somebody came and took over from her the next day. As soon as she entered her home, she saw Jean Sullivan stomping toward her in a rage. However, before she could show her surprise, she was slapped across the face. “Mom!”
• “Stop calling me Mom! Have you forgotten how my life was saved? How could you wrongfully accuse Eric and divorce him for some woman? Have you no conscience?”
• Lara stared at Jean in disbelief while covering her slapped cheek with her hand. When she saw Eric emerge from behind Jean, she felt as though she was still in a daze. How am I conscienceless? she thought.
• Just then, Eric said, “Please don’t blame Lara, Mom. It’s all my bad luck; I didn’t think that woman would risk her life and deliberately throw herself at my car to extort money from me. I sent her to the hospital out of pity at the time, but I didn’t think Lara would get the wrong idea. She only threatened to divorce me in a fit of rage; she definitely won’t do that anymore. Isn’t that right, Lara?”