Chapter 12 The Department Head

• Rosie's heart hammered in her chest; she felt as if she had hit the jackpot. Nodding, she replied, "That's right, I've been looking for him for a long time as well. He's extremely elusive, though, and avoids the public eye. It's been almost ten years since he left Othar, and hardly anyone knows where he is or what he's been up to."
• "Othar? You mean he's a holistic practitioner?" Realization dawned on Ian. No wonder the old man had immediately seen the value of the broken-down cauldron in his possession. From the looks of it, the old fellow was considerably accomplished in the healing arts.
• Although Ian was capable of concocting certain health remedies and miracle pills, his specialty was not the curing of illnesses and diseases, which was why he remained silent when he saw how excited Rosie was.
• "Yes. Mr Ashford used to be known as Othar's God of Medicine. If he was present, there were no diseases or ailments that he couldn't cure." Rosie was truly ecstatic. Wilhelm had always suffered ill health and had sought treatment at many well-known medical establishments. Unfortunately, none of this had improved his health at all. As a result, Rosie had always been on the lookout for further news of Wilbert's whereabouts, but she had not been able to find out much. Even if she came across people who had some information about him, they would almost invariably tell her that Wilbert Ashford had stopped practicing medicine and was no longer taking on any patients.
• That was why her excitement knew no bounds when she saw Wilbert's name and contact information on the name card. More importantly, Wilbert had said previously that he would agree to fulfill one request from Ian.
• To Rosie, this promise from Wilbert was more valuable than riches. All the money in the world would not be able to buy one a healthy body if one did not have good health, to begin with.
• Right now, she felt as if she had gone through fire and floods in pursuit of something, only to find what she sought on her very doorstep. She handed the name card back to Ian and said, "In that case, why don't you call Mr Ashford and let him know that we'll visit him tomorrow? I want to ask whether he'll be willing to look at my father and see if he can help him."
• "Of course. My wife's request is my command," Ian replied with a chuckle. He took out his phone and dialed the number on the name card.
• However, all he got was an impersonal message on the other end that said, "The number you have called is currently unavailable."
• "Honey, the old fellow's not in the best of health himself, and it's pretty late right now. He's probably sleeping already. I'll try him again tomorrow, and we'll go visit him at noon, alright?" Ian suggested.
• "That sounds great. We'd better sleep too." Rosie was thrilled to hear that.
• Ian's thoughts had run a little further than they should have. Glancing at Rosie, he tested the waters by asking, "Shall we go to bed then, honey?"
• Rosie immediately turned scarlet and shot him a glance, retorting, "We might be going to bed, but you're sleeping on the floor!"
• "Well, your Dad wanted you to find me something to do, right?" Ian muttered. He knew there would be no chance of him having intimate relations with Rosie tonight. All he could do was bide his time and wait until he managed to engage Rosie's affections. The rest would be smooth sailing after that.
• "Stop always bringing Dad up like that!" Rosie's cheeks flamed even further. To be honest, she felt conflicted. On the one hand, her perception of Ian had changed slightly for the better. On the other hand, however, she was still a long way from being in love with him.
• "I'll go shower first then, and come back to sleep on the floor." Ian could not help feeling slightly gloomy. Giving his head a vigorous scratch, he stalked off to the bathroom.
• When he came out after his shower, however, the room was totally empty. "Eh? Where's Rosie?" he muttered, puzzled.
• Right at this moment, he heard the sound of an ambulance siren coming from downstairs. It startled him. Had someone in the family been taken ill?
• Putting on his slippers, he hurried downstairs. The first thing that met his gaze was the unconscious Wilhelm being wheeled to the ambulance by Rosie and two paramedics.
• Margaret followed behind them, wiping tears from her eyes. She looked utterly lost and upset.
• "Rosie, what's happened to your Dad?" Ian asked, hurrying to her side.
• "His old ailment's acting up again. I'll go to the hospital with him. You stay here, don't go anywhere, alright?" Rosie ordered, then headed straight out the door.
• She was not planning on bringing Ian with her. After all, even though he had inadvertently made Wilbert's acquaintance, that had been a mere coincidence and not Ian's doing.
• Naturally, Ian was worried. He had already discerned Wilhelm's ill health from the get-go, but he was unable to do much to help the man's recovery. However, as Rosie's husband, he was not about to let her run off to the hospital on her own and exhaust herself.
• When Rosie climbed into the car, intending to drive off, Ian got in with her. "Honey, I'm part of the family too. Your Dad's not well, so let me help in taking care of him," he said gently.
• "Alright. Let's go then." Rosie was already frantic, so she did not argue with him. They followed behind the ambulance all the way to the hospital.
• Once they arrived, several doctors immediately wheeled Wilhelm into the emergency room while Ian and Rosie settled themselves in the waiting area.
• More than ten minutes passed before a doctor came out from the emergency room. Frowning, he inquired, "Are you the patient's relatives?"
• "Yes!" Rosie and Ian both nodded.
• "The patient has aHUS or atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome. He needs to be treated with anti-C5 monoclonal antibodies. Only the head of the Internal Medicine Department can approve the use of these drugs, so you need to get permission from him first. That being said, you'd better be prepared." The doctor's tone was extremely serious.
• "Don't tell me my father is…is…" Rosie went rigid for a moment, and her eyes began brimming with tears.
• "For now, the patient is stable. The issue is the drug used for treatment. Anti-C5 monoclonal antibody drugs are over 450, 000 dollars per dose, and most people aren't given approval to use them. However, if you don't get approval for this treatment, your father won't have very long to live," the doctor explained.
• "Right. We'll get approval for it somehow," Ian replied determinedly. After all, what was 450,000 dollars? He had just managed to obtain 5 million dollars today. All they had to do was make sure Wilhelm remained in stable condition for now, then visit Wilbert tomorrow. By all rights, that should cure his father-in-law.
• "You don't understand. This type of drug…never mind. Go see the head of Internal Medicine, and try and get his approval." The doctor merely shook his head and refrained from dissuading them any further. He knew better than anyone that being able to afford the drugs did not guarantee a prescription or permission. The biggest issue was that these were specialty drugs, and the hospital only stocked an extremely limited amount of them at any given time to treat a very small subset of people.
• In other words, this drug was reserved for prominent people and elite members of society. Ordinary people would never be able to afford such treatment, and neither were they in a position where permission would be given for such drugs to be used. Even though social class was supposed to be a thing of the past, it still reared its ugly head once in a while.
• Rosie wiped her eyes and forced herself to calm down before turning to Ian and asking hesitantly, "Would you…mind lending me that sum of money you got today?"
• She had never really regarded Ian as her husband. However, she needed money for Wilhelm's treatment, and he just happened to have 5 million dollars on hand.
• However, she did not know whether Ian would willingly hand her the money. Not everyone could afford to pay for a specialty drug that cost 450,000 dollars, after all. That was why she sounded hesitant, afraid that Ian would refuse her request.
• What she did not expect was that Ian would flash her a bright smile and reply, "Honey, you don't even need to ask. What's mine is yours. Even if it's 100 million instead of 5 million, you just go ahead and use it as you see fit."
• "I see. Okay then, let's go see the head of Internal Medicine, shall we?" Rosie felt rather moved by his answer. Together, they went to look for the head of Internal Medicine's office.
• When they got there, they saw a man sitting inside. Dressed in a spotless white lab coat, he wore glasses with black frames and looked to be a slightly balding, typical middle-aged man. When he noticed Rosie, his eyes suddenly lit up. "Is it…can it be…are you Rosie?"
• "I'm sorry, who are you?" Rosie was taken aback. She had encountered many people over the last few years, but try as she might, she could not remember who this middle-aged man was.
• "It's me, Kyle Lewis. Remember? I was at Riverdale Medical University, class of 2009. We had a get-together with the police academy that year; we've even met before." The man stood up, smiling.
• "Oh! It's you, Kyle!" Rosie's cheeks turned slightly pink.
• In her first year at the police academy, she had been dubbed the most beautiful freshman there. Kyle was already in his fourth year at Riverdale Medical University, and when the two schools had hosted their get-together, he had fallen head over heels for Rosie. He had messaged her several times after that, asking her out, but she had always declined.
• Rosie had never dreamed that she would suddenly be the one asking Kyle for a favor. It made her feel quite awkward and uncomfortable.
• Kyle grinned broadly at Rosie's belated recognition of him. "That's right, it's me! It's been seven or eight years now, and here we are, of all places, meeting up again. I have to say, Rosie, you're even lovelier now than you were back then!"
• "Thank you," Rosie murmured, her cheeks scarlet. Even though she felt extremely uncomfortable, she had to at least try and put aside her awkwardness for her father's sake.
• However, Ian was annoyed. Rosie was his wife, and this head of department had immediately assumed familiarity with her the moment they met. Not only that, the man had made Rosie blush, which indicated that they had some kind of shared past. Ian cleared his throat lightly, interrupting Kyle's further attempts at conversation. "Dr Lewis, we're here to ask for a drug prescription."
• "Rosie, who's this?" Kyle pushed his glasses down the bridge of his nose and peered at Ian, who was wearing a tank top and flip-flops.