One of them glanced at Eric’s butt, wrapped tightly in bandages. ‘It’s covered up so much, how could he even have a hemorrhoid under there?’ he wondered.
But nobody said no.
“Too bad we don’t have more time, otherwise I’d love to try giving him a sex change…” the ‘expert’ standing in the main surgeon’s spot sighed, sounding genuinely disappointed. “Okay, fine. Let’s get started.”
And then he stepped away from the table.
Seeing him move, the other four looked confused. “Hey, where are you going?”
“I don’t know how to do this stuff!” the man said, like it was the most obvious thing ever.
The other four just stared at each other. Turns out, none of them knew how either.
After a long, awkward silence, the oldest one, the guy with the kindest-looking face, stepped up again. “Okay, fine, I’ll do it. I used to take out stitches back when I was an intern… right after I graduated.”
‘Dude, you graduated like, forty years ago!’ the others thought, suddenly very nervous.
Someone still felt a tiny bit bad. “Look, maybe we should knock him out completely with general anesthesia?” He pictured the upcoming procedures.
“Seriously, with the hemorrhoid thing and the vasectomy, if we don’t put him under, I’m worried his screaming might freak out all the other patients in the hospital.”
“Okay, fine,” another agreed. “But make sure you add the cost to his bill. He has to pay it all back when he leaves. If he doesn’t, we call the cops and get him arrested.”
And just like that, the five highly unprofessional ‘experts’ started their very first attempt at butt surgery.
.…
Meanwhile, while Eric was getting his… unique… surgery, Riley finally made it to the hospital.
She rushed to her grandmother’s bedside, panting, and then stopped dead, staring.
A lot of the tubes that had been hooked up to her grandmother were gone now. Even the breathing machine was off.
But the old woman’s face had a healthy pinkish color to it, she looked so much better than before, it was obvious.
She was still unconscious, though.
“Miss Riley!” one of the doctors exclaimed when he saw her. “This is incredible, truly a medical miracle! Her cancer cells have actually shrunk… wait, no, not just shrunk, they’ve decreased! There are fewer cancer cells!”
Hearing the doctor’s words, the tight knot of fear in Riley’s chest finally loosened completely.
‘He was telling the truth. That amazing doctor friend really could save my grandmother.’
“Thank you, Sir.” Even though Alex wasn’t physically there, Riley whispered her heartfelt thanks towards the hospital building.
Just overnight, her grandmother’s condition had gotten so much better. It really showed how unbelievably skilled the Alex doctor friend was. Getting help from someone like that must have cost a fortune, or maybe even more.
An expert doctor like him probably couldn’t be bought with just money. Riley suspected that Alex must have paid some other kind of price, something she couldn’t even guess.
Clutching the prescription slip tightly, her heart swelled with gratitude again.
‘Sir, I swear I’ll find a way to repay you,’ Riley promised silently in her heart.
Even though she’d already given herself to Alex, a part of her knew she wasn’t really in his league. Still, to show her deep gratitude for his kindness, she decided she would stay by his side for as long as he’d have her.
….
Tonight was the birthday bash for Henry, the head of the Wade Family.
It was only a few days after his own father had passed away, but Henry decided to throw an extra-large party anyway, maybe hoping to chase away the bad luck or sadness.
Invitations had gone out to every single person who mattered in the city. Even business partners from other cities who worked with the Wade Family got an invite.
Of course, Alex received one too, delivered by Henry himself.
Sera had classes, and Riley was staying at the hospital with her grandma, so Alex headed over to the Wade Family’s place by himself.
The party was right at Henry’s huge mansion, the very same place where they’d held his father’s funeral just a few days earlier.
The Wade Family estate was massive.
When Alex pulled up, the place was already packed. Fancy luxury cars lined the entire street outside.
Alex recognized most of the faces. Henry had invited pretty much all the big shots from the city. There were a few out-of-town partners sprinkled in, but mostly local power players.
The second Alex stepped out of his car, people swarmed him.
“Mr. Alex! What an absolute honor to see you here tonight!”
“Wow, I must have done something right in a past life to actually meet Mr. Alex!”
A crowd instantly gathered, showering him with over-the-top compliments.
Pretty much everyone here was the boss of some family or the head of a big company. They were all decked out in expensive suits, looking incredibly polished and important.
Alex, however, stood out. He was dressed in his usual comfortable, casual clothes. He just wore whatever felt good.
Anyone else would feel obligated to dress up for the Wade Family, worried about looking disrespectful at such a major event.
But Alex didn’t care. The fact that he even showed up was the biggest honor the Wade Family could hope for.
He’d arrived alone, but now he was surrounded. And the people crowding him weren’t nobodies, you probably needed a net worth in the hundreds of millions just to get close enough to say hello.
They were laying the flattery on thick.
And why wouldn’t they? They all remembered what happened. First, the powerful Winter family was completely wiped out. Then, more recently, the established Kleinberg Family was totally overthrown.
Regular folks might not know the juicy details about the Kleinberg Family’s downfall, but these people? They were the city’s elite. They knew everything that happened in the city.
They knew that Logan, who was supposed to inherit the huge Kleinberg Industries, had disappeared with his family. Nobody even knew if they’d managed to escape the city alive.