America 1883: The Western Homeland

Chapter 157 Tom Wants to Build a Hospital in Paradise Valley

"Give me a clean room! Now!" Catherine's tone was firm and left no room for argument.

Tom was about to ask if anything else was needed when Catherine spoke up again: "Just get the house ready! My assistant will handle the disinfection!"

Everyone else, get out, immediately!

Her gaze was sharp as she scanned everyone in the room.

Elsa suddenly developed a high fever; the symptoms came on so quickly that she had to find the source immediately!

Tom didn't dare delay and turned to his mother, Margaret, to convey his request.

"Make room in the guest room. If the doctor needs to rest, he can go upstairs," Margaret instructed in a low voice.

Tom immediately led his men to quickly tidy up the guest room.

Immediately afterwards, the doctor's assistant carried several large boxes and quickly walked into the guest room, slamming the door shut behind him.

Shortly afterward, Catherine ordered Elsa to be moved into the guest room.

The group carefully moved Elsa over there.

The moment Tom stepped into the guest room, a very familiar medicinal scent wafted towards him.

His heart skipped a beat!

This taste—

He almost blurted out the question, but was rudely kicked out by Catherine's assistant.

"Get out! All of you get out!" The assistant's voice was firm and unyielding.

The door was tightly shut behind me.

Tom stood outside the door, his eyes filled with complex emotions, lost in thought.

The scent of medicine—

So familiar!

His heart was in turmoil.

To encounter this familiar aura in the vast sea of ​​people feels like a premonition.

The initial hope that Catherine could save Elsa has now been strengthened by a greater sense of certainty, and this is no coincidence!

The crowd waited anxiously outside the door, as if time had stood still.

As dawn broke, the tightly closed door finally creaked open.

Just as Catherine stepped out, Tom spotted the kang (a heated brick bed) inside the room.

A few silver needles!

It's acupuncture!

Tom was shocked, and the way he looked at Catherine changed completely in an instant!

He opened his mouth, his mind brimming with questions that were about to burst out.

But Catherine's face was ashen, her eyes filled with an overwhelming weariness. Her steps were unsteady, and she uttered only a hoarse sentence before heading straight upstairs: "The fever—it's gone down for now."

Tom didn't disturb Catherine's rest, but instead looked at her assistant.

The assistant also looked exhausted.

"She's asleep, don't go in and disturb her!" the assistant said briefly before turning back to the room to look after Elsa.

After three days of anxious waiting, Catherine finally announced that visits were permitted, but only two people could visit at a time.

When Mrs. Margaret came out, she said with relief that Elsa was recovering well.

But Tom knew very well that Elsa's pale face and weak breath were far from "good"!

Postoperative infection, this invisible killer, can take your life at any time!

"Doctor," Tom asked the female doctor who was massaging the bridge of her nose to relieve her fatigue, "what's your opinion on Elsa's condition?"

Catherine raised her bloodshot eyes and said bluntly, "I don't know what you think, but in my opinion, her condition is not optimistic."

"I know," Tom said, lowering his voice even further. "What other options are there?"

Catherine glanced at him, didn't answer, and went straight to the kitchen.

Tom followed closely behind, and saw her take several packets of herbs out of her medicine box!

Tom's pupils constricted slightly. Yes, it was dried herbs!

"What's this for?" He instinctively reached for the medicine packet to check.

"You're getting in my way!" Catherine's icy voice lashed out like a whip, carrying an undeniable warning.

Tom had no choice but to step back and silently watch as she and her assistant began to work at the stove, the aroma of medicine gradually filling the air.

His doubts deepened: This female doctor must be connected to the mysterious medical techniques of the East!

Catherine personally carried a bowl of thick, dark medicine into Elsa's room.

As time went by, Elsa's complexion actually recovered at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"Looks much better." Tom reappeared beside Catherine, his tone carrying a barely perceptible hint of affirmation.

"Now, can we leave?" Catherine looked directly at him.

These days, Tom's family has been very accommodating to her every request, their attitude completely different from before, which makes her wary and slightly confused.

"Wait a little longer, until Elsa is feeling better." Tom's insistence wasn't entirely for Elsa's sake; he was also waiting for news.

When Zack returned from the post station dusty and weary with a letter, Tom's eyes lit up; this was exactly what he had been waiting for!

Holding the letter, he went straight to Catherine: "Dr. Catherine, shall we talk?"

Catherine frowned, her tone distant: "What are we talking about? Are you finally letting us go?"

Tom nodded, unfolded the letter, and spoke in a steady voice that carried an invisible pressure: "Kathelin Hopkins, thirty-six years old. Former attending surgeon at New York City Hospital. She was dismissed by the hospital four months ago, and publicly stated that she resigned voluntarily."

He stared intently at Catherine's face, but the expected panic did not materialize.

She merely raised her chin slightly, her expression indifferent, as if listening to a story that had nothing to do with her.

"Why did you come to the West?" Tom pressed on. "It's paradise for gold prospectors, but not a good choice for a doctor like you with your background."

"Money." Catherine's answer was crisp and straightforward, even with a hint of candor. "Someone approached me, offering a large sum of money to ensure the safety of a pregnant woman. And I happen to need that money." Her frankness surprised Tom.

"Elsa is safe and sound. You'll receive your full payment, and you can leave anytime." Tom's tone abruptly changed. "However, there's another option: I'll build a hospital in this valley. You'll be the director. You can save lives whenever you want, and when there are no patients, you can conduct any medical research you desire. Whatever you need, I'll provide!"

His sharp gaze caught a fleeting tremor in Catherine's eyes; she was smitten!

Tom immediately offered his key bargaining chip: "There's only one condition: all your research results will be patented by me. And you will receive a portion of the patent revenue."

"Impossible!" Catherine's expression changed drastically, and she refused decisively.

Tom slowly shook his head, his tone carrying an all-knowing pressure: "Given your current situation, can you even go back to New York? Which hospital would dare to hire you? Go to another city? Are you willing to accept that?"

He stepped forward and delivered his final, most devastating question: "Tell me, why were you fired?"

The air seemed to freeze as Catherine and Tom's gazes met silently in the air, filled with scrutiny and inquiry.

After a moment of suffocating silence, Catherine's shoulders slumped slightly, and she let out a barely audible sigh: "Since you've already found out, why ask again?"

"Because you insisted on performing open surgery on that pregnant woman," Tom's voice was deep and clear, "in the end, the patient died."

"No—!" Catherine looked up abruptly, her voice rising sharply, filled with long-suppressed anger and humiliation.

"It was them! They forced the patient out of bed prematurely, just to create a media frenzy and announce the surgery was a success! The patient wasn't even out of danger! It wasn't my surgery that failed; it was their greed and ignorance that killed her!"

The female doctor, who had just maintained a mask of aloofness and composure, now resembled a lioness driven to the brink of despair, her eyes burning with raging anger and resentment!