BookToReadChapter 241 That day, Sawyer went straight to the hospital where Holbrook was staying.
He searched every corner of the VIP ward Holbrook used to occupy, but found no sign of him. In the end, Sawyer discovered Holbrook lying alone on a makeshift cot in a hallway of the general ward.
Holbrook looked utterly abandoned, stretched out on that narrow hospital bed in the corridor. He kept calling out for water, but none of the nurses bustling past paid him the slightest attention.
Sawyer's eyes burned with anger and something dangerously close to tears. Without thinking, he grabbed a male nurse by the collar and slammed him against the wall.
"Can't you see?" Sawyer ground out through clenched teeth. "My father's thirsty- he's been asking for water. Are you all deaf or just heartless?" "You call yourself a nurse? Where's your sense of basic decency?" Sawyer's voice was shaking with fury. "What's your nand ID? I'm going to report you." He dug his phone out of his pocket and dialed the hospital director's number.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtBut no one picked up.
A sick realization crept over Sawyer's face; he could guess what was happening.
The male nurse just snorted, a mocking smile curling his lip. "The Iverson family's bankrupt. What are you getting all high and mighty for? You still think you're Mr. Iverson?" He sneered, straightening his wrinkled uniform after shoving Sawyer's hand away. "Go ahead, try reporting me. See if the director cares to bother with you. You want special treatment for your decrepit old man? Dream on. If you want service, you'd better be ready to pay for it. Got any money left?" Sawyer's face darkened, but he didn't waste any more words. He strode away, filled a cup with water from the nearest dispenser, and gently helped his father drink.
Afterwards, he went to the payment office, paid off Holbrook's surgery and hospital bills, and still seething- arranged to transfer his father to a regular room in another hospital.
Sawyer bought a folding cot and set it up beside Holbrook's bed, settling in to stay and care for him himself. Half a month passed. Not a single member of the Iverson family cto see Holbrook.
Holbrook knew his own condition, and now, more than ever, he longed for his grandchildren. But not one of them showed up.
The realization stung. He seemed to age years in those two weeks, his voice thin and weary when he turned to his son and asked, "Sawyer... do you think Aline and Jeanette are ashamed ofnow?" Sawyer froze, caught off guard. The truth was, Aline had flatly refused to cto the hospital half a month ago, insisting he hire a nurse for their father and refusing to set foot there herself. Jeanette, timid as always, was too afraid to visit Holbrook at all.
Only now did it hit Sawyer-what he'd thought was a happy family was, in reality, just a fractured shell.
He didn't even know how to answer his father.
Holbrook saw his son's silence and understood.
For sreason, his thoughts turned to Citrine.
That girl had visited the old family hevery single week, without fail, to play chess with him or bring him vitamins and herbal supplements. Back when Sawyer was always at work, it was Citrine who stayed by his side when he was ill-never leaving the room, never complaining.
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Yet Holbrook had always treated her with a cold distance, simply because she wasn't this biological granddaughter.
Meanwhile, Jeanette-his real granddaughter-rarely bothered ta visit, not even when he fell ill, despite how much he'd doted on her.
What a bitter joke, Holbrook thought. The adopted child had shown more love and respect than his own flesh and blood. As the end drew near, memories grew sharper. It was Citrine, always Citrine, who had truly cared for him.
And now, he realized, he'd broken that child's heart.
Regret swept over Holbrook like a tide.
He looked at Sawyer, voice steady and full of longing. "Sawyer, I don't have much tleft. I want to see Citrine."
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