Filed to story: The Daughter in the Shadows (Yunice) Book by Una Norris
Taylor sat beside her and explained why she had come. She said her father was feeling weak and having aching joints. It sounded like a case of wind chill.
But Mr. Gerardo was busy with work and had flown overseas recently, so he couldn’t come in for an appointment himself. Taylor hoped Yunice could prescribe some medicine she could have an assistant deliver to him.
Yunice said, “Symptoms described over the phone might not be accurate. Does Mr. Gerardo have time for a video call? I’d like to see his face.”
Taylor tried calling, but because of the time difference, Mr. Gerardo didn’t answer.
Not wanting her trip to be wasted, Yunice prescribed some medicine to ease the symptoms for now. If it didn’t work, they would think of another plan.
Taylor took the medicine but didn’t leave right away. She looked like she wanted to say something but stopped herself. She quickly left the clinic and got into her car.
In the driver’s seat, Alan turned and said, “Miss.”
Taylor frowned deeply, her face full of frustration.
Her father’s minor cold hadn’t really warranted her rushing all the way here. She actually had another reason for coming.
She had been married to Paul for several months now, and both Jensen and Linda had been probing her about her marital relationship with him.
Normally, Taylor would have ignored them, but Linda had gone too far. Last time, while Paul was home, Linda had secretly drugged Taylor’s water, trying to force her to seduce Paul.
If Alan hadn’t noticed something was wrong and rushed her to the hospital, things could have ended very badly. Even afterward, Paul had humiliated her over it, and the old man of the family had taken the opportunity to make trouble for Alan.
Taylor had married into the Powell family to build her career, not to get trapped in a brutal house fight. She wanted to be the strong, independent woman – but those parasites were determined to drag her down and bleed her dry.
It infuriated her. Just now, she had wanted to confide in Dr. Rylie and see if there was any way she could stay alert and immune to the drugs they tried to use against her.
But when the words were on her lips, she still couldn’t bring herself to say them.
Just as Taylor was about to wave Alan forward and leave, a hand covered in black lace gloves reached for her car door. “Ms. Taylor, please wait.”
Taylor lowered the window, puzzled, and looked at Dr. Rylie.
Beneath her baseball cap, Yunice’s gaze locked steadily on her. “Ms. Taylor, your body’s been drained a lot lately.”
It took Taylor a couple of seconds to catch the meaning behind her words. Her cheeks flushed red.
Yunice handed her a small bottle of water. “Whatever they did to you, do it back to them. The ingredients in this are safe and undetectable.”
Taylor understood immediately – Dr. Rylie had seen through everything. The embarrassment and frustration she had tried to hide were completely exposed.
She no longer pretended. “Dr. Rylie, do you have an antidote for the stuff they used?”
Yunice said, “You can’t spend your whole life guarding against thieves. Besides, medicine still damages the body.”
Taylor gripped the bottle tightly, her eyes darkening. “You’re right. I can’t just defend. I have to fight back.”
Yunice added casually, “The medicine I gave you today shouldn’t be taken with seafood.”
Taylor’s gaze sharpened – she understood the hidden meaning in that warning.
After Taylor’s car drove off, Yunice returned to her clinic as if nothing had happened.
But she had barely sat down when a new patient arrived.
“Where’s the doctor? Who’s the doctor here?” someone shouted, half-carrying another man inside.
Yunice turned around and saw two men in business suits. The one carrying the other looked more like a construction supervisor, while the one being carried had one leg lifted awkwardly, with blood dripping down his pants.
Yunice hurried over. “I’m the doctor.”
Just as she spoke, the injured man abruptly lifted his head to look at her.
Paul seemed to recognize Yunice’s voice, which she hadn’t disguised.
He was staring at her, scrutinizing.
But Yunice quickly collected herself and walked over without hesitation, rolling up Paul’s pant leg as she asked, “How did this happen?”
Yunice froze for a moment.
The supervisor quickly explained, “He was hit by falling rocks at the construction site.”
After Paul got involved with the Northvale project, he would occasionally visit the site.
The Northvale project was close to Yunice’s clinic, so whenever workers had minor injuries, they were often brought to her for first aid.
Paul lowered his eyes, silently observing her every move. Yunice’s sleeves weren’t very long, and as she reached out, the fabric slid back halfway, revealing a section of her arm covered in burn scars. The sight was unsightly, almost sickening.
Paul’s lingering doubts finally started to fade.
Yunice pulled her hand back. “The bone’s fine. It’s just a surface wound. I can take care of it here.”
She stood up and walked toward her toolkit. “I don’t have imaging equipment here, so I can’t guarantee there’s no hairline fracture. I’ll stop the bleeding and stitch the wound, but you should still go to a big hospital afterward to get checked out, just to be safe.”
The man holding Paul quickly nodded. “Stopping the bleeding is the priority.”
Yunice returned with a needle and thread. Paul stared at the needle, frowning deeply. “That thick?”
“The muscles in your leg are tight. A finer needle won’t hold,” Yunice said as she threaded it.
Paul grumbled, “Then give me anesthesia!”
The gash was long. Stitching it without anesthesia would be unbearable.
Yunice gave him an injection, and Paul finally relaxed enough for her to start stitching. But halfway through, Paul suddenly stiffened all over, gripping the chair’s armrests with white knuckles. “Why does it hurt so much? What kind of anesthesia is this? It wore off already!”
Yunice answered calmly, “There’s nothing wrong with the anesthesia. You’re probably just resistant to it… stop moving. You want the stitches or not?”
Paul was in so much pain he couldn’t take it anymore. He kicked Yunice’s hand away. “It hurts like hell! Forget it!”
Yunice instinctively stepped back. As she did, the needle and thread in her hand yanked tight, pulling harshly on the fresh stitches in Paul’s leg.
A guttural scream tore from Paul’s throat as his whole body convulsed, cold sweat soaking through his dress shirt.
Paul clutched his wounded leg and glared at Yunice, fury burning in his eyes. He suspected she had done it on purpose – but he had no proof.
The supervisor, seeing all this, quickly snapped, “What kind of doctor are you, sewing someone up like that? Don’t even think about charging us!”
He immediately helped Paul up. “Mr. Paul, let’s go to a real hospital!”
Paul limped out of the clinic, his gaze locked tightly onto Yunice.
Something about all this didn’t sit right with him.
As Paul left the church and was about to get into the car, he noticed the bustling deli next door.
There was a long line of customers, and a tall woman was busy behind the counter.
Paul frowned.
Gill? Wasn’t she Yunice’s lackey? What was she doing running a deli here?