Filed to story: The Daughter in the Shadows (Yunice) Book by Una Norris
Yunice knew the Saunders family hospital very well. She had just rushed to the emergency room entrance when she saw Elsie walking out.
Elsie’s long black hair hung loose. She wasn’t wearing a mask or goggles, not even gloves; her manicured fingernails shiny. She paused with her hand on the door handle. When she saw Yunice, she couldn’t hide the disgust on her face. “What are you doing here?”
Yunice didn’t hold back either. “I’m here for the same reason you are.”
Elsie snorted. “I’m here to save lives. You? Save?”
Yunice gave her a mocking glance up and down. “With what qualifications?”
“You think the Health Bureau belongs to your family?” Yunice smiled.
Elsie sneered at her. “I haven’t done anything wrong. I’m not even a hospital employee. Even if you report me, you’ll need evidence. Otherwise, it’s slander.”
This hospital was under Owen’s control; Yunice could forget about getting any evidence against Elsie here.
Yunice wasn’t interested in arguing. She needed to check on Thomas urgently.
So she asked a nearby nurse for protective clothing and professional gloves. As a doctor, basic self-protection was essential. Based on the phone call, Thomas had a persistent high fever, and his assistant’s condition was worse – already unconscious. Which made it reasonable to suspect the illness was infectious.
But Elsie stretched out an arm to block her. “By what right are you entering? Why should you use our protective gear? There’s no family member of yours in there. You’re not a doctor here. You have no right to enter.”
Yunice said, “I’m the patient’s designated representative. If you delay me and cause consequences, you’ll be held responsible.”
After saying that, Yunice directly dialed Taylor’s number and clearly stated that it was Elsie blocking her.
Taylor and Elsie were longtime enemies. Over the phone, Taylor cursed fiercely, saying if Elsie dared delay her father’s treatment today, she wouldn’t spare the entire Saunders family!
But even after the call ended, Elsie still refused to move. She sneered at Yunice. “Paul’s about to divorce Taylor anyway. The Kendall family’s days are numbered; you’re backing the wrong person.”
Yunice didn’t bother with her. She simply reached out to snatch the protective gear from the nurse’s hands.
Elsie immediately blocked her again. “I said you can’t go in. Are you deaf?”
Yunice stepped forward and stared directly at her. “I know exactly why you’re here.”
“You know Gerado is admitted at the Saunders family hospital. You’re planning to use your position to let Gerado’s condition deteriorate. That way, Taylor will lose her last backup, and Paul can take advantage.”
A flicker of guilt flashed across Elsie’s eyes, but she quickly put on a righteous face. “Stop with your conspiracy theories. I’m just following hospital rules. If we let any random person into the ER, how could the hospital even function?”
Just then, Elsie’s gaze shifted behind Yunice, and her tone immediately changed. “Owen, you’re finally here! I don’t know why Yunice is so insistent on barging into the ER. I tried to stop her, but she even tried to hit me…”
The moment Yunice heard Elsie’s shrill voice, she knew Owen would definitely pick a fight for Elsie’s sake again. She had no time to waste bickering with them.
Taking advantage of Elsie complaining to Owen, Yunice quickly snatched the protective gear and rushed into the emergency room.
She moved swiftly, putting on the protective suit, mask, goggles, and was just finishing with the gloves when Owen and Elsie-wearing no protective gear at all-barged in after her.
“Yunice, what nonsense are you trying to pull again! This is a hospital, not your playground!” Owen barked.
Yunice ignored him. Instead, she quickly locked onto Gerado’s hospital bed.
She strode over and flipped open Gerado’s eyelids to check his pupils. Behind the protective goggles, her eyebrows immediately furrowed sharply.
She then looked at Gerado’s arm-bound with a blood pressure monitor-and saw blotchy patches of bruising under the skin. She immediately turned and shouted at Owen, “Stay back! I suspect he’s carrying an infectious disease!”
Owen froze two meters away.
Just as Yunice was about to continue the examination, Elsie suddenly darted out from behind Owen and yanked off Yunice’s protective goggles.
She shrieked, “I told you already-you’re not allowed in here! Are you deaf!”
At that exact moment, Gerado-his face dark and blue-suddenly convulsed.
He violently arched his back and, without warning, vomited.
Elsie was standing in the wrong spot and got sprayed head-to-toe!
She wasn’t wearing any protective clothing-no shielding at all-and now she was covered in foul-smelling vomit.
Frozen in place, Elsie felt filthier than she ever had in her life.
Yunice spared her only a glance, then noticed blood streaked through the vomit on her body.
Meanwhile, Gerado continued to seize, his face turning purple, clearly choking on his own vomit.
Without hesitating, Yunice turned Gerado’s head sideways, clearing his airway to prevent suffocation.
Owen pulled Elsie aside, frowning deeply at the mess covering her.
Yunice, even while busy, glanced at him and said coldly, “You’d better take her for decontamination immediately. Until Gerado’s test results are back, no one here should have contact with outsiders.”
Owen hated Yunice’s self-important attitude. The moment she opened her mouth, he was ready to argue.
“Just because you’ve been at Wellinges Pharma a few days, you think you’re some big shot! I’m the hospital director-I know better than you how things should be done! And this is the Saunders family hospital-out immediately!”
Yunice ignored him.
Furious, Owen moved forward to drag her away, but Elsie clung to his arm pitifully, whining, “Owen, don’t mind her anymore… My wound really hurts… I think my old injury is acting up… please find someone to check on me…”
After saying that, she shot Yunice a vicious look. Gerado’s condition was deteriorating rapidly-dangerously fast.
If Yunice didn’t interfere, Gerado dying at the Saunders family hospital could be blamed on “an act of God.” But if Yunice did interfere, everything that happened afterward could be pinned on her.
Because Yunice wasn’t officially hospital staff, she wasn’t qualified to treat patients. Any fatal outcomes could be used against her.
If Gerado died, the Kendall family’s inheritance would fall to Paul, and Taylor and Yunice would become enemies.
A double win for Elsie.
Elsie was delighted with this-of course, she couldn’t let Owen stay and ruin it.
And Owen, hearing Elsie say she felt unwell, immediately dropped everything and took her to change clothes.
Before leaving, he ordered the other medical staff to pull Yunice away, forbidding her from touching the patient.
Soon she was forcibly removed from the emergency room.
Yunice couldn’t fight off everyone.
But Yunice didn’t try to barge back in.
Instead, with a heavy heart, she locked herself inside the empty medical waste disposal room.
She bolted the door, slumped against the wall, and slid to the ground.
Taking deep breaths to steady herself, she sent all the medical details she had just recorded about Gerado to Laurice.
Three minutes later, Laurice called.
Laurice was notoriously hard to deal with-especially under pressure-usually answering Yunice’s questions with grumpy voice messages, if she even bothered to reply at all.
But this time, Laurice personally interrupted her research and made a direct call.