Filed to story: The Daughter in the Shadows (Yunice) Book by Una Norris
Now he wanted me to use the same trick again. His temper was impossible to figure out. But Yunice had long since grown used to patients being moody.
She said, “Your wound is too large. That trick won’t work. But you could ask Dr. Joe to give you some anesthesia for the pain…”
Speak of the devil. Joe pushed the door open with a stethoscope around his neck, just in time to hear Yunice mention anesthesia.
“Anesthesia? Mr. Cooper never takes that stuff. Says it dulls the brain.”
Yunice was surprised. “No anesthesia? Then how do you manage the pain?”
Joe shrugged like it was no big deal. “He just toughs it out.”
Yunice turned to look at Wyatt. Then why had he acted like the gauze change earlier was unbearable?
Joe suddenly felt a chill down his spine. He met Wyatt’s cold stare and immediately shut his mouth tight. Did I say something wrong?
Wyatt snapped at him, “What are you standing there for? You were the one who changed my dressing. Get over here and fix it!”
“Alright,” Joe rushed over and took Yunice’s place.
With nothing left to do, Yunice walked over to the window and looked out. It was still early morning, but the streets outside were already bustling.
This was the third day I’d gone completely missing, and no one from the Saunders family had come looking, Yunice thought to herself. If it weren’t for Wyatt, I’d still be locked up in that warehouse suffering.
“Mr. Cooper, Paul’s leg is fractured. They’ve already given him anesthesia three times. Still hurts so bad he can’t sleep,” Joe said casually as he worked.
Yunice’s ears twitched. She couldn’t help but wonder what had happened while she was being held.
Elsie hovered by his bedside, running back and forth in distress. “Paul, have some water. It’ll help with the pain.” Then she offered him some grapes. “Paul, eat a grape. It’ll make you feel better.”
Paul was losing his mind. He’d never realized just how talkative Elsie could be. This wasn’t some mild cold or fever. My bone was shattered-it hurt like hell!
He swallowed his frustration and said patiently, “Elsie, I’m in too much pain to eat or drink. Just get me another painkiller.”
I’d been pampered my whole life, raised with four or five nannies hovering around me from the moment I could walk. I’d never even scraped a knee before. How could I handle something like this?
But Elsie, eyes red, replied tearfully, “You already took too many. The doctor said you can’t have any more.”
Paul grew irritated, “But I’m in serious pain!”
Elsie hesitated. Paul thought she was finally softening, ready to bring him the medicine. He was relieved. But instead, Elsie leaned in and kissed his lips gently, then smiled sweetly. “A kiss will make it all better.”
Paul’s entire expression twisted like he’d swallowed a fly. He was completely numb and wanted to scream.
Elsie looked at him, confused. Normally, when he got sick and I kissed him, he’d be all smiles.
Paul tried to stay calm and said, ‘Elsie, you study medicine. Can’t you think of anything else for the pain?”
“Anything else…,” Elsie racked her brain. “But this is how they treat everyone. We all go through the same thing.”
“That’s not true. Yuni…” Paul was about to argue when Jensen walked in. His father’s face was stern. Seeing Paul in such a pathetic state made him furious. “Just endure it. Crying over a little fracture-how do you expect to achieve anything?”
Paul’s face turned bright red. Shamed into silence, he clenched his jaw and didn’t say a word.
Elsie hadn’t seen much of Jensen before. The moment he entered, she quickly tried to play nice. “Dad, Paul’s really strong. Please don’t be mad at him.”
Jensen cut her off with a cold glare. “Who told you to be here? Get out.”
“Huh?” Elsie froze. Hadn’t the Powell family already proposed to me? Why was the future daughter-in-law being told to leave? She had no idea what she’d done wrong. Instinctively, she turned to Paul for help.
To Elsie’s surprise, Paul avoided her gaze and didn’t speak up for her. Jensen had never liked her family background, and here she was deliberately calling him “Dad”? Was she asking for trouble?
Seeing that even Paul wouldn’t defend her, Elsie wiped away her tears and fled the hospital room, looking utterly wronged. Jensen watched her leave with a look of utter contempt in his eyes. Then he turned back to his disappointing son, his voice cold as ice. “If you’re just playing around with her, fine. But if you’re serious, don’t blame me for cutting all father-son ties.”
Paul looked at him in shock. Cut ties? How?
Jensen sneered, “I’m still young. I can have another son.” Paul’s face went pale.
Jensen continued, “If you still want to stay in your grandfather’s good graces, then go bring the Powell family a real ally.” Paul knew full well that his father looked down on Elsie’s humble background, but still he said, “I can’t betray Elsie.”
Hearing this, Jensen’s gaze turned sharp. He grabbed Paul by the collar and growled, “Your grandfather has already arranged for Wyatt to marry Yunice. That’s our only chance to catch up to them! And what will marrying Elsie get you, apart from a flock of freeloading relatives?” Then, he pressed down hard on Paul’s injured leg.
Paul cried out in agony. But Jensen didn’t show the slightest bit of mercy. “If you don’t get your act together, the pain will only get worse.” The veins on Paul’s forehead bulged from the pain. He couldn’t even find the strength to argue.
After leaving the room, Jensen ordered the bodyguards outside. “No more painkillers for him.” “Yes, sir!” The bodyguards replied in unison.
Inside, Paul lay drenched in cold sweat, slumped on the bed. Maybe the pain had numbed him, or maybe he was just delirious, but his mind began to wander. Who did Father say Hyatt was going to marry? The pain was unbearable; he hadn’t caught the name clearly. Clutching his injured leg, Paul gritted his teeth. Jensen was truly ruthless. The wound was already bleeding again.
Frustrated and furious, he called for a doctor for Elsie, but no one came. Jensen clearly intended to grind him down.
After half an hour of shouting, Paul finally gave in, slumping against the headboard. Unable to sleep from the pain, his mind wandered again. To Elsie and to Yunice. Elsie had said injuries just needed to be endured, but that was not true.
Back in middle school, he had fractured a bone playing basketball. Yunice had made him a crude-looking herbal plaster. It was ugly and old-fashioned, but it worked better than any medicine from the hospital. It hadn’t hurt at all.
Paul glanced at the door. Yunice was in this hospital too. Why had she not come to see him? Meanwhile, Wyatt was changing his bandages in another room, while Yunice was wandering the hallway outside. From a distance, the voices of Owen and Elsie approached.
Owen was saying, “The Saunders family does have a formula for pain relief, but only Yunice knows how to make it.” Elsie added anxiously, “Maybe we should call the police, find Yunice, and get her to treat Paul. That is the priority right now.”
Owen waved her off. “Forget it. She probably heard about your engagement and deliberately hid herself, thinking it would make us anxious. If we ignore her, she’ll come crawling back in a few days.”
Elsie sighed. “If only I could make that pain-relieving medicine. I’d definitely give the formula to you. It’d be such a boost for your hospital!” Her words sparked a thought in Owen. A technical monopoly was the ultimate advantage for any company. So far, no hospital had managed to develop a painkiller without side effects. Yunice clearly had such an effective formula; why wasn’t he helping his hospital get through its current crisis!
As he was thinking this, they rounded a corner, and there she was. Owen stopped in surprise. “Yunice?”
Leaning against the wall, Yunice looked utterly unsurprised to see them. Funny, wasn’t it? She had been missing for three days, yet her dear brother hadn’t even bothered to call the police. He had even found time to visit Paul. But she was not disappointed. Not anymore. From the moment Owen had left her in that burning building, she had realized that her life meant absolutely nothing to him.
“Yunice! I finally found you!” Elsie exclaimed, genuinely overjoyed. “We’ve all been worried sick these past few days.”
“Worried sick?” Yunice sneered, her voice laced with sarcasm. “Worried how, exactly? Blanketing the streets with missing person posters? Going door to door asking for me?”
Owen’s face darkened at her mocking tone. “The whole family’s busy preparing for Elsie’s wedding. If you don’t care, fine. But you expect us to drop everything just to look for you?” Then he added angrily, “Look at you, perfectly fine. Clearly you went missing deliberately, just to get attention. And I actually wasted my time worrying about you.”
Yunice let out a cold laugh. “You better worry about the Powell family’s precious son. If he ends up crippled and impotent, wouldn’t Elsie basically be a living widow?”
Owen hadn’t expected Yunice’s words to be so sharp. His face darkened, and he raised his fist, ready to teach her a lesson. But Elsie hurriedly grabbed his arm, trying to calm him down. “Owen, don’t hit Yunice! She’s just harsh with her words, but deep down, she already prepared medicine for Paul!”
True enough. If Yunice showed up at the hospital and even knew Paul’s leg was injured, then she must have come to deliver medicine. Owen lowered his fist, turning his palm upwards instead. “Hand the medicine to Elsie.”
Yunice’s expression was cold. “Why should I give it to her?”
“You think you can just waltz in there yourself?” Owen snapped impatiently. “Paul belongs to Elsie. You’re just going to barge in like the main character, ogling his bare leg! Do you have no shame!”
Yunice shot back without hesitation. “If just seeing his leg is shameless, then when Elsie helped him take off his pants, shouldn’t the two of them have been dragged off to be drowned in a pig cage?”
Owen’s face flushed hot. “This is the kind of filthy talk you learned while you were away?” His anger surged, and once again, he raised his hand to strike her.
“Mr. Owen.” A cold voice cut through the air.
All three of them turned toward the source of the voice. It was Wyatt. He had changed into a dark red dress shirt, the sleeves casually rolled up, revealing his lean, powerful forearms. When he tightened his grip on his cane, the veins on the back of his hand stood out, radiating strength.
Elsie’s gaze swept over Wyatt. She had rarely seen him before. All she had heard was that Wyatt was a cripple. But standing here now, he exuded a presence even more commanding than Jensen. The oppressive aura around him made people instinctively forget his inconvenient limp.
Why was he speaking to Owen? Owen was also sizing him up, his eyes guarded. He had grown up on the same side as Paul. What could Wyatt possibly have to say to him? Was it because Wyatt had been beaten last time and seen by me, and now he wanted revenge? Countless thoughts ran through his mind, yet not one of them was prepared for what happened next.