America 1982-Chapter 544 - 110: Preparing to Show Off Muscles
Seeing his wife Jessica previously walking into the operating room, but now sitting in a wheelchair being pushed out by a nurse, with her left leg encased in a cast that looked heavy enough for a sculptor to create a statue of David, Jeff’s brain had trouble catching up. He looked at the nurse pushing Jessica and wanted to ask several times but held back each time.
Especially since Jessica’s appearance was terrifying, it didn’t look like she had come to the hospital for a bruise on her lower leg but rather as if she had sustained a crushing fracture and might never be able to stand again.
Jessica, however, seemed more clear-headed than Jeff, holding onto the armrests of the wheelchair in her patient gown, and reassured her husband, "Don’t worry, Jeff, the doctor has treated me well, the injury is not serious, and in about two months, I’ll be able to move freely just like before, with no lingering effects."
It wasn’t until the nurse pushed Jessica into the luxury private room and there were no other people around that Jeff turned to Tommy, who had arrived just fifteen minutes earlier, "Tommy, this is deception, Jessica only hit a bench by the roadside with her car, her lower leg was bruised, the doctors wouldn’t lie, anyone could ask and find out that Jessica is lying, her injury isn’t as serious as it seems, why do we have to deceive people?"
"I can answer your question. First, this is a private hospital, my father-in-law’s friend owns this hospital, the doctor treating Jessica is his student, and this treatment didn’t involve the insurance company, so everything can be manipulated. For instance, a bruise can turn into a bone fracture, which is a curious problem because it can be minor or major, depending on the doctor’s mood—like if you were a poor guy, who got a fracture from a barkeeper for not paying your bill after drinking at a bar, you might go to a public hospital, where the doctor could give you a few weeks’ worth of painkillers and then send you on your way," Tommy said as he sat on the sofa in the patient’s lounge, flipping through the entertainment magazine provided by the hospital for patients’ amusement.
"But in a private hospital, as long as you’re willing to pay, even for a fracture, you could receive treatment comparable to that for an amputation. We haven’t lied, you can tell everyone that Jessica has a fracture, but the doctor has the right to decide on the treatment. Anyone curious can go ask the doctor themselves, and he’ll explain to them why Jessica’s cast is heavier than you, and don’t worry, you won’t be paying for the treatment."
"I can pay for the treatment myself, Tommy, it’s not the cost I’m worried about, you don’t need to help me with the payment..."
"NoNoNo~ The cost isn’t on me either, my father-in-law paid for it, he promised to give the hospital owner’s next yacht purchase a fair discount," Tommy put down the magazine, walked over to Jessica’s wheelchair, squatted down, and tapped on her cast, smilingly asking, "How do you feel, Jessica?"
Jessica turned her face away in annoyance, clearly not wanting to see that bastard Tommy: "The nurse who cast my leg surely doesn’t have a boyfriend, she’s jealous of me. I hurt my left lower leg, but look at me now, Tommy, that crazy woman nearly made a pair of tights out of the cast for me. You didn’t tell me about having to abstain from sex when my husband is running for office, in addition to being injured."
Who would have thought that their husband’s registration for the election with his two clever friends, which seemed like a game, advocating for flat earth theory, would suddenly turn into this?
After Jeff met Tommy, everything changed; not only did Jeff become like a "normal" abnormal person, but she herself was fast becoming a psychiatric patient. She didn’t understand; it was just an election, so why was she in a wheelchair with a cast long enough to help her abstain from sex as a bonus?
"I know you’ve always wanted another daughter; don’t worry, this thing won’t affect you and Jeff conceiving new life. Your personal medical team will take it off every night so you can sleep well, as long as you promise to put it back on by morning; and if you cooperate, I could have your two dogs, which are fostered in the countryside, brought to the hospital to stay with you. This private hospital allows patients to bring pets for treatment," said Tommy, standing up and turning to Jeff.
"Do you think Jessica sitting in a wheelchair is a form of deception?"
"Tommy, you always tell me to do the right thing, and I don’t think this is it. We are men, men should solve their own problems, we shouldn’t make our wives...like this. I can face all the opponents, I have the courage to face them," Jeff earnestly told Tommy.
Since meeting Tommy and Martin, he had changed a lot; he used to only tell Bible stories in front of children, but now he could proficiently make speeches in front of TV cameras. He used to show only a harmless smile, but now he could keep a stern face for tens of minutes to look serious.
He even learned, under Martin’s repeated threats with a stun gun, to attack his opponents with more aggressive language. He could change, but it didn’t mean he was willing to; he did it only not to disappoint his supporters and forced himself to do so with constant reminders from Martin.
Now, his wife was actually in a wheelchair to suit his run for office; Jeff felt it was entirely unnecessary. He could face those opponents himself; there was no need for Jessica to seek sympathy with a pitiful appearance, which only made him feel guilty because for many years, anything outside of family matters, no matter how hard or tiresome the work, was dealt with by Jeff as a man and head of the family. That was a man’s job, whether it was fixing pipes or running for office, and it shouldn’t change Jessica’s life.
