THE FORGOTTEN HEIRESS-Chapter 260: Kathleen was Dr Janice!

At the waiting area leading to the room where Shawn was, Steffan saw Johnson seated in one of the chairs while two bodyguards stood at the door, standing guard.

"Johnson," he called as soon as he was within earshot. "What happened to Shawn? I heard he was rushed in here last night. Is he alright?"

Before answering, Johnson studied the once best buddy of his boss. From what he could see, he appeared to be genuinely concerned.

Who wouldn’t be, afterall, a deep knitted friendship of almost thirty years was not something one could easily sweep under the carpet because of a woman.

But who could guarantee the complexities of the human heart especially when it comes to the issues of love.

"The operation was successful from what I heard but I have not received any update today. The doctors are still inside and yet to come out," Johnson replied truthfully, choosing to believe in that meager percentage of kindness.

Taking a look at the man beside him, Steffan knew that he might not have slept a wink since last night; he looked like he was ready to drop any moment.

Although the long wait had taken a toll on him, he still tried to display the dignity that he was already accustomed to when he replied to Steffan’s question.

He was a loyal subordinate and Steffan could comfortably bet on it that Johnson had not taken a step from the hospital since they arrived except if he needed to run some errands.

He had great respect for such a person. One could easily count on them.

He remembered that Shawn had told him when he returned back to the country that for those years when he was psychologically unstable, Johnson was the one handling the affairs of Hudson corporations and the vacuum created by the President’s absence was not too noticeable at that time.

As he approached the door to go in, the bodyguards moved forward to block him, even though they had seen him talking with Johnson.

Not even the presence of the doctor’s coat that he had rushed to pick up from his office after leaving Dr Martin in the canteen was enough to grant him access.

Steffan glared at the two huge men in black suits that tried to stop him.

Didn’t they recognize him again? How long has it been since he last came to look for their boss at Hudson corporations?

Wasn’t it too early to pretend not to know him?

’Or had Shawn left instructions that they should not allow him anywhere close to him?’

He wouldn’t doubt it anyways, if such an instruction had been given by that narrow minded friend of his.

"Let him in," ordered Johnson. Although he knew that they had fallen out, he still knew that Steffan would not harm his boss. Moreover, the Chief surgeon, Dr Sullivan and other doctors were in the room.

Besides, the main reason he allowed him go in was to see for himself the love Kathleen had for his boss and give up on whatever ideas he had concerning the boss’s wife.

Afterall he has also witnessed the intensity and depth of that love last night as they waited by the theater door while the boss was being operated on.

He only felt pity for Steffan who was the victim of the whole situation. If he would take his advice, he would have told him to forget about the Madam because his love was bound to remain unrequited.

When Steffan was eventually granted access to the emergency room, he approached the small group of four that was by the bed.

From the way they stood, forming a semi circle around the bed, he could see them but because they were backing the door, they couldn’t see him.

The first person that caught his attention was the only woman among them who was speaking with an in-depth knowledge on how to effectively handle any postoperative complications that might arise from the patient.

She spoke with precision and accuracy as one that was used to such situations. What baffled him the most was the expression on Dr Sullivan’s face as he listened to her and the seriousness of the other two doctors that were seriously taking notes.

"From the signs displayed on all the monitoring devices, everything is going fine and he should regain consciousness in about thirty minutes or so, but not later than an hour," Kathleen said.

Dr Sullivan’s head bobbed up and down like that of a satisfied agama lizard when he heard her say exactly what had been on his mind the moment he checked the monitoring devices.

"We are on the same page, goddess," Dr Sullivan said, forgetting that she had warned him not to call her that in the presence of others, however a sharp look from Kathleen reminded him of his error and he instantly threw her an apologetic look.

"I must say your team did an awesome job in the surgical process and I’m grateful for that."

"It is what we should do, Doc," Dr Sullivan corrected himself this time around. "There is no need to praise us," he added dismissively.

"Good morning Dr Rosse." Greeted one of the doctors who finally noticed Steffan’s presence beside him after Kathleen finished addressing them.

Everyone’s attention was drawn to the person who had entered the room in the heat of the lecture from Kathleen.

Steffan was forced to drag his wide eyed gaze from Kathleen’s figure to respond to the greeting. "Good morning everyone," he said casually.

The others returned his greeting normally but he only got a curt nod from Kathleen in acknowledgment as if he was a stranger whom she had never met.

His poor heart that he had been trying to piece together for close to a month was instantly shattered again by that singular action.

While the rest returned to their discussion, his mind was filled with the new revelation that had just unfolded right before his very eyes.

From the very first time he stepped into the room and heard Kathleen speaking, to when Dr Sullivan unconsciously addressed her as "goddess* and the brief exchange between them which looked as if Kathleen was warning Dr Sullivan to be careful, he arrived at a startling conclusion. ’Kathleen was Dr Janice!’

She has been close to him all these while and he had no idea.

No wonder he felt something familiar about her the whole time when they had worked together in the theater as they operated on the Mayor’s mother a few weeks ago.

Then she had worn a mask, thus the other doctors did not know that she was Dr Janice, but luckily for him, Dr Sullivan had specially confided in him that Dr Janice would be leading the team in the operation.

His first shock was when an outstanding figure showed up in the theater from the dressing room with a mask that somehow failed to conceal the young beauty hidden behind it.

He had always thought that Dr Janice would be an elderly woman in her fifties or sixties, and never expected her to be a young lady.

But what he didn’t realize then was that she was the same person as the one his heart pined for every second of the day.

Now when faced with this reality, he suddenly felt angry and embarrassed at the same time.

He was angry because his so-called bosom friend for years kept this important information from him despite knowing that his most earnest desire and wish was to see the world renowned Dr Janice even if it was for once in this life.

Shawn had known all along who Dr Janice was yet failed to reveal it to him.

"Shawn, you are indeed heartless. You couldn’t even grant me this one wish knowing how important it was to me. Not only do you have the woman of my dreams all to yourself, but you also have my idol."

"How do you expect me to live with this cruel reality for the rest of my life?" Steffan bemoaned his terrible fate.

At that moment as he stared at Shawn with an embittered look, he felt like removing the oxygen mask on Shawn’s face and giving him a fierce blow on his provoking handsome face.

He even had an inexplicable wish that Shawn never woke up from that bed, that the estimated time of thirty minutes for him to regain consciousness turns to thirty decades.

By then he would have been long married to Kathleen and probably had grandchildren with her.

"Dr Steffan, what do you think?"

He subconsciously turned in the direction of the voice that sounded from beside him.

"Sorry, I didn’t get what you said." He tried to readjust his mood as he replied to Dr Sullivan who had a complicated look on his face as he stared at him.

"Never mind, I’ll ask Dr Martin to handle it," Dr Sullivan said with a wave of the hand.