THE FORGOTTEN HEIRESS-Chapter 44: Step Out If You Cannot Keep Quiet

Shawn suddenly realized that his mother didn’t know that Kathleen was Dr Janice. "She is actually Dr ...."

When Kathleen sensed that Shawn was about to reveal her other identity, she nudged Shawn, earning herself a curious frown from him.

From her eye movements and the slight shake of her head, he understood she didn’t want his mother to know she was Dr Janice.

Joanne, who was oblivious of their brief exchange, was still mocking. "Doctor what? Why can’t you complete it?" she jeered.

As far as she was concerned, Kathleen was a big joke. There was no way she was going to believe that Kathleen was even a real doctor that should be taken seriously, so her next words were even more vicious.

"How can a lousy medicine dispenser at that poor pharmaceutical company she worked at, before disappearing, metamorphose into a doctor that can treat rare diseases that even the best doctors in the country have no clue about?"

"I might as well be called a surgeon too." She waved her hands dismissively. "Please say something else my dear."

Shawn gazed down at his mother helplessly for a moment before reaching out to Kathleen. "Come with me Kathleen." He made to take her hand again but Kathleen pulled it back and asked him to lead the way.

She didn’t want to have too much physical contact with him. Shawn halted, looked at her for a split second, a deep scowl on his face, then silently led the way down the long corridor.

Old Madam Hudson’s room was no longer on the first floor as Kathleen remembered but has been moved to the left wing of the mansion probably because the layout there was more serene and suitable for a sick person.

They finally arrived at the left wing of the manor. It was designed in such a way that it was facing a small beach and had several other rooms connected to it.

The living room was small and cozy compared to the one in the main building. Although it wasn’t as elaborately decorated like the one in the main building, yet all the furnishings were exquisite.

A large family portrait hung on the wall which was painted a light shade of green. One could easily see the little beach whenever the windows were opened and a cool sea breeze would blow in, making people feel refreshed and rejuvenated.

After they stepped into the room, Kathleen saw a small figure lying listlessly on the bed.

She approached the bed, saw that her cheeks had already sunken in and was moved to tears when she saw how emaciated old Mrs Hudson had become.

She was the only person, apart from Shawn who showed her love in the whole of Hudson’s family during the time she was married to Shawn.

"Grandma," she called out gently, but received no reply.

"She has been like that for the past three months and the situation has been deteriorating each day," came Shawn’s solemn reply. "Yesterday, she had a crisis

and was rushed to the hospital for resuscitation."

Taking a seat beside her bed, Kathleen took her wrist to monitor the activities of her pulse inorder to diagnose her actual condition.

She concentrated on reading her pulse and soon arrived at a conclusion.

"Her condition is rather serious but thankfully, not beyond redemption."

Shawn exhaled a deep breath he wasn’t aware he was holding. "Thank goodness."

"Any further delay would have been disastrous though, as some of her internal organs are already seriously affected."

Kathleen didn’t mean to scare them but needed to give them the complete picture of the situation.

"Why are you still stating the obvious. We already know that her condition is critical, so please cut to the chase and stop wasting our time by putting us in unnecessary suspense."

Shawn’s hands balled into a tight fist by his side and he growled in a guttural voice, "Mom!"

Not only Kathleen but even Joanne was terrified at the emotion packed in just that one word.

She wasn’t one to be easily intimidated, but Shawn’s tone just now was full of warning and the last thing she needed was a fallout with her own son, so Joanne decided to back down for the meantime.

Shawn’s eyes were shut as he tried to quell the surge of anger. "I’m sorry about my mother," he apologized to Kathleen after calming himself down.

"So, what’s the problem with my Nana?"

Kathleen was quiet for a few seconds and looked deep into Shawn’s eyes, all she could see was deep concern for his grandmother.

"The symptoms are similar to Multicentric Castleman disease but we need to carry out a lymph node biopsy and other tests to confirm the particular type," she finally said.

"For now, I will have to commence treatment without delay." She stepped away from the bed to where her medical kit was. From it, she brought out some needles she will be using for the acupuncture and proceeded to disinfect them.

"Don’t tell me you want to use all those needles on her. Are you trying to exert revenge on the Hudson family by murdering her?" Joanne, who had been quietly watching Kathleen after Shawn’s warning, was scared when she saw several long needles on the table and couldn’t help but cry out.

"This place is getting too noisy." At this stage Kathleen didn’t need to be polite any more.

"Step out if you cannot keep quiet." There was a commanding tone to her words that made it difficult to refute and as expected everywhere went quiet.

She didn’t want any disturbances at this point because in acupuncture treatment, speed and precision were very important which can only be achieved through full concentration.

When she was about to start she asked Shawn to take his mother out and also excuse them as she needed to undress the patient.

Joanne wanted to object of course, but was silenced by Shawn’s warning gaze.

With the help of the maid assigned to Old Madam Hudson, Kathleen undressed her and started the treatment.

About an hour thirty minutes later, she was done and called for Shawn to come in.

Shawn was about to say something when Kathleen’s phone rang. She saw it was Eleanor and mistakenly clicked on the speaker icon while answering the call.

"Mommy, when are you coming back? You promised you’ll take us out after you’re done with your work and it’s already so late." A silvery voice full of complaints spilled over from the ear piece into the silent room.