An Understated Dominance - Chapter 268

“Ms. Nicholson, did you come here because you need something from me?” Dustin asked, sensing the tension in the room.

“What, do I need a reason to come here?” Dahlia shot back, glaring at him.

“I didn’t mean it like that.” He looked a bit uncomfortable. “Let’s just get to the point. You know Dr. Rowan Cross, right? I want to ask him to examine someone.”

Dahlia didn’t beat around the bush. “Examine someone?”

Dustin sized her up and checked her pulse. Confused, he said, “You’re fine, aside from being a little stressed. You just need to manage your emotions and diet.”

“You’re the one who’s out of whack!” Dahlia glared at him again, her face flushing. “I’m not the one needing an exam–it’s for a relative who fainted yesterday. She has a headache, but the hospital said she’s okay. She wanted Dr. Cross to check her just to be sure.”

“I see.” Dustin nodded. “But there’s no need to bother Dr. Cross for something so simple. I can handle it.”

“You?” Dahlia looked at him doubtfully. “Can you really?”

“My medical center has been around for years. If I didn’t know what I was doing, it would’ve closed down by now,” Dustin said confidently.

Dahlia was speechless. She had never seen any patients at his shabby medical center; how was that any different from being closed?

“If you don’t trust me, we can forget it,” Dustin shrugged.

“Who said I don’t trust you? You’re in!” Dahlia declared firmly. “I’ll be honest–this relative of mine is important. If you can help her, it could really boost your career. You won’t have to rely on anyone else anymore when that happens.” She shot a pointed look at Natasha.

“What’s wrong with relying on others?”

“Someone?” Natasha puffed out her chest. “At least my darling can rely on someone. Not everyone has that ability!”

Dahlia scoffed, “No decent man would want to be at a woman’s beck and call. That would be humiliating!”

“What use is a man if he can’t serve a woman? He can’t entertain himself, can he?” Natasha rolled her eyes.

“Why, you—” Dahlia was frustrated. How could Natasha be so rude? She had no sense of being ladylike at all!

“Alright, that’s enough. We need to focus on your relative’s health. Let’s go to the hospital,” Dustin said quickly when he saw the tension rising between the two women. He gently pulled Dahlia out of the medical center.

“Darling, come back soon, okay? I’ll be waiting for you!” Natasha called out, giving him a flirtatious smile and blowing him a kiss. She also undid another button on her shirt to show more cleavage. Dustin found himself staring.

“Hmph!” Dahlia stepped on his foot and shot him a warning look. He smiled awkwardly and looked away. “Get in the car!” She pushed him into the car and drove off quickly.

“Do you really think you can compete with me, you flat-chested preteen?” Natasha smirked, glancing down at her ample chest, proud of what she had.

Half an hour later, in one of the wards at East Swinton Hospital…

“My head hurts! I feel like it’s going to split in half!” Jane lay in a hospital bed, clutching her head and occasionally hitting it lightly to ease the pain.

“Mom, just hang in there a little longer. Dr. Cross will be here soon,” Dakota reassured her. No one knew what had happened—Jane had suddenly fainted the day before and had been complaining about a headache since she woke up. They had done all the tests…

The doctors ran several tests, but the results showed that nothing was wrong with Jane.

“I shouldn’t have come to this awful place. We’ve had problem after problem since we got here. First, someone crashed into our car. Then I got slapped for no reason. Now, I have this awful headache. What did I do to deserve this?” Jane looked miserable.

“We’ll go home as soon as you’re feeling better; we’re never coming back to this dump again!” Dakota said. She then turned to Florence, who stood at the entrance of the ward, and shouted, “What’s taking so long? When is Dr. Cross coming? Tell him to hurry!”

“Of course, of course,” Florence replied quickly. She rushed out of the ward, took out her phone, and was about to call when she saw Dahlia and Dustin walking toward her. “Dahlia, you’re finally here!” she exclaimed, her face lighting up. “Your aunt’s headache is getting worse, and the doctors here aren’t doing anything. Dr. Cross is our only hope! Where is he?” She looked around but couldn’t see him.

Dahlia shook her head. “He’s busy and can’t come right now.”

“What? What are we going to do?” Florence was shocked. Had they been waiting for nothing?

“Dustin has some medical knowledge. Maybe he can help?” Dahlia suggested.

“Him?” Florence frowned. “Have you lost your mind? How can he possibly know anything about treating a patient? What if something goes wrong?”

“He helped Granddad when he was poisoned, remember? I believe in him,” Dahlia said firmly. She had misunderstood Dustin before, but this time, she chose to trust him completely.

“Stop this nonsense! Your grandfather only survived because of Dr. Cross’s Hexanavir; it had nothing to do with him!” Florence scowled, looking disdainful.

“Do you have a better idea, then?” Dahlia asked.

Florence was at a loss for words.

“Since we’re out of ideas, why don’t we let Dustin give it a try? We can think of something else if it doesn’t work,” Dahlia said firmly.

“Rhys, you’d better be careful. Don’t try to pass off anything as a cure!” Florence warned. The two patients in the ward were very important to her, and if anything went wrong, she would be in serious trouble.

“Let’s check on the patient,” Dustin said, not wanting to argue with her.

“Hmph! Come with me!” Florence said as she led Dustin and Dahlia into the ward. As soon as she entered, her confidence faded, and she put on a sweet smile.

“Florence, what took you so long? Where’s Dr. Cross?” Dakota asked, clearly frustrated.

“I’m here!” Florence replied eagerly, waving towards the others behind her. “Look at the doctor we’ve brought!”

“Huh?” Dakota and Jane looked up and gasped, “It’s you?”