Chapter 148 Thirteen Stabs
Cassidy's expression went ice cold.
Her mother hesitated before asking, "Cassie, why are you asking about this? Do those students have something to do with it? Did they hurt your brother too?"
Cassidy laughed bitterly. "How else would those gang members find Bentley without someone showing them the way? And all those kids had bad blood with Bentley, especially that Daniel guy. Who knows if he's the one who hired them?"
Her mother frowned in confusion. "What kind of grudge could he have to do something this vicious?"
Cassidy gritted her teeth. "He's Arabella's brother."
Her mother's face changed.
She knew about Arabella—Anthony's ex-wife. When Cassie had first gotten together with Anthony, they hadn't even been divorced yet.
"Did Arabella do this out of spite? Did she tell that kid to hurt your brother?" Her mother glared at Cassidy venomously. "This is all your fault! You should've handled things cleanly. Now your brother's paying for your mess!"
Cassidy shot her a look. "What's done is done. What good does yelling at me do? You think I feel good about what happened to Bentley?"
Her eyes went cold, her voice seething. "Don't worry. They hurt Bentley, and I won't let them get away with it."
Her mother looked at her sourly. "What can you even do? Anthony doesn't treat you like he used to. What can you get from him now? If you ask me, you're useless. Can't even hold onto a man!"
Cassidy was already on edge. Anthony suddenly divorcing her plus Bentley's attack had pushed her to her breaking point. Now her mother was piling on blame. She didn't want to get into it right now. Taking a deep breath, she said, "I have my ways. Just stay out of it."
She turned and walked to the other end of the corridor.
Her mother glared after her. Little bitch. Really thinks she's hot shit now, doesn't even respect her own mother.
Once Bentley recovered, she'd definitely teach that girl a lesson!
The atmosphere in the corridor was tense, but inside the operating room it was even more intense. When Bentley had arrived, not only had his genitals been severed, but the nerves in both calves had been sliced and large chunks of flesh had been carved from his buttocks. Because he'd arrived too late, he'd gone into shock from blood loss.
Not being able to reattach his penis was actually the least of their concerns. The massive amount of flesh removed from his buttocks—deep enough to expose bone—meant catastrophic blood loss. Even with emergency transfusions, the leg surgery was incredibly risky.
The operation lasted over five hours. When it finally ended, the lead surgeon let out a long breath of relief, his hands trembling with exhaustion.
"Thank God... we saved him..."
A nurse came over to help remove his mask and gloves. His face underneath was drenched in sweat.
"We couldn't save his genitals, but at least we saved both legs."
The nurse was also emotional. "The surgery was a success. I'll go tell the family right now."
When the patient had arrived, his family had been falling apart. Now that they'd saved his life, they'd surely be relieved.
The nurse jogged out of the operating room. "Bentley's family? Where's Bentley's family?"
Bentley's father Kevin, who'd been sitting silently in the corner, his mother Caroline who'd been waiting anxiously, and Cassidy standing by the window all rushed over at once.
"Nurse, how's my son?" Caroline asked urgently.
The nurse smiled. "You can relax now. The surgery was successful. The patient is out of danger. We'll be moving him to a regular room soon. I wanted to let you know so you wouldn't worry."
Hearing this, Kevin and Caroline exchanged delighted looks. In their minds, "surgery was successful" meant Bentley was completely fine—his genitals reattached, his legs okay.
They both exhaled heavily in relief, thanking the nurse profusely. Caroline even pulled out a wad of cash from her pocket and tried to slip it to the nurse away from the cameras. "Just a little token of our appreciation. Thank you so much."
The nurse quickly pushed it away and stepped back. "Oh no, I can't! We have strict policies. I need to get back."
Caroline watched her hurry back into the operating room, then pocketed the money and said to Kevin, "The doctors and nurses at this hospital are really good."
She'd thought there was no hope, but they'd pulled it off.
Thank God. Her son was still a real man.
Kevin and Cassidy were also relieved. The three of them rushed back to wait at the recovery room.
After Bentley was transferred back, he remained unconscious. Caroline lifted the blanket to check between his legs, then froze in confusion. "Honey, didn't they say they reattached everything? Why is it bandaged like this?"
Kevin walked over and looked. The wound was wrapped so tightly in gauze that there wasn't even a hint of protrusion.
If they'd reattached it, would it be wrapped like this?
Seeing Kevin's expression change, Caroline seemed to realize something. She rushed out screaming, "Nurse! Nurse! Doctor!"
The doctor and nurses had just finished the surgery and had barely gotten a few minutes of rest when they heard Caroline's screaming. Thinking something had gone wrong with Bentley, they immediately dropped their water and rushed over.
Caroline grabbed the doctor's arm and dragged him to the bedside. "Doctor, you said the surgery was successful! So why is my son wrapped up like this? Did you reattach it or not?"
Hearing this, the doctor realized there'd been a miscommunication. He quickly explained, "The successful surgery refers to the patient being out of danger and in stable condition. We reconnected the severed nerves in his legs—he'll be able to walk normally in the future. However, his genitals had been detached from his body for too long and had lost viability. They couldn't be reattached."
Caroline's eyes went red as she roared, "What? You said everything went smoothly! Why didn't you tell us from the start that you couldn't reattach his penis? You gave us hope just to crush it! What kind of doctor are you?"
The doctor tried to calm her down. "I understand how you feel, but we did everything we could. Saving the patient's legs was the best possible outcome."
Caroline went wild, lunging at him with her fists. "You're all liars! Just trying to scam us for medical fees! Liars! You said you reattached it!"
The doctor hadn't expected this reaction. Alarmed, he backed away while trying to reason with her. "Please calm down. If there's an issue, we can—"
A nurse ran out to call security.
Kevin seemed calmer than Caroline. He pulled her back and asked the doctor, "What do you mean when you say my son can walk normally?"
The doctor quickly explained, "Although we reconnected the leg nerves, too much time had passed and some functionality was compromised. The patient won't be able to do intense physical activity in the future. No running or jumping, but normal walking should be fine."
Both Kevin and Caroline's bodies shook at these words.
Cassidy covered her mouth, unable to believe what she was hearing. Bentley couldn't run or jump anymore?
"But... but my Bentley was training for sports! How can he get into college if he can't run or jump?" Caroline collapsed to the floor, slapping her thighs and wailing. "My poor boy, what did he do to deserve this? What are we going to do?"
Cassidy was also stunned by this news.
Bentley was the Sanders family's entire hope. With Bentley ruined, what would happen to their family? He was the only hope for her and her parents. Now what?
Caroline sat on the floor sobbing.
The doctor looked at them with sympathy and explained, "There was a miscommunication when the nurse conveyed the information. I'm very sorry, but when the patient arrived, he'd already lost so much blood. Saving his life and his legs really was the result of our best efforts."
But none of Bentley's three family members acknowledged his words.
Nobody saw where Kevin pulled the knife from. The next second, his face dark with rage, he lunged at the doctor!
Blood sprayed everywhere. The doctor struggled to say something, but Kevin had him by the throat, stabbing the knife into his body again and again. He had no way to fight back...
"You ruined my son! He was fine when we brought him in! How could you not reattach it? You money-grubbing doctor! You want to steal our money? I'll make sure you don't live to spend it!"
Caroline watched this happen in shock, unable to process it...
When Cassidy came to her senses, she rushed to pull her father back. Unlike her parents, she'd had an education. If her father killed the doctor, he'd pay with his life!
Medical staff around them risked their own safety to pull Kevin off, but the doctor lying in a pool of blood had already stopped breathing...
The police arrived quickly. The doctor was rushed to emergency surgery.
Kevin was arrested on the spot. Even as he was being dragged away, he kept screaming, "You evil bastards working together! You hurt my boy! You destroyed my family! My son-in-law is the president of Watson Group! So what if I killed someone? What are you gonna do to me?"
Cassidy's tears streamed down her face. She couldn't hold back anymore and shouted at him, "Stop it! Just stop!"
Kevin was hauled away still cursing. Caroline slumped to the floor, staring blankly at the pool of blood.
The blood was quickly cleaned up. After a while, news came from the emergency room—the doctor had died despite resuscitation efforts.
The hospital's director came to speak with them. "Dr. Hamilton is dead. If his family finds out you're still here at the hospital, they won't let this go. My suggestion is that you arrange a transfer as soon as possible."
Caroline looked helplessly at Cassidy, waiting for her to make the call.
Cassidy wiped the tears from her face and bowed deeply to the director, looking utterly devastated. "I'm so sorry about Dr. Hamilton. None of us expected my father to be so impulsive. Please tell Dr. Hamilton's family that we're truly sorry."
Hearing this, the director's grim expression softened slightly. He nodded without saying anything.
Cassidy said with difficulty, "The thing is, we don't know how to arrange a transfer. My brother's condition is still serious. If we go to an unsuitable hospital, I'm worried it'll affect his recovery. Could you please help us arrange something?"
The director had been furious and looking for an excuse to kick them out, but seeing how reasonable Cassidy was being, he didn't press further. He waved dismissively. "I'll handle it."
Within half an hour, an ambulance transferred them to another hospital for treatment.
Caroline grabbed Cassidy's arm, asking nervously, "Cassie, what about your dad? He killed someone. Anthony can save him, right?"
Cassidy had calmed down considerably by now. The moment her father was taken away, she'd become strangely detached, as if she were an outsider watching this whole mess unfold—none of it connected to her anymore.
Now she looked at her mother coldly. "Like you said—he killed someone. How would you save that?"
Caroline insisted, "But Anthony has money! Pay them off, or pull some strings. He's a businessman running such a big operation. He can definitely help. Cassie, call him!"
At this point, Cassidy didn't have the energy to keep hiding it. She said flatly, "He won't help. We're already divorced."
"What?" Caroline shrieked, staring at her in disbelief. "How could you get divorced? Did you do something wrong? Did you upset him? How can you be so stupid?"
Cassidy said nothing. Like she'd had a choice in whether to divorce or not? Anthony had blocked all her exits. If it weren't for Bentley and her family, she wouldn't have let him have such a hold on her.
Caroline suddenly seemed to remember something and asked urgently, "What about the assets? You get half the marital property in a divorce, right? You can use that money to help Bentley..."
Cassidy's lips moved. "There are no assets. I left with nothing."
"What?" Caroline's voice turned shrill. She slapped Cassidy across the face in frustration. "Nothing? You married him, cleaned his house, took care of everything—why should you leave with nothing? How can you be so stupid? You let him use you for a year for free! Cassidy, you're pathetic!"
Cassidy held her cheek and suddenly laughed.
It was like coming full circle. The words Arabella's stepmother had screamed outside the Watson family gates were now being hurled at her by her own mother.
Back then, she'd watched Arabella's humiliation from a distance, feeling like a winner. She'd stolen Arabella's man so easily and trampled her underfoot.
But now, that same man had discarded her just as easily, and her own mother was calling her a fool who'd been used.
How fucking ironic!
A flash of crazed resentment crossed her eyes. This was all because of Arabella! If it weren't for Arabella, Anthony wouldn't have divorced her, and Bentley wouldn't have suffered like this!
She'd destroyed their entire family, and Arabella thought she could just walk away untouched? Dream on!
Meanwhile, in the corridor of the previous hospital, Victor stood with a cigarette between his fingers, taking drag after furious drag.
Smoke wreathed around him. At his feet lay a pile of cigarette butts. He finished the one in his hand and reached for the pack, only to find it empty.
He wasn't a smoker. Normally a pack lasted him a week or two. But today he couldn't control himself—he'd burned through an entire pack, and his hands were still shaking.
Dr. Hamilton had died right in front of him. Died in his hands. He'd used every ounce of his skill and still couldn't save him. It was just like that night three years ago, watching that young doctor slip away bit by bit while he stood there helpless...
Dr. Hamilton had been his student, his protégé, someone he'd trained personally. Still so young. That surgery had been flawless—five grueling hours where he'd saved a life and preserved the patient's legs. And then he'd been stabbed thirteen times by the patient's family and died in the very room where he'd just saved that patient's life.
Victor's chest ached with grief, frustration, and rage.
As a doctor, he knew he shouldn't feel this way. But he couldn't help thinking some people deserved to die. If he'd known how this would end, why the hell had he saved that animal?
But there was nothing he could do. Three years ago when that young doctor had fallen, he'd been powerless. Three years later, his star pupil had fallen, and he was still powerless. Beyond having the director kick that family out, he could do nothing.
Victor ran his hands through his hair in despair. Just then, footsteps sounded behind him—the sharp click of dress shoes on tile. The footsteps stopped at his back, and a low voice spoke.
"Victor. I think we need to talk."