Chapter 211 Like Being Pushed From Behind
Looking at the video, Grace could estimate the car was moving at seventy to eighty miles per hour.
For intersections like this, the speed limit was typically forty to sixty mph.
The man said, "There's no speed camera there."
Grace replied, "So just because there's no camera, you think you can speed? How did you even get your license? There are city speed limits, and you were driving that fast. You should slow down when crossing a crosswalk."
The man squinted, "You're just trying to scam money out of me, aren't you?"
"Scam money?" Grace shot back, "What money do you have for me to scam?"
The man thought she was flaunting her wealth and got irritated, "Then why don't you just let me go? Tell the police right now that you don't need money, that you don't want me to pay compensation!"
Grace said, "I don't want your money, I want you to take responsibility! If it's not your fault, I won't blame you. But if you're responsible, then you need to own up to it! You're a man—are you really going to have less integrity than me, a woman?"
The man's face went pale.
His mother got agitated, "How dare you talk like that?"
Grace was even more annoyed, "Get this straight—your son hit someone, I didn't hit your son! Why are you yelling at me like you have the moral high ground? Don't you have any decency?"
The woman retorted, "I have no decency, but you do, is that it?"
The traffic officer suddenly shouted, "Stop arguing!"
He had Grace look at the screen again, having slowed the video down, "Look here, look at this little boy. It seems like someone pushed him from behind, into the middle of the road."
Grace looked closely.
The officer wondered aloud, "Could it have been the little girl who pushed him?"
Grace said, "Impossible. Look at her hand position—she was trying to grab him, not push him."
The officer continued analyzing, "Could the two children have been fighting, pulling and shoving each other by the roadside?"
Since the surveillance couldn't see the sidewalk area, they could only analyze from the limited footage available.
Grace said, "Both children are well-behaved. They wouldn't fight."
The officer said, "I just reviewed your statement. You said this little girl is from foster care, but you haven't completed the adoption paperwork yet? And this boy is your ex-husband's son, so... maybe the two children were having some kind of scuffle privately, pushing and shoving by the roadside..."
Grace fell silent.
She didn't believe Lily would bully Liam or fight with him.
Lily desperately wanted to stay with her, but Grace didn't think she was a calculating, scheming little girl who would resort to anything.
The officer asked again, "Are the two children awake?"
Grace shook her head, "One is awake, the other hasn't completely stabilized yet. She just got transferred to the ICU."
The woman became nervous upon hearing this, "Oh my, the ICU costs a lot per day, doesn't it? My cousin was in the ICU last year—a week cost tens of thousands of dollars!"
Grace had had enough, "What are you implying? Have I said a single word about you paying compensation since I walked in here?"
Was money all this family cared about?
When lives were at stake, could everything be measured in dollars?
She had money.
As long as Liam and Lily were safe, she was willing to pay any price.
After watching the video and getting a general understanding, the officer said they'd need to wait for both children to wake up before they could reconstruct exactly what happened.
For now, everything was just speculation and not entirely accurate.
Having signed the accident report and unwilling to continue arguing with the Thomas family at the station, Grace left quickly.
It was getting late.
She went home first.
As soon as she opened the door, Max ran to the entryway.
He had just received a call from Alexander, learning that Liam and Lily had been in an accident and were at the hospital, but he hadn't been told exactly what had happened.
Max was nervous, and seeing Grace return, he was about to ask urgently when he noticed her complexion was terrible—completely drained of color.
"Mom, what's wrong?"
Grace said, "I'm a bit tired. I need to sit down first."
Having donated 500cc of blood plus not eating dinner, she was anemic.
Max could see she was showing signs of anemia, so he quickly helped her to the sofa, saying, "Mom, wait here for a moment."
He went to the kitchen and quickly heated up a glass of milk, then fetched some iron supplements from Grace's room.
These were what Grace took after her period to replenish her blood—they were very effective.
Grace drank the milk and took the supplements. Max heard her stomach rumbling, so he reheated the dinner he had made earlier in the microwave and brought it to the dining table.
"Mom, eat something first."
"Alright."
Grace was touched by Max's thoughtfulness.
She sat at the dining table, eating while telling Max what had happened.
Max's brow furrowed after hearing it, "Is Liam awake?"
Grace said, "Liam is awake and should be fine, but Lily is seriously injured."
Max asked, "How did this happen?"
He wished he had gone out with them.
With him there, he wouldn't have let this happen to Liam and Lily.
Grace said, "I need to go back to the hospital to take care of Liam. If Lily needs more blood transfusions, I want to donate more for her."
Max said, "Mom, don't push yourself too hard."
Grace replied, "Max, you don't understand. A few hundred more milliliters from me might not matter much, but Lily could die without it."
Max nodded thoughtfully after hearing this.
He asked, "Can they use my blood? If your blood type is RH-negative AB, could mine be RH-negative AB too?"
Grace said, "We'd have to ask the doctor about that. If it's possible... if you're willing to help save Lily, that would be wonderful."
She naturally felt protective of Max, knowing he wasn't particularly eager to donate blood. He was a somewhat cold child who was only gentle with her. Apart from her, Max maintained an indifferent attitude toward most people.
Previously, he had been the same way toward Liam, though now that their relationship had improved, things were different.
He was just worried about her and didn't want her to have more blood drawn, so he wanted to take her place.
After Grace finished eating and washed the dishes, she took Max to the hospital.
It was late at night.
Lily was still in the ICU under observation. Samantha had already accompanied Mary home, but William and Alexander were still there.
Seeing Grace, William's expression shifted, but noticing she had brought Max, he held back his words—after all, he was the grandfather and didn't want to leave a bad impression on his grandson.
Alexander said, "It's so late. I'm here watching over Liam—you don't need to stay at the hospital."
Grace asked, "Has Liam woken up?"
Alexander replied, "He woke up, drank some water, ate some applesauce, then fell back asleep. He said his head was dizzy."
Liam had also asked about Lily. Alexander, afraid he'd worry, had told him Lily was out of danger so he could rest easy.
In reality, the doctor had only given a conservative assessment—Lily's condition was still critical.