Credence raised his hand and massaged his stiff neck. He held that posture for a long time as he stared at the white wall that was connected to the delivery room. His neck was as stiff as a board. It felt numb, sore, and was quite painful.
But the pain was nothing to him. He could tolerate it.
But on this day, the strain from the gruesome rehabilitation training had begun to spread from his arms to his thighs, torso, and gradually, his entire body.
It felt like his muscles were being stabbed with a knife. It was so painful that he, a man who used to train in the special forces, almost couldn’t bear it.
It was especially painful now that he was standing firmly beside Dorothy as they waited for Belle’s bone marrow transplant surgery to end. At 6:30 in the morning, he forced Jonathan to inject him with a stimulant. It was an extremely strong one that could revert his body back to a normal state for a short period of time.
However, there were certain rules to follow for the body to fully recover. Haste makes waste!
As of now, he would get cold very easily. His muscles were in great pain. It felt as though they were being pierced by needles. The side effects from the stimulant had appeared.
He simply gritted his teeth, as he withstood the pain.
In his life, everything that wasn’t related to a life or death situation wasn’t important to him. It was all just a little bit of pain.
Credence took a deep breath and stared at the wall for over an hour. After listening to Jonathan’s concerns, he turned around and spoke in a hoarse voice, “I’ll take it. I can bear the consequences.”
“Bear? Bear it? How much do you think you can manage? Credence, this injection isn’t a joke. Do you have a death wish? You can be a real lunatic once you’ve gone insane!”
Jonathan glared at the man in the wheelchair, he didn’t agree to his madness. Ever since he fell in love with Dorothy, he wasn’t the same anymore.
Whenever something happened to Dorothy, he would lose his mind and turn insane, it was very frightening. He would give up his life for her.
He could have sat in his wheelchair and waited for Dorothy to come out of the operating room, instead he wanted to take another jab to appear strong. He stood by Dorothy’s side as though he wasn’t injured. He walked into the operating room and insisted on staying with her.
Credence moved his body forward, his face looked cold and weary. As he suppressed the pain, his tall body leaned back into his wheelchair as he looked at Jonathan. Although he looked pained, he stayed silent and maintained an air of superiority. The invisible pressure surrounding him left Jonathan nearly breathless.
Having been brothers for so many years, Jonathan understood that he couldn’t stop Credence from running towards his own demise. He simply raised his eyebrows and snorted, “Credence, you can do whatever the f*ck you want. Besides, once you’ve made up your mind, Marv and I can’t stop you!”
“I know my body. I won’t die. At most, I’ll only suffer some more pain.”
Credence’s eyes were calm, his face looked blank. It was to show Jonathan that he should give him a second dose of the stimulant.
There was no other way around it. Jonathan could only shake his head dejectedly. He opened up the medical kit that had been prepared and took out some syringes and drugs. After mixing the drugs, he injected a syringe into it and swabbed Credence’s slender arm with some rubbing alcohol. He inserted the syringe and emptied its contents into Credence’s body.
His medical skills and knowledge were terrible, but it was adequate enough for him to administer drugs into a person’s body.
Back when he was about 20 years old, in order to find some excitement, Jonathan would occasionally follow Credence and Marvin on some of their anti-drug missions.
During these missions, both sides used real bullets. It was inevitable that soldiers would end up with all manner of injuries. Because of that, Jonathan was sent out onto the field to bandage their comrades’ wounds and inject them with medication. Over time, he became very skilled, his movements were swift and gentle. He wasn’t that much worse than the nurses who were trained at a standard nursing school.
“Credence, you will feel the side effects almost immediately. I can get you standing in front of Dorothy in minutes, you’ll be able to walk confidently. But the faster the drug takes effect, the harsher the side effects will be on your body. I’m being very serious here. After Dorothy has successfully delivered your baby, you must immediately return to the ward and receive a very comprehensive treatment from the attending doctor!”
As he talked, Jonathan started sniffing. His eyes turned red. “I heard that this drug was specially imported from Monticello, it has a special effect on a man’s masculinity. I don’t know how true that is. Anyway, I haven’t used it. I’m such a strong man already, I don’t need to use such harmful things at all!”
“Alright, that’s enough nonsense. I appreciate your concern! Remember, don’t tell my wife about any of this.”
As soon as the needle pricked him, Credence stood up firmly, fully energized. His limp body was now standing extremely straight. When he spoke, his eyes looked cold and dark, but there was affection in his eyes.
He intended to stand beside Dorothy as she laid on the operating table. He planned to look strong and perfectly fit so that he can comfort her and help her prepare for the delivery of their baby. He would do this so that she would have the courage to go through with it and to fight for her life if it came to it.
Since he could stand up again, Credence didn’t waste any time. He ran into the bathroom. Supporting himself on the basin with one hand, he held a shaver with his right hand. Facing the mirror, he carefully shaved off his stubble that had been growing over the past week.
After he cleaned up, he changed into a black tailored suit and quickly walked over to the ward under Jonathan’s surprised gaze. Once he reached the corridor, he ran as fast as a whirlwind. He nearly flew to the door of the delivery room, reached out, and pushed the two heavy doors open. He quickly walked into the outer chamber to change into a sterilized suit and entered the delivery room.
Germaine was standing by the door at the time. Within a blink of an eye, a black blur rushed by her face and quickly made its way into the delivery room. It happened so quickly she didn’t see anything.
After being in a daze for some time, she slowly came back to her senses. She turned her stiff head and asked Juelz, who was quite flustered, “Juelz, the man who just… ran in a flash, that was Credence, wasn’t it? That’s strange. Isn’t he injured? He was still in a wheelchair a few days ago. It seemed like there was something wrong with his legs and he couldn’t stand up. But he was able to stand up and wait for Belle with Dory this morning. It’s even stranger now that he can run, isn’t it? Or did he take some kind of drug?”
Juelz lowered his head and pretended to clear his throat to hide the shock in his eyes. A few seconds, he quickly shook his head. “I don’t think it’s pills or anything like that. It’s more like some locally sourced illegal drug. It’s good enough to push the human body to its absolute limit for a short amount of time.”
If he were to say that he wasn’t shocked, then he’d be lying.
Although there were a lot of people in the corridor, none of them said anything. It was completely quiet. Occasionally, Dorothy’s screams reached them from the delivery room. Her screams tore Juelz’s heart apart.
He desperately wanted to rush in, hold Dorothy’s hands and tell her not to be afraid. He wanted to tell her that he was willing to stay by her side and to take care of her. He also wanted to give her courage and encouragement.
But when he turned his head and saw Yezoo trembling, he felt his impulses drain out as though a pail of cold water was poured over his head. It extinguished those shameful thoughts of his.
Among everyone present, he was the last person to be Dorothy’s companion.
He started to hate Credence once again.
Since that b*stard wasn’t injured and couldn’t stand up, he could go inside and gently take care of Dorothy. He could be a shoulder for her to lie on and someone she could trust.
But Juelz didn’t expect Credence to be able to do this for Dorothy. He would rather take two consecutive doses of the drug. He would rather endure the side effects that may cause irreversible damage to his body and rush into the delivery room to accompany her without any hesitation. He wanted to accompany her through the pain that shouldn’t have been only hers to bear.
Juelz was finally willing to admit defeat. In the face of Credence, who was willing to die for Dorothy, he lost. He had thoroughly, utterly, lost.
Credence had won Dorothy’s heart, what about him?
His heart was gouged out, with flesh and blood flowing out. What should he use to fill that hole?
Juelz quietly retreated to a remote corner. He lit a cigarette and puffed away.
At first, Germaine wanted to secretly tell Juelz about the things she had heard in the bathroom earlier, she wanted to see how he would react. But, when she turned around and saw him looking so sad and disappointed, she understood what he was going through. She could understand him, so she gave up the idea of telling him about Ysabelle.
…
The atmosphere in the delivery room was already depressing enough, but as Credence slowly stepped in, the atmosphere got even more depressing.
She hissed, “Hiss, hiss, ah…”
Dorothy was awakened by overwhelming abdominal pain. Her thin body bent over and firmly grasped the operating table. She breathed through the pain, and her face was coated in cold sweat!