Flash Marriage To The Dangerous Billionaire - Chapter 23: Chapter 23

"What?" Clarissa gasped. "Did the pharmacist give the wrong medication? How could anyone be so careless?"
Nurse Ruby shot Hallie a loaded look.
"Dr. Levine, it's the patient you just received. Her son is threatening to hold you responsible. You need to come downstairs now."
Hallie and Clarissa raced downstairs, only to freeze at the scene before them.
The slim elderly woman lay unconscious on the floor, her face ashen, while a doctor was performing chest compressions.
The portly man with the gold chain was wailing to the crowd.
" Mentville Medical Center is a den of corruption! They hired an incompetent, immoral doctor and put her in a position of trust. And now my mother is dying because of it!"
Several would-be patients turned away after seeing such a scene.
"Hallie!"
Raymond rushed over and questioned her in whispers, "What did you prescribe? If we can't bring her back in five minutes, your career will be finished. Do you understand?"
"Mr. Roth, there must be a misunderstanding," Clarissa interjected. "Hallie has served here for three years without so much as a single professional error."
Clarissa didn't believe Hallie would make a stupid mistake like that.
"I saw what I saw. She was the attending physician. The prescription matches her handwriting, and we cross-checked with her medical records. This isn't about a pharmacy error."
Raymond had always held high hopes for Hallie. When the incident occurred, he was reluctant to believe the allegations. However, his investigation later yielded results that left him deeply disheartened.
Hallie stared at the elder woman's bluish face—she looked beyond rescue. Her heart thumped wildly, her temples pulsing in sync. Even her fingers spasmed uncontrollably..
If this elder woman couldn't be saved, Hallie would be branded a murderer. Her career would crumble, and her life as she knew it would end.
"How is this possible? Dr. Levine is one of our top professionals. How on earth could she have made such a basic error?"
Some nurses murmured at the side.
"Who knows? Everyone makes mistakes, but prescribing the wrong medication... That's a matter of professional integrity," one of the nurses sighed. "Such a pity."
"Pity?"
Carla interjected, eyeing the nurses condescendingly.
"Don't you have work to do? Even have time to feel sorry for others? Hallie has always behaved like a frigid recluse, preferring to maintain emotional distance with anyone. The hospital never should have hired someone like her. Look where it's gotten us."
"Yes, Dr. Harvey," the nurses forced smiles, silently cursing Carla's hypocrisy.
Unlike Carla, who made a career out of backstabbing, Hallie was cold but never devious. She aired grievances openly and never resorted to belittling others.
"Get back to work. All you do is laze around. No wonder you're still receptionists,"
Carla waved her hands, shooing them away like pests.
Powerless to confront her, the nurses slunk off.
Carla wondered, 'What unique qualities does Hallie have that make others defend her even in such dire circumstances?'
She clenched her fists and turned around, only to find Hallie standing there, pale, trembling. Carla's red lips curled into a smug grin.
'Now let's see if she's shameless enough to keep working here after all this,' Carla muttered in her heart.
"Raymond, could you please show me my prescription?" Hallie demanded.
Hallie wanted to pinpoint which medication went wrong. She revisited every detail in her mind, certain that not a single word in her prescription had been miswritten.
"What good will that do now?" Raymond snapped.
"Go back to your office before you provoke the family further. The hospital can't afford this public relations disaster."
"No, I won't hide. That would be an admission of guilt."
Brushing past Clarissa and Raymond, Hallie shouldered through the crowd toward the enraged son.
"Excuse me, may I see the prescription you were given?"
At the sight of Hallie, the man's fury exploded. His eyes bloodshot, he lunged forward, his fists raised.
The vigilant security guard beside her swiftly seized the man by the arm.
"You filthy bitch! You fucked your way into this job, and now you'll pay with your life!" he howled, completely unhinged. All he wanted was violent vengeance, not a shred of thought for reasoning with Hallie.
His body thrashed wildly, but the security guard's grip held firm.
Suddenly, the man's eyes flicked to a flowerpot on the ground. He snatched it up without hesitation and hurled it straight at Hallie.
Seeing the flying flowerpot, Hallie tried to dodge, but her legs felt anchored in lead.
A sickening thud—the harsh crunch of ceramic shattering against flesh—reverberated through the lobby. The sound alone was enough to freeze blood.
Hallie flinched, but the pain never came.
"Nel-Nelson?" She stammered, staring in shock at the broad back shielding her.
His back throbbed painfully, and Nelson sucked in a sharp breath through clenched teeth, his narrowed eyes fixing on Hallie.
Even with his eyelids drooping gently, the contour of his profile traced an impossibly sleek, graceful arc.
"Standing there like a sitting duck, have you lost your mind?" Nelson's tone was as biting as ever.
Hallie pressed her lips together, silent.
"When the human body experiences intense or overwhelming stimuli in a short span, it triggers a freeze response. This is a genetic survival mechanism," she explained tersely.
Nelson gave a dry laugh. "Do you really think now's the time for a professional lesson?"
"She's awake! The patient's awake!" The doctor, in the midst of the rescue, suddenly exclaimed in relief.
Miraculously, the elder woman had been resuscitated within the critical five-minute window.
"Mom!" The middle-aged man dashed over, overjoyed. "How are you feeling? Are you okay?"
The elder woman managed a weak smile, still too frail to speak. Two nurses came over and assisted her onto a gurney.
Though the crisis had passed, Hallie's ordeal was far from over.
The man rounded on her, eyes blazing. "Bitch! How could a doctor of such incompetence be allowed to practice here, putting lives at grave risk? I'll expose this scandal. You'll never work in medicine again!"
Hallie knew the words she said were useless now, but her priority was to figure out what exactly went wrong.
"You have every right to pursue this, but first, let me see the prescription."