Chapter 420 Lack of Fatherly Love Ever Since Young
Courtney turned around and stared at the female soldier whose face was fully covered with paint for quite some time.
“Tess?”
It was not rare to see female soldiers in the Falcon Special Forces Team. In fact, it was not the first time the soldiers came to their rescue station. Nevertheless, Courtney had never expected that among the sea of people, she would come across an acquaintance at this place and at this point in time.
Tessa immediately gave Courtney a big hug and was at a loss for words for a long while.
Just then, Chris lifted the drape and stretched his head out from the operating room behind Courtney. Seeing the scene, he blurted, “It’s me who saved—excuse me, Dr. Hunter, what are you doing here? Quickly go check on the operation next door.”
Startled, Courtney cast a glance at Tessa in resignation and was about to leave when Tessa grabbed her.
She then gave Courtney an assuring look and turned to Chris. “I’m consulting this doctor about my comrade’s situation. How is he now?”
Hearing that, Chris quickly walked up with a smug look.
“I’ve treated the soldier inside the tent without any delay. He’s fine now and will come around after the anesthetics wear off. I’m the doctor in charge of this patient and the chief doctor at this rescue station too. My name is Chris Browne.”
Tessa nodded coldly. “Thanks, Dr. Browne.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure to take care of this soldier personally.”
“Didn’t you say he’s fine now?” Tessa glanced at Chris as her eyes darkened. “The other two hostages which we’ve rescued are shot. Dr. Browne, since you’re the most skillful doctor at this rescue station, why didn’t you treat the other two hostages first?”
Chris was stunned and beads of cold sweat gathered at his forehead as Tessa questioned him. Then, he stuttered, “I’m thinking the soldier should be prioritized to get treated since he’s serving the country at the risk of his life, so I—”
Tessa interrupted Chris impudently and said coldly, “We’re just serving the people. At the warzone, the one and only priority of the members of Falcon Special Forces Team is to protect the people. We’re at the border, and the patients inside are our citizens, so why is it that we should be prioritized?”
After saying that, she shot a cold glare at Chris. “I urge you to waste no time anymore and quickly go check on the patients next door. Since my comrade is fine already, leaving me and this doctor here is enough.”
Dumbfounded, Chris did not dare to refute anymore and could only dejectedly lead the other two nurses to the operating room next door. With that, Courtney was left standing at the spot. Thereafter, she and Tessa smiled at each other.
“Let’s go in and talk. There are many mosquitoes here.”
“Sure.”
The operating room was filled with the odor of disinfectant besides a faint bloody smell. This was a common smell at the rescue station. The soldier was still in a coma lying on the bed as the anesthetics had not worn off yet.
Tessa heaved a sigh of relief after checking on his wound. It was only then did she sit across Courtney and start chatting with her.
“I’ve never thought that I’ll meet you here.” Tessa sounded emotional. “Before I received this task and came here, Oliver and I actually talked about you. We were saying that we’ve not met you for several years and were wondering where you are and what you are doing now. Little did I expect that you’d become a doctor.”
“It’s actually my original profession.” Courtney smiled. “That is what I studied during university, but I dropped out later due to some accidents. So, I started picking it up again after leaving Melrose City.”
“Are you a surgeon?”
“Nope.” Courtney shook her head. “It’ll take way longer for a surgeon to be equipped; they have to study for at least seven to eight years. My profession is child psychology.”
“But why did you come here?” Tessa wore a puzzled expression. “It seems like the warzone rescue stations do not have a high demand for psychologists.”
“I’m taking it as a stepping stone.” Courtney did not conceal her motive but merely lowered her voice. “As long as I stay at the border rescue station for a certain amount of time, I’ll be able to apply for domestic internships after going back to the country.”
“Are you planning to come back?”
“Yeah. I need to go back for a period of time.” Courtney knew what Tessa was thinking, so she quickly clarified, “Tina needs at least a year of treatment back in the country, and that’s the duration of my internship upon graduation too. If I wish to accompany her without affecting my work, I have to apply to go back to the country for this internship. In fact, this opportunity is also given to me by my instructor.”
Tessa nodded thoughtfully as her eyes turned slightly sullen. “I thought it’s because of…” Before completing the sentence, she glanced at Courtney again. “Forget about it. Let’s drop this topic. The plane to pick us up will only arrive tomorrow, so let’s have a good chat tonight. Oliver has always missed you.”
Courtney smiled. “Sure.”
The night was as humid and warm as always. The two chest operations lasted the whole night until the next morning while Courtney and Tessa stayed by the soldier whose anesthetic had yet to wear off and chatted throughout the night.
Courtney had been very busy during these five years after she had left Melrose City. Her time was so occupied that she did not have the energy to think about all that had happened in the past, so she had gradually let it go.
Naturally, Courtney did not tell Tessa that she actually gave birth to a child back then but merely talked about her busy study schedule as the campus life of a medical student was very packed to the point she could easily spend an entire day in the labs and library from the break of dawn until nightfall.
“So have you been staying in France all these years? Is Tina with you too?”
“She needs to go to school.” Courtney shook her head. “She remains in America all this while, so she’s currently staying in a boarding school.”
In fact, Elijah insisted that Tina stayed with him at the beginning. However, he just got married at that time and was already taking care of Angie, who had no blood relation with him, so it was unfair toward Lilian if he took Tina in again. Toward the end, it was Tina who proposed that she would like to go to a boarding school.
To be frank, Tina was a sensible child to begin with, and she became more mature all of a sudden after leaving Melrose City. She was very considerate toward the others in all matters, so she had settled this issue on her own too without putting Courtney in a difficult spot.
However, Tessa frowned.
“Actually, I think Tina is being too sensitive. She could’ve just stayed with Mr. Grant. After all, Mr. Grant is her father in name. According to the local laws, he is obligated to take care of her. Even the child who was saved from the remote island is staying with Mr. Grant, so why can’t she? She has even called Mr. Grant ‘Dad’ for more than five years!”
“That was before. Later, she was made aware that Elijah is not her biological father. She might be slightly oversensitive, but there’s nothing wrong with that. If Elijah has his own children in the future, she will more or less be awkward staying with the family.”
“What about that child then?” Tessa suddenly changed the topic.
Hearing that, Courtney immediately knew she was referring to Angie. “Angie chose to follow Elijah. Back then, it was Elijah who rescued her from the water. Later when we left Melrose City, I asked for her preference, and she chose to follow Elijah.”
“That’s weird.” Tessa furrowed her brows. “It’s you who brought her out from the remote island, but she insisted on following Elijah. How can that be?”
Courtney replied in deep thoughts, “That’s reasonable too since it’s Elijah who saved her after all. Also, he has been taking care of her all this while after we went to Melrose City. To think about it, she is indeed closer to Elijah than me. This child has lacked fatherly love ever since young, so I guess she deems Elijah as her father.”
