Me After Meeting You

“Because your eyes are melancholic.”

‘And you seem hurt’. Of course, her eyes were also brimming with tears, but Ian didn’t want to mention these things; why would he point out her grief for other men if he could help it?

Once Ian took his medicine, Amber’s rounds for the day were done.

She still hadn’t had a successful conversation with him. In the end, it had become another dissection of her feelings. If Elly had bundled herself up securely as a safety measure, then Ian’s safety measure was to equip himself with logic.

As long as he was clear-headed, Amber had never gotten anything out of him, which made her feel like her intellect was of little use.

Metaphorically speaking, she was a little girl climbing a hill with a shovel. And on this hill was a tough wall in the way, preventing her from climbing up any further. Her only option was to slowly scrape away at it with her shovel. The wall was very thick, and the shovel very small, so her progress was minuscule.

Amber felt like she should continue talking about this issue with Nancy, and coincidentally, Nancy ended up coming to see her at around that time. When the head nurse saw Amber, she asked, “You’re back? Professor Nancy was just here. She has something to tell you, so she wanted you to go to the head’s office to find her when you get back.”

After being informed, Amber turned around and headed to the head’s office.

But the head wasn’t there, Nancy was the only one in his office. She was wearing reading glasses, and she was looking at a copy of a patient’s medical records in her hands. When she noticed Amber walking over, she smiled and said, “Have a seat.”

Amber sat down. “What’s the matter, professor?”

Nancy didn’t answer her, and instead started talking about Elly. “I heard that her condition had a breakthrough?”

“Yes.” Upon mentioning Elly, Amber’s feelings instantly improved, and she began describing Elly’s earlier behavior to Nancy in detail, and Nancy listened very seriously. After Amber finished, she smiled at Nancy. Her face was naturally good-natured and kindly, and her smile accentuated those aspects of hers.

But the words that she spoke next chilled Amber’s body to her core.

“I didn’t expect her to have a breakthrough at this time. As your professor, this’ll look like I’m trying to snatch away your contribution.”

“Professor?” Amber was somewhat shocked.

Nancy was still smiling. “But what can I do? Elly’s family has already officially started her transfer proceedings. Tomorrow, she’ll be transferred to my laboratory.”

Amber’s brain seemed to explode; it took her a significant amount of time for her to process this new development.

Nancy looked at her, unable to help herself from laughing. “Alright, this reaction of yours makes me feel like I’ve snatched some precious thing of yours. Don’t worry. Even if she is transferred over, she’ll receive the best treatment. Your hard work hasn’t been for naught.”

“I don’t care about that ….” Amber finally finished processing the news, and her expression slowly calmed. “Professor, who was the patient’s family member that you mentioned?”

“Her birth mother, Madam Kenric.”

Amber ground her teeth in frustration. “As far as I’m aware, she’s been divorced from Mark Brown for many years now. After they lost contact with each other, she should have long since lost custody of Elly ….”

Nancy looked at her, still half-smiling, as if she knew that Amber was going to say something like that. Then, she took out a piece of paper from her bag and placed it in front of her.

Amber didn’t look at the contents. The first thing that caught her eye was the signature on the bottom, Mark Brown’s. Only then did she read the neat, calligraphed words above it. “I hope that you can take on the responsibility of being a mother and take good care of her ….”

Nancy looked straight at Amber as she explained, “Madam Kenric came to me two days ago, and I told her what you said. Then yesterday, she handed this paper to me. She knows about the relationship between us, and she also wanted me to tell you something: back then, she was forced to give up this daughter of hers, and because of this, she feels like the only way she can make up for it is to transfer Elly into the best possible hospital and have her receive even better treatment.”

Then, Nancy waved her hands, motioning for Amber to continue listening to her. “Of course, Presbiterian’s psychiatry department is already considered one of the best in the nation, and since you’re my favorite student, I’ve never doubted your ability. Initially, I truly wasn’t planning on taking her.”Têxt © NôvelDrama.Org.

Amber felt like someone had shoved a block of ice into her heart, and that the cold was seeping into her flesh and piercing her bones. “Then why did you agree to take her in, Professor?”

Nancy fell silent, taking some time to gather her thoughts before finally sighing.

Amber smiled coldly at her reaction. “Let me guess, professor. You’ve always taken care of me, and fundamentally speaking, there’s not much of a difference between me treating her and you treating her, unless ….” When Amber reached this point in her thoughts, she couldn’t stop her eyes from reddening, and she took a couple of breaths to gather her wits before continuing. “She gave you an offer you couldn’t refuse.”

And just what could be so irresistible as to tempt Nancy? As a student, Amber was perfectly aware. It was this awareness that made her sad, that made her seethe with rage.

Nancy remained calm as she looked at Amber. “I invited you to join my research laboratory after you graduated, but you refused. At that time, I already knew that you didn’t support my research that focused on standardizing treatment for clinical depression.

I didn’t say anything back then after all, everyone has their own aspirations and no one can force someone else to do anything. But Amber, you have to understand, not all doctors are as smart as you. The majority of them aren’t willing to give their all, like you are, to help their patients recover.

Rather, they prefer to subject their patients to standardized treatment, which means removing all other disruptions at the very beginning and then performing a routine set of targeted tasks specific to the illness … As such, researching a better standardized procedure for treating clinical depression, the leading mental illness in the modern world, is an aspiration that I don’t think is wrong.”

“I also don’t think that it’s wrong either,” Amber replied. “In fact, I approve of such research, but scientific research is filled with cruelty and coldheartedness. I’m not suitable for such an environment, and I respect those who can work in one.

But, professor, Elly different. Her mind has been damaged far too deeply, and her ability to trust much too impaired. She’s not a suitable test subject.”