"Don't rush me! At least give me some time to finish my lunch first!" Tom exclaimed. He gulped, because his stomach was rumbling, and his mouth was producing extra saliva. He could almost taste the meal that was waiting for him. Tom took the food container Duke brought and placed it on the table in front of him. But what he didn't expect was that Duke quickly stopped him.
"Well, you can finish your lunch after taking a look at her wounds! We're in a hurry here. Besides, won't you feel embarrassed with us watching you when you're the only one eating?" Duke couldn't take the risk. What if Tom was unable to take a look at Belinda's wounds after he ate his lunch? After all, he had asked Giselle to put 'extra effort' in preparing Tom's food.
"Are we in a hur --" Not waiting for her to finish her words, Duke hurriedly put a hand over her mouth and stopped her from continuing.
"What are you doing? You got me really confused here. What are you hiding?" Tom looked at the couple, feeling quite confused about their behavior. Why did he suddenly have a bad feeling about this?
"Of course nothing! You know, our wedding ceremony is in a couple of days. Though the wedding planner has helped a lot, there are still a lot of details we need to work out. So we are really busy these days. Definitely in a hurry." Duke didn't even blush as he lied to Tom's face. In fact, every little detail of the wedding ceremony had been taken care of, and all they needed to do was show up. Then, everything would be perfect.
"Really? You're not messing with me?" Tom stared at him, eyes wide. Though Duke tried to reassure him, he still couldn't completely believe him. He still thought there was something that Duke was hiding from him. The trick was figuring out Duke's game, which wasn't easy given Duke's poker face.
"No, why would I do that? You don't believe me? Now, you're just wasting our time." Duke rolled his eyes, feeling a bit annoyed at his question. Why couldn't Tom just trust him and get it over with? Of course he lied. How could he let Tom know the truth?
"Well, it's not my fault that you are smiling all weird today. Remember, you never smile! But ever since you walked into my office, you haven't even stopped smiling once. Can you really blame me for being paranoid?" Tom said, and gestured for Belinda to roll up her sleeve at the same time. And he glanced at Duke from time to time. He still didn't trust Duke. There must be something wrong with all this.
"You must be working too hard. Since when did I ever smile?" Duke coughed, feeling a bit embarrassed. Was he really that obvious?
"Ha? Really?" Tom's brows furrowed. Was he really out of his mind? Were his eyes deceiving him? Maybe he really had worked too hard this morning.
"How are her wounds? Will they completely heal before the wedding day?" The corner of Duke's mouth twitched, and he didn't respond to Tom's question, instead just asked about the wounds on Belinda's body.
"I wish I have better news. These wounds are just starting to heal. It will be great if they heal nicely before the wedding day. But if you also want the scars to be completely gone before your big day, then sorry, I guess that's not possible. I can't really help you right now." The frown on Duke's face deepened. How could he possibly forget that Belinda would be wearing a wedding dress in a couple of days? What was he thinking?
So there's nothing you can do?" Duke looked at Belinda, feeling sorry for her, and also a bit guilty. It was because of him that she had to suffer these injuries. Not only that, now she couldn't even have a perfect wedding day because of this. The wedding day was the most important and special day for women, after all. She would have scars showing right through the wedding dress. It was all his fault.
"Well, I might have something. Edward took a bottle of ointment from me before. Go ask him, see if there's any more of it left. If he hasn't used it all, then Belinda's wounds shouldn't be a problem." Tom smiled, only if Edward was willing to give the ointment to Duke.
"Damn it, why didn't you tell me this earlier? I'll go and ask him right away." Duke was not as sulky as before. He got excited about the news. If there was a way to help Belinda, he was all for it.
"Hold your horses. Don't be too worked up now. I think he used a lot of the ointment when Daisy was hurt before. So I'm really not sure if he has any of it left." Tom hated to break it to him, but he was telling the truth. He didn't want Duke to get his hopes too high, in case he would be disappointed if Edward had used it all.
"Then how about you? You must have some left here, right?" Duke squinted his eyes at him, then looked around his office, as though he could magically find the ointment if he looked hard enough.
"If I really had any left, I would already take it out and apply it to Belinda's wounds. Who do you think I am? I had some in my office before, but when Daisy got hurt, I used it all up, together with some other precious meds I have put a lot of hard work into making. Or Daisy's face wouldn't have healed so nicely like you see today."
It was not easy to completely heal knife wounds which were that deep without any scars. So when the boss asked him to help Daisy and threw him a big check, he didn't even hesitate at all. He had to take the money, okay? It took a lot of money and effort to develop new meds.
"You mean you really don't have any more of that ointment? And you don't have any other way to help?" Duke looked at Tom for a moment, then finally rested his eyes on the wounds on Belinda's body.
"Yes, that's exactly what I mean. I can just write a list of meds for her. And these meds will help her wounds become scars. But if you want the scars to be completely gone in just a few days, I really can't do it right now. Because I have practically used all my meds here, and I haven't had time to develop new meds recently. It takes time and money to reproduce the old medicines as well."
Tom had considered locking himself in his lab and working on the new drugs. But Duke's wedding was this month. He wanted to go, so he put off research and development until next month. Friends and family were a priority to Tom.
"Then why are you wasting our time now? Just quickly write your prescription. I still have to go to Edward's." After Duke said these words, he hurriedly took his phone out and dialed Edward's number.
"I told you, don't rush me! Will you at least give me a break!" Though he said this, he started writing a prescription right away. He didn't have these meds in his office, so they had to go to the pharmacy to get them.
"Hello!" Edward walked out of the bathroom and picked up the phone. "Ah, Duke. Hey, how's it going?" Edward just walked out of the bathroom when his phone rang. He was wondering who would call him at noon. Then he looked down and saw the name on the screen. To his surprise, it was Duke.