A Spoonful of Sugar: Don't Beg for Love

Professor Miles nodded. He knew about this and had reminded Julian before.

"Then how do we know that you're only checking to see if there are surveillance devices in our phones and not stealing our personal information?" Julian sneered. "I'm afraid we might've gone from one kidnapper to another."

The person in charge of welcoming them smiled when he heard the words, and then explained bluntly, "In a sense, we saved you only because you happened to have been captured along with your master, no because we needed you. If you don't believe in us, you can get out of the car now. However, any electronic equipment that hasn't been inspected won't be allowed to come with us."

"You-!"

"Please do understand the position that we're in."

Julian looked at Rickard.

'Such a blunt warning is obviously something that Rickard would say. He would only pretend to be calm and magnanimous in front of others, but in fact, he looks down on me deep down. This was already the case when I was living in the Duvals. He was always on the top, while Hesper and I were just troublesome and inferior people who were brought back by Mr. Duval Sr. because of his sympathy. Deep down, Rickard has never thought highly of us.'

"Okay, Julian." Professor Miles could also see that Julian and Rickard had some old grudges, but he never liked to get involved in any form of love and hatred. In his world, only freedom and money could get his attention. "Hand your phone over to them. Mr. Duval has already rescued us, and we're in his hands now. Why would he need to turn to such petty tricks?"

Julian pursed his lips in silence and only handed his phone over after a while.

"The patient's leg injuries are very serious. So if you can, it'd be better for you to start treating her tomorrow."

Julian and Professor Miles handed over their cell phones, and the jammer in the car was then turned on. Only then did Rickard take out Hesper's file and a photo of her legs out of his suitcase, and handed them to Professor Miles. "Her injuries were caused by a fall from a great height almost five years ago."

"A fall?" Julian scoffed.

Rickard glared at him and then looked at Professor Miles again. "You told me before that these can be treated, but I also know that her current condition is way worse than before. I wonder..."

"It can be cured." Professor Miles took the documents from Rickard's hands, and his hair, which had not been taken care of for a long time, looked a little unkempt. "Your timing is really just right. If anything were to happen to these legs again, it'd be too late for me to do anything."

Hearing this, Rickard breathed a sigh of relief, and continued, "She may not be very cooperative during your treatment... I'll briefly tell you about the situation when the time comes. Just make sure that you'll heal her leg, please."

"She might not cooperate?" Professor Miles looked at some recent cases and clicked his tongue twice. "She's indeed not very cooperative. These pictures show me that our patient isn't even thinking about keeping her legs. They're already so serious and she's still not using a wheelchair. She even has the guts to take up vigorous exercise?"

Rickard frowned.

'Sure enough, just as I thought, Hesper hasn't been using her legs for anything healthy during her time in Fredonia.'

"If the patient doesn't cooperate, it might be difficult for me to heal her, but what I can guarantee is that I can heal these legs. I've been out here treating people for so many years, and I rely on my reputation to make a living."