Leah Sinclair felt a twinge of guilt under Josh Sterling’s steady gaze. His gaze lingered on her face for a few seconds before shifting to the medicine box in her hand.
"You got the medicine?" he asked gently.
Leah looked up and offered a faint smile. "I was just about to take it to the director to discuss the next step of the treatment."
"I’ll go with you," Josh said.
On the way to the director’s office, Leah asked, "Josh, why are you at the hospital?"
"A friend of mine is being discharged today. I was helping him with the paperwork and thought I’d drop by to see your uncle." He paused. "I thought I heard earlier that your husband is relocating Selene Shaw’s father’s grave?"
Leah froze for a moment, her lips twitching into a forced smile. "Yeah, that’s right. Their families are old friends. Uncle Shaw had no sons, so they need a man to preside over the ceremony." She hadn’t known a thing about this beforehand and was purely making it up based on what Diana Carter had said.
"I don’t know if I’ve been abroad too long and forgotten the local customs," Josh said, sounding as though he were genuinely asking for guidance. "But if a family has no sons, shouldn’t a matter like this be handled by the son-in-law?"
Leah’s heart sank. Her fingers curled inward, and she tilted her head up to give him a smile.
"It can’t be helped. Miss Shaw isn’t married, so Kian is doing it as the son of an old family friend."
Josh smiled faintly. "Your husband is certainly generous with his help."
The elevator arrived. Leah breathed a sigh of relief and stepped in first, only to hear him say from behind, "Your uncle is so severely ill. Has Mr. Hawthorne ever come to visit?"
Leah couldn’t keep up the act anymore. She lowered her eyes.
He stepped inside and stood next to her. "Are you going to tell me not to tell your brother again?"
"It would be best... if you didn’t." Leah kept her head bowed. "My brother doesn’t get along with him."
"I know." Josh reached out and pressed the button for their floor.
Leah found it a little strange. She wondered how he knew which floor Director Rowe’s office was on.
Hearing that the P Drug had arrived, Director Rowe was thrilled. He declared that he would immediately organize an expert consultation and switch her uncle’s treatment plan that very afternoon. While Leah was discussing the change in therapy with the director, Josh stood to the side with his arms crossed, his gaze fixed on the medicine box.
"Mrs. Hawthorne, this new drug came just in time!" Director Rowe stood up, speaking with excitement. "A medication this difficult to procure... only Mr. Hawthorne could manage it."
Leah saw hope, and her mood lightened considerably.
"This isn’t the P Drug," Josh suddenly interjected coldly from the side.
Both Leah and Director Rowe froze.
Director Rowe adjusted his glasses. "Mr. Hawthorne procured this himself. There can’t be any mistake."
Josh tapped the drug’s molecular formula on the box with his fingertip. "The molecular formula is wrong."
Leah was taken aback. She picked up the box and glanced at the formula; sure enough, something seemed off. She took out her phone and pulled up some medical literature on the P Drug to compare. Her heart sank like a stone.
"It’s wrong. This isn’t the P Drug," Leah said absentmindedly as she set the box down. "This is the drug used for the control group in the phase three clinical trials. It’s produced by the same company, but it’s not the P Drug."
"What?" Director Rowe was equally shocked. He picked up the box and examined it repeatedly.
"I need to make a call," Leah said. Clutching her phone, she rushed out of the office. She walked briskly to the end of the corridor and dialed Kian Hawthorne’s number with trembling fingers.
The line rang. She waited for him to pick up. If Josh hadn’t pointed it out, they would have almost administered the wrong drug. Given her uncle’s current physical condition, he absolutely couldn’t withstand the consequences of the wrong medication. It would have killed him outright.
The phone rang for a long time before it finally connected. In the background, funeral music was playing.
Leah’s voice trembled slightly, turning icy. "Kian Hawthorne, when you’re lying in a hospital bed waiting for someone to save your life one day, I pray they don’t give you the wrong medicine." Without waiting for his response, she hung up.
The glass window at the end of the corridor reflected her despairing face. Footsteps approached. It was Josh. Leah didn’t dare turn around, afraid he would see her at her most wretched and hopeless moment.
He came to a stop beside her, standing shoulder-to-shoulder as he looked out the window at Florian.
"The flowers are blooming beautifully," he said quietly.
Leah kept her head down, thinking in despair, "Perhaps this spring, Uncle is going to pass away." Unable to hold it back any longer, she covered her face with her hands.
A warm hand rested on the top of her head. It was Josh again.
"I’ve been able to get the real P Drug for a while now," he said calmly.
Leah froze.
"The reason I didn’t bring it to you is because that company requires patients to go to Country A to receive the treatment, and your uncle’s body simply cannot handle a long-haul flight." He handed her a cotton handkerchief.
Leah took it, wiped her face haphazardly, and looked up at him. "Does he absolutely have to fly there in person?"
"Yes. The patient has to be there in person. He would also have to undergo numerous tests, sign documents, and participate in their clinical trials for the new drug."
Leah’s heart sank heavily once more.
"However, I just found out there’s a workaround."
"What workaround?" Leah involuntarily reached out and gripped his sleeve. "Josh, don’t keep me in suspense."
"Go to Indrah," Josh said.
"Indrah?" Leah paused for a second before quickly catching on. "You mean... a generic version?"
He smiled. "Exactly. Even before the P Drug hit the market, a pharmaceutical factory in Indrah beat them to the punch and made a generic copy. The company in Country A is currently preparing to sue them." He raised his wrist to check his watch. "I’ve booked an afternoon flight. I’m going to fly over and take a look."
"I’ll go with you!" Leah said hurriedly.
Josh looked at her. "You want to go too?"
At a critical juncture like this, how could Leah just sit still and wait for news?
"I studied medicine, and I’ve read a lot of literature on the P Drug recently," she said earnestly. "Once we get there, I want to see their pharmaceutical lab for myself.
"This drug is my uncle’s only hope. Nothing can go wrong."
"Alright. We’ll go together." Josh held out his hand. "Give me your ID so I can book your ticket. Call Ash first to let him know."
By the time Leah finished calling her cousin, Josh had already taken care of everything. With only a few hours left before the flight, they had to rush to the consulate for an expedited visa, then head to the airport without a moment’s delay.
Leah realized that Josh seemed to have exceptionally broad connections. A single phone call from him was enough for the consulate to open a green channel. The moment they arrived, the visa officer already had all the paperwork prepared and simply stamped it. But none of that was the most surprising part.
It wasn’t until they arrived at the airport that Leah discovered the "flight" Josh had mentioned was actually a private jet.
"A client lent it to me," Josh said casually.
Leah stared blankly at the luxurious aircraft. "Josh, what kind of funds do you manage? Could it be... sovereign wealth funds?"
He let out a low, deep chuckle. "The sovereign wealth funds of some small countries can indeed be bought and sold."
"...That’s massive business."
Upon boarding the plane, three flight attendants were waiting for them. Each one was remarkably beautiful and impeccably elegant. The chief purser stepped forward and bowed slightly. "Are you Miss Hale’s friend, Mr. Sterling?"
"Miss Hale?" Leah wondered. She glanced at Josh, thinking, "Is she a wealthy female friend of his? What kind of friend would be generous enough to lend out a private jet?"
Josh glanced at her, his lips moving slightly. She quickly averted her gaze.
"I shouldn’t meddle in things that don’t concern me, and I shouldn’t ask questions I have no business asking," she told herself. "As long as we can get the medicine, that’s all that matters."