Chapter 90 — Bianca Wants to Dig a Hole and Bury Herself
With just a single thought, William remembered that Frank was also in the hospital right now.
"Good thing my luck isn't bad," he muttered to himself.
"If Fiona and Bianca had run into each other, I'd be completely screwed."
Only after Fiona's figure had completely disappeared did William finally turn and walk into the hospital.
---
Bianca's Office
Bianca sat at her desk, holding a patient file and reading it carefully.
As a doctor, her professional competence was unquestionable.
Before pancreatic cancer utterly crushed her spirit, Bianca had always been a kind-hearted girl—
a rare beam of light in the grim world of Shameless.
Unfortunately, in the original story, she would eventually die of her illness, leaving the world with regret.
But now, with William's intervention, her fate had already changed.
"What are you reading so seriously?"
William came up behind her, wrapped an arm around her waist, and kissed her on the cheek.
"Oh! My God! William—you scared me!"
Startled, Bianca lightly punched his chest with her fist, more reflex than force.
"Stop it! Let go already! What if someone sees us?"
She nervously glanced toward the office door.
"Relax," William said calmly.
"I'll know if someone's coming."
With his heightened senses, any approaching footsteps would never escape his notice.
He cupped Bianca's face and leaned in, kissing her.
Bianca hesitated for a moment—but the very danger of being discovered only made her heart race faster.
The thrill made it impossible for her to pull away.
"So… what did you come here for today?" she asked softly, before leaning in again.
"I'm planning to write a research report on the psychological states of deaf-mute patients," William said casually.
"You know—school assignment."
As he spoke, his fingers had already begun unbuttoning the front of her white coat.
"Stop! This is a hospital—we can't do this here!"
Bianca protested verbally, yet tilted her head back, offering him a better angle to kiss her neck.
"Someone's coming."
Suddenly, William's ears caught the sound of footsteps approaching.
He immediately stepped back.
Bianca didn't doubt him for a second and hurriedly straightened her slightly disheveled clothes.
Just as she finished fixing herself, the office door opened.
The head nurse stepped inside.
"Dr. Samson—"
Bianca froze for a split second…
then forced herself to look perfectly professional.
Halfway through her sentence, the head nurse noticed William was also in the room.
She immediately broke into a knowing, auntie-style grin and teased,
"I didn't interrupt anything important, did I?"
"Hey!" Bianca shot her a glare.
"All right, all right," William chuckled, reading the room and deciding it was time to make a clean exit.
"Looks like you've got real work to do. I won't get in the way. By the way—where are the deaf-mute patients usually treated around here?"
Bianca paused for a moment before answering,
"Ah… I forgot to tell you earlier. There aren't any deaf-mute patients in this hospital. Most of them don't come to places like this for treatment. You'd probably have better luck checking a specialized rehabilitation center for people with hearing impairments."
"Got it."
William made an OK gesture and left the office.
Once he was gone, Bianca cleared her throat and said seriously,
"He just has a school assignment and needed my help. It's not what you're thinking."
That kind of the-lady-doth-protest-too-much explanation fooled absolutely no one.
The head nurse glanced at her and smiled.
"Dr. Samson, your collar is inside out. Be more careful next time. Oh—and there's a patient in Zone C who needs you."
With that, she turned and left.
The moment the office door closed and Bianca was finally alone, she covered her face with both hands and buried it between her knees.
If there were a hole in the floor right now, she would have crawled into it and buried herself without hesitation.
---
After leaving the hospital, William didn't bother going to any so-called rehabilitation center.
Too much trouble.
After thinking it over, he realized that many people with disabilities ended up doing the most menial jobs at the bottom of society.
Maybe Svetlana would know someone.
After all, many deaf-mute people—having no other skills—ended up working as prostitutes.
Someone like Sophia, a blind woman who could play the piano and support herself, was actually a rare exception among people with disabilities.
With that thought, William pulled out a red pack of Marlboros, lit one, and dialed Svetlana's number.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
At the moment, Svetlana was standing outside a building, smoking.
This was a place she had temporarily rented as a distribution hub.
"What's up, boss?" she asked.
"Svetlana," William said,
"Do you know anyone from your hometown—deaf or mute—who's currently in Chicago?"
It took her a moment to process what he meant.
"Boss… why are you looking for people like that?" she asked cautiously.
"I do know a few."
Ever since she'd seen the long whip William kept, Svetlana had already decided her boss had… special tastes.
Now it seemed her perverted boss might also be into people with disabilities.
William, of course, had no idea her misunderstanding had deepened yet again.
If he did, he'd probably feel compelled to give her a serious lecture on what it meant to be a model young man from a great nation.
"Good," William said.
"I'll come over in a bit. Send me the address, and take me to see them."
Svetlana hesitated briefly, then gave him her current location.
After hanging up, she gripped the small phone William had given her, her emotions tangled.
What if one day the boss sets his sights on me… and decides to chop off my arms and legs?
She'd dealt with plenty of psychopaths before.
She knew that people operating deep in the underground world—especially arms dealers—tended to be far more twisted the more dangerous their business was.
Shivering, she forced herself to stop thinking about it.
Better to save up money as fast as possible.
If things went bad, maybe she could buy her life back with cash.
In the games played by powerful people, someone as insignificant as her was nothing more than a disposable chess piece.
Ending up dead in some dumpster one day wouldn't be surprising at all.
She flicked away her cigarette and went back inside.
---
Half an hour later, William stood in front of an old, weathered brick building.
He pressed the doorbell.
A moment later, the wooden door creaked open.
"Boss," Svetlana said, dressed in a fur coat of indeterminate origin, heavy makeup on her face.
She looked less like a prostitute than before—but still carried the air of someone steeped in the night world.
"Want to come in and sit for a bit?" she asked.
"Or should we go straight to finding people?"
"No need," William replied.
"Take me straight there."
He didn't know when Jasmine might make her move.
The sooner he handled this, the better.
If Jasmine dragged Fiona out tonight, shattered her psychological defenses, and successfully pulled her into the life—
Then all of William's previous efforts would be wasted.
Once Fiona completely let go of her boundaries for money, she would be much harder to "train."
That was something William absolutely would not allow.
Seeing how urgent he was, Svetlana didn't say anything more.
She stepped outside and locked the door behind her.
For convenience, she had rented this place right next to the red-light district.
Their destination was only a few minutes away on foot.
"You rented this place yourself?" William asked.
"Yes… boss."
Her voice trembled slightly.
She'd rented it on her own initiative—using money from the goods.
William said nothing, simply looking at her quietly.
That silence made her even more uneasy.
After a long pause, she took a deep breath.
"I'll find a way to make up the money. Please… don't kill me."
Her voice was shaking badly now.
Even as someone from a so-called "warrior nation," she had no confidence when facing an underground arms dealer.
"…Huh?" William said, genuinely confused.
"What are you talking about?"