Mickey still had feelings for Ian. In fact, quite a lot. So, after taking a hard drag on his cigarette, he immediately added, "Ian, listen to me. Don't call the police. You can't handle the consequences."
"Then what should I do?" Ian was completely out of ideas and asked.
Mickey took another puff, thought for a moment, and said, "Look at your family. Who is constantly getting screwed over? Not Carl. You don't seem to be getting targeted either. Debbie doesn't count..."
"When you put it that way, the only unlucky ones are really Frank, Fiona, and Lip."
"Think about why that is."
"No one goes after Fiona and the others for no reason... Fiona and the others do have a lot of issues. If you figure out the reason, maybe you can end this."
Pausing for a moment, Mickey added, "I'll find a chance to ask Dexter... Anyway, remember this: don't call the cops. You guys absolutely cannot afford to mess with Dexter."
Ian took a deep breath. "Okay... thanks."
"Mm," Mickey responded.
Ian didn't know what else to say and fell silent.
One second, two seconds, three seconds...
Mickey sighed silently and hung up the phone.
Listening to the dial tone, Ian put away his phone, looked up at the sky, and then turned to walk back into the house.
It was really late now.
Fiona didn't have the energy to say anything more. After comforting Debbie for a bit, she left the Gallagher house with Jimmy to go back to sleep.
Shortly after, the lights in the Gallagher house went out, and the noise gradually faded away.
---
Having been busy all day at Dex Shooting Range, then returning to the precinct to get ready to clock out, only to deal with a pile of bullshit, Tony finally arrived home at this late hour.
As a result, he walked into the basement and looked.
What the fck? The computer and camera are all gone??
Earlier, it was just his phone and keys that were stolen, but now, his damn house had been burglarized too???
Stealing from a cop?
Tony was furious. Just as Dexter had said, he immediately thought of Jimmy.
'Damn Jimmy! Just you wait!' The more Tony thought about it, the angrier he got, gritting his teeth as he spoke. At the same time, he didn't hesitate to finalize his plan to start tracking Jimmy starting tomorrow.
---
In the blink of an eye, it was a new day.
After a day of noise and chaos, the South Side of Chicago had returned to its usual rhythm.
Under the scorching sun, the crowd of shameless folks went about their business as usual, life continuing as always.
8:00 AM.
Dex Western Restaurant opened on time. The manager, Alice, wearing a small suit with bright eyes, reached out and opened the shop door.
At the same time.
It was the same at Dex Shooting Range. Mickey had taken Carl over early, opened the main gate, and announced the official opening of the shooting range... although, at this time, there were no customers waiting outside. But it didn't matter; they had collected so much money yesterday anyway.
2120 North Wallace Street.
The main structure of Carl's new house was basically finished. Starting today, it was entering the later stages of construction.
Tommy, leading a group of undocumented workers, was already busy at work.
Fiona, who had slept early last night and thus woke up early, held a cup of coffee and looked at Carl's new house as she walked toward the Gallagher house.
The fact was, this new house was built beautifully. It could even be said to be out of place in this neighborhood.
Looking at it, it would be a lie to say Fiona wasn't envious.
While envious, Fiona hated Dexter even more. Turning her head to look at Dexter's house, her eyes held a very clear look of resentment.
Several people in the Gallagher house were awake.
Without Fiona in charge of making breakfast, Lip had to busy himself in the kitchen. Although, he couldn't produce anything good. The reason was simple: this had always been Fiona's job, and Lip wasn't good at it.
Because he wasn't good at it, Lip's busyness appeared quite frantic and clumsy.
Debbie was anxious to go to the hospital and couldn't stand watching anymore, so she got up to help.
Fiona walked in holding her coffee and saw this scene. To be honest, she felt a little guilty and subconsciously wanted to help, but she held back in an instant.
Fiona didn't want to return to this kind of life. She opened her mouth and greeted them, "Good morning."
"Good morning," Lip glanced at Fiona and replied calmly. "Want something to eat?"
Fiona sat casually at the dining table. "I already ate."
Hearing this, Lip didn't say more.
At this time, Debbie couldn't hold back and asked Fiona, "We're going to the hospital to see Frank later, right?"
Truth be told.
Hearing the name Frank, Fiona instinctively got a headache immediately.
Accompanying this headache, Fiona looked at Debbie with complicated eyes and nodded. "Yeah."
Getting confirmation, Debbie, who was really worried Fiona might change her mind, instantly breathed a sigh of relief, a slight smile appearing on her face.
Lip glanced at Debbie, feeling helpless about this but unable to say anything, so he said nothing to her and spoke to Fiona instead. "Speaking of Frank, let's take this opportunity to talk."
"I thought about it repeatedly last night. I'm basically certain that all the crap our family has encountered over the past year or so has absolutely everything to do with Dexter!"
"We have to fight back!"
"We are Gallaghers. That bastard Dexter must pay the price!"
Lip said decisively in one breath.
After listening.
Ian, who was sitting at the table waiting for breakfast, instantly felt his heart tighten and was a bit scared.
Ian didn't want to die, so he hurriedly spoke up. "Fight back? How do we fight back? If Dexter really did it, and he's that ruthless, how do we fight him?"
"What if we provoke him and he hires someone to kill us all?"
As soon as these words came out.
Fiona's expression changed dramatically. She was terrified and said subconsciously, "Then go to the police. Dexter has done so many things; the police should be able to find some clues."
Lip actually didn't want to go to the police because he felt that letting the police just arrest Dexter was too easy on him. Lip wanted to take revenge fiercely, to make Dexter suffer.
"Dexter is rich. Going to the police is useless. We have to figure out a way ourselves!" Lip said with a firm tone.
Having lived together for so many years, Ian was very familiar with Lip. Hearing this tone, he knew things were going to go south and got even more anxious. "Lip, don't mess around. I don't want to be dragged down by you and die for no reason."
Hearing this, Lip found it inconceivable. "Ian, what's wrong with you? Our family is being targeted, and this is your attitude?"
Ian looked at Lip with a serious face. "I thought a lot last night too. Regardless of who sawed off Frank's right arm, this person isn't targeting our family. They are targeting Frank, you, and Fiona."
"Carl, Debbie, Liam, and I haven't really had anything happen to us."
"After realizing this, I was thinking, why?"
"Lip, why do you think that is?"
Hearing this.
Lip: "????"
Fiona's face darkened further, and immediately, following Ian's words, her thoughts raced.
Lip was unhappy and started arguing with Ian. "Even if that's true, so what? We are a family..."
Ian argued based on reason.
The two brothers argued non-stop.
Fiona didn't make a sound. Thinking and thinking, she realized Ian seemed to be right. Thus, her heart started pounding rapidly.
The person who sawed off Frank's right arm was targeting her, Lip, and Frank?
Targeting that scumbag Frank was reasonable enough...
But why target her and Lip?
This was a very interesting question.
Unfortunately, those involved are often blind to the truth. Fiona couldn't figure it out.
Time flew by.
This breakfast at the Gallagher house was reasonably spent in an argument. Of course, no conclusion was reached.
At this time, Debbie couldn't wait any longer and urged everyone to go to the hospital.
Ten minutes later, the group of Gallaghers squeezed into Jimmy's car and moved toward the hospital in a mighty procession.
---
The Hospital.
Frank Gallagher woke up.
Instantly, excruciating pain surged into Frank's brain, frantically stimulating his nerves.
"Ah! Ah!! It hurts~~" Frank immediately started wailing.
The nurse outside the ward heard it and walked in unhurriedly. Looking at Frank wailing, she smiled faintly.
The reason for this wasn't that the nurse was psychologically twisted, but because Frank's scumbag life story had already circulated widely among the nurses.
This nurse knew what kind of scumbag Frank was and was quite happy to see Frank suffer.
"Give me drugs!!" Frank saw the nurse and hurriedly screamed desperately, "I need drugs!!"
The nurse ignored him and walked straight to the instruments by the bed, checking the various data on them.
Only when the data was normal did the nurse speak to Frank, in a strictly business-like manner. "You're missing an arm; it's normal for it to hurt. Stop screaming. I'll go call the doctor."
The pain was truly too intense. Frank had already cried from the pain. Hearing this and feeling the nurse's indifference, he immediately shouted angrily, "I need meds! Give me meds quickly! What is wrong with you? I'm dying of pain! Are you a nurse or the Grim Reaper..."
Frank kept yelling.
The nurse ignored him, turned around, and walked out cheerfully.
Just as she walked out of the ward, the nurse ran into Fiona and the others.
Fiona and the rest clearly heard Frank's calls.
Debbie's heart broke listening to it. Her eyes reddened, and she hurriedly bypassed the nurse and rushed into the ward. "Daddy, are you okay..."
Although Fiona couldn't bear it somewhat either, she wasn't as frantic. "Nurse, how is Frank? Is he okay?"
The nurse nodded and said, still in a business-like manner, "He looks okay for now. I'll go call the doctor and let the doctor talk to you."
Frank was a scumbag, so how much better could Frank's children be?
Over the past year or so, Frank's children had intentionally skipped out on quite a few hospital bills.
Knowing this, the nurse naturally didn't have a good temper. After speaking, she didn't even look at Fiona, lifted her foot, and left.
Fiona couldn't stand this attitude. She looked at the nurse's retreating back with an unhappy expression and turned to Jimmy. "What kind of attitude is that?"
Hearing this, Jimmy wanted to laugh but held it back, thinking to himself, 'You guys never pay when you come to the hospital. How can you expect them to have a good attitude?'
"Probably got dumped by a man and is in a bad mood," Jimmy replied casually, indicating he supported Fiona's stance.
Fiona's mood improved a bit. Without saying more, she walked into the ward.
Inside the ward, Frank was still howling like a ghost, shouting that he was in pain and wanted drugs. Although he saw Fiona and the others, he just glanced at them and ignored them.
Facing Frank's attitude, a clear look of disgust appeared on Fiona's face.
The next second, Fiona's gaze fell on Frank's right shoulder, and she suddenly felt it was laughable.
An arm was gone, and as a result, after Frank woke up, his priority was just drugs...
What was the point of such a Frank being alive?
Fiona looked at Debbie again, feeling very sorry for her. She took a silent deep breath and spoke to Frank. "Frank, who did this to you?"
Hearing this, Frank paused his howling, looked at Fiona, and shook his head. "I don't know. I don't even know how I got here. Help me out, go find the doctor to get me some meds. I'm dying of pain."
Fiona ignored that. "You didn't see who did it at all?"
"No!" Frank got impatient and shouted, "Go get me meds!"
Lip's temper flared up instantly. "This matters! Did you not see the person's face, or did you not see anyone at all?"
"Didn't see anyone," Frank's patience with Lip was actually okay; he didn't dare yell too much.
Lip refused to give up and continued to question him.
Jimmy watched this farce quietly and suddenly thought of what Dexter had said on the phone earlier. After thinking about it, he decided to go check it out. He found a chance to make up an excuse to Fiona and walked away quickly.
...
The hospital's ER was busy almost twenty-four hours a day, always with various patients being brought in.
The doctors and nurses staying in the ER had to jog around most of the time; there was no way to take it slow.
Woo-woo-woo~~~
An ambulance sped in. Several paramedics moved nimbly, and a doctor rushed out...
Jimmy stood by a trash can near the wall, a cigarette dangling from his mouth, looking at that doctor and trying to project himself, imagining he was that doctor...
Thinking about it, good lord, it really was quite thrilling. His adrenaline soared; he was getting a bit fired up.
It was a very strange feeling.
Since getting mixed up with Fiona, Jimmy had been to the ER quite a few times, but before, he had never thought about being an ER doctor or experienced this feeling.
Very interesting.
Jimmy felt excited. His smoking speed increased significantly. In the blink of an eye, he finished a cigarette and walked quickly to follow into the ER, wanting to experience the thrill further.
A few minutes later.
Jimmy unexpectedly saw an old classmate from medical school.
The old classmate wasn't busy at the moment, so Jimmy immediately went up to say hello and asked about what it was like working here.
The two talked for a short while.
The old classmate had to work, so Jimmy didn't pester him. He looked around with a face full of smiles and couldn't help but feel Dexter was right.
Being a doctor was pretty good too. It was exciting enough, the money was good, and he didn't have to bear much risk. Comparing the two, it was much better than stealing cars.
"This is doable," Jimmy muttered to himself with a smile. Not staying longer, he walked out quickly to return to Fiona's side.
....
Frank's ward.
The doctor had just arrived. He simply and skillfully ignored Frank's wailing for drugs and only performed the examination in a business-like manner.
The fact was, Frank was very lucky. As of this moment, apart from his liver issue, there were no major problems in other aspects...
In other words, later today, the hospital could kick Frank out.
Of course, if it were a normal patient with an arm sawed off, they would have to stay in the hospital for at least a week before being discharged.
But, a normal patient would pay. Frank wouldn't. So...
"Frank, congratulations. Today isn't the day you kick the bucket. You just lie here during the day. By evening, you can be discharged," the doctor said with a smile.
Hearing these words.
Debbie reacted the fastest, asking with a face full of disbelief, "You're letting him be discharged? He's like this, how can he be discharged?"
The doctor wasn't flustered at all and replied without any change in expression, "Mr. Gallagher has many unpaid medical bills at this hospital."
"The amount for this bill will be huge. If he doesn't discharge by evening, the hospital finance department will have to take action."
"Unless you guys can pay these bills?"
After listening, Debbie and the others were all speechless.
Pay the bills?
Pay with what?
God knows how much money Frank owed...
The doctor anticipated this reaction from the Gallaghers and grinned. "Get ready. Discharge in the evening."
Dropping this sentence, the doctor simply walked away.
Debbie looked at the departing doctor with sadness, her eyes red. Her small mouth moved a few times, but she couldn't say a word in the end.
In the ward, only Frank's cursing remained.
After a while.
Jimmy walked in. Seeing the lifeless appearance of Fiona and the others, to be honest, he was used to it. He consciously didn't make a sound and walked to stand beside Fiona.
Fiona glanced at Jimmy, didn't speak, and looked at Frank again, her mind racing with thoughts.
Frank was missing an arm. After going back this evening, for a long time to come, he would be a super big trouble!!
With such a Frank at home, everyone's life would undergo huge changes.
Who would take care of Frank?
Debbie?
Debbie was too young. She could only do small things at most, nothing more.
Lip? Ian?
Not realistic.
But just ignore Frank like this and let him fend for himself?
Also not realistic.
Fiona knew in her heart that this mess with Frank would probably fall on her... thinking about it like this, she felt incredibly desperate.
She didn't want to take care of such a Frank, not one bit.
For a moment, Fiona had a terrible headache.
Time flew by.
Staying here like this didn't have much meaning.
Fiona, Lip, and the others left, while Debbie stayed behind.
Only Frank and a tear-streaked Debbie were left in the ward.
Looking at Debbie, Frank thought for a moment and spoke up. "Debbie, stop crying. I have something I need you to do."
Hearing this, Debbie hurriedly took a deep breath. "Dad, what is it?"
"You have to go find Samantha. our operation must continue. I need her to donate a liver to me, otherwise, I will really die," Frank was very afraid of death and said, "Listen to me, after you find her..."
Frank gave a set of operational procedures.
Debbie listened carefully and nodded repeatedly. "Okay, I can do it."
Not too long after.
Debbie left the ward.
Lying on the hospital bed, Frank turned his head to look at his empty right arm. Emotions of sadness, anger, pain, and so on flooded his mind wildly.