The hospital closest to the Gallagher house—the same one Frank went to all the time and never, ever paid.
The doctor in charge of treating Lip and Ian, Dr. Gary, had just discovered that the two of them had skipped out on the bill. He was already fed up and itching to swear.
Then, in the blink of an eye, he saw paramedics wheeling Frank in.
What the hell? Is this hospital owned by the Gallaghers or something?
Gary couldn't take it anymore. He cursed under his breath, spun around, and bolted.
No way was he treating another Gallagher.
Lip and Ian had just ditched the bill, and Frank was guaranteed not to pay either.
Two back-to-back cases like this—sure, the hospital wouldn't fire him or fine him, but a brutal lecture from the director? That was unavoidable.
Why put himself through that?
"Doctor! Doctor!" Unfortunately, the paramedics spotted him and called out.
Gary didn't hesitate for a second. He pretended not to hear and ran even faster, sprinting straight into the doctors' break room.
The moment he got inside—
The ER loudspeaker crackled to life.
Gary looked over at another doctor, Monty, who was lying down resting in the break room.
Monty opened his eyes and glanced at him. "Gary, go handle it."
Gary gave a bitter smile. "It's Frank. I can't go. If I do, the hospital director will chew me out."
Monty instantly understood. "Then what do we do? Don't look at me—I'm not going."
In America, just like cops, doctors are just doing a job.
Saving lives and all that? Sure, it's part of it—but only to a point.
Gary thought for a moment. "Is the new guy on duty tonight?"
Monty grinned. "Good idea. Have the nurse call him. He needs the experience anyway. Let him practice on that bastard Frank—perfect training material."
Gary nodded in agreement.
And just like that—
Not long after, the recently hired doctor Andrew—who had absolutely no idea what he was about to face—walked into the operating room, stepped up to Frank, and started treatment.
At this point, Frank's consciousness was already pretty much gone.
Even so, purely out of instinct, he kept muttering, "Coffee… more coffee… gimme more…"
Doctor Andrew had never seen anything like this before. He was genuinely shocked. "Uh… this…"
The nurses nearby exchanged glances and smiled knowingly.
Catching that out of the corner of his eye, Andrew's heart sank.
Did I just get set up? he asked himself silently.
---
Fiona headed out for the hospital with Debbie and Carl.
At this hour, there was no chance of getting a cab. Kevin really didn't want to go—but in the end, he had no choice but to drive them.
Before long, they were back at the hospital again.
Figuring they'd probably be there for a while—and it was freezing outside—Kevin parked the car, got out, and went inside too.
He honestly didn't care what happened to Frank. He came in purely because the hospital was warm.
Fiona led Debbie and Carl straight to the operating room, clearly familiar with the place.
The surgery light was still on.
The four of them sat down in chairs and waited quietly.
After only a short while—
Carl couldn't sit still. He looked around, then got up and started wandering.
Fiona was completely exhausted and didn't have the energy to deal with him. She only said one thing, "Carl, don't run around."
The ER at night is one of the places closest to death in this world.
Carl found that fascinating.
While Fiona wasn't paying attention, he quietly slipped into the emergency area and started observing the patients' misery like it was a show.
"Cool!" he said with a grin when he saw a patient thrashing wildly on a bed, who-knows-why.
The words carried.
Naturally, the patient's family all turned and shot Carl furious looks.
Carl wasn't scared at all. He even provoked them. "What?"
The family: "????"
The next second, one short-tempered relative clenched his fist. "Get lost!"
Carl didn't budge.
Seeing that—
The hotheaded family member started to move forward, ready to teach Carl a lesson.
A quick-thinking young nurse spotted the situation and rushed over first. "You're Frank's son, right? Hurry back to the operating room. Frank's surgery should be finishing up soon."
At this age, Carl still cared about Frank a little.
Hearing that, he flipped the angry guy the middle finger and finally turned back toward the operating room.
That relative absolutely lost it. "Where the hell did this little punk come from?!"
The nurse who'd stepped in just shook her head helplessly and said nothing.
---
The operating room light went out.
Doctor Andrew walked out first and let out a long breath.
The moment Fiona saw him, she rushed over anxiously. "Doctor, how's my dad?"
Andrew was young. When he saw Fiona, his eyes brightened a bit and he perked up. "Nothing too serious. None of the bullets hit anything vital, and they all passed through. I cleaned up the wounds. As long as there's no infection, he should be fine."
Hearing that, Fiona immediately let out a huge sigh of relief. "Thank you. Thank you so much."
"You're welcome," Andrew replied with a faint smile. "He'll be wheeled out shortly. He's still unconscious, though—probably won't wake up until tomorrow."
"Okay, thank you," Fiona said again.
"No problem. I've got other things to take care of," Andrew said casually, then turned and left.
A short while later—
Frank was wheeled out.
Fiona and the others immediately followed alongside him.
The nurses didn't take Frank to a private room—only to the general ward.
One look, and Fiona understood why.
But what could she say?
She stayed silent.
Just then, someone from the hospital's billing department jogged over to the ward. After glancing at Frank, they turned to the group. "Hello, I'm from hospital billing. May I ask—which one of you is Frank Gallagher's family?"
The moment those words landed—
Fiona: "…"
Debbie: "…"
Carl: "…"
Kevin: "…"
Not a single one of them said a word.
—
Back at the hotel, Dexter took a long, comfortable hot shower.
Then he lay down on the bed and quietly checked how much virtue he had accumulated.
A total of 233 points.
Time to pull.
[You have opened a Bronze Treasure Chest. Congratulations—you have obtained: Cuisine Skill — Ultimate Egg Fried Rice (includes all ingredients needed to make ten bowls of egg fried rice). Would you like to claim this reward immediately?]
Heh.
This system was surprisingly smart.
Dexter thought for a second and answered without hesitation, "Don't claim it."
Then—pull again.
[You have opened a Bronze Treasure Chest. Congratulations—you have obtained a Dexter Morgan Character Card (Duration: 2 hours). Dexter Morgan is a bloodthirsty forensic analyst whose specialty is cutting up his targets and dumping them into the ocean.]
Dexter: "..."
Holy crap.
That's insane.