Chapter 5 Craniotomy for Hematoma Evacuation

Eleanor rushed over and scooped Nova into her arms. "Grandma! Are you okay?"

Nova was about to speak when a sharp pain shot through her chest. Everything went dark, and she passed out.

Sophia's eyes flickered for a moment before she put on a look of concern, sighing weakly. "Grandma's health has never been good. Eleanor, why did you have to upset her like this?"

Eleanor shot her a fierce glare. "Shut up! I don't have time for you right now. Get out of my way!"

She was about to go find a doctor, but Sophia reached out and blocked her.

"Eleanor, if something really happens to Grandma, do you think the police might blame you? After all, you just got kicked out of the house. Maybe they'd think you had a grudge..."

Her voice was soft, but every word carried the same implication: if Grandma dies, it's Eleanor's fault.

"Move." Eleanor's voice turned ice cold.

Sophia's eyes gleamed with spite, though she kept up her fragile act. "Eleanor, I'm just trying to help you. You shouldn't—"

Before she could finish, Eleanor raised her hand and slapped Sophia across the face.

Smack!

Now both sides of her face were perfectly, evenly swollen.

Sophia looked absolutely devastated. She turned to Ethan with teary eyes. "Ethan, why did Eleanor hit me again? It really hurts..."

Ethan was furious. "Eleanor, you... this is way too much! She's your sister. How could you hit her like that?"

"Save it. You get out of my way too, or you're next."

Ethan scoffed. "And what if I don't?"

A split second later, a foot came flying from behind and kicked him square in the back.

"Ahh!"

Ethan let out a yelp and went airborne, slamming hard into the wall.

Leo struck what he clearly thought was a cool pose. "How dare you stand in my way, you idiot!"

Just then, Michael came rushing over with a group of doctors.

Eleanor spoke up immediately. "Director! My grandmother got very agitated just now. There's a good chance the blood vessel has ruptured again. She needs a craniotomy to remove the hematoma right away!"

"I'll perform the surgery. Can you get me a few experienced doctors to assist?"

The director was about to respond when Linda cut in with a snide remark. "Do you think just anyone can perform a craniotomy? A surgery this complex requires a doctor with decades of clinical experience. Look at yourself — what makes you think you're qualified?"

The director took a deep breath. "I'll assist you myself."

Linda was stunned. "Director, you can't be serious! Letting her lead a surgery like this? If anything goes wrong, it's a major medical incident. This entire facility will be held responsible!"

The director shot Linda a sharp look and said coldly, "Right now, saving her life is all that matters. Whatever consequences come, I'll take responsibility. That's final."

"You two, come with me."

"Yes, sir!"

Nova was quickly wheeled into the operating room. With the help of a nurse, Eleanor changed into surgical scrubs.

Leo watched her, visibly anxious. "Eleanor, are you sure about this? Can you really do it?"

Eleanor didn't say a word. She just looked at him with steady, unwavering eyes.

Just before heading in, Eleanor turned to Sophia and Ethan, her voice cold. "You two better pray Grandma makes it. Because if she doesn't, I promise I will make the rest of your lives hell."

The moment Eleanor went in, Sophia collapsed into Ethan's arms, tears streaming down her face.

"Ethan, why is she so cruel to me? I just came to see Grandma. How did it come to this?"

Ethan held her close and spoke softly. "It's okay. She's just jealous of you. Don't let her get to you."

Leo let out a cold laugh nearby. "You're really good at lying. It just rolls right off your tongue."

Ethan's expression darkened. "I let it go when you kicked me earlier. Don't push it."

Without a word, Leo reached into the fire cabinet, grabbed the extinguisher, and walked straight toward Ethan.

"What did you just say? Say it louder."

Ethan backed away, his face pale with fear. "This... this is a hospital! Don't do anything crazy!"

Lucky for him, a nurse stepped in just in time. Otherwise, a kick would've been the least of his worries.

Leo couldn't be bothered with either of them. He headed up to the rooftop.

Standing in the cold wind up there beat looking at their faces any day.

Sophia wiped the cold sweat from her forehead, turned away, and called Grace and Jack.

Inside the operating room.

Eleanor studied the emergency head CT scan.

She marked the surgical approach on Nova's scalp based on the hematoma's location, then shaved the area clean.

"Cross-match the blood and prep the packed red blood cells!"

"Start IV mannitol, general anesthesia, and secure the head frame!"

Once everything was in place, Eleanor picked up the scalpel and cut along the marked line through the skin and tissue, then used a high-speed cranial drill to create six burr holes.

Watching closely, the scalpel seemed to move with almost effortless precision in her hands — every cut clean and decisive.

And through it all, Eleanor's expression never changed. Calm. Composed. Like everything was going exactly as expected.

She glanced at the other doctors and the director beside her. They were wiping sweat from their foreheads, clearly under enormous pressure.

Finally.

Half an hour later, hurried footsteps echoed from the end of the hallway. Grace and Jack had arrived.

"Mom!"

They called out loudly, but their eyes stayed dry.

"What happened? How did our mother end up with a brain hemorrhage? Do you people even know how to take care of patients?"

"We pay you a fortune every year, and this is how you look after her? Keep this up and I'll shut this whole place down!"

Jack unleashed his anger on the nurses.

One nurse carefully tried to respond. "Sir, please calm down. Let us explain—"

"I don't want to hear it! You better listen to me — if anything happens to my mother, none of you are walking away from this!"

Sophia threw herself into Grace's arms, tears pouring down her face. "Mom, it's my fault. I should've taken Eleanor away sooner. Then she wouldn't have upset Grandma like this."

Grace was seething. "That jinx again! Why is she everywhere? Where is she? Tell her to get over here right now!"

Sophia pointed toward the operating room. "Eleanor is in there doing surgery on Grandma."

Grace nearly choked. "Who gave her permission to operate? That useless girl doesn't know a thing about medicine. What does she think she's doing in there?"

"Where are the real doctors? Tell them to get out here! Stop using my mother as a guinea pig!"

The hallway erupted into chaos. From a distance, a man in a tailored designer suit glanced over, a slight frown crossing his face as he held a medical chart.

He was dressed in a dark, perfectly fitted suit — composed, refined, and quietly commanding. His features were sharp, his gaze piercing, and he carried an air of cool, distant authority that made people instinctively step back.

"Someone who isn't a doctor... performing surgery?"

His assistant spoke respectfully beside him. "Mr. Carter, apparently she studied under a top overseas physician. She's trained in both traditional and modern medicine, and her skills are said to surpass even the director's."

"She's still just a young woman. How skilled could she really be?"

Raymond Carter said nothing. He stood and watched.

Then the light above the operating room went out, and the doors slowly swung open.