From Humiliated Son-In-Law to The World’s Greatest Doctor

6 - Series of Unfortunate Events

“I hate him so, so, so much! If killing someone wasn’t a crime, I would’ve done it already!”

“Whoa, easy, Aubree. I might be the one getting killed first today.”

Derek lowered the bread knife Aubree had pointed at his face with his own knife.

“He’s always been such an annoying person.”

Aubree pursed her lips and went back to slicing her bagel into bite-sized pieces.

“My last rotation was full of challenges and completely ridiculous situations. What a freaking asshole.”

“Just hang in there a little longer. You won’t have to see him after you graduate.”

“Yeah, only three more months to go. But it feels like three hundred years when he’s around me.”

Aubree shrugged.

“Even so, I’m still grateful to him. Because of him, I’ve gotten really good at almost everything. And my subcuticular sutures are so neat that you can barely tell the skin was stitched at all. They’re so smooth!”

“I remember he used to give you such a hard time over your sutures. Turns out it’s been really useful for you.”

“Mh-hm. Sometimes I think he hates me because he’s not nearly as annoying with the other residents as he is with me.”

“Do you think he’s bullying you, Aubree?”

“Hm…?” Aubree thought about it while chewing. “I don’t think so. As long as he doesn’t curse at me, put me down, mess with my academic work, or deliberately interfere with my job… I’d say that’s still okay.”

“If he ever goes too far or crosses the line, or even threatens you, you can’t just stay silent.”

Aubree let out a light laugh. “He’s not the type to bully people. I think he’s just being childish. He’s annoying, that sort of thing. Because of him, I’ve been practicing meditation even more.”

“Really?”

“You know, I meditate almost every day so I can deal with him with patience, calmness, and a clear head.”

Aubree then demonstrated her calmness by placing one hand over the middle of her chest, closing her eyes, and slowly exhaling. Derek laughed.

“Thank goodness, then. That means his career will still be safe.”

“Hey! I’m not the kind of person who would casually ruin someone else’s career, especially my senior’s, Mr. Maynard!”

Aubree shot Derek a sharp but playful look. She lifted the glass of white wine and held it out to Derek.

Derek raised his glass and clinked it against hers, then slowly took a sip of the wine.

“HELP!! HEEEELP!!! Pickpocket!!!”

Derek and Aubree both immediately turned when they heard the sudden scream.

All the customers sitting in the café terrace also jumped to their feet in surprise. Some even rushed out onto the sidewalk to look for the source of the scream.

A man was seen running frantically across the café while clutching a crossbody bag. Far behind him, an elderly woman was chasing after him as fast as she could, though her pace was slow.

As luck would have it, Derek was sitting in the chair closest to the sidewalk. He jumped around his chair and tripped the pickpocket just as he passed by.

The pickpocket fell face-first onto the pavement.

When he tried to get up, Derek had already twisted his arm and locked his wrist, forcing him to let go of the bag he was holding.

Then Derek quickly picked up the bag.

“Arrrgghhh, let me go! Let me go!” The pickpocket struggled to break free while groaning in pain.

“Wait! Call the police!”

“Yes! Someone, call the police quickly!”

“I already called!”

The people around them shouted back and forth.

At least Derek knew he wouldn’t have to spend too long keeping the man under control.

“Oh my God! Thank you so much, sir!” The elderly woman finally reached them and approached while bending over and gasping for breath.

Derek handed her the bag while remaining crouched down, keeping the pickpocket’s hands locked behind his back so he couldn’t get away.

“Sorry, ma’am, I can’t stand up because I need to make sure this man stays still.”

“It’s okay, sir! Thank you so much! Oh my God, thank you so much!”

The woman hugged her bag against her chest, greeted by cheers from the people around them who had witnessed what happened.

But Derek seemed to let his guard down for a moment and failed to notice the pickpocket’s sudden movement. The man slammed his body hard toward Derek, making him startled and stumble before falling backward onto the ground.

Meanwhile, the pickpocket immediately got to his feet, ran toward the woman again, snatched the bag she was holding against her chest, and then waved a knife around in every direction.

The people there instinctively backed away, trying to stay out of the pickpocket’s reach.

The pickpocket laughed loudly as if he were possessed, while challenging everyone around him.

“Come on! Who’s brave enough to take me on?! Come here! Hey, you wannabe hero!”

He grinned as he pointed his knife at Derek.

“Still want to fight me? I’ve got this! Come here if you’ve got the damn guts!”

They were now about two meters apart. Derek had already gotten back on his feet and straightened his body. He clenched his jaw and stared at the pickpocket in annoyance.

Derek responded with a grin of his own. There was no sign of fear or hesitation in his body language. Instead, the sharp aura and look in his eyes gave off a strong sense of intimidation.

In one sudden movement, Derek stomped his foot forward, intending to scare him first by pretending to attack. But the pickpocket simply backed away and ran off, stumbling and nearly falling several times on his way.

Derek immediately ran after him. But the panicked screams from the customers made him stop and turn around.

“HELP! This woman isn’t breathing!” someone was seen placing a finger beneath the middle-aged woman’s nose as she lay unconscious.

“Ma’am, wake up!” someone else frantically patted her shoulder.

“She suddenly collapsed and passed out! What do we do?!”

People began shouting and whispering, their faces filled with both curiosity and concern.

Derek narrowed his eyes as he looked at the condition of the middle-aged woman.

At the same time, Aubree had already quickly moved closer and crouched beside the middle-aged woman to perform a primary survey.

Aubree’s presence made Derek feel a little relieved. He knew he could trust her to handle it, allowing him to shift his focus back to the pickpocket.

A few steps away, the pickpocket was still running around aimlessly, stabbing his knife into the air with unsteady steps.

Seeing his slow pace and uncoordinated movements made Derek speculate that the man might be drunk or under the influence of drugs.

He would find out later. Right now, the most important thing was to catch him first.

But it seemed this unfortunate events had set off a chain of other unfortunate events.

Margo suddenly appeared from the corner of the intersection at the end of the street, right within the reach of that crazed pickpocket.

“Margo, watch out!” Derek suddenly shouted as loudly as he could.

But the knife slashing through the empty air had already grazed her arm in a split second, as fast as lightning, before Margo even realized what was happening.

She had most likely been walking this way without knowing about the commotion and danger happening here.

Meanwhile, the pickpocket was startled when he realized what he had done, then ran even faster toward the west.

“Ah! Damn it!” Derek cursed, filled with anger and frustration.

There was no way he could chase after the pickpocket while there were two victims here. His rescue priorities instantly changed.

Derek briefly glanced at Aubree, who was still examining the middle-aged woman.

Aubree was very reliable, so he ran toward Margo to check her arm, which was bleeding heavily.