Chapter 431 - Relief (3)

11 May, JL International Mall, City F

Matthew stood there in shock. They had not talked about having a child, no, another child. Funnily, when he had attempted to raise with Lexi whether they should take precautions she totally dismissed the discussion. Did that mean, she wanted another child, or had she taken steps to prevent pregnancy through contraception or was there a reason she did not have to worry about it.

"General…?" came Colonel Zhang again. "Could you wife be pregnant?"

Dropping his shoulders, Matthew said "I have no idea. We really did not talk about it, as our focus has been on our son who has leukemia."

Nodding, Colonel Zhang turned and quietly spoke to one of the stretcher bearers, before turning back saying "General, stay here and do your job, and I will do my job. We are likely to be a couple of hours, unless something tells us otherwise in the tests before we can make the decision on where she will be treated, unless a higher-level case means we must wait. I have a couple of senior nurses who are reservists, and I will have one of them, armed, accompany her to ensure she remains safe."

"No, I am going with her," came a tortured reply from Matthew.

"No General. This is a medical decision, and no order will change that. Medically, I can justify having a nurse accompany her due to her unconscious state, but you will not be allowed into the ambulance. Additionally, emergency protocols have been activated, which restrict the people allowed into any medical facility for forty-eight hours, simply to allow us to treat victims."

"Colonel," ground out Matthew.

"Get as angry as you like General, but nothing will change the situation. As soon as I know something, I will seek you out and tell you. But you have a job to do in figuring out what exactly happened. As I explained to you, I have had multiple deployments overseas to war and war-like zones, often where IEDs are a favourite weapon of anti-government and anti-establishment groups. I know what they do and have learnt to tell the level of sophistication of the weapons based on observations and injuries. It tells me, we are dealing with a sophisticated IED, designed for maximum casualties with minimal deaths. It was shaped to deliver shrapnel more towards limbs than to critical body areas, with a huge percussive impact to cause other injuries from the shockwave. That tells me in the end this was terrorism, not a criminal gang. But as to who perpetrated it, that I do not know."

Joseph, who was listening close by said "You are certain?"

"Absolutely. For those with experience with mass casualty events the injuries speak for themselves. Some of the civilian medical staff who have come to site to provide frontline treatment want to argue, but my boss with the agreement of the heads of the other hospitals that briefly visited site to determine what was needed here and at their facilities reminded them, this was my area of expertise, and I needed to be carefully listened to."

Matthew, having taken in what was said while watching the stretcher with Lexi on it being taken away thought about the situation. Those comments were significant, as Colonel Zhang based it on her experiences and observations. As calmly as he could, Matthew said "You better ensure that I am kept updated all the way along and as soon as you make a decision…"

"General, I will let you know. Knowing that I can send Madam Rong to City K's military hospital, if the tests provide evidence that it is safe, means it is one less person we have to treat here and one more seriously injured person we can hopefully save."

Matthew nodded, and as Colonel Zhang turned to leave, he said "Colonel…"

"Yes General?"

"You are willing to stand by that opinion?"

"General, if I were not, I would not have expressed it. In the Medical field, we need to be certain in diagnosis and the treatment recommendations otherwise there can be serious consequences. If, based on medical observations I express an opinion on something like this I will be certain as I can be."

Having sensed the way Matthew was going, Joseph responded "Doc.u.ment those findings. We need everything we can to finally determine what happened here."

"Goes without saying. Gentleman." With that Colonel Zhang turned moving quickly to catch up to the stretcher.

Ben turned and said "Boss, she is safe and getting treatment. Now get your head together as Head Honcho is coming this way, and we all know he will, if he thinks you are not with it, pull you off this risking your career."

"Boss, that is not what you need, nor is it what your family would want," continued Joseph. "You are made for your career, unlike the three of us who just stumbled into this by accident."

Matthew turned from his friends and stepped away to quietly sit. He felt that he was at breaking point and took some deep breaths. The last two days had taken him through the constant emotional swings of the news about Dominic, their argument, his overreaction and now this, Lexi hiding things from him that resulted in her being injured. While Ben and Joseph had not said it directly, he knew this was a turning point for him. Would he throw his career away, or continue to follow his heart, both professionally and personally? Was the military what he wanted, or had he been using his career to escape from family pressure. Would both his and Lexi's lives have been so different if he had just excepted what his parents wanted for him?

Staring into the distance for a couple of minutes, Matthew finally reached the conclusion. Other than the last two days, he would not change a thing. Lexi and he were destined to have the careers they have, separate from their family wealth, and fulfilling. He just needed to make up to her, not only for his reaction on Thursday night but for putting her through what she had been thought with Richard.

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