A post-operative visit

The surgery went very smoothly. Audrey Hepburn's two children arrived just as she was being wheeled out of the operating room. The warmth of having family by your side at such a time is something a person alone cannot experience.

With two children by their side, and Robert, a life partner close in age, the only bond between them was the family.

Ms. Hepburn was chatting away.

Henry, being an outsider, tactfully left the ward and went up to the roof of the medical center to smoke.

In reality, the nicotine in cigarettes doesn't stimulate his Kryptonian Physiology; he just wants a warm current to soothe his lungs at times like this.

Since one's own heart is cold, and so are the relationships and customs of the outside world, one may have no choice but to rely on external things.

On the other hand, Henry also carefully discerned all the sounds in the medical center, searching for the sounds of discussing cases and researching diseases.

Doctors who can get into medical centers are undoubtedly the best in the industry. Their clinical judgments and thinking, compared with actual cases, are things that are difficult to fully record in medical books.

During the time Hepburn to seek medical treatment, Henry also tried to go to the library in his spare time to look through some medical books and journals. He discovered that this path was not something that could be taken lightly by reading books or having X-Ray Vision.

This is why Henry maintained a detached attitude towards Ms. Hepburn's condition, acting only as a caregiver rather than a healer.

Is it normal for Kryptonian with such a Super Brain to feel this kind of helplessness?

To fill this gap, Henry tried to stand in the student's shoes and "listen" to the guidance of these renowned doctors. This was unlike X...

The professor has that kind of mind-reading ability; otherwise, he should go and see what these doctors are thinking.

Then an idea started growing uncontrollably: Should I go find some unlucky people to practice on and gain some clinical experience?

The vibration and ringing of the pager interrupted Henry's thoughts. He glanced down at the machine hanging on his waist, noted down the displayed number, and wrote it down in his notebook.

This isn't about distrusting my memory; it's just that when showing something to someone else, a notebook is the most direct way to see it. You can't exactly cut open your head and show it to them, can you?

If the number is familiar, you can naturally deduce the caller's general purpose based on their identity. When replying, just give a few perfunctory words as appropriate.

However, if it's an unfamiliar number, it's possible the person on the other end genuinely doesn't know you, or it could be an acquaintance borrowing the phone in an unfamiliar place to make a pager call.

If you don't call back at a time like this, you'll really have no idea what the other person's purpose is.

So Henry found a public phone in the medical center and called back.

The call was answered almost immediately. Henry said first, "This is Henry Brown, Ms. Audrey Hepburn's assistant."

Who just dialed the pager?

A familiar voice came through the phone, saying, "Henry, this is Givenchy. How's Audrey doing?"

Among Audrey Hepburn's friends and family, this fashion mogul was undoubtedly number one. It's safe to say that even if the woman herself made this call, she wouldn't want to hide it from this close friend.

So Henry replied directly, "Ms. Hepburn just underwent surgery today. The surgery was successful, and she has now been transferred to a regular ward to recover."

There was a brief silence on the phone. After all, this big shot had called to inquire before, and the woman had answered personally. Henry didn't deliberately eavesdrop on how he was comforted.

Henry, on the other hand, only informed the two young masters of everything. When others expressed their concern, he only gave a formulaic response about the hospital admission and examination.

Now that the surgery was successful, there was no need to continue hiding anything from those who were concerned. That's why Henry told the truth.

When people are at their most vulnerable, genuine concern from others can be a source of strength. However, too much insincere concern can become a burden.

Henry couldn't help the lady distinguish between genuine and perfunctory expressions. But there was absolutely no doubt about the friendship between Mr. Givenchy and the lady.

The silence on the phone sounded like a sigh of relief, but also like reproach for not informing him of this. Givenchy asked, "Who's on the other end?"

"Besides the boss's two sons, there's Robert. He's been inseparable from him these past few days."

Givenchy only asked those close to him, not those he worked with, so Henry ignored him.

"Who else knows?" Givenchy asked again.

"What If...? no one else leaked the information, then you are the only one among those who were not present who knows. As for whether to inform the others, I will have to wait until my boss has recovered a bit before I will ask her. Including the United Nations, they will have to be notified sooner or later."

"I understand. You're in Los Angeles?"

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Gastrointestinal Surgery.

"Yes, I'll get there as soon as possible. Please give my regards to Audrey."

"Yes, sir."

The fact that Mr. Givenchy hung up the phone call to the East Coast suggests that he wasn't in Europe, but rather in New York.

Just as I was wondering whether to go back up to the roof for another smoke, my pager beeped with another phone number. Then another, and another...

Henry replied to each person, taking notes as he went. Most of them only gave a standard admission examination statement, without even providing information about the hospital. Some troublesome people simply said "no comment" without saying anything at all.

The way to deal with reporters trying to get information is quite simple: just chat with them casually, and then wait until the payphone's coin-operated call credit runs out, at which point the call will kindly and automatically disconnect.

In this day and age, running out of coins is a very useful excuse. It's more effective than excuses like "network outage" or "overdue payment" from the future.

Mr. Givenchy's visit came much sooner than expected. He appeared at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center around noon the next day, holding a bouquet of flowers.

After knocking on the door, he entered the ward, greeted the others first, and then said to his friend lying in the hospital bed, "Oh, Audrey, my dear friend. You should have told me about this sooner." At the same time, he handed her the bouquet of flowers.

The bouquets mainly consist of carnations, violets, and baby's breath, mostly in soft colors, but not overly fragrant. This is because strong scents can sometimes be a burden for patients with respiratory issues.

Henry accepted the flowers on behalf of the patient, said softly, "I'll go find a vase," and then left the ward.

Audrey Hepburn looked at her friend helplessly and said, "Telling you sooner would only have added one more person to the worry and helplessness. What's the point? I'm fine now, and that's what matters most."

"Of course, of course," Givenchy nodded.