The Third Little Red Riding Hood

Medical Center.

After Adam and Cristina took Gilly for a CT scan, Rachel approached them.

"Gilly has cancer?"

Rachel, the girl in the red dress, covered her mouth, trying her best to control her emotions.

"It will take several more hours to get the biopsy results."

Adam said tactfully.

"If she gets cancer, you have to tell me in advance."

Rachel, the girl in the red dress, fought back tears. "Because if you tell me in front of her, I will cry, and if I cry, she will cry too, and I don't want that."

"You need to be prepared."

Adam reminded her, "Gilly must have known about this obvious illness beforehand. It's not necessarily a bad thing to cry together now; it's better than keeping it bottled up inside."

Rachel, the girl in red, paused, glanced at Adam, and nodded, saying, "Perhaps... No wonder Gilly is acting a little differently. Normally, even if you were a doctor, she wouldn't let you treat her for this kind of illness, let alone insist on it..."

At this point, she covered her mouth, turned her back, lowered her head, and cried, "She must have known in advance and wanted to do something different and meaningful, which is why such a big change occurred."

Adam and Cristina exchanged a glance and remained silent.

If it is ordinary cervical cancer that has not spread, then the uterus can be removed directly to excise the tumor. With subsequent chemotherapy, the patient can live for many more years.

However, the examination results showed that the cancer had already spread.

The exact extent of the spread can only be determined through surgery.

However, the CT scan already showed a very serious condition.

Does she have any family members she needs to contact?

Adam asked.

"She has parents..."

Rachel, the girl in the red dress, wiped away her tears and choked out, "But we ran away from home. We left when we were 16 and have never gone back or had any contact with anyone since."

"Why?"

Cristina couldn't help but ask.

"It's very complicated."

The girl in red, Rachel, shook her head and said, "In any case, we won't contact them, and you shouldn't contact them either. I am her family, and she is my only family!"

"We will respect your opinions."

Adam remained noncommittal.

She may be right, but they are not family members within the legal framework, so they do not have the rights that family members should have.

However, Adam and his team only mentioned it and didn't actively help make the contact. Whether Gilly's family wanted to contact them later was entirely up to them.

"I heard that chemotherapy is usually required after this kind of surgery."

Rachel, the girl in red, wiped away her tears and said with a determined look in her eyes, "I'll call the restaurant right now and switch my day shift to the night shift so I can take Gilly to her chemotherapy every day."

As he spoke, he took out his phone and started making a call while walking away.

The difference between day shifts and night shifts is obvious to those who know.

Especially for girls whose youth is fleeting, making this kind of decision is really not easy.

Shuren Zhou said: The principle of getting along with people is to judge by their actions, not their intentions.

But what can you say when you encounter someone who can judge both actions and intentions?

Of course, we should cherish it.

Adam and Cristina were both very curious about what these two best friends had gone through.

However, this is a private matter, so it's best not to ask too many questions.

I just didn't expect that it wouldn't have been long.

Adam and the others then knew the reason.

An elderly couple dressed in black appeared at the hospital looking rather uneasy.

Adam immediately recognized them as ordinary people, but as devout Mennonite.

These believers all wear this uniform black clothing, live together in an agrarian commune-style lifestyle, hold extremely conservative views, and emphasize that the Bible is the highest faith and the highest belief in life.

They don't drive cars, they ride in horse-drawn carriages.

They don't even use electric lights.

To see the whole leopard from a single spot.

Their unconventionality and alienation from the world made them stand out.

"We're looking for Gilly Amiller."

The wife in the elderly couple looked anxious.

"Are you Gilly's parents?"

Adam suddenly realized.

The Mennonite are Protestantism Christ.

However, unlike believers who are baptized from childhood without their knowledge, this group of believers emphasizes freedom of entry into the religion and adherence to faith. Children in the Mennonite community only choose whether to be baptized after they reach adulthood.

No way.

The primitive agricultural lifestyle they led could not have been sustained without a truly devout faith.

Baptism Day is a very important day for the children in this Mennonite community.

On this day, one is baptized, thus officially becoming a member of the community.

Those who choose not to accept will be expelled from the community.

It was a real expulsion and isolation.

Not only are those deported forbidden from returning to the community, but people in the community, including the deportees' parents, are also forbidden from having any contact with them.

This includes, but is not limited to, speaking, and even eye contact.

For this community, the expelled are already dead.

Gilly and Rachel used to live in this community, so it's no wonder they've been away from home for so many years and haven't had any contact with their families.

"Come with me."

Adam led the elderly couple to Gilly's hospital room.

As soon as I stepped outside the ward, I heard Rachel chattering away about their plans, reassuring Gilly not to worry or be afraid, assuring her that she would always be there for Gilly.

"Mom, Dad?"

Gilly listened with a smile, but there was always a hint of melancholy in her expression. When Adam appeared at the door of the ward with the elderly couple, her eyes lit up and she couldn't help but call out.

"Why are you here?"

Rachel, the girl in red, turned her head and her face immediately darkened as she stared at Adam: "Did you notify them?"

"It wasn't me."

Adam cautioned, "You've only just been admitted to the hospital; even if we notify you, we won't arrive right now."

"It's alright, Xiao Rui."

Gilly tried to Rachel, suppressing her excitement.

"No!"

Rachel, the girl in red, insisted, "They want to take you back. Have you forgotten why we left in the first place? Do you really want to go back now? Back to that disgusting place?"

Gilly and Rachel looked at each other, feeling quite awkward.

Because it's obvious that this call could only have been made to her parents, otherwise her parents wouldn't have come over now.

The only way her parents could arrive so quickly was by plane.

For believers like them, flying is an absolute breakthrough, enough to prove their love for her.

"They are all puppets imprisoned by their faith, and many of them could turn into demons at any time. I don't believe in them."

Rachel, the girl in red, clearly knew that Gilly had made the call. She said with worry and sadness, "Faced with the constant threat of the devil, your parents can only turn a deaf ear and are completely unable to protect you."

We barely managed to escape.

Do you want to face that kind of danger again?

I have chosen not to be baptized, and there is no going back.

If you choose to go back, I won't be able to stay by your side or protect you anymore.

"Mom, Dad."

Looking at Rachel like this, and then at her mother who looked at her with concern and her father who pretended not to care but was actually very concerned, Gilly hesitated for a long time before saying in a hoarse voice, "You should go back."

In the end, she chose Rachel.

They promised to stay together from birth to death.

If she leaves, Rachel will be all alone.

Moreover, she is all alone in the community, and I am worried about her life there.

How could she bear to do that?

"But you're about to have surgery."

Because of Rachel's community quarantine, Gilly's mother had been unable to speak or see her daughter much, but upon hearing this, she could no longer hold back her emotions.

"I know."

Gilly said in a hoarse voice, "But it was a mistake for you to come... It makes me very sad..."

Gilly's parents eventually left the hospital room.

Adam gleaned a lot from these conversations, and his gaze toward Rachel, the girl in red, softened even more.

If he's not mistaken.

Rachel, the girl in red, may indeed be another brave and sharp Little Red Riding Hood.

She had once saved and protected Gilly, and the two had been through a lot together, which made their sisterly bond so genuine that even at this moment, Rachel still chose her over her parents.