Chapter 77 Does Your Husband Know
Now that Claudia wanted to cure her throat problem, she had to comply with Marshall's treatment.
So the next morning, she left the house with an excuse after taking care of Conrad.
When she arrived at the hospital, Marshall was still seeing other patients. When he saw Claudia in the hospital, he gave her a wink immediately, signaling her to wait for a moment. After a long while, he could finally send the patient away and brought Claudia in, "I thought you were just on a whim. Have you made up your mind this time?"
She smiled and nodded to him.
She had to get her voice back even if it was only for her mother.
She had been enduring humiliations for so many years. It was time to turn the tide!
"Things will be much easier if you're willing to cooperate. You know, even a skilled doctor can do nothing about a reluctant patient." Marshall smiled and led her to the upper floor.
"You know, I'm not specialized in treating this, but my senior schoolmate is. I can ask him to have a diagnosis for you. Don't worry, he is a good doctor," Marshall said.
Claudia nodded smilingly. She had been trusting Marshall since she was young.
In the office of the ORL Department, a young doctor at about 30, was sitting at a desk and drowsing.
Marshall knocked on the door and walked into the office, "You have been on duty for a night. Why don't you just go back and have a sleep?"
"There is still an operation to go. I need to finish it first."
Then, he noticed Claudia who was standing next to Marshall. He was puzzled for a moment and realized, "She is the girl you have been mentioned for many times, right? The one who has a throat problem and can't speak?"
Marshall nodded, held Claudia's hand, and stepped forward, "Yes. She is Claudia, my fav..."
He was about to say the word 'favorite', but he paused it desperately and said, "...my friend. We grew up together. Please help her, Cliff!"
The man nodded a few times to Marshall like he had already known what he was trying to say.
Claudia was surprised about how they chatted with each other, but soon she heard the man was talking to her, "Is it the first time for you to treat your throat, Claudia?"
She nodded.
"You can just use sign language if you don't mind. I can understand it," Cliff said.
Claudia smiled gently. She didn't expect that he would be so considerate.
Then, it was time for consultation. Because patients were waiting for him downstairs, Marshall couldn't stay with her any longer. He gave some advice to her, took a soulful glance at her, and then walked away. She needed to go through a lot of examinations since it was her first time treating the throat, but Cliff was not on duty today and had plenty of time for all of those exams. Besides, with Marshall's request, he had to take good care of her.
Claudia took all the exams with his company and went back to the office, waiting for diagnostic reports.
There were only two of them in the spacious office. As a mute, Claudia had already gotten used to the quietness and was just sitting in there in boredom, but Cliff was different. He looked awkward and glanced at different places in the room.
Eventually, he slowly adjusted his sight to Claudia and said, "Are you married, Claudia?"
The question was quite sudden for her. Claudia raised her head and nodded.
"So you are Ben's wife, right?"
Claudia was stunned by his words.
What did he mean?
Cliff said hurriedly, "Don't get me wrong, I just want to know how Ben is going. He was my classmate when studying abroad."
Claudia was speechless. She felt like everyone around her knew both Ben and her.
Was that because he had a wide range of friends? Or was the circle so small?
"I just came back from abroad for several months and heard the news not long ago. What a surprise to meet Miss. Crawford so soon!" Cliff suddenly called her Miss. Crawford, which made her feel unprepared. "You were able to speak when you were young, right?" he continued.
She nodded.
"So, Ben knew that, didn't he?"
That really puzzled her.
Though she had known Ben since childhood, he was always an offish man and seldom got along with other kids. For her, he was like a prince, always being noble and untouchable. So Claudia wasn't sure about whether he had noticed her when she could speak.
Seeing her was still at a loss, Cliff said, "Are you not sure about that?"
Claudia looked at him and lowered her head slightly.
"Don't worry, I will read the reports later and treat you accordingly. Don't forget to take the medicine in time, and you will be recovered, don't be afraid."
Claudia had a little nervous about it. If things could go well so easily just like he said, that's so good.
At this moment, the nurse went in with the reports.
Cliff wore his glasses and read them carefully. After a while, he looked at Claudia seriously, "Do you still remember what caused the damage to your vocal cords, Claudia?" Faintly, Claudia had a bad feeling about this.
"Is there any problem shown on the report?" Claudia expressed in sign language.
"Does Ben know you are here to treat your throat?" he asked.
Claudia frowned, "What do you mean, doctor?"
"Don't get me wrong. I'm trying to get some more information. So, does he know that?"
The question stroke her heavily.
The cause of her throat damage was a secret. How could she tell this to a man she hadn't known for long?
She shook her head and stood up quickly. "If there is any problem with the result, please articulate it to me, Dr. Russell," she made the gestures.
"Well..." he looked awkward, read the report one more time, and frowned, "I hope I can talk with your husband for a while, Claudia. If you allow, we can..." Before he could finish his words, he raised his head and found nobody in the office. She was gone.
He didn't even know when did she go!
Cliff scratched his head and read the medical record carefully. Then he took a deep breath and grabbed the phone.
"Hey! Surprise! This is your old classmate, Cliff! Nothing, I just heard that you married Claudia Crawford, right? Yeah, I need to talk with you about her..."