Chapter 641

Ivy shot Jamison a reassuring look, signaling that he didn’t need to worry, then turned her attention back to the phone. “Are you in some kind of trouble?”

“…” Roberta barely managed a single word before her voice broke, thick with tears. “I found out I was pregnant. It was an accident. I bought abortion pills online and tried to handle it myself, but then… there was so much blood. It hurt so badly, I thought I was going to die. I ended up calling an ambulance, but I don’t have any money…”

Ivy’s face went pale, her brow knitting in shock and concern.

“I know it’s a lot to ask. I know I hurt you before, but I have no one else to turn to… Could you please lend me a thousand dollars? I swear I’ll pay you back, with interest if you want.”

Instead of answering, Ivy asked, “What about your boyfriend? Where is he?”

“Don’t even mention him! That bastard traded up for the boss’s daughter and dumped me without warning. He took all my scholarship money, my living expenses – every penny I had. He said he needed it for a used car, then disappeared. If he hadn’t cleaned me out, I wouldn’t be so desperate – couldn’t even afford a procedure at the hospital…”

Another worthless jerk. Ivy was seething, even over the phone.

“Where are you now?”

“I’m at the women’s hospital. The ambulance brought me here.”

“Okay, I’ll come find you.”

As soon as she hung up, Ivy turned to her husband. “It’s my old roommate – her boyfriend tricked her out of all her savings, she got pregnant by accident, tried to handle it herself, started hemorrhaging, and now she’s in the ER without a cent to her name. She’s asked me for money.”

Jamison had always been indifferent to people outside his circle. He just nodded calmly. “Then lend it to her.”

Small change like that meant nothing to someone in his position. Whether she paid it back or not, it was no big deal – if anything, it was a good deed.

Ivy frowned, hesitating for a moment. “She’s at the women’s hospital. I want to go check on her.”

Afraid he’d think she was meddling, she explained how Roberta had once shielded her from the rain and walked her to the library, and how she’d changed her number and moved out of the dorm to avoid Emma and her friends – indirectly, Ivy felt responsible for her situation.

Besides, she wanted to see for herself if Roberta was telling the truth. Even if a thousand dollars wasn’t much, she didn’t want to be scammed.

Jamison glanced at his watch. It wasn’t even eight in the evening yet. The hospital was only half an hour away if traffic was light.

“All right, let’s go,” he said.

“Thank you, sweetheart.”

Half an hour later, they arrived at the women’s hospital.

Given Jamison’s reputation in the medical community, the moment they walked into the ER, a nurse in dark green scrubs recognized him and exclaimed, “Professor Ludwig! What brings you here tonight?”

Jamison offered a polite smile. “Just visiting a friend.”

Ivy seized the opportunity to ask, “Excuse me, doctor, is there a young woman who was brought in by ambulance after taking abortion pills and losing a lot of blood?”

The doctor immediately nodded and pointed down the corridor. “Over there. Is she your friend?”

“Something like that,” Ivy replied before heading in that direction.

Sure enough, she found Roberta lying alone in one of the curtained-off beds in the emergency ward, pale and hooked up to an IV, looking utterly drained.

Ivy walked over and called softly, “Roberta.”

No response.

“Roberta?”

She called again, and this time Roberta’s eyelids fluttered open. When she saw Ivy, there was a flash of genuine emotion in her eyes.

“Ivy… you really came…” She tried to sit up, but Ivy hurried over to stop her.

“Don’t move. Just rest.”

Seeing this, Jamison quietly excused himself to speak with the doctors about her case.

Roberta noticed the tall man walking away and looked startled. “Your husband’s here too?”

“Yeah, we were having dinner when you called, so we came together,” Ivy explained simply, then asked, “How are you feeling? Do you still need surgery?”

“I do,” Roberta said, her voice trembling. “The doctor said the bleeding’s stopped, but I need a D&C tomorrow morning. They need a family member to sign the consent, but I… I’m from out of town. I can’t tell my parents about this, and Adler’s not answering his phone…”

Tears began to fall again.

Ivy couldn’t help but feel a little contempt for this kind of blind devotion to a guy, but there was no point in lecturing her now. They weren’t even close friends – she had no right to judge. All she could do was help, if her conscience allowed.

“You said on the phone you needed a thousand dollars, right?”

Roberta nodded frantically. “Yes, a thousand… actually, the surgery doesn’t cost that much, but I owe my landlord more than a month’s rent. If I don’t pay soon, he’ll call the police. That’s why I-”

Ivy cut her off, startled. “Wait, wasn’t it your boyfriend who rented the place? Why are you the one paying the rent?”

Roberta’s face twisted with regret and anger. “Adler hasn’t paid rent for almost two months. He convinced me to move out of the dorm and in with him, just so he could stick me with the bills. I… I never imagined he could be so horrible.”

Ivy listened, feeling sick to her stomach.