chapter277

Trying to fit in, Lucinda looked at Garrett with wide, innocent eyes. "Garrett, you and my sister keep talking about craniotomy. What is that, anyway?"

She genuinely had no clue what kind of day Garrett and Lydia had been through, and since she didn't understand anything about medicine, their conversation just sounded like a foreign language to her.

Garrett chuckled, then patiently explained, "It's actually called a craniotomy. Basically, it means opening up the skull during surgery. The patient we treated today had a blood vessel that snapped and shrank back inside her brain. We had to find it to fix it. I searched and searched but just couldn't spot it. At the last minute, Lydia found the vessel. Because of her, we didn't have to open up the patient's skull at all, so we avoided a ton of risks and trouble. The patient didn't have to suffer as much, and she won't be left with a scar. You know, scars on your head are really hard to hide, and hair doesn't grow back well. It can really affect how you look."

Lucinda just stared, stunned. Her mind flashed with images of the surgery, sending chills down her spine.

Oh my god. That sounded terrifying!

Was Lydia even real? How could she be brave enough to do something like that?

Garrett noticed Lucinda's stiff expression and realized maybe he'd gone a little too far for someone not used to medical talk. He quickly tried to lighten the mood. "Alright, let's not talk about this while we eat."

Lucinda forced a smile and nodded. "Yeah, okay."

Cameron and Kylie, beaming with pride, started sending more food into Lydia's plate.

"Lydia, you've been working hard all day. Eat a little more," Kylie said.

Lydia nodded and thanked them. "Thanks."

Garrett added more food to her plate too. "You're way too skinny, Lydia. You really need to eat more."

Thanks, Garrett," Lydia said, her voice soft.

Not wanting to be left out, Connor started loading up Lydia's platehimself. By the time he finished, her bowl looked like a tiny mountain of food.

"You need to eat up if you want to keep up at work. You've got so much on your plate every day. If you don't eat enough, how are you supposed to keep going?"

Lucinda watched all this, feeling her frustration bubble up inside. Everyone was fawning over Lydia, piling food onto her plate. Did they forget Lucinda was even at the table?

Trying to keep her cool, Lucinda managed a strained smile. Lydia's so lucky. She's got so much food, she can't possibly finish it all.

The meaning was obvious. Her own bowl was still empty.

Kylie and Cameron noticed and quickly started serving her too.

"Lucinda, you should eat more as well. Your sister just got home and she's so thin. We just want her to gain a little weight," Kylie said, sounding a bit apologetic.

Garrett chimed in with a smile,

"Exactly, Lucinda. Lydia went

through so much with the Smiths for

eighteen years. Now that she's

finally home, we all want to

best to make it up to her, right?"

He'd noticed since he walked in that Lucinda didn't treat Lydia very warmly. She was

always comparing herself to her. That kind of attitude just wasn't right.

Lucinda's smile grew, but there was something sharp behind it. "You're right. After living such a tough life in the countryside, it makes sense for my sister to eat well and build up her health."

She didn't say it outright, but she made it clear. Lydia had never tasted such fancy

food before, so of course she was eating more now.

Connor, watching Lucinda's little

jabs at Lydia's rural background, felt

his patience

9 thin it was

honestly ruming his appetite. He

finally put down his fork and looked

straight at Lucinda.

"Lucinda," he said, his voice calm but firm.