"Okay!" Louie nodded.

The two of them hurried down the hall and arrived at the doctor's office moments later.

Louie burst in excitedly. "Dr. Lowell! Dr. Lowell! I brought Dr. Oracle!"

Dr. Lowell was on the phone. Hearing Louie's voice, he turned slightly, then his eyes widened in disbelief. He looked at Caitlin and stammered, "M-M-Miss Gonzales."

Gertrude's condition was critical; they had issued several code blue warnings during her surgery. When Louie had claimed he and his wife knew Caitlin and could get her to operate, Dr. Lowell had assumed he was bluffing.

It was nothing personal. It was just that Louie and Gertrude were so... ordinary.

How could people like them be friends with someone like Caitlin?

But he was wrong. It was true. Louie had actually brought Caitlin here.

"What's my friend's condition?" Caitlin asked.

Dr. Lowell was so stunned he could barely speak. He fumbled with a file on his desk, stammering, "Th-this is her chart and test results. P-p-please, take a look."

Caitlin took the file and began to review the reports, her expression growing more serious with each page she turned.

Although Elsa had only stabbed her once, Gertrude's spleen had been severely damaged. She was bleeding internally, and while the initial surgery had stopped the worst of it, there was still a significant amount of blood in her abdominal cavity that they couldn't drain. Her life was in imminent danger.

"Prep an OR for me. Now," Caitlin said after assessing the situation.

"Of course, Miss Gonzales!" Dr. Lowell nodded. "I'll get it ready immediately."

Hearing Caitlin's decisive words, Louie finally felt a wave of relief. He looked at her, his eyes filled with hope. "Mrs. Sylvester, Gertrude... she's going to be okay, right?"

"Yes, she'll be okay," Caitlin said with a slight nod, then turned to Louie. "Just wait for us out here."

It was as if Louie's soul had snapped back into his body. He finally had something solid to hold on to "Okay! Yes we're counting on your Sylvester

An hour later, Gertrude was wheeled back into surgery.

Caitlin, having changed into scrubs and gone through a full sterilization process, entered the operating room.

The red 'IN USE' light above the door flickered on.

Louie paced back and forth in the hallway outside. Even though Caitlin had said Gertrude would be fine, he was still overcome with worry

кене

clasped his hands together praying over and over again.

Two hours passed.

The light went out. Then, the doors to the operating room opened.

Caitlin was the first one out.

Louie rushed over to her. "Mrs. Sylvester, Gertrude... is she... is she okay now?"

Caitlin nodded slightly. "Yes, she's fine. They'll be bringing her out shortly. You can wait here."

Overcome with joy and relief, Louie's

knees buckled and he dropped to

the flo

with a thud. "Thank you

with

thank youud. "Thank you

Sylvester

for saving Gertrude!"

He couldn't describe the elation he felt. The moment he learned how badly Gertrude

was hurt, his world had collapsed.

Thank God. Thank God Gertrude had a friend like Caitlin.

Caitlin immediately helped Louie up. "What about Elsa?" she asked.

Louie, wiping tears from his eyes, replied, "Elsa tried to kill herself. She's in the ICU

now. The doctors said she probably won't make it."

"Suicide?" Caitlin frowned. "So, Elsa thinks she can escape justice by killing herself?"

Caitlin slowly removed her mask. "It's easy to want to live. But getting a quick and easy death... that's not so simple."