Chapter 992 The Gray Family Medical History
The person had his back against Toby; perhaps the person heard footsteps approaching him, so he turned around gradually to face him. It was none other than Tim, who had come up with an excuse that he was going to do the ward round!
Toby and Tim were unsurprised to see each other appear at this spot and clearly, they had both agreed to meet up right there.
“Just tell me, is it found in Little Leaf’s report?” Toby looked at Tim and spoke in a low voice.
Tim leaned against one side of the wall. “Fortunately, she’s fine. She didn’t inherit Titus’ kidney failure condition.”
As soon as Toby heard Tim’s reply, the tense expression on Toby’s face finally relaxed slightly. “That’s great.”
However, Toby was not entirely at ease because he recalled that Titus’ condition had just been discovered a few months back, which meant that over the past fifty-odd years, Titus’ kidneys were perfectly fine and it had been a sudden occurrence. Perhaps it had not been a sudden occurrence and Titus’ kidneys had actually decreased in function over the recent years without him realizing. Finally, he collapsed at the point when his kidneys had deteriorated beyond working conditions.
As soon as Toby thought of that possibility, he shut his eyes for a moment. When he reopened them, there was a solemn look in them. “Little Leaf hasn’t been diagnosed to have inherited that condition right now, but would it be possible that in the next ten or twenty years, she would end up inheriting that same condition and collapse in her fifties, just like Titus?”
Titus was the head of the Gray family, so it was virtually impossible that he had never done a thorough body check over the past ten years or so. If he had, it meant that he was never diagnosed in the first place and hence, healthy for the past decades. This could only mean that in recent years—or perhaps just within this year—the inherited condition had suddenly flared up within him. Toby was worried that Sonia would face a similar situation as Titus.
As soon as Tim heard Toby’s query, he reached into the pocket of his white coat and took out a packet of cigarettes. He retrieved one from the pack and placed it into his mouth before removing another one from the pack to hand to Toby. “Would you like one?”
Toby gestured to reject Tim. “No, thanks. I’ve quit smoking. She prefers that I don’t smoke.” As he said that, he lifted his chin slightly and the smug note in his voice was quite evident.
One side of Tim’s lenses glinted under the light as he retracted the cigarette. “You don’t need to emphasize that last sentence.” Tim could clearly tell that Toby had said that to mock him.
Toby pretended not to understand what Tim was on about and he impatiently urged Tim to continue, “That’s enough. Hurry up and answer my question. Will Little Leaf end up in the same condition as Titus?”
Still, Tim did not respond but took out a lighter to light his cigarette. Perhaps his lighter was faulty and he tried multiple times to no avail. At that point, his expression darkened significantly.
Toby could not stand the sight of that, so he reached into his suit pocket and took out a gold-colored metallic lighter that had a carving of a dragon on the exterior and flung it over to Tim.
With that, Tim reached out and caught it in his hands deftly before releasing his fist to take a look at it. As soon as he saw the expensive-looking lighter in his hands, his eyes lit up instantly. “If I’m not mistaken, this was custom-made for the Queen of Erendale and it is an identification token for the male member of the royal family. There are only two of these in this world. One belongs to her son while the other one was gifted by the Queen to a mysterious person. I can’t believe that you’re the mysterious person.”
“A few years ago, I went on a business trip to Erendale and met the Queen once. She gifted this to me then.” Toby explained calmly as his thin lips moved while he spoke.
The lighter was the one that Sonia had confiscated from him at the restaurant the night before.
However, she had returned it to him this morning when they were in the car together. She had mentioned that since she trusted him to not smoke again, her returning his lighter would be a gesture to emphasize her statement. She knew that even if he had the lighter in possession, he would keep his promise. That was also why he was able to retrieve the lighter right now.
At that moment, Tim lifted his thumb and there was a ‘clink’ sound as the lighter was uncovered; the fiery flames lit up too and subsequently, his cold expressionless face glowed and the scene was nice. He craned his head forward to move the cigarette on top of the flame. Soon enough, his cigarette was lit up too.
He then pressed down on his thumb to cover the lighter. He continued to twirl the lighter in his hands after that and did not have any intention to return it to Toby. “What would you say if you gave this to me? You’ve quit smoking, right? You won’t need this lighter, then. After all, you won’t be lighting anyone’s cigarette given your identity.” After he said that, he puffed his cigarette quite relaxedly.
Perhaps it was because of the luxurious lighter and he found that the puff of his cigarette seemed much nicer than usual.
Toby glanced at Tim indifferently with an unperturbed expression, but Toby’s brows were even more tightly knitted. “I don’t mind giving it to you, but I have a condition and I want a satisfactory answer from you.”
“It’s a deal!” Tim instantly stopped his act of flinging the lighter into the air and caught it with his hand. Finally, he started on answering Toby’s question, “Don’t worry. I reckon that it will not happen.”
“What do you mean?” Toby narrowed his eyes.
Tim puffed out once more and held the cigarette in between his fingers. He gently tapped his index finger and some ash to the ground before continuing, “Well, do you think that you’re the one who has come up with a question that a professional like me would overlook?
After ending the call with you last night, I considered the point that Sonia’s test result might not be conclusive of any issue at all, so I wondered whether there was a chance that she would have a flare-up ten years down the line. As such, I investigated the Gray family medical history for those with a similar condition.”
“Their medical history?” There was a knowing glint in Toby’s eyes at that moment.
Tim nodded slightly. “That’s right. Although First World Hospital is a public hospital, part of the shares are held privately in the hands of my family. The hospital was established eighty years ago—pre-war—and the founding father was my ancestor.
Back then, First World Hospital wasn’t known as this name and it was known as Lancaster Hospital. It was a fully privately-owned hospital and it was the first private hospital in Seafield. The Gray Family originated from Seafield and they are considered one of the oldest families here.
Eighty years ago, their ancestor was a landowner, so he could afford to seek treatment at a private hospital. As such, I purposely went to the database to look up all of the medical records of the Gray Family at this hospital dated all the way back.
Coincidentally, the person who sought treatment at the hospital back then was the previous person in the family to have the same kidney failure condition; that man was Titus’ great-grandfather.”
“Oh?” Toby pursed his thin lips. “What happened after that?”
“Titus’ great-grandfather was younger than Titus was when his condition was first discovered. Back then, Titus’ great-grandfather was only in his twenties and from the records, he clearly knew that his kidney failure condition was inherited from the older generations.
The reason for that was because the same condition would appear in a generation after some time went by. The person who treated him in the past was my great-great grandfather. My great-great grandfather had studied medicine abroad and back then, he had learned of the concept of hereditary medical conditions.
However, he had never seen an actual case with his own eyes. Titus’ great-grandfather was the first case my great-great grandfather’s treated, so he was very interested in the patient and asked the patient a lot of questions, which were all recorded in a notebook here.”
“How did you know that your great-great grandfather interviewed him and recorded them in a notebook?” Toby frowned and looked at Tim.
“It’s on the records.” Tim puffed on his cigarette slowly. “It was the first time ever that my great-great grandfather had encountered a patient with a hereditary medical condition, so be it for him or for the medical world in the country, this was something worth investigating. That’s why he purposely recorded this detail in the medical records of Titus’ great-grandfather.”
