Henry Mills gazed at her with concern.

She smiled and replied, "I just twisted my ankle a little. It's nothing."

Looking at her swollen ankle, Henry Mills thought, If Yancy Shaw finds out, he'll definitely be beside himself with worry.

"I'll take you over to Orthopedics now," he said.

With that, Henry Mills bent down, ready to support her.

She waved him off. "No need, my friend already went to register for me."

"I'll help you over. No need to be so polite with me." As Henry Mills spoke, he reached for her arm.

A hand smacked his away, hard.

"What are you doing?"

"You look so proper, but now you're playing the harassment card?" Claire Xu shot him a disdainful glare, shielding Lauren Shaw behind her.

Henry Mills was completely bewildered. "How am I harassing her?"

Did he look like some kind of creep? He was clearly so good-looking!

"Can't you see my friend doesn't want your help? Men and women should keep their distance—ever heard of boundaries?" Claire Xu rolled her eyes at him.

She then linked arms with Lauren Shaw. "Come on, I'll take you."

Lauren Shaw wanted to explain, but the air between the two was electric—she couldn't get a word in.

Henry Mills felt her words were a bit much. "How do I not have boundaries? What did I do?"

He had just been trying to help Lauren Shaw see a doctor. How did that mean he didn't understand boundaries?

"You know exactly what you did. Ugh! Scumbag!"

Flabbergasted by Claire Xu's outburst, Henry Mills watched the two walk off in confusion. Under his breath he muttered, "What is their deal?"

"Qingqing, why were you so hostile to him just now?"

Lauren Shaw was puzzled. Claire Xu had a straightforward personality, but she usually wasn't the type to lash out at people.

"He's a total sleazebag. I was letting him off easy. I saw him flirting with the young nurses, teasing them, then messing around with some female patient, and now he's coming after you?" Claire Xu hated men like that the most.

Lauren Shaw remembered that Henry Mills hadn't been wearing a white coat earlier—maybe Claire Xu had misunderstood. She was about to explain.

Ding! The elevator arrived on the Orthopedics floor.

As the doors opened, Lauren Shaw saw who was waiting outside and instinctively tried to hide her injured right foot behind Claire Xu.

"Hello there, Dr. Shen!" Claire Xu called out, waving cheerily.

After politely returning the greeting, Yancy Shaw lowered his gaze to Lauren Shaw's foot.

Lauren Shaw was standing on one foot, afraid to put any weight on her twisted right ankle.

She was in a skirt, her red, swollen ankle clearly visible.

Though he said nothing, it was obvious he was furious.

Claire Xu caught on quickly, handing Lauren Shaw's arm to Yancy Shaw. "Since your Dr. Shen is here, I'll get going now."

Sensing Dr. Shen's anger, Claire Xu decided it was best not to linger.

Lauren Shaw turned to Claire Xu for help, but Claire Xu just waved and mouthed, "I'm off!"

"Why didn't you tell me?" Yancy Shaw arched a brow and, without waiting for her response, wrapped his arm around her waist and lifted her up.

The sudden weightlessness startled Lauren Shaw, and she instinctively hooked her arms around his neck. As she gazed at his handsome face so close to hers, she felt a fleeting moment of dazedness.

"I was afraid of bothering you at work," she said softly, head lowered in guilt.

It wasn't that she didn't want to tell him, but she was worried she'd interrupt his surgery. Besides, it wasn't anything serious—a simple sprain. She thought she could handle it on her own, so better not to disturb him.

Yancy Shaw sighed deeply and carried her toward his office.

"This isn't the way to Orthopedics," Lauren Shaw pointed out, recognizing the route to Cardiac Surgery from her previous visit.

"Do you think your husband is just for show?" His displeasure was obvious; in all their time together, he'd never used this tone with her.

"No, I never thought that," she quickly replied.

Yancy Shaw said nothing more.

When they reached his office, he carefully placed her on a swivel chair.

He knelt to examine her injury.

Lifting her right foot onto his knee, he frowned at the badly swollen ankle—it looked a lot like a pig's trotter.

He raised an eyebrow and murmured in a low voice, "Wait here. I'll get some ice."

Propping her foot up, he told her not to move and promised he'd be right back.

Left alone, Lauren Shaw curiously looked around the office.

On the desk were a few patient records, the handwriting strong and clear—definitely his. She picked one up to take a look.

Just then, the office door swung open from outside.

Lauren Shaw looked up, thinking it was him, but instead came face-to-face with an elegant, striking woman.

Mona Lane frowned at the sight of a woman in Yancy Shaw's office. She asked coolly, "What are you doing here? Where's Dr. Shen?"

Lauren Shaw's injured leg rested on the stool, her skirt riding up a little—revealing long, slender legs and pale skin that inevitably drew the eye.

Mona Lane's expression instantly darkened.

"He went to get some medication," Lauren Shaw replied offhandedly.

Mona Lane eyed her with obvious displeasure. "What are you doing here?" The second half of that sentence—Trying to seduce someone?—was left unsaid.

"Getting treated, obviously," Lauren Shaw retorted, thoroughly confused. What else could she be doing in a hospital?

Only then did Mona Lane notice the injury on her foot.

But her tone remained frosty. "Miss Li, looks like your leg is injured, not your head. Shouldn't you be in Orthopedics? Why are you in Cardiac Surgery?"

Lauren Shaw wondered that herself. Why hadn't Yancy Shaw taken her to Orthopedics, instead of bringing her here?

Seeing Lauren Shaw with one of the patient files in her hands, Mona Lane was suddenly irritated.

"Dr. Shen really hates people messing with his stuff. You'd better not touch anything," she warned.

"Really? He hates people touching his things? But at home, I always tidy up all his stuff," Lauren Shaw thought to herself.

If she's not supposed to mess around, then that just makes her want to do it more.

She put down the file and opened the desk drawer, rummaging inside out of sheer mischief.

If her legs weren't injured today, she wouldn't stop at just a little poking around.

Mona Lane's face was stormy.

Standing in the doorway, she saw Yancy Shaw coming, and deliberately raised her voice: "Miss Li, don't say I didn't warn you—keep that up, and Dr. Shen will be mad."

Seeing her blocking the door, Yancy Shaw frowned deeply.

"Dr. Shen, I just told Miss Li not to touch your things…" Mona Lane began to explain as he walked in, but her voice faded.

Yancy Shaw didn't spare her so much as a glance. Coming inside with an ice pack wrapped in a towel, he gently pressed it to Lauren Shaw's swollen ankle.

"If something like this happens again, you can always call me," he said, head lowered. She couldn't see his expression, but his tone was soft and warm, lacking its usual chill.

Mona Lane stared at him in disbelief.

Obediently, Lauren Shaw replied, "Okay."

She tugged her skirt down a little further, careful not to expose herself.