He said, “If you want to have surgery, you’ll have to take a long leave. I’ve worked at Jihua Hospital too, so I know how hard it is to get leave at a public hospital, and I know how heavy your workload is, not to mention your special circumstances.”

As long as Eric Bennett still wants to stay at the hospital and avoid social ruin, there’s no way he can use abortion as the real reason for taking leave.

But if he wants to keep his situation hidden from the rest of the department, getting leave will only become even harder.

If he can’t get leave, he’ll have to resign outright. If he really does quit, Brian Sullivan would probably set off firecrackers around his family’s ancestral grave for three days and nights, maybe even think that Eric Bennett left because he was forced to admit defeat.

Just thinking of Brian Sullivan’s smug face made Eric Bennett’s expression darken even more.

“When it comes to dealing with superiors and social niceties, Brian Sullivan is much smoother than you. Let him come up with an idea—maybe he really can find a win-win solution,” Evelyn Turner said. “Besides, Brian Sullivan is also responsible for this. You don’t have to bear all the pressure alone.”

If someone weren’t holding a knife to his throat, Eric Bennett really wouldn’t want to tell Brian Sullivan about this thing that even he himself could hardly believe.

There’s a reason for “running with the ball” literature—avoiding things may be shameful, but it’s useful.

Eric Bennett pushed up his glasses. “I’ll think about it,” he said, glancing at his phone. Before coming to eat, he’d emailed Dr. Kennedy, but still hadn’t received a reply.

Even though he knew the other party was in a different time zone and was a big name in the field who couldn’t possibly reply so quickly, Eric Bennett still couldn’t help feeling anxious.

He’d never checked for messages this often, not even when submitting articles in the past.

Evelyn Turner noticed his actions and said thoughtfully, “If Dr. Kennedy is really willing to share the surgical indication plan and video with you, I can help you arrange for an operating room at our hospital. But as for the chief surgeon… who do you plan to have do it?”

Eric Bennett flipped his phone over, suddenly not wanting to talk to Evelyn Turner anymore.

Probably because every word Evelyn Turner said tonight hit the nail on the head, all the most difficult problems Eric Bennett was facing—it was hard not to want to cover his ears and retreat.

This surgery would be the first of its kind in the country. Skilled surgeons in other specialties aren’t familiar with obstetrics and gynecology and might not dare to take it on. As for OB-GYN, Jihua Hospital affiliated with A Medical University is already the best in the country. Eric Bennett wouldn’t feel at ease having it done at another hospital.

But he couldn’t possibly ask someone from the OB-GYN department at Jihua Hospital to do it either. All the OB-GYN doctors there were his colleagues whom he saw every day. Not to mention how socially fatal this would be, Eric Bennett knew his colleagues’ abilities well—there weren’t many who could handle such a challenging surgery, and even fewer who had the courage and resolve to be the “first.”

He couldn’t blame anyone for this. Even if a similar patient came to Eric Bennett right now, he’d have to seriously consider whether to do it or not.

He needed someone with both the skills he trusted and the guts to do it. Only one person came to mind, but it just had to be the one he least wanted to mention.

“It still has to be Brian Sullivan,” Evelyn Turner directly named the person on his mind.

Eric Bennett pinched the bridge of his nose.

“He may seem unreliable, but he’s got the skills. Things have gotten to this point—if you keep hiding it, it’ll only hurt you. You two have already slept together, so what’s the big deal about asking him to give you an abortion? If he refuses, just report him to the disciplinary committee for being a scumbag and a modern-day Chen Shimei.”

Eric Bennett: “……”

If he doesn’t get killed by Brian Sullivan in the future, it’ll definitely be by Evelyn Turner.

Eric Bennett even wondered if it was because he wasn’t talkative that everyone around him didn’t know how to talk like a normal person.

As the dishes were served one by one, Eric Bennett picked the biggest chicken drumstick from the pot and put it in Evelyn Turner’s bowl. Evelyn Turner was about to say something, but Eric Bennett put a hand to his lips and said, “Shh, eat.”

But after just a few bites, Eric Bennett put down his chopsticks. The nausea and weakness of pregnancy always hit at the worst times. Looking at the table full of colorful dishes, he couldn’t muster any appetite.

Pregnancy really is exhausting.

Since he could remember, Eric Bennett had never had any major illnesses, rarely even caught a cold or fever. He’d always been energetic, able to keep up with nonstop work and study.

But now Eric Bennett felt his energy being eaten away. The discomfort in his body was like a phone’s forced shutdown system, often leaving him feeling powerless.

As much as he wanted to bury his head in the sand like an ostrich, he had to think about what Evelyn Turner said.

He was in the middle of the puzzle, so many things were obscured by emotions and bias, but Evelyn Turner, being outside the situation, could see things more clearly and objectively.

Eric Bennett was silent for a while. He wasn’t sure what would happen after telling Brian Sullivan about this, or even how to face Brian Sullivan after saying it out loud. But Evelyn Turner was right about one thing: whether he chose to have an abortion or keep the child, trying to shoulder it all alone would only make things worse.

Eric Bennett was someone with high standards for himself and found it hard to tolerate his own drop in work efficiency. Because of this unexpected child, whether by choice or not, he’d already spent too much energy.

If things kept going like this, the consequences might be more than just embarrassment and social ruin.