Chapter 1028: Shocking the Worldly People (Part 5) _1

"Oh, really? Did he say that?" Shiller spoke thoughtfully, and seeing Strange grow increasingly restless and on the verge of snatching the phone from him, he continued calmly, "Indeed, it is the highest praise a father can give to his son..."

After finishing his sentence, Shiller saw a flash of red in Strange's eyes. Then he asked another question, "If that's the case, Mr. Old Strange, why didn't you choose to contact your son?"

"Alright, I understand now, thank you." Shiller lowered his head again. After confirming some details about the illness with the doctor, he hung up the phone. He put the phone aside and looked at Strange, who looked even more haggard.

Shiller put both of his hands on the table, looking at the contents on his notebook. "Your father began having noticeable difficulty breathing three years ago. This indicates that by then, his lung function had already started to deteriorate."

"You said it was because of smoking, but this doctor has a different opinion. Mr. Old Strange has sought treatment from him many times and he stands on authority concerning this."

"Your father had chronic bronchitis, didn't he?" Shiller turned to Strange and asked.

Strange, seeming a bit disoriented, nodded, "Mmm, as a child I recall he was always coughing. Our rooms were quite close, so when he coughed in the middle of the night, I'd have difficulty sleeping. My grades suffered for a whole term until he decided to move into the smaller room next to the barn."

"Bronchitis usually comes with some degree of lung infection. It's likely that following a flare-up of his bronchitis during a change of seasons, he contracted a severe lung infection. The lack of timely treatment led to damage to his lung function."

"Of course, as you mentioned, smoking certainly played a part. According to the doctor, Mr. Old Strange was quite a heavy smoker. However, if I recall correctly, you mentioned he only began smoking after your mother passed away?"

Strange sighed, "He smoked before, but very little. He was a regular farmer in Philadelphia, just like all the others there, enjoying a smoke whilst working the fields."

"However, since my mother's death, his smoking has worsened dramatically. That's one of the reasons I don't want to go home. I despise the smell. It lingers on my clothes, an odor impossible to wash out. I couldn't possibly bring such a smell into the operating room..."

Strange used strong words to express his feelings. Shiller calmly reassured him, then added, "His current lung condition is not just due to his bad habits. It might also be constrained by the local people's understanding and medical conditions."

"I told him long ago to come to New York. Victor...oh, that's my younger brother. He's always messing about in the fields, not studying properly. Eugene doesn't pay any mind to him, just lets him run wild!"

"I've tried talking to him about this, but we can't get through a few sentences before he tells me as an uppity New Yorker, I should get out of Philadelphia and never return. He's just such a stubborn, ill-tempered man..."

"Has he ever been to New York?" Shiller asked.

"This is his first time here. If Victor and I hadn't forced him into the car by getting him drunk, he still wouldn't have come!" Strange took a deep breath, looking utterly helpless. "Even when coughing up blood, he still refused to come to the Elders Council Hospital. I really can't understand it; doesn't he feel uncomfortable?!"

Taking a deep breath, Strange calmed down slightly. Then he covered his face, speaking with a choked voice, "My mother died unexpectedly, which was a great shock to him. Not long after, Donna also passed away. The two most important women in his life were taken away from him consecutively..."

"Since then, he's become unbearably temperamental. When I was studying, every time I called him, he never asked about my studies. And in every conversation, he would always eventually bring up Donna."

Strange closed his eyes, showing his teeth in what was more like a grimace than a smile, then confessed, "I admit that part of the reason I didn't want to go back out was because...he blamed me for Donna's death..."

"We were swimming together when Donna drowned. I..." Strange's Adam's apple bobbed visibly, and he choked on his words, stopping in the middle of his sentence. Despite the pause, Shiller understood what he was trying to say.

"I know; Victor feels the same." Strange covered his face again, "I know they don't want to see me because I killed Donna. Eugene feels the same..."

"He'd rather bear the pain of coughing blood than come to see me. Even when he's dying, he still refuses to see me one last time!" At last, Strange broke down. His arm, trembling uncontrollably, no longer had the strength to hold up his head, so he simply dropped his head low and stopped speaking.

"Is that really how it is?" Shiller asked.

"Did your father directly tell you that he didn't want to come to New York to see you because you caused Donna's death?"

"Of course he didn't come right out and say it." Strange blinked away the pain in his eyes, then added, "But I know. That's what he meant."