Nina smiled and lowered her eyes, her fingers pinching the jade Buddha pendant around her neck: "No... he hasn't officially confessed to me yet."

"Oh, come on, that’s just how Dr. Julian is. He looks like the 'deep and moody' type," Nurse Li laughed.

Another nurse, Nurse Xu, chimed in: "I don't think so. When Dr. Ke was sick, he ran to her ward eight times a day without complaining. I think he wanted to set up his office right at the door of her ward..."

Nurse Li elbowed her.

Nurse Xu’s voice cut off abruptly, and she looked at Nina with a guilty conscience.

Nina’s expression had already turned sour.

Nurse Xu became even more panicked: "Um, Dr. Nina... I only heard it from others; it must be just rumors. We all know that Dr. Julian and Dr. Ke are impossible, otherwise, they would have been together years ago..."

Nurse Li poked her hard again.

Nurse Xu closed her mouth and didn't dare say another word.

Nina smiled slightly: "It's fine, I know Julian and Dr. Ke have a close relationship. But in the future, you shouldn't mention Dr. Ke in front of Julian."

"Yesterday was Dr. Ke’s birthday, she confessed to Julian, and Julian rejected her. I imagine they won't be speaking to each other from now on."

The two nurses looked shocked.

They hadn't expected to get such juicy gossip.

They nodded hurriedly: "Don't worry, Dr. Nina, our lips are sealed."

Nina smiled, turned, and walked into her office.

The news that Clara Ke had confessed to Julian on her birthday and was rejected spread through the entire nursing department within ten minutes.

In the group chat, a nurse from the Neurology Department added: "No wonder Clara hasn't returned since she left with Dr. Julian yesterday."

"Still, Clara is quite pitiful. Her cancer metastasized, and she gave up chemotherapy and surgery. She probably doesn't have many days left."

"I think she confessed to Dr. Julian just to get her feelings off her chest before she died; she probably didn't expect him to say yes."

After this message, the chat group fell silent for a long time.

They had actually forgotten for a moment that Clara Ke had a brain tumor, and here they were, using her as conversation fodder.

"Sigh, actually, I think Clara is much better than Nina. I don't know why Dr. Julian doesn't like Clara and likes Nina instead."

"To each their own, I guess."

"For someone as good as Dr. Ke, I hope she's healthy in her next life and finds someone who loves her back."

The topic ended on a somewhat sad note.

On the other side, Julian was completely unaware of all this.

He went through his routine, seeing patients, patrolling the wards, and scheduling important surgeries for the next few days.

But a problem arose while he was scheduling the surgeries.

Julian looked at the blank space after "First Assistant" and frowned, looking at the nurse with confusion: "Why is the first assistant blank? Where is the previous one?"

The nurse felt strange; the previous first assistant had clearly been Dr. Ke.

But Dr. Ke had resigned after getting sick.

Dr. Julian’s reaction made it seem like he had forgotten Clara Ke...

Chapter 15

The nurse was bewildered and suddenly remembered what was being discussed in the group chat that morning.

Dr. Julian probably didn't want to mention Clara Ke anymore.

So she said: "Several interns are doing quite well. Dr. Ke had always let them take turns assisting; would you like to select one for these upcoming surgeries?"

Interns?

Did interns assist with all the previous surgeries as well?

Julian frowned slightly, a feeling of inexplicable discomfort lingering in his heart.

He tried to recall the first assistant for every past surgery.

But strangely, while he remembered all the details and the characteristics of every patient, when he looked at the position across from him—the spot belonging to the first assistant—he couldn't make out that person's face at all.

Strange. Why had he forgotten only this one person?

The more Julian couldn't remember, the more he wanted to force the memory back.

However, his head began to ache violently amidst the struggle.

"Thump!" His fountain pen fell from his palm, making a crisp sound as it hit the desk.

At the same time, he raised his hand to press against his temple, trying to suppress the pain.

The nurse saw his expression change and approached hesitantly: "Dr. Julian, are... are you okay?"

Julian had no time to answer her; he only felt the pain drilling deeper and deeper, like an electric drill.

What was going on? Why did his head suddenly hurt so much?

The nurse panicked and turned to go out and call for help.

Just as she reached for the doorknob, the door was pushed open from the outside.

Nina walked in.

Seeing her, the nurse looked as if she had seen a savior: "Dr. Nina, I don't know what’s wrong with Dr. Julian, he’s suddenly suffering from a headache and it looks quite serious. I’ll go call a neurologist immediately."

Unexpectedly, Nina glanced past her at Julian and said: "No need, this is Dr. Julian's chronic problem."

"You can go out first; I’ll just help him massage it."

The relationship between Nina and Julian was known to everyone in the hospital.

Since she said so, the nurse had no doubts and left.

After she left, Nina glanced at the surgery schedule on the desk, a dark glint flashing in her eyes.

Could Julian remember even with just a tiny trace?

Nina clenched her hands, but when she spoke, her voice was gentle: "Julian, are you okay?"

Julian’s chaotic thoughts seemed to clear up like the clouds parting as soon as he heard her voice.

And the next second, a pair of hands reached from behind to press against his temples.

Slowly, gently kneading.

The coolness of her fingertips instantly dispelled the pain in his head, making it fade away like a receding tide.

Julian was slightly stunned: "Nina?"

A soft voice came from behind him: "I’m here. How is it? Does it still hurt?"

Julian shook his head: "It’s really strange. You massaged it for a moment, and it stopped hurting. Just a second ago, it felt like it was splitting apart."

Nina chuckled: "What would you do without me? You can't even take care of yourself; is it okay for you to be taking care of those patients?"

"Tell me, why did you have a headache just now?"

Only then did Julian remember what had happened before the pain.

He held Nina’s hand, reached out with the other to pick up the surgery schedule: "The cardiothoracic department only has a few interns available to serve as first assistants, but they just graduated. I’m worried that they don't have enough mental fortitude and will be nervous on the operating table."

Nina took it to look, and after a few seconds, put it down: "How about me?"

Julian turned to look at her: "What?"

"Let me be your first assistant," Nina smiled, "Even though I just got promoted, I really want to perform surgery with you, even if it’s just as a first assistant."

Julian was stunned.

But it wasn't because of her statement.

It was because, just as Nina said that, another familiar yet strange voice echoed in his ears.

That voice had said something very similar to Nina.

She had said: "I’ve already applied to the Chief to be your first assistant. Julian, I absolutely won't hold you back."

"It doesn't matter, I’m willing to give up the opportunity to be the lead surgeon."

"I hope every one of our surgeries is perfect."

Who was she?

She felt so familiar... but why couldn't he remember her?

Julian’s head began to ache faintly again.

Meanwhile, Nina behind him frowned, an unsatisfied "tch" sounding in her mind: [Don't tell me he’s thinking of Clara Ke again.]

As the thought faded, a cold, emotionless, mechanical voice rang out: [Yes, Host. That sentence you just said is similar to something Clara Ke once said.]

[And she was more sincere than you when she said it.]

Nina’s expression turned dark: [She really is a nuisance.]

Chapter 16

Seeing that Julian was again showing signs of a headache, Nina felt irritated.

However, she reached out once more to massage his temples and instructed the system to erase the lingering shadows of Clara Ke from Julian’s mind again.

The system carried out Nina's order while simultaneously speaking: [Host, you are using the "Erase" function on the target too frequently. If this continues, his brain will suffer damage.]

Nina gave a disdainful hum: [Damage makes him easier to control. Otherwise, he keeps thinking of Clara Ke, and how else am I supposed to max out his affection meter?]

The system continued: [If the target’s brain suffers damage and his memories become scrambled, he won't even remember you, and this mission will be considered a failure.]