"Bruce, Bruce. Calm down, quickly calm down." Hearing the piercing beeps from the heart rate monitor on Bruce's wrist, Betty immediately panicked.
For her, the consequences of Bruce's anger were far more severe than Jennifer's current injuries.
Once he lost his mind, the entire city of Philadelphia would face a huge disaster, and they would also attract the Military's attention. This was something she didn't want to see, so she began to try her best to appease Bruce Banner's emotions.
"Jennifer can still be saved, we need to get her to the hospital quickly. Bruce, control yourself. Saving her is more important now!"
Bruce Banner listened to Betty's voice and began to breathe heavily. Cold air entered his lungs, simultaneously cooling his blood, which was boiling with anger. The monster within him began to be gradually suppressed, and his heart rate also started to calm down.
Finally, the green light in his eyes subsided.
"You're right, Betty. Call a taxi, we need to get to the hospital quickly."
Bruce and Betty rushed to the hospital with the injured Jennifer. Fortunately, the hospital was not far from their location. Soon, they took Jennifer to the emergency room.
Watching the emergency room light come on, Bruce sat uneasily in a chair. His heart rate was erratic, meaning his inner turmoil was not calm. Although he had an effective method for controlling his emotions, its effectiveness was very limited in the current situation.
Fortunately, Betty was by his side. Her constant reassurance kept his heart rate from exceeding the safe threshold. This continued until the light above the operating room went out.
"Doctor, how is she?" Seeing the Doctor walk out of the operating room, Bruce quickly stepped forward and asked anxiously.
"Are you the patient's family?"
"No, we're just her friends." Before Bruce could instinctively answer, Betty spoke for him. Their current identities were fugitives; registering their identities would mean telling the Military their location. That wouldn't be good for anyone.
"Her condition is very bad. We've removed the bullet, but she's lost too much blood, and our hospital doesn't have her blood type. It will take some time to get it from other hospitals, but given her current condition, I don't think she can last until then. If you know her family, it's best to contact them."
The Doctor's words were almost a Death notice, causing Bruce to momentarily lose himself.
"Calm down, Bruce. Doctor, what is my friend's blood type?" Betty, worried that Bruce would lose control, quickly asked. She needed to understand the core of the problem to prevent Bruce from rampaging.
"The Young Miss's blood type is Rh-negative, which is an extremely rare blood type. I'm sorry, our blood bank doesn't have this blood type."
The Doctor shook his head and walked away, but his answer gave Betty a moment to breathe. She immediately searched her brain and found a solution.
"Bruce, calm down. Jennifer can still be saved, you can't save her like this."
"How do I save her, Betty? What do I need to do to save her?"
"Don't forget, Bruce. Your blood type is also Rh-negative. Your blood can treat her." Betty grabbed Bruce's arm and shouted. For her, this was a last resort, but it was better than letting Bruce turn into that monster.
"Betty? I can't do that!" Bruce disagreed with the idea. He was very clear about his own situation. Once his blood was transfused to his sister, it was very likely to cause unpredictable and serious consequences. His own fate was already tragic enough, and he didn't want to bring this tragic fate upon his sister.
"You and your companion have already found a solution, haven't you? Now you can use your blood to save her, and when you get to New York, you can use the method you found to change her back."
"You don't understand, what happened to me was an accident. Jennifer might not be so lucky." Bruce was still hesitating. But Betty's next words forced him to make up his mind.
"Bruce, take a gamble. Maybe a miracle will happen. Are you going to just watch her die?"
Bruce Banner, having thought it through, finally made up his mind. He found the Doctor, who had already begun to pack up, and said to him,
"Doctor, use my blood! My blood type is the same as the patient's. I can give her a transfusion!"
The Doctor looked at him, then lowered his head and said,
"Alright, sir, we will arrange a blood test immediately. As soon as your blood type matches, we will start treating her."
"There's no time, Doctor. I'm worried my friend won't last until then." Betty interrupted the Doctor and explained to him. "I can confirm that my boyfriend's blood type is the same as hers. Please help her as soon as possible. We really don't have much time."
Perhaps the Doctor sensed their unspoken difficulties. At this moment, his natural instinct to heal and save lives took over. He didn't consider anything else, just gave Bruce a meaningful look and said,
"Alright, I'll start preparing for her transfusion immediately."
While intense rescue efforts were still underway in Philadelphia, Zhou Yi was already living a rather comfortable life in New York.
He had just finished attending parent-teacher conferences for his two Children, and it must be said that both Little Girls were the type to inspire confidence. Compared to other parents who were subjected to lengthy talks by school teachers about the various troubles their Children caused, he received completely different treatment.
His Children were intelligent, diligent, had excellent social skills, and were also very likable. This led their teachers to constantly praise them in front of Zhou Yi, which to some extent, fulfilled his paternal pride.
However, amidst all the praise, a few teachers also subtly brought up a problem. The negative impact of single-parent households on Children, which they perhaps saw as the only flaw in this family. They enthusiastically advised Zhou Yi to find another woman to form a complete family while he was still young and the Children were small. But only Zhou Yi knew how difficult it was to solve this problem.
Marriage was easy. There might be streets full of people willing to marry him, but the number of people he was willing to marry was very few. So he could only laugh it off, checking his watch while trying to deal with this group of overly gossipy teachers.
Fortunately, parent-teacher conferences couldn't last forever. After the official closing time, he finally found relief and took his two Little Princesses home.
Although today was a troublesome day, overall, he was in a good mood. So he made a detour and took the Children to the dessert shop they had visited last time.
The two cute Children never minded having another delicious dessert, and the owner didn't mind having another pair of cute Little Girls in his shop. Meanwhile, Zhou Yi took the opportunity to chat with the idle owner.
"Speaking of which, boss, your shop's decor has changed a lot, I remember there weren't so many new things when I last came!" He asked nonchalantly, but the owner's answer piqued his interest.
"Thanks to those young people recently, the public security here has improved a lot. Even the thugs who collect protection money don't dare to show their faces. You know, without those guys interfering, I naturally wanted to expand my storefront to attract more customers!"
"Those young people, which young people are you talking about?" Although Zhou Yi's current identity was also a glorious figure, he wasn't universally known. At least the owner didn't recognize him as the CEO of Corona Group. He just thought he was an ordinary curious customer, so he answered without much thought.
"It's that group of Mutants specially recruited by the Police Department. To be honest, at first I really disliked them, and I didn't even treat them well when they visited here. But I have to say, they've done a really good job. Especially that beautiful Young Miss with a strand of golden hair, she helped me a lot. So now, I really do think they are a good group of young people."
The owner was French. Generally speaking, because of Magneto, French people were very hostile to the Mutant community. However, this owner became an exception. And his experience made Zhou Yi even more interested.
"Can you tell me, if it's convenient!" Opening his cigarette case, Zhou Yi offered the owner a cigarette. This was a good way to bridge the gap between them, both practical and effective.
The owner didn't refuse. Because there were Children present, he didn't light the cigarette but tucked it behind his ear. After doing so, he began to recount his experience.
"You should know, my shop's location isn't ideal. There are many drug addicts in the bar next door, and sometimes they do crazy things you wouldn't expect."
"It was raining heavily that night, and I was planning to close early. Who knew a drug addict would rush in, pointing a gun at me and demanding a robbery. God knows what he was thinking, wanting to rob a dessert shop. Plus, the weather was bad that day, and with no business, I couldn't even get out a single bit of cash."
"Seeing that drug addict at the time, I knew it was bad. I thought today was definitely over, this guy must have gone crazy from wanting to get high, running into someone like this was truly seeing a ghost. And the guy really was crazy, he actually fired a shot at me, although it missed. But it still scared me half to Death."
The owner said this, his face showing lingering fear. It was clear he had been genuinely scared at the time, so much so that he still remembered it vividly. But soon, his expression changed, showing excitement.
"It was then that the lovely Young Miss rushed in. I didn't even see how she did it, but she subdued that drug addict. Even the gun in his hand was twisted into a donut. It was then that the Young Miss told me she had originally wanted to eat my French bread, but never expected to encounter such a thing."
"Since then, she and her Police partner have frequently patrolled this area. Thanks to her, I haven't seen those gangs or drug addicts for a long time. Even the bar next door is no longer so smoky and chaotic. To be honest, if I were a few decades younger, I would really want to pursue that Young Miss."
Hearing this, Zhou Yi found it somewhat amusing. Truly a romantic Frenchman, even at this age, he still had a romantic heart. However, from his words, Zhou Yi gained a clear understanding of Rogue and her companions' efforts.
It was clear they were doing well. And this meant that his efforts were worthwhile. Mutants could indeed coexist peacefully with humans. As long as there was this awareness and perseverance.