Chapter 119: Seeking Medical Advice

"I walked into a nightmare. I have seen famine in Ethiopia and Bangladesh, but I have not seen famine like this. This is far worse than I imagined, and I was not prepared for it.

"As we enter the 21st century, there are many things that need reflection. We look around and find that past promises have yet to be fulfilled. People are still living in abject poverty, people are still hungry, and people are still struggling for survival.

"Among these people, we see children, always children. Their bloated bellies, their sad eyes, their faces that should be innocent reveal pain. In their short years, they have suffered all the hardships."

This was part of the speech delivered by Ms. Audrey Hepburn at UNICEF after she returned to New York, USA, following preliminary medical tests in Switzerland that yielded no results, regarding her visit to the war-torn region of Somalia.

Ms. Hepburn, who finished her speech, was helped off the stage by Robert amidst applause. Henry, the little assistant, followed behind and, led by UNICEF personnel, went to another small conference room.

The person in charge who was connecting with Audrey Hepburn said respectfully, "Ms., we have received your application to suspend activities due to illness. We sincerely hope you will recover soon."

"Thank you. Please also convey my gratitude to all the UNICEF staff on my behalf; thank you for everyone's cooperation and efforts during this period. Once I recover, there will be opportunities to work with everyone again."

"Okay, Ms. I will convey it for you; I believe everyone will look forward to your return."

Being chosen as a UN Goodwill Ambassador is not just about having a shiny title. Once relevant promotional activities are underway, these Goodwill Ambassadors, who are like advertising signboards, must attend and endorse; this is the price behind the shiny title.

Not to mention Ms. Audrey Hepburn's almost uninterrupted visiting itinerary, which also had several teams coordinating planning and operations behind it.

The lady asked for leave due to illness, so naturally, she had to inform these people so they would know their work could slow down or join other people's projects.

Of course, it wasn't impossible to just hang a name and take a salary, but such people were ultimately a minority in the UN. They always just hung their names and never attended.

Other people who did real work were fought over by all parties; it was almost impossible to be idle. Because this was the UN, a place that could manage everything but also couldn't manage anything.

Leaving the UN building, Henry drove Ms. Hepburn and Robert to a New York public hospital. Such public hospitals provided low-cost medical services for low-income households or undocumented immigrants, so one could imagine the level of the hospital wouldn't be very good.

It wasn't to say that such hospitals didn't have brilliant doctors and advanced equipment. But the massive medical demand would inevitably cause the quality of medical care to decline.

Although Ms. Hepburn had VIP-level treatment here, the expressions of the two people walking out of the clinic were indescribable.

Audrey Hepburn was as calm as usual, as if nothing had changed. And Robert Wolders was slightly angry, saying:

"This kind of public hospital really only produces quacks; they couldn't even diagnose what Audrey's illness is. It's just a bunch of 'suspected,' 'possible,' 'probably,' and then they want us to do a bunch more tests."

Helping the lady to the seat in the rest area, Henry replied casually, "If it were really that simple, the hospital in Switzerland would have checked it out. We wouldn't have to run all the way to the United States."

Robert asked, "What about those medical centers or private hospitals? Did you manage to get an appointment?"

Henry replied, "I have called and inquired about all the medical centers in the US that are worth mentioning, or hospitals with famous thoracic and abdominal surgeons. The fastest one I could get an appointment with is the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. But it's booked until November."

These private hospitals or high-end medical centers couldn't be entered without some financial resources or special cases.

With Audrey Hepburn's fame, she still had to wait for more than a month, nearly two months, to get an appointment. One could only say that all the wealthy people in the world who cherish their lives are concentrated in the United States; it's impossible for such top-tier medical resources not to be tight.

And Ms. Hepburn's strength wasn't at the level where she could cut the line, so she could only obediently register and wait in line.

Compared to Robert's indignation, the lady herself was much calmer. She said in a quite indifferent tone, "Then are we going back to Switzerland? It feels like going back and forth like this is a bit of a waste of time." A hint of understanding permeated her tone.

"Do you think I can leave anything else for this world?" Audrey Hepburn asked.

Robert held the lady's hand tightly and said, "Audrey, you have already left countless cultural treasures for this world. Why think so much?"

"Then Henry, what about you? Do you feel I can do anything else?"

Considering the lady's physical condition, of course, it was impossible to ask her to star in movies or anything like that. And her current condition was sometimes good and sometimes bad; flying around the world like before would be even riskier.

Henry, who was named, thought for a while and said, "How about reading stories to children?"

"That's a good idea, so should we find an orphanage or a school?"

Henry, whose thoughts and ideas were becoming clearer and clearer, said, "No, how about finding a publishing house and a recording studio? Record the sound of you reading stories, so more people can hear it.

"Finding an orphanage or school, those children might not all like listening to stories. And it would also trouble the teachers and children. As for the happy expressions of the children after listening to the stories, you can only imagine it, since it's not face-to-face."

"Audiobooks. I didn't think of that." The lady's eyes lit up, as if she had found something interesting again. "Ha, you child, you can always come up with good ideas."

Rather than looking for orphanages or schools everywhere that are willing to cooperate, and running around just to read stories to children; finding a fixed recording studio to record the reading sound avoids the hardship of running around.

This was the easiest job Henry could think of for the lady.

Audrey Hepburn, who acted as soon as she thought of it, found an address book in her handbag. She checked if there was anyone related to publishing on her list whom she could ask about audiobooks.

Although Robert was a bit dissatisfied that Henry, this little assistant, was finding things for Audrey to do again.

But considering the nature of the work, this job could actually keep Audrey obediently in one place, so she wouldn't fly around the world again. It's hard to say this isn't a good thing.

Returning to her home in Switzerland was also an option, but staying in the United States during this period might lead to other medical opportunities at some point.

I have to say, although this damn United States is not suitable for living a leisurely retirement life, if you want to do something, there is no place more convenient than this.