Chapter 1.3 - Emergency!

Chapter 1.3 – Emergency!

“We’re already in the fifth floor.” The man said while holding the medical documents down.

I looked up to him, his glasses didn’t hinder me from seeing his mesmerizing dark, ocean eyes. Without anything covering the man’s face anymore, I realized that using the word “Handsome” to describe him is an understatement. With a perfect jaw, his lips with a tinge of pink, and tall, pointed nose. His face, sculpted from the most finest and sophisticated jade. Even more beautiful than the models I saw in posters and magazines.

The Head Nurse turned his face away from me and left the elevator.

His foot stepped one after the other.

Every silent step he took feels like it could create waves that would be sent down to even the smallest part of your body that would render you dazed.

“What are you still doing there?” He asked me before I even knew that he came back. He stood at the hallway, just about ten feet away from me.

‘Why did he even come back, did he left something or what?’

He walked closer and halfway to the elevator’s door, stood in front of me and asked “Aren’t you going out?”

“The elevator’s going to close you know” He said as he chuckled.

I stared blankly at him, not knowing what to do. His sudden appearance in front of me, added to the nervousness that I’ve been feeling since I stepped into the elevator, rendered my mind blank. I didn’t know why I suddenly moved towards him, I don’t know what has gotten into me, I just felt a sudden impulse to rush out the elevator, resulting in me bumping into him and falling.

The documents the Head Nurse was holding earlier fell on the floor as he tried to catch my

fall. The same time as the elevator beside us closed with a ding! sound.

His brows pinched together in worry as he said “Are you alright?”

His left hand held my right wrist, and his right arm wrapped around my waist. The moment he caught my fall, I felt the sudden tension in his arm that revealed his muscular arm. People say that studying in the medical field requires careful and delicate hands to perform precise operations, but those delicate hands of his showed that they can also be careful and domineering at the same time. I felt like I’m in a trance as I saw his worried face.

‘So this person who is said to be strict, workaholic and has been keeping his stoic face the whole time also knows the ‘worried expression’’ I thought to myself

“That could’ve been dangerous if you fell like that” The Head Nurse said in a low voice as he held me in his arms. I hurriedly removed myself and stood in front of him. ‘I think I just embarrassed myself there’. The two of us stood in the hallway. Awkwardly.

The Head Nurse looked at me, no, he is in fact staring at me. I think he is finding this meeting weird, or maybe, he’s finding me weird, well, I mean, I am in a daze and I suddenly rushed out the elevator bumping into him – nearly falling, I didn’t even know how to talk to him the whole time, I hadn’t even thanked him for catching me. I placed my hand in my forehead and sighed. They said ‘First impression lasts’, I really don’t want to be remembered as someone weird. Especially by a person I’ll be working with!

I can’t stand the awkwardness anymore, so I picked up the medical document that fell earlier and gave it back to him. He just reached out his hand to take the papers and nodded as if to say “Thank you”. As strangely as it have already been, he kept staring at me. ‘Okay, stop that, you’re gonna burn a hole through me if you keep doing that, I know that this is incredibly awkward and embarrassing as it is, so don’t add another layer to it.’ I just want to say that, but I can’t!

The Head Nurse massaged his chin, seemingly figuring out something “Hmmm…”

And that same time, the elevator behind us opened and several people came out, few nurses and some doctors, they went straight to the Director’s Office in a hurry. ‘I wonder what’s going on’. Though I think that the Head Nurse is too focused on thinking something and didn’t saw the people come out of the elevator and going to the Director’s Office.

His brows then suddenly shot up and his sharp ocean eyes widened in interest. “Oh! Now I remember you!” He pointed at me and exclaimed, “No wonder you looked so familiar”.

And just as I thought, ‘Is this really the person they said to be stoic? He’s shown many expressions just now to be called a stoic man, well, the handsome part in the rumors is real though.’ Looking at him closely, his eyelashes, even behind his glasses are still noticeably long and beautiful, every time he closes his eyes to blink, his eyelashes seems to fall like feathers and gently float again after. ‘This person is too lively to be called strict’

But back to business, it’s my turn to think on what the Head Nurse is talking about, ‘Hmmm…’

‘Okay, I’m hearing someone chuckle, it’s the Head Nurse right? It’s him right? I knew it’

‘But I don’t remember anything though! What is this about now? I just wish that that memory or whatever he remembers about me is not something weird or bad, I don’t want his image of me to be anymore weirder that it already is.’

While my mind floated somewhere, trying to recall memories that I might have had an encounter with the current Head Nurse, the Head Nurse suddenly appeared near my ear and whispered “So you don’t remember it.” With a chuckle.

I felt incredulity crept up from my head to toe. ‘Why would he just pop-up like that? Suddenly whispering in my ear’. I touched my ear, I could literally imagine my face coated bright red because of that. I looked down to hide my face.

‘So Lesley doesn’t remember that time, well, it’s been too long since back then, but seeing her now just brought all the memories back’ Andrew said to himself unknowingly smiling as he started to walk in the hallway to go to the Director’s Office. Holding the files and waving it up, he called Lesley, noticing that she has her head down, he spoke “We need to go to the Director’s Office now, you’re the one to be promoted as the Assistant Head Nurse right?”

‘Oh, right, the promotion! I need to focus now! You can do this Lesley!’ I looked ahead and saw the Head Nurse smiling at me, a sweet smile like when you see an old friend after long years of not seeing each other. ‘I think I just felt my heart skip a beat’

--------

The Head Nurse’s right hand that once held me earlier knocked at the wooden door of the Director’s Office, creating a neither too delicate nor aggressive sound. The Head Nurse knocked at the door three times before a deep voice of an old man answered with “Come in”.

The Head Nurse opened the door and looked at me through his glasses with his ocean deep eyes “Please”, as he pointed at the entrance, indicating I should go first. I didn’t have any reason to refuse, maybe he’s just being courteous, and so I took the chance and entered first. ‘I don’t know what memory the Head Nurse is talking about, or what is up with his sudden change in temperament, but I don’t have any time for his games, I need to focus in my promotion and do well, not to let the chance escape and not to let my family down. I can do this! Breath in, breath out…’

I knew that there are several nurse and doctors that came in the Director’s Office before us, I didn’t get to see their faces clearly earlier, but now that I see them closer, I notice that they’re trying their best to stay calm and is explaining something very important to the Director. They surrounded the Hospital Director's table, I can't see the expression of the Director, but from the vague tone of his voice, I can tell that something's not quite right.

“Hey, why’d you stop walking? Get in, don’t stop at the door” A familiar deep voice from behind said to me so casually, like I’m his friend and is someone I’m close to. I turned around and realized that it was the Head Nurse. ‘Why does he talk like that, I’m not being a snob but it’s true that we’re not close in any way, how can he talk so casually to someone he just met? It may seem mean of me to say this, but it’s real that we don’t know each other in the least.’

Without paying any heed to his tone in talking to me, I looked behind and answered “The Director seems to be busy with important things right now, it seems like an emergency.” The Head Nurse stayed silent for a moment, then suddenly told me to move aside. I moved aside and let him in, I saw him walk through the crowd of nurses and doctors and talk to the Director, though I don’t know what they’re discussing, since I’m standing quite far from the Director’s table and the office is quite big, but the atmosphere suddenly turned dead serious when they started talking to each other. I knew from that moment that something happened. The doctor and nurses in the office looked at each other wearing grave expressions on their faces.

“Sir, Mr. Lanford’s life is hanging on the balance, we don’t know if he’ll survive until the day after tomorrow” One of the Doctors said

“Sir, the injuries are too severe, even if he miraculously survives, there’s a high chance for Mr. Lanford to suffer from memory loss or amnesia, there’s also a high chance of his lower half body being paralyzed being the one with the biggest damage received in the accident. And that is just if he ‘Miraculously’ survives.” Another Doctor added

Andrew stood in disbelief of what he is hearing from the best doctor’s in the hospital, if even the best doctors in the hospital has low chances of saving his best friend, what will happen if they fail? He knows full well of the answer, but he doesn’t dare to think about it. He just silently stood in the room, thinking about how all this came to be.

The Director, even in a more serious predicament as the said person who’s life is hanging on the balance is his own grandson.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***