"I'm the head nurse for room 901," the man at the door replied.
Alexia's expression froze.
‘Room 901, isn't that the ward Evelyn is staying in?’
It was so late. There was no reason Evelyn's head nurse needed to find Chaim. ‘Did something happen
to Evelyn again?’
"Hello, may I ask why you’re looking for Mr. Lancaster?" Alexia asked before explaining. "Mr. Lancaster
is already asleep, and unless it’s an emergency, it’s probably best to let him sleep."
"Ms. Evelyn is awake and is demanding Mr. Lancaster come to see her." The person outside the door
responded hesitantly.
Alexia was about to respond when Chaim suddenly open his eyes and sat up.
"You... Chaim."
"I'll go upstairs and look," Chaim said as he pulled on his shirt and climbed out of the bed.
Alexia pulled on his arm, not wanting him to go. “But Chaim, you look tired now. Why don't you go
tomorrow?"
"No, Eve will be upset if I don’t go see her now," Chaim said as he pulled away from Alexia.
Alexia looked at her empty hand, and her heart followed her husband’s fleeting warmth. Was he that
worried about Evelyn? ‘Why can’t he be more worried about me, his wife?’
Alexia lowered her eyes to hide the emotion in her face. "Just so I know, are you coming back tonight?"
Chaim froze with his foot half in his shoe as he thought for a moment before regaining his composure.
"You go to sleep. Call Aunt Song if there is anything you need. Aunt Song is sleeping in a room nearby.
If Aunt Song can't help or doesn’t answer, ring the bell and call Nathaniel. He said he would stay in the
hospital the next few days."
Chaim purposely didn't answer whether he would be back tonight, focusing intently on his shoes before
following the head nurse out of the room.
As soon as the door shut, Alexia felt the bed where Chaim had been, the last of his warmth slipping
away. The sheets growing cold, just like her heart.
"He expects me to sleep now?" Alexia gathered the covers together and let out a bitter laugh.
She hadn't had much sleep, but as soon as Chaim left, there was no chance of her getting any more
sleep.
Alexia laid back and stared at the white ceiling for hours, not realizing how long she’d been staring until
the light in the room started growing into a soft, pale yellow. It was only after the light in the room turned
to a soft orange with the rising sun that she finally fell asleep.
Though Alexia’s sleep was fitful, she didn’t awake until shortly afternoon.
Alexia rubbed her eyes and instead of seeing Aunt Song sitting in a nearby chair, Nathaniel stood there
in a white coat looking down at her. "You're awake?"
Alexia, not completely awake yet, responded with an mmm in her raspy morning voice, the words
trailing off like a soft and clingy small cat.
A warmth grew in his chest, his hand holding the medical record shook as he tried to control himself.
"Sister, can you not respond so, so..."
He suddenly found himself unable to find the words to describe the feeling he just had.
Alexia looked at Nathaniel and yawned. "What's wrong?"
"It's nothing." Nathaniel flicked open the folder and darted his eyes away from her to scan the file.
‘Alexia is just average looking… and yet so tantalizing— No, stop!’ Nathanial thought to himself, cutting
off his train of thoughts. He knew Alexia wasn’t doing anything on purpose, unlike some of the other
female patients. Realizing Alexia was staring up at him, Nathaniel cleared his throat before trying a
different approach.
"Sister, how are you feeling today?"
Alexia yawned and gingerly moved her limbs before smiling faintly. "Much better, it doesn't hurt as
much as yesterday."
"Good, good, that means the recovery is progressing at a steady pace," Nathaniel said as he opened
his folder again and jotted down a few words in it.
Alexia couldn't see what he was writing and had little interest in it, instead, looking back up at the
ceiling and asking, "When can I be discharged from the hospital?"
"I want to keep you here under observation for a few days," Nathaniel replied without raising his head,
"If there are no signs or symptoms of an adverse reaction from the procedure after that, we can discuss
discharging you then."
"Okay, I understand," Alexia murmured as Nathaniel made a few more notes.
"I've also prescribed some bone marrow regeneration medication., I'll have the nurse send it over later.
You must remember to take it as it will help you recover without any negative effects in the future."
Alexia nodded, stifling another yawn.
After finishing, Nathaniel closed the medical record folder and clipped it under his armpit, "By the way,
did Stefan come to see you yesterday?"
"Stefan?" Alexia cocked her head, a little puzzled, "Who is Stefan?"
"Evelyn's father," Nathaniel replied.
Alexia nodded again in a daze, "Yes, he said he had come to thank me and had brought up some tonic,
that's all," she said, pointing to the pile of large, unopened bags behind him.
Nathaniel turned to look at him, then pushed his glasses and asked meaningfully, "When you met him,
did you notice anything special about him?"
"Something special?" Alexia lost her smile and shook her head, "What could I feel special about him,
but he did say I looked like his deceased wife."
"Is that really what he said?" Nathaniel asked, narrowing his eyes.
"Yes."
"Hmmm..." Nathaniel murmured, pursing his lips.
His suspicions were correct. Nathaniel just wasn’t sure how to broach the truth yet. ‘Looks like there's a
good show ahead!’ Nathaniel thought as a smile played across his lips.
Alexia stared at him and couldn’t discern what could be the cause of Nathaniel’s response.
"Dr. Hardy, you seem distracted. Is something wrong?"
"It's nothing," Nathaniel said, collecting himself, "You have a good rest, I have more things to attend to."
"Okay, take your time." Alexia gave him a polite smile.
Once again Alexia was the only one left in the room. She picked up the remote and turned on the TV
across the room, flipping through the channels out of boredom.
Aunt Song came back from shopping a while later and noticed Alexia was the only one in the room, so
she couldn't help but ask, "Ms. Alexia, did Dr. Hardy speak with you?"
"Yep," Alexia responded, not looking away from the tv.
Aunt Song sighed in regret. "I meant to ask him if you could take the tonic yet."
"Ask next time, he'll be coming in several times a day anyway," Alexia said carelessly.
Alexia honestly didn’t care if she took supplements or not, she would soon be on medication anyway.
Hearing Alexia's words, Aunt Song thought about it and didn’t worry much about it anymore, instead,
walking over to stroke Alexia’s hair. "I forgot again. I guess it is true that I'm getting older. Soon I’ll be so
useless you’ll grow tired of me and kick me to the curb, replacing me with a younger model,” Aunt Song
teased.
"No, you know I’d never do that," Alexia quipped.
Aunt Song beamed at Alexia’s words. "I’m glad to see you’re feeling better. I just went out to buy
chicken soup, it smells pretty good. You should have some to help you regain your strength.”
"Where's Chaim?" Alexia asked as she took the bowl from Aunt Song. "Has he eaten yet?"
"Don't worry about him." Aunt Song sat down on the edge of her hospital bed. "I went upstairs to check
when I got back, and he wasn’t there. I heard he went back to the office early this morning."
As for Evelyn, Aunt Song didn't even mention her. To Aunt Song, Evelyn was only there to come
between husband and wife. She, unlike Mr. Lancaster, didn’t deserve to even be mentioned at all.
Alexia didn’t care enough to ask about Evelyn either. Once she heard the operation had been
successful, there was nothing else interesting enough for Alexia to care about.
However, just because a person is ignored doesn't mean they won't come around to visit. The door
opened and a familiar nurse walked in, giving a small nod in respect before addressing Alexia.
"Hello, Ms. White." It was the same nurse that had taken Chaim away in the middle of the night.
Alexia was polite, but her mood instantly soured when she recognized the man. "What do you want?"
"Ms. Evelyn wants to see you. She insists she speaks with you as soon as possible."
"See me?" Alexia asked as her mouth fell open.
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