'A handsome man?'
Rachel wondered. As far as she could remember, Lucas was the only handsome guy close to her.
She thanked the nurse and walked towards her office. When she saw a man sitting on the couch, she
immediately recognized him. She asked in surprise, "Bill? What are you doing here?"
"I'm here to see you," Bill answered with a smile. He was still wearing his morning sports suit.
With a worried expression on her face, she asked, "Are you sick?" She immediately took out the
stethoscope from her pocket and went closer to check him.
But he only laughed. "I'm not sick. I happened to pass by here, and I remembered you were on the
night shift. Can I invite you to breakfast? It's sad to eat breakfast alone."
Feeling relieved, Rachel said with a smile, "You scared me. I thought you have another heart attack."
In the past two years, she had been seeing Bill constantly because of his heart problem. She kept on
reminding him not to exercise too hard and not to stay up late, but he never listened. Sometimes, he
would just reply, "I'm not afraid of heart attacks because I have you, a good doctor, as my friend."
Every time he said that, she was rendered speechless.
She looked at her watch and said, "I still have ten minutes to finish my shift. Are you willing to wait?"
"Sure. Can I rest here while waiting for you?"
She nodded and went out of her office. After handing over the patients' records to the day shift doctor,
she changed her clothes, went back to her office, and said to Bill, "Let's go. Where do you want to
eat?"
"Do you have something in mind? I don't normally eat breakfast outside, so I'm not familiar with good
restaurants here."
They walked side by side while chatting.
The nurse station was in an uproar when they passed by.
Since most of the nurses there were in their early twenties, they liked to gossip.
So, while watching Rachel's and Bill's receding figures, they stopped what they were doing and started
to chat.
"Is he Rachel's boyfriend? They look perfect together."
"Seriously? As what I've heard, Rachel is already married."
"She got divorced a long time ago."
Rachel kept on sneezing while walking. She couldn't understand why her nose suddenly become itchy
although she didn't catch a cold.
They agreed to have some porridge in a restaurant near the hospital. After eating and chatting for a
while, they bade goodbye to each other.
Although she was not busy last night, she still couldn't sleep during work hours.
So when she got home, she just washed her face and brushed her teeth, then go to bed. She was
already in a deep sleep when the phone under her pillow kept on vibrating.
With eyes half-closed, she took her phone and answered it. Lea's loud voice came from the other end
of the line. "Why didn't you see me when you came back?"
She quickly moved the phone away from her ear. And when Lea stopped nagging, she said, "Sorry, I
didn't get enough time. But I have two days off today, so I'm coming to visit you. I'll be at the airport in a
short while."
"If you still want us to be best friends, you better come here quickly."
She couldn't help smiling. After hanging up the phone, she checked the time. There was still an hour
left before her alarm clock rang. But since Lea had woken her up already, she decided to pack her
things and went to the airport. After getting off the plane, she took a taxi to Lea's house.
As soon as she entered the house, Rita, who was playing alone on the floor, greeted her. The two-year-
old little girl called softly, "Aunt Rachel."
"You're getting prettier as you grow up!" she said and pinched her cheek lightly.
Rita had a pair of round black eyes, thin lips, and red cheeks that made her look cute and adorable.
Although Rachel was abroad, she had seen Rita grow up because Lea had always joined her in their
video calls.
She held the cute little girl and kissed her on the cheek.
Lea, who was standing behind her, suddenly spoke up. "If you like my daughter so much, why don't you
consider having your own baby?"
When she realized that she said something wrong, it was already late to take it back, so she just
changed the topic. "What's inside this huge bag? Are they all for me?"
Rachel's eyes dimmed for a moment, but it suddenly disappeared. She put Rita down, opened the bag,
and said, "This set of organic skin care products is for you. The clothes and toys are for Rita. Check
them out."
Lea's eyes lit up as she hugged Rachel. "Thank you so much."
She then took out the clothes and checked them one by one. With a satisfied look on her face, she
said, "They all look beautiful. Rita has a lot of new clothes to wear now."
Rachel nodded and smiled. "I'm glad they all fit her well. It's my first time to buy things for a baby, so I
worry that you won't like them."
"I know that you have good taste. Of course, I will like them."
Since they hadn't seen each other for quite a long time, they had a lot of catching ups to do.
They didn't notice the time until the maid knocked on the door and asked, "Mrs. Qin, is your friend
going to stay for dinner? I'll cook a few more dishes."
Lea looked at Rachel and asked, "Would you like to have dinner here?"
Rachel shook her head. "I'll have dinner outside later."
Lea was living with the Qin family now. Henry's parents and grandmother were there,
so it would be too embarrassing if she stayed for dinner.
But seeing the disappointment on Lea's face, she suggested, "How about we and Rita go out for
dinner?"
She thought that Lea would say yes immediately. But instead, she said, "It's not possible. They always
say that foods in restaurants are not healthy. Henry and I rarely go out now."
She was referring to the elders of the Qin family.
Rachel recalled that she had complained about her married life to her several times.
Lea then shook her head and added helplessly. "I feel like I lose my freedom. I never thought that being
married can be this tough."
When she got pregnant, both the Qin family and her family asked her to quit her job as a stewardess.
She wasn't happy about it, but she had no choice. The pressure from both families was hard to bear, so
she just agreed, thinking that she could go back to work after giving birth.
But to her dismay, they still found a lot of reasons to force her to stay at home until she got too much
attached to Rita. Now, she couldn't afford to be far from her baby anymore, so she accepted the fate of
being a housewife.
Seeing the sadness in her eyes, Rachel tried to comfort her, "Everything has happened already. You
can't turn back the time anymore. Besides, you have a beautiful daughter now. I'm sure you will be free
again once Rita goes to a kindergarten."
To her surprise, Lea said, "Why don't I try to put Rita back in my belly tonight?"
"Are you crazy?" She poked Lea's head, and they burst into laughter.
Evening came.
When they heard the maid calling for dinner, they quickly went downstairs with Rita in Lea's arms. After
saying goodbye to the elders of the Qin family, Rachel left.
The villa of the Qin family was situated alone on a hillside. Houses here were very far from each other,
and everyone had a car, so taxis rarely came to this area.
Rachel didn't think of it as a problem because she thought that she could book a taxi through Uber
anytime. However, she had been standing outside for nearly ten minutes now, but no one responded to
her request. Left with no choice, she gritted her teeth and started to walk down slowly.
After walking for almost half an hour, she finally saw a bus stop.
Her phone suddenly rang, so she stopped walking and took it from her bag. It was Bill.
She had totally forgotten that they were supposed to have dinner tonight. She immediately apologized
after answering the phone. "I'm so sorry, I forgot to tell you I went out."
Bill laughed at the other end of the line.
"I called to apologize because I forgot about it too.
I have something urgent to deal with in Joy City today."
Surprised of the coincidence, she exclaimed, "Really? I'm here in Joy City too. I visit my best friend and
her daughter."
"Text me her address and I'll pick you up."
Before Rachel could refuse, Bill had already hung up.
She immediately texted her the address.
Bill arrived not long after, and they had dinner together. Since it was still early, they then decided to
stroll around before going back to their respective hotels.
They entered a bookstore.
Most women liked going to cosmetics or clothing shops, but Rachel was more interested in hanging
around bookstores.
She liked reading, particularly medical books.
While Bill was wandering around, he caught sight of Rachel, who was leaning against a bookshelf,
engrossed in a book.
She looked so beautiful
that he didn't even want to look away.
At first, he felt inferior, thinking that Rachel was too good for him. After all, he was a sickly man who
might die at any moment.
But Andy kept on encouraging him to go after her.
When he noticed that Rachel was coming over to him, he took a book and pretended to read it. She
said, "It's getting late now. Let's go."
He put the book back on the shelf and asked, "You have nothing to buy here?"
She shook her head, feeling a little disappointed. "The book that I want to buy is out of stock."
He just nodded and led her out of the bookstore. When they reached her hotel, he asked about her
flight back. Unfortunately, they had different return dates. "Sadly, our flights are not on the same day."
He offered to drive her to the airport tomorrow, but she refused politely.
One day, Rachel just came out of the operating room when a nurse came to her and said, "Rachel, you
have a parcel. I put in on your desk."
"Thank you."
While massaging her stiff neck, she wondered who would send her a parcel. She quickly went to her
office and opened it. But to her surprise, there was no sender's name. She sighed and thought, 'Who
sent this?'
62fb1bb41dcb31934bd49bda