"Mrs. Fu, what happened with you?" Austin asked in a concerned tone.
"My back hurts," Jack complained as he pointed at an area of his back.
Austin did not waste time and went to Jack's aid. He positioned himself at Jack's back and helped him
stretch his back. "Feeling better?" he asked.
"Yes, better," Jack replied, obviously relieved.
Austin massaged his wrist gently as he turned it clockwise. "What did you do last night that hurt your
back?" he asked.
"I slept on the floor," Jack replied lightly.
He initially planned to sleep inside Rachel's bedroom for an entire week, but it had only been one night,
and his experience made him doubt that he could complete the entire week.
He didn't want to injure his back before he could get Rachel back.
"Is there something wrong with your bed, Mrs. Fu? Do you want me to call a furniture shop and order a
new bed for you?" Austin offered.
"No. But thanks, anyway," Jack replied. He waved his hand at Austin that indicated that he could leave
his office. He stared blankly at the floor of his office for a brief moment after Austin had left. Austin's
words gave him an idea.
It was almost morning when Rachel finally fell asleep because of what happened the evening before.
She struggled to get up and go to work in time. However, since she lacked sleep, she felt tired during
her entire shift.
She hurried to leave the hospital as soon as she ended her shift. When she got back home, she
casually threw her handbag on the sofa in the living room. She then dragged herself up to the bedroom
to get some much needed rest. When she opened the door to her bedroom, she was so surprised with
the sight that greeted her that she stood at the door for some time.
Her bedroom was drastically rearranged while she was at work.
Her bed was moved to one side that was closer to the window. The single bed in the study was then
moved into her bedroom and occupied the space near the opposite wall of the window.
There was still a small space between the two beds that was big enough for a bedside table.
"Jack!" Rachel shouted out. Displeasure could clearly be heard in her voice.
Jack rushed out of the bathroom and stared at Rachel. "Why? What's wrong?" he asked.
Rachel pointed at the single bed with a frown. "Why did you move the single bed here?" she asked.
"There are mosquitoes in the study," Jack complained to her.
Getting into a confrontation regarding the bed was inevitable, but she never expected that she would
ultimately fail in this confrontation. She silently watched the almost unnoticeable smile on Jack's face
as she felt her heart get filled with both helplessness and joy.
Jack stood in front of her without moving. He simply stared at her with the same expression on his face.
After some time had passed, he raised a hand to the air as if he was about to promise something to
her. "Rachel, we were just fine last night. I promise you, we will be fine too in the coming days. I'm sure
of this."
"You talk too much, Jack," Rachel replied to Jack with a smile. She then approached him and poked his
forehead gently with her forefinger. She had the same sweet smile on her face.
Unfortunately, the ringing of the phone interrupted the two. Rachel rushed to the sofa and picked up the
phone. It was a call from Bill. He invited her to go out with him that evening.
There was hesitation in her expression after she answered the phone. So, Jack rushed to her and
stuck his ear on one side of the phone to listen to whoever it was that talked from the other end of the
call.
Rachel pushed him away and whispered to him, "Stop it..."
"What? Rachel, I really want to ask you out tonight. I'm not kidding," Bill said in a determined tone. He
thought that she was talking to him.
Rachel stared at Jack as she said into the receiver of the phone, "It's a kid who was making trouble, not
you."
"So, I'll pick you up later, then?" Bill asked. His voice was filled with the hope of spending time with
Rachel that evening.
Jack felt disappointed that Rachel didn't end the call from Bill. Additionally, he felt unhappy that she
called him a child. He suddenly looked serious and approached Rachel. "Rachel, get yourself ready.
We're going out," he said in a commanding tone of voice. He made sure that his voice was loud
enough to be heard through the phone.
Bill was in a daze as he sat on the sofa. He stared blankly at his phone. He felt certain that the voice
that he heard from Rachel's end of the call was Jack's.
'Is it because of him that Rachel refused to go out with me?' he wondered.
Andy cooked himself a bowl of noodles and was about to pick up the chopsticks to start eating when he
noticed Bill from the corner of his eye. He turned to him and watched him stare blankly at his phone.
"Didn't you say that you would ask Rachel out tonight?" he asked in a puzzled tone. "So, why aren't you
preparing for an evening with her then?"
He expected that Bill was already on his way out to meet Rachel. It was the reason why he cooked
noodles only for himself.
Bill stood up from the sofa, walked mechanically towards Andy without saying a word. He then sat
down in front of him. He sighed dejectedly in front of him before he spoke. "Cook me a bowl of noodles
too. The date tonight is off."
"Why?" Andy asked confused.
"Maybe we're just not born to be with each other. My health..." This was always the thought that
weighed heavily in Bill's heart.
But Andy was not in the mood to watch Bill's crestfallen mood. "Bill, I never knew you for a person who
had an inferiority complex before. So, why are you giving up so easily?" he asked.
Unbeknownst to Andy, Bill changed a lot after he met Rachel.
Bill's only reply was to ask Andy to prepare dinner for him.
The rays of the early morning sun slowly crept into the bedroom and towards Rachel. Her biological
clock kicked in and woke her up for work. She got up from bed and made a quick glance at Jack who
slept soundly on the other bed. His quilt had fallen to the floor. She shook her head gently when she
saw this.
It was one of those rare moments when he didn't seem so omnipotent.
He even seemed child-like to her for kicking his quilt off the bed.
She picked up the quilt and gently covered him with it up to his waist. She watched him sleep for a few
brief moments and then walked out of the bedroom.
Jack opened his eyes slowly and smiled to himself as he watched Rachel walk out of the bedroom.
When the bedroom door was closed, he went back to sleep again.
The season recently changed, and many people who caught a cough or cold were in the hospital. It
was rare for Rachel's department to have extra spare time during their shift. Thus, she decided to bring
out her mobile phone to watch some news.
A message suddenly popped up on the screen of her phone. "A friend's daughter is celebrating her first
birthday next week. Would you like to go with me?" Jack's message stated.
Rachel briefly typed a two-word reply. "No thanks."
"Why?" Jack replied back immediately.
However, she did not have the time to read his reply anymore. A patient with an emergency case was
brought in right after she replied to Jack's message. It was an eighty-five-year-old man. He suffered
from an acute heart attack at the park and was immediately brought in. Unfortunately, his family could
not be reached so that they could be informed of his condition.
Rachel performed diagnostics on the man right away. After a few brief minutes, she turned to the nurse
and announced in an urgent tone of voice, "He needs a surgery right away!"
"But his family has not been informed yet, and the operation sheet has not been signed by anybody
yet. If anything happens to him during the operation..." The head nurse looked embarrassed and
worried as she spoke.
A common hospital policy prevented doctors from performing operations on an unconscious patient
until the family members had been informed.
They would need to sign the necessary papers before a doctor could proceed with the operation.
Unfortunately, the patient's situation was too urgent. Each minute of delay in the surgery increases the
risk to the patient's life as his rate of survival dropped proportionately. Rachel had no choice but to
make a judgment call. "Let's do the surgery first. Have the family sign the operation sheet when they
arrive," she declared firmly.
The head nurse shook her head as she tried to stop the patient from being brought to the operating
room. "But this patient is so old. The chances that the operation would turn into a disaster is just too
high. What if the patient's family decides to make trouble for the hospital once the surgery turns
southward?"
"She has a point, Rachel. Why don't we ask the director's opinion regarding the situation?" another
nurse suggested.
"No. We don't have much time," Rachel said adamantly.
She carefully checked the patient's condition once more. "Prepare for the surgery," she insisted.
She was confident that going into surgery right away was the patient's only chance of surviving.
Fortunately, her confidence was well rewarded. The operation was a success. Her team exited the
operating room triumphantly.
The head nurse walked beside her as she took off her surgical mask. She breathed out a long sigh of
relief. "Fortunately, the operation was such a success," she said.
They talked casually about the recent operation. Their faces suddenly turned red when they saw the
director appear in front of them. They immediately held their laughter back.
The atmosphere outside the operating room suddenly became as gloomy as the director's face.
"Follow me," the director said flatly as he pointed at Rachel.
The two walked towards the director's office and entered it. There was silence between the two long
after she sat down on the chair opposite him.
"Director, did you ask me to come here because of that patient?" Rachel asked after an extended
moment of silence.
"What do you want me to say about it, Rachel? You know that there is a rule in this hospital that a
doctor cannot perform an operation on a patient without the consent of the patient's family. Now, look at
what you've just done!"
The director became angrier as he spoke. He picked up two pieces of paper from the top of his desk
and threw it at Rachel. "Take a look at that. The patient's family just reported what you did to the
executive," he said angrily.
She bent down and picked up the pieces of paper from the floor. She read the statement on the two
sheets and then frowned. "Director, the surgery was successful. Why are they complaining about it?"
She never expected to meet a pair of strangely inconsiderate family members who complained despite
a successful surgery.
The director sighed. "If the procedure did not turn out well, a complaint to the executive would be the
least of your worries. They can sue you for what you did. And they can sue the hospital too. Now, go
back to your office and think about how to explain what happened to the patient's family later.
Additionally, Executive Zeng wanted you to submit an explanation report. Go and prepare one before
you get off work today."
Rachel nodded. She then got up from her chair and went to her office. When she got to her office, she
opened a blank document on her computer and stared blankly at it. She couldn't type a single word
even after ten minutes had passed.
She was convinced that she did nothing wrong by saving the patient's life. Thus, she couldn't find it in
her to write an explanation for what she did.
When she was about to leave the hospital at the end of her shift, she went to the office of Executive
Zeng. She had nothing with her as she knocked on the door of his office.
"Rachel, I expected that you'd bring your explanation report about the incident. So, where is it?" he
asked with a snort.
"Executive Zeng, I strongly believe that in that situation, any doctor would immediately decide to do the
surgery in order to save his life. The patient suffered from an acute heart disease, and this can't afford
to wait. I am sure you know about this." Rachel stood straight and spoke in full honesty and confidence.
However, her words meant nothing to the executive. He pointed at the complaint on his table and
roared, "Do you seriously believe that they will understand if you tell them what you're telling me right
now?"
"I'm willing to explain everything to the patient's family," Rachel offered.
Executive Zeng waved his hand impatiently at her. "Don't you think that the family of the patient have
gone through enough stress already because of what you've done? Go home and rest for the next two
days. When this matter is over, the leaders of the hospital will hold a meeting to discuss how to deal
with you."
Early in the morning of the next day, Jack felt that it was strange that Rachel was preparing breakfast in
the kitchen.
62fb1bb41dcb31934bd49bda