Feng Xinying had very important meetings the next day and so she had left earlier than usual. She had made the nurses give a sponge bath to Xie Yuansheng in front of her eyes and made him wear fresh clothes in a routine manner. Once everything was done and the nurses had left, Feng Xinying went to him, stroked his hair and kissed his lips. She whispered in his ear, "I will come back as soon as possible and we will play our little hide and seek game tonight." After saying that she looked at his hands. The fingers were moving weakly up and down. It was as if he was trying his best to come out of the coma. She smiled and held his hand. Immediately Xie Yuansheng"s fingers curled around her hand. Satisfied at the progress, Feng Xinying left for the office.
When the security head looked at Jiao Long, he gave a tender smile like always. "Good morning Miss Jiao Long," he said. It was 11AM, which wasn"t her usual time to come.
"Good morning!" she replied with an equally tender smile and went to open the doork.n.o.b of the room.
Before she could open the door, he said, "You are early today madam. Miss Xinying isn"t there. She would come late."
"Oh! That"s sad. I had brought rice cakes for her," sad Jiao Long looking dejected. "But, it"s okay. I will sit inside and spend my time with Xie Yuansheng. I will talk to him. I know that the doctor has asked all of us to keep talking to him as it will help his mental state."
"B- but- Madam-" before the security head could complete his sentence Jiao Long opened the door and entered inside the room. The Head followed her in.
Jiao Long looked at the bed with shock and said, "Why is the bed empty? Where is Xie Yuansheng? Has he woken up?"
"No Madam. That is what I was trying to tell you and you simply entered the room. Sir has been taken for some tests," he replied.
Jiao Long was frustrated at her luck. Her frustration soon grew into seethe but she kept calm on the outside and asked, "Oh! Where have they taken her? And is Xinying with him?"
"No Madam, Miss Xinying has gone to the office and she will return in the evening," came the prompt reply.
That was a relief to Jiao Long. She started remaking her plan. "Where is he now? Which department? There has to be at least one of us present with him. How could you all just leave him like that?"
The security head said with a guilty look on his face, "They have taken him to the Cardiac Department."
"Okay, I am going there," said Jiao Long, as she left the lunchbox in the room and walked away to find the Cardiac Department. She clung the pocket of her dress where the injection filled with viper"s poison was securely kept. Satisfied, she marched to find Xie Yuansheng.
The hospital was a large facility. Each and every ward was located very far apart from each other. So Jiao Long quickened her pace when she asked for directions of the Cardiac Block. It took her twenty minutes to walk up till there. When she arrived, she asked for directions to test and diagnosis center, which was a floor above. She ran to get the elevator, but since there was already a patient with his family in there, she couldn"t take it. She hurriedly climbed the stairs and reached the test center but the guard there blocked her from entering. "Sorry Madam, where do you think you are going?"
"I am here with Xie Yuansheng! Move aside and let me go in," she retorted.
The guard stared at her and said rudely, "Mr. Xie Yuansheng"s tests are scheduled and hour later. He is not here so you may go. Come back later with him."
"What?" Jiao Long asked with a gaping mouth. "This is where his tests are supposed to be performed. Let me go in! You are just a guard, you don"t know anything."
The guard looked at her with narrowed eyes. He was about to say something when a doctor who was coming out of the center saw the commotion. "What is it?" he asked the guard. "Can"t you see that this is a Silence Zone?"
Jiao Long immediately told her concern to the doctor. He heard her patiently and said, "Madam, the guard is telling the truth. He has all the schedules with him. If you like you can check the rooms in here."
Jiao Long didn"t want to take a chance so she said that she would like to check the rooms. However, Xie Yuansheng wasn"t there in any of the rooms. Angered further, she exited the Cardio Block and went back to the VIP room. It was almost an hour when she returned. She looked at the security head standing on the door and felt like slapping him for sending her on a wild goose chase.
She shouted at him, "You said that Xie Yuansheng would be going to the Cardio Block, but he wasn"t there! You wasted my time so much. Don"t you know where he has gone? Don"t you have schedule for him?"
The security head frowned. He scratched his head and then took a paper out of his pocket. As soon as he read it, he looked at her and said with a sheepish smile, "Madam, I apologize for the inconvenience, but Sir had been taken to the Physiotherapy Block currently."
Jiao Long was now not only tired, but she was angry, frustrated and felt like killing the security head. "You sent me on a wild goose chase, you indolent man!" Saying that she turned and left in a huff.
The Physiotherapy Block was a fifteen minute walk and when she reached there it was already 12:30PM. She went around checking all the rooms but Xie Yuansheng was nowhere to be found there also. By now she was exasperated and extremely tired. Feeling irritated, she went back to the VIP room. The security head looked at her and rushed to give her water. "Madam, you look tired. Did you find Xie Yuansheng Sir?" he asked her.