Chapter Three
April
As I arrived at the reception the next day, I noticed Dr. Barron’s eyes were glued to the system before him. He was so focused that he didn’t see me come to his side.
“Good afternoon, Dr. Barron,” I greeted the handsome man who was the dream of all female workers in the hospital. He was gorgeous, with blonde hair that highlighted his well-tanned skin color. He raised his head from the Computer and turned to me with a wide smile.
“Oh, April, how are you?” He asked, his smile unwavering. He always addressed me by my first name, even though we were not that close but he likes to pretend like we were closer than the normal doctor-to-doctor relationship. Maybe he still had the belief that I’d end up with him because he never stopped asking me out for over two years now even after letting him know it would never happen.
He wouldn’t accept that he wasn’t my type; rather, he thought his good looks and posh family background, which made women fall at his feet like ninepins, would endear him to me.
“I’m good,” I replied, with a small smile.
“I never knew you had such courage in you. You know, that’s one attribute I like in ladies, ” he started, and I instantly knew he was referring to the viral video of me saving the heir to Oriental Holdings.
“Thanks, how’s the patient doing, Dr. Barron?”
“Oh, I saw him earlier. He’s now stable. I heard you joined in the surgery too. You’re one of a kind. ” He smiled widely and said, “I can’t believe you experienced such a mishap and still remained stable in the surgical room. I really commend you.”
“Oh, that’s nice. I guess I’ll see him before leaving then.” I only came to copy some files I was working on to my phone from the laptop . I had to leave the hospital soon for my date with Ray.
“Now tell me how I would back off when you’re just the perfect fit for the woman I want in my life. You’re not only pretty and brilliant, but hardworking and courageous,” he uttered, and I almost rolled my eyes since I knew what he was hinting at.
“Thank you,” I simply said.
“Hey dear, that’s not enough,” he protested, but before he could bore me with his confession, a nurse rushed in and they both hurried out. As soon as I was done copying the documents, I left for the cardiology department, where the young President had been admitted.
After asking the receptionist, I headed to his room. I noticed a doctor was attending to him, so I decided to wait by the door. But within a minute, I noticed the doctor was not doing anything in particular, other than just staring at the CEO and around the room. I went in since it seemed like he wasn’t really busy.
“Good day, doctor,” I said formally, as I wasn’t familiar with the cardiology department’s doctors. Without returning my greeting or asking who I was, he just turned back to take his leave.
“Doctor, how is he?” I inquired, and as I approached, he turned away and quickly pulled a face cap to cover his face.
That left me more confused. What could be his deal? And just in a glimpse, my eyes caught him trying to put something cupped in his hand into his pocket. That looked strange, and instinct told me something was not adding up.
“What’s that?” I inquired, and just then, the monitor started beeping loudly. We both glanced at the monitor, and that made me grow suspicious.
“Who are you? What did you do?” I challenged him, and as I tried to pull down his nose mask, he shoved me roughly to the wall and stormed out.
With panic, I ran out and shouted at the security by the door to go after the fake doctor who must have come to harm the young CEO. I rushed back into the room, hoping his life was not in danger, just as his doctors dashed in.
I quickly explained what happened.
“Thank you, doctor. Were you able to see the face of the intruder?” A few minutes later, the chief cardiologist that led the surgery the day before inquired.
“No, it all happened too fast, but I know he has hazel eyes and he’s tall and well built,” I explained. My gaze was fixed on the patient the entire time.
I marveled at how lucky he was to have cheated death twice in just a couple of hours. Indeed, he was a lucky man. A very handsome one at that. He looked so much relaxed and different from the Mr-Angry-Face I saw that day.
“Okay, thanks Dr. April Sheldon,” the man replied before turning back to the patient while I took another glance at him before walking out. I couldn’t resist.
With a sense of relief, I walked down the large hallway, and while waiting for the elevator, I heard hurried footsteps behind me, and a voice calling my name. Looking over my shoulder, I glimpsed two men and another one behind them as they walked up to me.
Was I imagining things once again? It wasn’t until the men introduced themselves as police officers, that I felt relaxed.
I was really stressed out, though, and I realized the interrogation could not wait. I understood the police were on the trail of the culprit and whoever the shooter was and since I was a witness to both incidents, I was ordinarily thought to be of help.
We walked over to the department’s doctors’ office, and there they asked me about the incident earlier, asking me the obvious question, “Can you describe what the suspect looked like?”
“He was tall, actually huge, with strong arms, but his face was concealed behind the face mask, but I could see his eyes were hazel,” I said.
“Any other unique thing about him?”
“Hmm, like what?”
“Maybe the way he walks, his voice, his accent, or something.”
Then, I remembered, “He had a burn scar by his wrist. That was all I could see within the how fast the incident happened.”
“Okay, thanks. I think that would do for now,” he looked intently into my eyes, before he said, “About yesterday, did you see the person that shot the gun?”
I shook my head and added, “No, it came from nowhere. I believe it was a stray bullet or the person intentionally stayed far away to shoot,” I explained, and he took note.
“Okay, I hope if the need arises, you will honor our invitation?”
“Sure, anytime, as long as you notify me ahead of time,” I said, hoping they’d just let me go right away. I was already running late for my date with Ray, and I still had to go home to get dressed.
“Yeah, thanks, Dr. Sheldon,” the bigger man said. Seeing they were not ready to leave, I rose and smiled a little at them before making my way to the door.
“Dr. Sheldon, did you by chance see the suspect inject the patient with any substance?” The shorter one questioned and I almost rolled my eyes.
I hated the way he was holding me back, but with a backward glance, I answered him.
“I’m not sure about that, but I did see him with a strange object, which he quickly hid away before I could grasp what it was,” I explained.
“Okay,” the officer bobbed his head, and before I could step out, another officer added, “By the look of things, would you say the suspect inflicted any harm or did anything that could harm the patient?”
I was visibly agitated, but since they didn’t seem to be in a hurry, I responded. “Maybe, since it was after the monitor beeped that he ran but I think you should ask his doctor if you want to confirm such information. Thank you.”
I left, shutting the door behind me. When I eventually entered my car, I decided to call Ray to let him know I’d be a bit late. When I retrieved my phone from my clutch bag, I was surprised to have missed his calls. I immediately returned the calls, but when he didn’t pick up the third time, I dumped my phone in the bag and drove out of the hospital, wondering what could be wrong.