Me After Meeting You

Amber quickly hung up and was about to leave immediately when Nancy noticed that something was wrong. She quickly stopped her and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Professor, there’s something’s wrong with a patient, and I have to leave for the hospital immediately.”

“Alright, go ahead,” Nancy replied as soon as she heard Amber’s answer. As she watched her leave hurriedly, she called her back again a moment later. “Wait a moment. I’ll call Wendy to drive you there.”

“No need, let Ian send her. He drives quickly.” Ian’s grandfather had intercepted her as well, and he quickly called for Ian, who had been talking to someone by his side. “Quick, quickly send Dr. Camille back to the hospital.”

The whole room was in somewhat of an uproar at Ian’s grandfather words, but during this time, Amber had already raced outside. Ian raised his eyebrows, not saying anything, and stepped out quickly.

As Amber walked outside, she ran into Calvin and his mother.

Calvin called out, “Amber ….”

Amber reluctantly stopped, and apologetically said, “Sorry, but I have something urgent to attend to. I’ll be leaving now. Goodbye, Mrs. Kenric.”

After blurting out a quick couple of sentences, she left immediately. Not long after, Ian came, following her footsteps. Just as Calvin’s mother was about to greet him, even calling out “Ian,” Ian had already walked across the corner of the garden, and not even his shadow could be seen a second later.

Calvin’s mother was somewhat upset, her face sinking. Before she could say anything, she heard her own son say, “Mom, something seems to have happened to Amber. I’ll go find out what’s wrong.”

“What are you going for?” Calvin’s mother quickly tried to restrain him.

But she wasn’t fast enough to do so this time. Calvin pulled away and chased after the two, leaving his mother standing in her original spot, so angry that her lungs were beginning to hurt.

Amber evidently didn’t know who was following her. She had originally intended to take a taxi, but before one could arrive, Ian had driven in front of her with his car. He didn’t say anything, merely stopping the car by the roadside, rolling down the windows, and looking at her beckoningly.

Amber glanced at him and then got in the car. It wasn’t rush hour yet, so there weren’t that many cars on the road. With some goodluck, they quickly arrived at the hospital.

When she got there, she saw Elly once again strapped on to her bed. She was struggling and screeching like a wounded beast. In fact, she was making so much noise that the other patients in the ward had also started yelling, keeping the whole floor in aconstant state of uproar.

The doctor on duty was once again Amber’s senior, Beryl Arva. Just as he was about to perform electroconvulsive therapy on her, the instruments in his hand millimeters from touching her skin, Amber arrived. “Dr. Beryl,” Amber said as she grabbed his hand. “Thank you for your work, but can you leave my patients to me?”

Beryl turned around, smiling. “Sure. I’ve heard that you’re quite unconventionalin your methods and particularly dislikeusing ECT. Show us what you’ve got, then.”

Amber ignored his strange behavior. She walked in front of him, pushed him out of the way, and then looked at the medical personnel holding Elly down. She took a deep breath and ordered, “Let go of her. You guys can leave now.”

She started removing the constraints keeping Elly tied to the bed, but a concerned nurse stopped her. “Dr. Camille, bshe’s in terrible condition right now.”

“I know.” Amber really wanted to sigh.

‘A whole month’s of hard work, but had it all gone down the drain?’

She put her gloves on. “You guys can all go out first. There are too many people, and she’s too scared right now.”

Not only were there too many people, but the light in the room was also too bright. Someone had opened all of the blinds thatbhad been kept closed ever since Elly entered the ward, causing the sunlight to land squarely on Elly’s ghastly pale face.

“Get out!” Amber emphasized again, and then she went forward, grasped Elly’s hand tightly, and started calling her name lightly as she loosened her constraints. “Elly, Elly … can we quiet down a little?”

Just as Elly’s hand constraints were released, her upper body suddenly sprang up. She wanted to run out, but her feet were still tied down, and she continued screeching and struggling uncontrollably, closing her eye sand flailing her fists around.

Amber got hit quite a few times, and she had to hug her tightly in an attempt to pacify her.

Elly’s energy was actually almost completely used up. When she realized that she couldn’t push Amber away, she lowered her head and fiercely bit down on Amber’s arm.

It had been pretty cool the last couple of days, so Amber wasn’t wearing very thick clothing. Elly’s bite penetrated quite deeply, and a throbbing pain immediately shot through her bones, making her feel as if her hand had been half-bitten off.

But she didn’t do anything, only hugging Elly even more firmly with one hand and unceasingly patting her back with the other.

“It’s okay, we’re fine. Elly, everything’s okay.” Amber lightly whispered into her ear. “It’s bright, and we’re not scared anymore.”

She didn’t know if her month of accompanying Elly through the night had been effective, but Elly gradually calmed down, and then released Amber’s arm from her mouth.

Amber released the breath that she had been holding in. If Elly hadn’t let go, her hand might have been crippled. She supported her, her hands lightly running over her eyes. “It’s bright. Aren’t you going to open your eyes and see the light?”

But Elly didn’t open her eyes. She lay in her lap, her whole body trembling and shaking.

Without any other recourse, Amber eventually had to give her a shot so she could fall a sleep slowly.

***

After shutting the blinds and restoring the room to its usual state, Amber walked out of the ward. Her entire body was damp, as if she had just been pulled out of a pool of water. There were quite a number of people standing outside Elly’s ward, including doctors, nurses, and even colleagues from other departments who had heard the news and had come to help. Among these people, Amber even saw Ian and Calvin.

“Nothing’s wrong, is it?”

Amber shook her head, smiling at them tiredly. Her gaze turned toward the nurse on duty, and she asked, “What exactly happened? How did she suddenly end up like this?”

“It was Elly’s aunt. She came to visit her, and something she did seemed to trigger Elly.”

“Aunt?” Amber frowned. If she remembered correctly, then Elly shouldn’t have an aunt, only a great-aunt. However, that great-aunt had a terrible relationship with her family. She took a deep breath, and then asked, “Where is she now?”Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDrâ/ma.O(r)g!

The nurse ran out to look for her, but returned not long later. “She’s gone.”

Amber couldn’t help but ground her teeth in frustration. “Go look around and try your best to find her.”

She really wanted to yell at someone, but given the situation, who could she yell at? Elly’s situation was stabilizing, and it was natural for her family to be allowed to visit her. Who could she yell at?

The doctors and nurses left quickly as Amber’s mood became obvious. But she remained standing there, taking her time to recover and wrestle her emotions back under control.

Calvin asked, concerned, “Are you alright?”

He sighed as he lamented, “I haven’t seen a doctor who cares as much about her patients as you.”

Amber could only laugh bitterly. As she was about to reply, her gaze in advertently landed on Ian.

He looked very normal, his body straight, as quiet as a pine tree. But if one looked closely, it was evident that something was wrong. His gaze was dim and the atmosphere around him frigid, just like a bowstring pulled too tight, one that could snap at anytime.

Amber’s heart contracted. Just as she was about to approach him, Calvin stretched out his hand and touched her. “Your hand … you should take care of it first.”

Only now did Amber realize how much it hurt!

She yelped lightly, shook her head, took two steps forward, and then grabbed on to Ian’s sleeve.

“Ian.” Her voice was caring and warm, calling for him gently. “My hand hurts. Can you help me?”

He looked as if he didn’t hear her. Instead, his gaze seemed to be focused on theemptiness beyond as he stood there, stock still. She repeated her self, and only then did he seem to come alive again, turning his eyes to look at her.

Amber also looked at him, seemingly ignoring his unusual behavior, and instead smiling charmingly. “Are you not going to help me? Then are you really my boyfriend?”

When Calvin heard this, his face darkened.

Ian looked at her in a daze for quite a while before he stretched out his hand, and pulling her along steadily.

Amber relaxed and started thinking about what else she could say to make him feel more comfortable. But then his hand pulledtightly, and she fell into his bosom.

She had originally wanted to push him away, but his body was trembling. And in this moment of hesitation, Ian leaned down and kissed her.

“….”