The Consulting Hacker

Back in the Hospital

Chapter Twenty-one

Zach was doing some work on the small coffee table beside Cate's bed when he heard her muttering. He finished the key parts in the paragraph he was reading and turned to her.

"You're finally awake. What were you saying?"

"I was just saying how I was back in the hospital too soon."

"Well, it's better to be in the hospital than the basement."

"True," she tried to lift up her arms, she learnt pretty quickly that that was not a good idea, "What did the doctor say?"

"Well, bruises, as you said, severely bruised jaw and face, and well, your leg," He gestured to the cast on her leg, "She said that it should heal within a few months, but even after that, you can't do any strenuous activity, like running for a really long time. She said it was really lucky that it didn't set badly since you didn't go straight to the hospital as soon as it was broken."

"Luckily, I listened to you that one time you spoke about broken bones setting incorrectly." She glared at the cast and clenched her fist. Her brows furrowed and he could see her mentally cursing, not wanting her to get too worked up, he poked her,

"Sorry to interrupt your glaring, but I have a question." She relaxed and tilted her face to look at him,

"What question?" he hesitated, wondering how to phrase the question properly.

"Were those guys, the same guys that made you go AWOL last time?"

"No, last time it was a singular guy, but they were all probably hired by the same guy." He nodded slowly, taking it in.

"Do you know who hired them?"

"Probably."

"Then why don't you tell Sherlock?"

"Because of the word, 'probably', that doesn't mean I know who it is definitely, but I probably do. I can't throw around accusations without evidence. Assuming things can sometimes be damning."

"Then how do you know it's this person?"

"Through my experience, before you say anything else, personal experiences cannot be used as evidence if there is nothing physical. Now, shouldn't you be studying? You can stop worrying about me, I'm in the hospital, the best place to be for someone in my condition. You need to study, med school isn't a breeze, not that I know that from experience, I mean, I dropped out of school, but I've heard a lot about med school. And plus your time is already limited, you have so many jobs and spend a lot of your time commuting everywhere and looking after your sister."

"Chill, you don't need to worry about me, I have it all under control. Look, I was studying before you woke up." He picked up his textbook to show her, it was covered in scribbles and notes. She looked at the book before looking at his face.

"You don't get enough sleep, go to sleep earlier. There are lots of red veins in your eyeballs."

"You sound exactly like the old man. Fine, I don't get enough sleep but it's the only way for now to fit everything into a single day. I'm fine, worry about yourself."

"I'm in the hospital, everything hurts, but I'm fine. Now go back to reading and annotating your textbook, I'm going to sleep." She took a breath and relaxed her body, he patted her head, "Ow, please don't."

"Sorry. I'll probably go soon, I just wanted to see you when you woke up, so when you next wake up, I won't be here, but I'll try visit. If I can fit you into my very busy schedule." He said this with a wink. She rolled her eyes and smiled back at him, then closed her eyes.