Triple Point

Chapter 13: Professional Acquaintances

As soon as Jordan left, Elsie was immediately engulfed in boredom. Thankfully, she would only have to tolerate the solitude for a day before she got discharged. She didn't have many plans for her one day free, especially since the US Embassy highly discouraged her from leaving her room without security, but Minyoung found a way for her to occupy her time easily enough once he came by the next morning.

"Call your family," he said in lieu of a greeting. "They keep interrupting my calls. On both of my phones. How'd they even get either of my numbers?"

"Not me," Elsie replied honestly.

She immediately began searching for a phone charger—she predicted this might take a while. As much as she loved her family, they never knew when to stop talking. And due to recent events, she would probably end up talking to them for twice as long as normal. It wasn't that Elsie didn't like hearing from them, but she would rather put off the inevitable for as long as possible.

It was probably late afternoon in her hometown, so she called her sister who should have already returned home after her classes. Elsie didn't want to chance calling her parents directly and having them fumble over their phones trying to navigate a video call because nothing would end up getting done.

As it turned out, both her sister and her brother were home. Apparently, Elsie's fiasco abroad had brought a slew of reporters to the doorstep of her childhood home, and her lawyer little brother was helping his family battle the media storm.

Her family greeted her with as much enthusiasm as she expected, which was way too much, followed by birthday wishes and questions about how she could scare them like that and when she was coming home so they could never let her leave again. It was a loud mess of a discussion, and Elsie tried her best to downplay her injury without having to outright lie. That was especially difficult when her sister gushed about wanting to see the stitches, much to their brother's disgust, but thankfully their mother reined her in, and they switched topics.

The entire call took almost two hours, and Elsie could only end it after insisting she needed to rest and promised she would visit them once she got back with a bountiful amount of souvenirs. She wasn't that tired though, and once she realized that Minyoung had left at some point, she quickly became bored.

Social media had become overwhelming after she posted the picture of her presents from the day before, and she hadn't gotten around to downloading all of the games she had on her old phone. Elsie settled for flipping mindlessly through the channels on the TV in her room, and was mildly amused by an American movie with Japanese voiceovers.

About ten minutes in, a soft knock sounded at her door. It definitely wasn't Minyoung, since he always let himself in without warning, and the doctors and nurses usually entered after a short pause. It could've been one of the guards stationed outside her room, and while Elsie didn't really want to talk to them, it wasn't like she had anywhere else to go.

"Yes?" she called out as politely as she could, muting the TV.

The door opened slightly, and one of the guards poked their head through. "There's a Hitomi Andou here to see you."

That was definitely not what Elsie was expecting.

"Okay, thanks," she replied, trying to sound as natural as possible. Why would Hitomi be visiting her? She was Camilla's friend, so shouldn't she be with her? Unless something bad had happened...

Elsie's worries disappeared once Hitomi stepped in the room with a pleasant smile that gave no indication that anything was wrong. She was dressed more casually than Elsie had ever seen her, wearing a fitted cropped T-shirt, long cardigan, cuffed jeans, and sneakers, but she still looked like a model. Elsie suddenly felt self-conscious in her messy and battered state.