XANDER'S POV
Wait a minute, where have I seen this flower before?
I keep clicking my fingers as I am mentally digging in my hippocampus, a part of our brain that mainly deals with long-term memories.
Just like in cartoons, a light bulb metaphorically pops on top of my head when I finally realized where I have seen it. It's in that painting in the administrator's office in the hospital.
Dr. Frank Morrison's office...
Wait, could it be possible? Or it just so happened that those two flowers look similar?
I am utterly astounded by Dr. Morrison's possible involvement in this. Come to look at it. Only medical personnel or someone who is working in the hospital has direct access to my office and put or install that micro spycam in the ultrasound machine without getting caught in the hospital's surveillance system outside my office.
A patient can also do that too. The nurse usually leaves them alone while they get dressed...
I stare at the picture again, zooming it in and out repetitively while remembering the details of the flower in the painting and comparing it to this tattoo version. Some things could be similar in some ways, as opposed to the saying that everyone and everything is remotely unique.
I'm not really sure though. Maybe they just look similar, like my wrong assumption with Kim's nose ring. But I don't want to waste any chances. I have to solve this mystery as soon as possible to see my Emily. I have to forget my studio plans for a while and focus on being a wannabe detective this time.
First, I have to confirm if that flower is indeed the same as the painting because only a fool will ignore the resemblance in life and death situations like this.
****
It's three in the morning when I finally got home. It feels really depressing when you're alone and knowing that the love of your life is in danger. Nothing sucks more than that. Aside from a massive headache, my stomach has been poking me for food for the past hour, and I feel like passing out if I won't fill it with something edible.
Remembering that I haven't eaten anything today, I decided to cook this stuff Emily bought before taking a nap. I have to take a rest to regain energy for tomorrow, I mean later.
I put the large grocery bag on the kitchen counter, fish out each item one by one, and place them on the countertop. I put all the stuff in the cupboard and fridge accordingly. I take out the ground beef from the freezer and decided to cook it for dinner, along with some carrots, onions, and chili.
The melancholic pressure in my chest keeps mounting in misery as I kept recollecting the last moments that I had with my kitten while I eat.
My surprise and gift on her graduation, those erotic events in the club, Amber kissing her, and then our passionate love-making when we were finally able to reach home...
My grip on my spoon and fork tightens as I thought about her look the morning after. My baby was looking so tired and wasted, and even though I was mad at her because of that fucking message from that Logan guy, I still prepared her food and a drink that can help her in her hangover.
I should have answered her calls, should have told her that it's okay, that I trust her and believe her...I should have come home right away and make it up to her.
Because of this fucking pride, I wasn't able to protect her like what I have promised myself.
This is the saddest dinner that I ever had, apart from the night my mother died. My stomach seems contended now and all I want to do is to sleep, even just for a few minutes.
No, I actually want to sleep forever.
In that way, I could forget all my problems for a while.
In that way, I could dream of Emily coming back to me, and we will be happy together like what we used to be...
****
The ringing of my phone underneath my head has dragged me out of the peaceful land of slumber. I feel like there is a mountain sitting on top of my chest, and I am literally pinned on this bed, or wherever I am right now. Images of last night that I don't want to think about keep flashing in one corner of my mind, but I shut my eyes tighter to block them.
You're jobless, Emily is kidnapped, and everyone hates you now. There you go, Buddy.
Please let it be just a dream. Please.
The phone continues to buzz and vibrate through the base of my head. Wait a minute, I don't remember going to bed and sleeping last night, or should I say... this early morning.
I didn't have a choice but to try opening my laden eyes. I raise my heavy eyelids halfway at first, but the glimpse of the rays of the morning sun from the glass walls made them flew wide open in the realization that I have indulged myself in more than just a quick nap. I rub the side of my face in frustration while silently groaning.
As I curl up from the couch, waves of nausea take over me and add to my miserable morning. Realizing that what happened to Emily was real and that I am now again back to reality, I feel like my brain would swell with stress beyond the capacity of my skull.
I finally have the interest to pick my phone up. Squinting, I check the name of the caller that is flashed on the screen. It's Jace.
"Hey," I greet with a hoarse voice, still slightly disoriented. The feeling in my throat right now is worse than that of a hangover.
"Dude, what the fuck, I've been calling you for ages!" Jace's heightened voice has my nerves alerted. I check the time over my wristwatch and realized that it is actually nine in the morning.
"Shit," I mutter to myself.
"Your dad and Curtis have been calling me. I'll be coming over. We really need to talk." The tone in his voice is pressuring my bladder.
"I really need your help, Man."
"I'm actually on my way to your house. I need to know every inch of detail about this."
"No, wait---"I get up from the couch and freeze in my tracks when the orthostatic hypotension causes my sight to dim and spin for like five seconds.
"Just...give me a few hours first." I continue to speak after recovering. "I have to go to the hospital to confirm something before meeting you."
"Well you better hurry up, Dude. I have seen the news, and if Emily is indeed kidnapped by these human traffickers, you only have around 72-96-hour window to get her back, or else she will be sold out to those sex-deprived human sharks and you'll never have the chance to see her again."
I almost dropped my phone in a possible scenario. "Are you fucking serious? What did the news say? Do they have a suspect already?"
"No, not yet. But come on, Dude. Four attractive and young women missing in a month? I can smell forced prostitution."
My palms instantly become sweaty and the adrenaline instantly coursed through my veins at the terrible thought of Emily being sexually abused. I don't think I can handle it.
Jace is pretty much knowledgeable about these kinds of stuff so I believe him, and he also makes sense. Another reason why I will be needing his help is that he had been to military school, but he dropped out after two years because his mom got sick and she doesn't have anyone but him.
Attending a military school was actually against his mother's wishes, as his father died serving our country when he was young, and she raised him all by herself. She later married Amber's dad, and now they are all sort of living together. Jace doesn't want to leave his mom alone, so he instead opted for a local career in the gym by being a fitness instructor but later became a freelancer when he started his tattoo business with his friend.
"I'll see you later," I utter with a more determined voice this time. I have to confirm Dr. Morrison's possible involvement in this first. Right after I ended the call, an incoming call peeks in from Curtis, but I didn't answer it yet.
I didn't waste any more time. I took a quick shower and donned a white shirt under my black jacket. I pick up the black cap from the rack to get less attention as I don't want them to see me there.
While driving my way to the hospital, my dad calls again. I sync my phone in my car and answer through the speakers so I can drive with both hands.
"Hey, dad,"
"Alexander, I have heard about what happened to Emily. It's all over the news. I'm also worried about you."
"I'm okay, but I'm near to losing my shit. "
"How's the investigation so far?"
"We're working on it."
"How's the Maxwells?"
"We're not okay, everything's messed up."
"Why, what happened?"
"I'll tell you everything soon."
"Please, if you need any kind of help, tell me. I'm worried about Emily. She is such a sweet girl and she doesn't deserve this."
Emily was his student and has been close to him as well so I understand his concern.
"I know. I'll call you when I need your help, Dad. Gotta work on something."
"Son, be careful."
My father's words have somehow eased my anxious nerves and caused a small smile to form on my face.
"I will, Dad. Thanks."
I end the call and immediately dial Nichola's number for a head's up in meeting the administrator. Nurses in the hospital love to gossip about intriguing doctors, co-nurses, and other staff, and I am pretty much aware that I am one of their favorite subjects. My suspension is also not a secret anymore, as gossip spreads fast like wildfire in Women's Royal Hospital.
Among the nurses there, Nichola is the one I like the most, and I think I will be needing her knowledge of Dr. Morrison this time.
"Hello?" she answers, probably wondering who is the caller. I have been using another number for work-related stuff, including my patients, but I have decided to solely use my personal number this time, at least during my suspension period so my phone will not be bombarded with their calls.
"Nichola, it's me, Dr. Greene. How are you?"
"Oh my, Dr. Greene! We missed you! How are you?" her voice picks up in her usual cheerful tone.
"I'm fine, I'm fine. How's everything there?"
"Your patients kept calling here and they have been looking for you. They only want to see you."
"Just keep informing them that I have filed a temporary leave, but I'll be back soon." I felt the familiar pinch in my chest when I thought about Mrs. Powell, a patient of mine who has a large myoma that needs to be removed as soon as possible.
"Of course we do. And oh, good thing you called. I just want to inform you that they have interviewed another gynecologist the other day, and based on what I have heard, they have been looking for your replacement."
I almost forgot to step on the brakes as the stop signal flashes at the intersection.
"Seriously?"
A fucking replacement?
"I'm not really sure, I just heard about it."
I take deep heavy breaths as I try to control my anger. Fucking Morrison, is he trying to get rid of me? What if this is all his plan all along?
"Now that you have mentioned him, is it true that he's really gay?" Those words came out of my mouth before I was able to stop them.
"W-wow, I didn't see that question coming. There are rumors, but he has a young son with his wife."
"There will be no smoke without fire, Nichola."
"I'm not really sure but the old staff here are saying that his previous secretary saw a man who came to the hospital one time and he caught them being intimate with each other in his office."
"Whoa, that's...interesting. Anything else you know about him?"
"Uhm, aside from him being rich as hell and owns a 12-million dollar mansion in L.A.? I have only seen him once, you know. Why the sudden interest, Doctor?"
A mansion in Los Angeles? My jaw ticks with anger at the information. Morrison seems to be hiding in the closet along with his fucking skeletons, and I will find a way to drag him out from there.
"Nothing. Just some curiosity now that you have mentioned him. I mean, I'm just bored, you know. Missed all of you."
"We missed you too! How's your vacation?"
"Cut the deal, Nichola. I know that everyone knows about my suspension."
I can imagine her thinly-plucked eyebrows raising into a perfect arch as awkward silence ensues. Just a few moments later, she finally speaks again.
"I really hope you'll come back, Dr. Greene. You're really great. Well, aside from being a walking hot stuff."
"Yeah, I miss everyone too. Been dealing with a lot of things, and I hope everything will be okay."
"If you need anything, just call me anytime. I would love to have a date with you."
One more turn and I will be reaching the hospital.
"Appreciate that, Nikky. Anyway, just keep this conversation between us, okay? Got to go. Thanks."
"But—"
I have already cut the call before she could continue the conversation. I park my car in the east parking deck and wore my black Adidas cap so I could not attract attention. I don't want someone to recognize me.
I feel a warm knot in my chest as I enter the hospital's premises. The elevator doors slide shut in front of me and I take a deep breath as it starts to ascend towards the fifth floor where Dr. Morrison's office is located.
The elevator door opens directly to a blue-carpeted room with a granite reception desk, a low table with some magazines on it in front of a white single leather couch placed against the wall, and two doors, one for the conference meetings on the right and the other one ahead is Dr. Frank Morrison's office.
The blonde secretary at the reception desk is looking at me as if she has never been intrigued her whole life.
"D-Dr. Alexander Greene?" Her thin eyebrows above her narrowed eyes furrow in uncertainty. I never had the chance to get her name in my few years of working here. She might be really surprised to see me or an employee coming here in casual clothes and a cap. I take the cap away from my head and casually run my fingers through my ungelled hair.
"Do you have an appointment with Dr. Morrison?" she flips through a red notebook as if looking for my name on it.
"Oh, he didn't inform you? Actually, he called me last night and told me to just come directly inside, just like last time." I need to lie. I don't want to come to his office with his knowledge.
"Oh, okay. I'll just give him a call." Her doubting eyes are still on mine as she lifts the telephone's handset. Maybe my anxiousness is showing through my face or actions, and Dr. Morrison is well-known to be uptight in his employees so I understand why she wanted to be sure. I breathe shallowly and find a way to release the tension.
"No need." I walk past the reception desk and march towards his door and didn't bother to knock. I immediately open it and see him completely engrossed in some paperwork on his desk.
He lifts his head up and our eyes meet.
"Dr. Greene! What a surprise." By the look on his face, he is obviously startled. My eyes automatically land on the wall behind him only to have disappointment wash over me when I didn't see what I was expecting to see. The last time I was here, it was a black flower, an orchid, or something that is displayed behind him, and not an abstract art of some sort.
He might have replaced it...
I act unperturbed as I again meet his gaze with a bitter smile on my lips.
"Sorry to barge in without a prior appointment."
"Oh, it's okay." He rises up from his seat and beckons for me to sit on the chair across him. "Please, have a seat."
My keen eyes wander around his modest and orderly office. In a corner, the air conditioner is blasting at medium, and there was a couch sitting against the wall on my left. On my right is the only window, a floor-to-ceiling one bordered with classy looking silver curtains. The black glass surface of his desk was equally uncluttered: a computer, a leather notebook, and a framed photograph of him and his wife and teenage son, which I had also seen before.
Nichola said that he is actually filthy rich. Being a hospital administrator has an above-average salary, same with doctors, so it is plausible for him to acquire mansions and other real estates. No question in that, but a 12-million mansion? This man has set my curiosity on fire.
"I've heard that you're getting a replacement for me." I started.
"Well, yeah. We had a meeting last week and the majority of the board members told me to hire another gynecologist, but not as your replacement."
"So...a temporary gynecologist? Why don't you affiliate a visiting one?"
"Dr. Greene," he sighs, then leans forward on the table with his chin over his intertwined fingers, and continues, "You are currently suspended from clinical practice and is facing disciplinary actions, but according to our agreement, you will get back to work after a year, so I can assure you that you will always have your position here in this hospital."
"Why don't we check the surveillance tapes one by one to see who went into my room to install that spy camera?"
He leans back in his chair and gives me a sharp look. "Like what I have told you before, your violation of one of the medical ethics codes outweighed that part, so it is not important."
I am about to refute but he speaks again.
"I'm sorry about what happened to your fiance, by the way. "His face melts with sympathy this time. I am not sure if he really is sorry, or he is just trying to change the subject.
My eyes narrow. "How did you know that she has been kidnapped?"
"Well, it's all over the news."
Oh, right. I want to ask him about how he knew that Emily is my fiancé, but maybe he will think that I'm doubting him.
"Life happens, and we need to deal with it."
He heaves a deep sigh of sympathy, and to my surprise, reach for my hand across the table while looking into my eyes.
"If you need anything, you can call me anytime."
I flinch the moment our hands touch each other as if an electric spark assaulted me unwarned, and he did the same.
Uh, that was...weird?
He retrieves his hand back instantaneously, and while doing so, his elbow has dragged those three yellow files stacked together on his left side. My eyes land on them in a second, and I immediately take another look with widened eyes when I saw a glimpse of a familiar picture. I only saw a corner of it but I can figure it as a greyscale portrait of a woman.
I cannot be mistaken. It is a picture of Emily, and that white shirt is hers. I shot it when we were having a romantic dinner at a fine dining restaurant a few months ago, and I have posted it in my online portfolio.
"Sorry about that. I was a bit carried away." Dr. Morrison averts his eyes and clears his throat while casually fixing the files in order.
Blood drains from my face as I look at him in disbelief. I ignore his apology for the hand-touching. I mean, why would he apologize if it doesn't mean anything?
Looks like I have confirmed two things today. First is that he is really indeed gay, or at least bisexual, and second, he is involved with Emily's abduction.
But where did he get that picture and why is he doing this?!
*****To be continued*****
A/N:
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