Robert went back to the hospital he was admitted in and asked the receptionist if anyone had visited him. The receptionist checked the records and saw that no one actually visited him.
Robert thought for a moment and got an idea.
"Who were the nurses that were in charge?" Robert asked the receptionist. "I seem to have lost something that I had on me before I came here."
The receptionist called a few nurses and asked him to have a seat at the waiting area. Robert nodded and went to the sofas near the receptionist to wait.
He sat on one of the sofas and looked around the place. Though he was here earlier, he didn't really visit the lobby. The place was quite nice despite being in a hospital. It looked more like a hotel lobby. There was a coffee machine at the side and he decided to get himself a drink while he was at it.
He went towards the coffee machine and looked at the variety of coffee it served. He scratched his head as he contemplated on what to buy. He wasn't really familiar with coffee types and generally only drank what he called 'milk coffee'.
He realised that that meant latte and pressed the button after putting in the money. He was waiting for his coffee to be prepared when three ladies in crisp white dresses came in. They went straight to the receptionist.
"What is it, Ava?" One of them asked, leaning over the front desk. "Who wants to see us?"
The receptionist motioned towards Robert, signalling him to come over. Robert quickly grabbed his coffee and went towards them.
"Who's this guy?" One of the nurses, who's name was Olivia, asked.
"Oh wait, you guys don't recognise me?" Robert asked, putting the paper cup down on the receptionist's table. He took his hood off and dramatically swept his hair back.
"Wait, you're the guy that got stabbed and wound up here half-dead, right?" The other nurse asked. "Girls, this is that Maxwell fella!"
Robert remembered how they called him Mr Maxwell, but okay...
"Yeah I'm that Maxwell fella," Robert said, rolling his eyes. But then he went straight to the point. "I wanted to ask you. Which one of you lunatics took my phone?"
Th nurses looked at each other. They both looked at Olivia, who frantically waved her hands while shaking her head.
"It wasn't me, guys!" Olivia said. "I swear, it wasn't! It was... wait a second..."
She started thinking something and her eyes suddenly widened.
"Guys!" Olivia exclaimed. Then she turned to Robert. "Mr Maxwell, it was Lola!"
"How do you know?" The blonde nurse asked.
"She was acting suspicious," Olivia said. "She wasn't even in charge, but she came in and insisted on checking on you, Mr Maxwell. Then she came out, clutching at her dress pocket."
Robert looked serious.
"Who is this Lola?" Robert asked. "Where is she? That phone contains a lot of important information!"
"Wait a minute, sir," Olivia said, running off. "I'll get her right now!"
She ran off to the elevator and went up to the call Lola. Olivia came down, dragging a red-haired nurse, holding an injection.
She dragged the redhead to the rest and confronted her in front of them.
"This is Lola," Olivia said. Then she roughly grabbed Lola's arm. "Lola, did you steal Maxwell's phone?"
"...no..." Lola said, suspiciously.
"Don't lie now," Olivia said, grabbing her shoulders. "I saw how you clutched at your pocket when you left Mr Maxwell's ward."
Lola gulped. She looked down in guilt.
"Did you steal my phone?" Robert asked sternly.
Lola started rambling. She spoke so quickly that none of them could understand a word she was saying.
"Slow down," Robert said. Lola stopped and looked up at him with a scared expression. "Now tell me, why did you take my phone?"
"A-A strange guy came and asked me to steal it for him," Lola said. "He said that if I did not, he would skin me alive!"
"Now that's bogus," Robert said with a chuckle. Well, he knew that those rogues were actually capable of doing such a thing, but he didn't want to worry this poor girl any more than she already was. "Now, what did he look like?"
"He had green eyes that reminded me of acid," Lola said, remembering. "They looked as if they could corrode me! And his hair... was this ugly green too."
"Rawlings..." Robert muttered under his breath as he turned to the side. He turned back to Lola. "Where did he go? How did he contact you?"
"He just walked into the hospital and threatened me," Lola said, shuddering a little. "Besides, he had something bulging from inside his pocket. It looked a lot like a knife- a large knife- and a gun."
"That's definitely him," Robert confirmed. "There goes my evidence..."
Robert grabbed his coffee and turned to leave when Lola stopped him.
"Sir, wait!" Lola said, stopping him. "I may be able to help."
Robert raised his eyebrow.
"I can't talk now, my shift isn't over yet," Lola said. "But it almost is. I'll meet you at the cafeteria later."
Robert nodded and watched her rush off to tend to the patient that she was supposed to stab with the injection she was carrying.
Robert sat in the cafeteria, drinking his fourth coffee of the day with an annoyed expression.
'There goes my sleep...' Robert thought, staring at his coffee cup. 'Should've bought decaf instead...'
Lola rushed into the cafeteria. She scanned the area for Robert and saw him sitting at the corner. She quickly went up to him.
"What was it that you can help me with?" Robert asked as soon as she sat down in front of him.
"I saw his bike," Lola said. "I took pictures of him riding off. The license plate is clearly visible."
Robert waited eagerly as she took her phone out to show him. She scrolled through the pictures on her phone and found it. She showed her phone to Robert.
He looked at the picture and sure enough, it was a picture of Rawlings climbing into his bike with a cigarette between his lips.
"Send me the picture," Robert instructed. Then he remembered that she didn't have his number. "Wait, here's my number."
He dug his pocket for his card and gave it to her. Not long after, Robert received a notification on his phone.
"Thanks Lola, you're a great help," Robert said, getting up. "You've done your share of justice."
With that, he ran out of the cafeteria. Lola watched him with a relieved expression. She was glad that she was able to help him in a way.
Robert returned to his hotel room and decided to look up Rawlings's licence plate. It was late, but it was not like he could actually sleep after drinking four whole cups of coffee in a day.
He opened his laptop and logged into the police department's database. He typed his staff number and password in, but to his surprise, the words 'access denied' filled the screen.
Confused, he tried again and again, but the words kept appearing. He clicked on the icon saying 'tell me why' and saw that it was because he was suspended.
Robert was enraged. But he started thinking of a solution, ignoring the urge to scream in rage and throw a tantrum. He decided to ask one of his friends to check instead. After all, they weren't suspended. He hoped that they were still on good terms with him, though.