"You can attend to it if it's an urgent matter. Leave the ointment with me. I'll apply it myself." Daisy was so observant that she noticed the slight change in Tom's expression. But she took it wrong and thought he had something urgent to attend to.

  "It's nothing. Remember to apply the ointment. I'll go in and check on Edward." Tom didn't tell Daisy what he was worried about. He stood before comforting Daisy with his calm voice. There might be something wrong with Edward. Tom sensed the anomaly and decided to go in and check on the patient.

  Daisy's heart sank when she heard Edward needed to be examined again. She was so worried about Edward that she forgot about the ice pack on her hand. Before she realized it, the pain in her face reminded her that she had pressed the ice bag too hard. Daisy regained her composure and focused on Edward's condition.

  "Has the patient showed any unusual symptoms? Show me all the data." Tom busied himself the moment he stepped into the ICU. He instantly started flipping switches, turning dials and checking gauges against the chart, examining Edward.

  "The patient has been in stable condition. There have been no major spikes in his vitals, nothing to affect the data." The paramedics handed a stack of ECGs, BP Logs and other medical records to Tom before they stepped aside and waited.

  "OK! He's in good condition. Keep paying close attention to him. If there are no other complications, send him to the VVIP ward at once." Tom looked carefully at Edward's medical records. He compared the records to the results he just obtained from the exam, and found no major differences. Tom was relieved. Now he knew why Edward didn't wake up as he had expected. Since Edward was seriously wounded and lost so much blood, he was undergoing cerebral anoxia, which took him more time than usual to recover from. The cerebral anoxia was something that Tom didn't take into account.

  "The VVIP ward that no patient has used

  g you well after he wakes up. I'm sorry that you were hurt in my hospital." Tom said to Daisy as he gently applied the ointment to her face. He did it with full attention and as gently as he could. He didn't want Daisy to feel more pain, as the wound was already painful.

  Daisy blushed at Tom's words. She felt surprised that Tom brought up the wound again. She thought no one knew how she got it, but it turned out everyone knew she was slapped in the face. Daisy knew Tom said the words in jest. He was doing his best to keep her from being embarrassed in front of other people. Daisy didn't know what to say. She just kept her eyes closed and sat still while letting Tom apply the ointment to her.

  Time passed slowly. An hour was so long for some people, yet short for others. As Daisy waited for Edward to get better, Mark stood aside and studied her. He was standing straight with his uniform on. Mark kept staring at Daisy as he felt curious about the wound on her face. 'What happened? The colonel was fine just a bit before. What has she done to get a face like that in less than two hours?' Mark wondered.

  "Colonel, what's wrong with your face?" Mark was the kind of person who talked straight. He couldn't hide his curiosity. He found it hard to figure out a possible explanation, so he asked.