Tom was quite proud of himself. He remained composed throughout the procedure when he performed a check on Patricia's body. He didn't do anything inappropriate afterward either. Instead, he headed out of her ward. A feeling of relief overwhelmed him once it was over, more intense than he had ever felt. Truthfully, this was quite unlike him. His heart beat faster than that of a kid who had stolen a glance of his puppy love. He breathed heavily and his blood drummed in his ears as he walked down the corridor.

  Tom's excuse was that he was making the rounds of the wards. In reality, he had already inspected this area of wards before he checked in on Patricia. He left her ward because he feared he would do something improper if he stayed any longer. So, like a defeated soldier at a battlefield, he fled.

  "Tom, hi! I was looking for you! Why are you lurking around here?" a female voice suddenly called out, snapping him out of his thoughts. It was Leena. She carried a thermos jug in her hand, which contained the nutrition soup she had made for Patricia. She hoped her friend would recover soon when she had it.

  "Hi, Leena. Nice seeing you too. I was just checking in on Patricia inside," Tom answered, collecting himself. He feigned being calm and indifferent as he spoke. His feelings were all over the place but he hid them well.

  "I see! I've brought a bowl of soup for you too. I didn't see you around, so I went to your office and put the soup on your table. You better drink it hot. It wouldn't taste good when it's gone cold." Leena was a considerate person. Since she had made soup for Patricia, she thought she'd make some for Tom too. She liked to cook for her friends.

  "Soup? Are you using that to bribe me into sparing you from your daily medicine?" Tom rarely joked, but when Leena was around, he always felt like teasing her. The girl was too naughty and full of tricks.

  "Oh no, that's pure slander. I brought the soup for your good. I saw you looking pale and wanted to make something good for you. How could you misun

  Drugged one night by her ex-boyfriend, a mysterious man took advantage of her in an ecstatic night filled with sex.

  To take her revenge, she married the man, and used him.

  "As long as I'm alive, I'm still his legal wife, while all of you are just his mistresses."

  She remained adamant even when he was involved in scandals with other women.

  Eventually she stormed off after she learned that he had betrayed her again.But life brought her back to him a few years later, to his astonishment.

  s the night before, she could not have done anything about it. Needless to say, one was not entitled to learn about everything about one's friends.

  Just as Leena said, the soup tasted great. She had simmered it for hours to thicken the chowder. Although there was surprisingly little grease in it, it allowed for a unique but delightful taste. Patricia had just eaten some hospital food, but she still took some sips of the soup.

  "Hey, Patricia? I just saw Tom in the corridor. He looked so lost and bewildered. I wonder what happened to him," Leena asked once Patricia put the soup away. She wasn't a gossipy person by nature, but she cared for Patricia and Tom. Patricia was her best friend and Tom was like a big brother to her. Leena wanted to help them out if they were in some sort of trouble.

  "Really? I have no idea. He seemed fine when he left. I think he said he was going to make the rounds of the wards. He had been gone for a while when you came…… How could you have met him in the corridor? Didn't he go to check on his patients?" Patricia was puzzled. Her brows knit together into a frown. She too started to feel that something was wrong here. Was it possible that Tom liked her? Every time he looked at her, it was like he tried to express something through his eyes. His gaze always seemed affectionate, but he never said anything out loud.