Awake

Chapter 2

Most of the afternoon, Zhan spent it looking through article after article trying to find out anything he can about the mystery man at the hospital.

Other than a very vague article about the pilot who died and some information about his credentials, there was nothing about the passenger on board. It didn't even seem like people knew that he was on the same flight as the pilot. One article even called it a practice flight that went wrong.

Zhan was starting to feel extremely uncomfortable about the idea of giving all his energy to something that might end up being unsafe or have criminal implications. The more he thought about the conversation he had with the director, the more curious he got about the mystery man.

Some things were very clear to him. This man took very good care of himself. His skin was fair, and his muscles were not bulky but toned and defined. His nails were kept immaculate, and that was visible even though his hands were dirty and bloody from the accident. He remembered this minor details because he did look at the man's hands to see if he had any ring marks on his fingers.

He did this just to be sure that they were not keeping a husband away from his family by hiding him in the hospital. He didn't have any ulterior motives at all.

As sunset came, he knew he needed to get himself ready to get to the hospital by seven to relieve the director. He didn't dread the work that awaited him. He dreaded the mystery, and after spending his entire afternoon searching for any information about this man and finding nothing, the mystery deepened even more.

When he got to the hospital, he followed the director's protocol, used the back door, sanitized his body, and changed into scrubs and headed to the upper level of the hospital without greeting anyone or talking to anyone on his way in.

He arrived 5 min early and found the director on a call with someone in the hallway. He couldn't make out most of the conversation because the director was whispering and was creating some distance between the two of them.

Zhan could take a hint, so instead of trying to listen in on the call, he just walked into the hospital room.

He was surprised to find a lady sitting next to the bed, and as soon as he walked in, she stood up and walked towards him as if she was going to stop him from entering. She stopped very close to him and, in a low voice, thanked him for his work and excused herself out of the room.

Zhan didn't know what to make of that awkward interaction. He also remembered the director clearly saying that there won't be other people who are aware of this man's presence at the hospital.

His confusion made him just stand there trying to figure out what was going on. He was startled by the director when he opened the door to step back in.

"Hi, Dr. Xiao. Why are you just standing guard at the door. Is something the matter."

"Good evening, director. Who is the lady that was just here a moment ago?"

"I don't know, all I know is that she was in the ambulance when this guy was brought here. She is also the one that had the hospital sign a non-disclosure form, and she is the one who is settling the hospital bills, too. I don't think she is his wife or girlfriend unless this guy has a thing for older women. She might be his mother or aunt, I am not sure. She called this morning asking about his progress and if she could come see him."

"Let me get things straight, so this man is here because that lady is protecting him or hiding him? In the meantime, no one else must know about his presence?"

"Correct!"

"You don't know anything about this man, but you easily gave me surity that he is not a criminal. How did you know that fact, might I ask?"