Chapter 201: Live up to the expectations

"Are you talking about Stuart?" Aria smiled as she reminisced the first time she met him at the airport. "He and I met each other in London. He was in charge of our group during the conference. We developed a close bonding over those few days."

"I see," Ian stated and chewed his food. As the soldier had boasted, the food was not bad. It tasted exceptionally good, contrary to what he had thought.

"May I join you guys?" Stuart came to the table where Aria and Ian were sitting and stood before them with a plate in his hands.

"Stuart," Aria rolled her eyes. "I told you I would save you a chair. You do not have to be formal."

"Oh," Stuart sat on the chair beside Aria. He stared at Ian, who was right in front of him, for a few seconds and started talking again. "Since you already had company, I thought you wouldn't want to entertain me anymore."

"Yeah right. Why would I do that?" Aria scoffed and took a sip of her tea. 'Gosh, I am going to miss my early morning lemon tea.' She cried inwardly and took another sip, though the one she was drinking was the normal one.

"Aria, the man beside you is quite handsome. So, why would you even waste your time on peasants like us."

Ian chortled hearing Stuart's words. He found him to be quite funny and he liked the guy in an instant. He did not get any bad vibes from him. Instead, he found him warm and easy-going.

Seeing Ian chuckle, Aria glared at him, though it did not affect him in any way. He continued eating his food.

"Now that you have told it yourself, what are you doing here? Shoo. Shoo. Go." Aria swung her hand in the air trying to shoo Stuart away. Though she looked like she wanted to kill him, her eyes were saying something else altogether. Unable to stand it any longer, Aria burst out laughing and Stuart followed suit. "You haven't changed a bit, Stuart. You are as charming as ever."

Stuart tipped his invisible hat and started to devour his food. "Aria, aren't you going to introduce this gentleman to me?"

"Blimey. Look at my dumb mind. I totally forgot about it. Stuart, this is Ian Davis. He is the head of the cardiology department and Ian, this is Stuart Lee."

The two men greeted each other and then continued eating.

"It's great now that we will be in the same city. We can meet whenever we are free." Aria commented and Stuart nodded.

"Yeah. I actually wanted to apply to your hospital. I do not know anybody in this city. I went to London when I was fifteen. So, I do not have many friends here."

"Ahh, then why didn't you?"

"The application process for new doctors was already over and it won't be open again for another three months."

"Yeah. That is the rule. The new doctors will only be appointed once every three months. So, you applied to City Central Hospital?"

"Yeah. I also tried applying to the Royal Medical Hospital. But they too have the same procedure as yours. I had no choice but to apply to the third-best hospital."

When Stuart took his hospital's name, Ian had become momentarily speechless unknowingly. He pacified himself immediately and put on a face as though he was not the one who had reacted a few seconds back. "That's sad."

"Yeah. But no worries. I'm still new to the hospital. So, my job has not been made permanent yet. When the application period for Regal Hospital opens, I'll apply again and if everything turns out well, we might end up being colleagues." Stuart winked with a huge smile on his face.

"I'll look forward to that day." Aria beamed and Ian nodded in agreement. 

"Definitely. I will try to live up to your expectations."

The two men swallowed their food as fast as possible and went to the place where they were asked to assemble after breakfast. Kevin was already waiting for them and he smiled on spotting them. They were the first ones to arrive. "Did you guys have breakfast? How was the food?"

"We did and the food was great as you mentioned. Now that I think about it, I am already missing it." Stuart said.

"I told ya. Let's wait for the others."

After fifteen minutes, everybody had assembled in the place and waited for their next instructions. "Everybody, your helicopter is here. Your luggage and all the medical equipment have been placed inside already. Don't worry about them." Kevin smiled at Ian and Ian followed suit.

"Now, if you will please follow me. We have to go to the helipad."

Kevin led the troop to the helipad, which was a little far from the place where they had assembled, and on seeing the gigantic helicopter in front of them, everybody gasped in wonder. Kevin and the other two soldiers smiled on seeing their reactions. Everybody would react the same way after seeing the beauty in front of them.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Kevin, who was beside Aria, asked seeing her eyes shining brightly in awe and wonder.

"Yeah," Aria replied without thinking though it was the truth.

"Wow, a Sikorsky CH-53E Super Stallion." Ian exclaimed and Kevin's head snapped to the side to look at him in surprise.

"Do you know about it?"

"Yeah. I am a little into these kinds of things." Ian said, his ears turning a light shade of red.

"That's cool. Let's go inside." The side crew door of the helicopter was already open and Kevin went in first. He then helped the group to get in. The remaining two soldiers got in at the last.

"I'll now tell you how to put the safety buckle on. Please concentrate." 

The group of ten were sitting on either side, facing each other. Kevin took a seat where everybody could see him and he picked up his safety buckle. He then instructed them clearly on how to put them on. The two soldiers also helped them in this work.

When everybody was safely buckled and tucked in their seats, Kevin stood up. "Is everybody alright? Are there any problems?" Not getting any answer, Kevin continued, "If there are no issues, shall we leave?"

This time everybody answered, "Yes."

"Great. Then grab your seats. You will be having the ride of a lifetime."