Chapter 75 - Public Event

Su Xiang delved the courage to go back to work after the incident.

She straightened her nerves, loosening a breath, shaking her hands before stepping into the hospital ward. Nothing seemed to be out of sorts when she proceeded with her routine.

She did her rotations, checked up on patients, shadowing other doctors. But what made her lose confidence was the peering eyes behind her shoulders.

When she drew blood from a patient, a nurse insisted that she should do it.

It hit her then. She lost the trust of her colleagues, her team, and no one dared to say anything to her straightforwardly, most likely because they didn't want to offend her.

On her break, Su Xiang sighed deeply.

If she wanted to regain trust, then she must keep working hard and clear her name.

She wouldn't go home now, that would only make her look more guilty.

She spent the rest of the evening working until 10 P.M. After she completed her hours, she went to the lounge, picking up her stuff to leave. When she turned around, she paused abruptly, startled. At the entrance of the room stood Su Chen leaning against the frame with his arms folded together. He wore a black dress shirt and black jeans, formal clothing than his typical attire.

"What are you doing?" Su Xiang asked him.

"Checking up on you," he said, stepping forward.

Su Xiang exhaled, regaining her breath.

"I'm fine," she replied, walking past him, brushing aside.

Su Chen caught up to her pace. "Are you sure?" he asked her.

Su Xiang whirled to face him. "Yes," she answered sharply. "I'm frustrated and angry right now, and I'm sorry for not being myself. But, I'm trying my best to keep moving forward," she vented to him.

Su Chen gave out a thin smile. He understood how she felt. And a big part of him was angry and frustrated, too.

He approached her swiftly. "Then vent it out to me, and don't apologize for her," he whispered. So she did.

They were in an empty hallway, near Su Xiang's office space. Su Chen listened to every word, and she kept talking about it until they walked towards the elevator. Su Chen led her to one of the labs, and Su Xiang didn't notice where they were going because of how expressive she was about telling her entire day and how the situation affected her.

"What are we doing here?" she asked him.

Su Chen turned on the lights, brightening the room. He locked the door behind them, saying, "I have to show you something."

He then gestured her to sit down.

"I looked at the medication bottle you used for that patient on that day," he said. "I examined the pills, and everything came out in good condition. No one tampered with the formula," he told her.

"But, then—" she began to question.

"But," Su Chen said, "I examined each one, and though I couldn't find any errors, and I almost gave up until I noticed something subtle."

Su Xiang stared at him, waiting. "Well?"

"The number of pills in the bottle. It's equivalent to the amount of an unopened package. The person who did this swapped the bottles when you needed to use it, and swapped it again when you finished using them. The seal broke, but that doesn't hide the flaw of how much should be in it."

He then took out the bottle and dropped it, quickly placing each pill in perfect rows of ten. He was right.

"But that doesn't prove anything," Su Xiang said. "I can easily say that there weren't any pills missing. And they could accuse me of filling up the bottle."

"Yes," replied Su Chen, "But that encouraged me to look more into it."

He then took out a toxicology report and passed it to her. "In his bloodwork and urine sample, it showed positive for fentanyl. Whatever it was, the drug was laced with it."

Su Xiang considered it. It didn't take that much of it to kill a person. Luckily, the patient was already in the hospital to receive the intensive care he needed. But still, she was reckless.

"It's still my fault," she said with despair. "I shouldn't have left the patient alone, at least not with that imposter."

Su Chen glanced at her. "It's not your fault. It's illegal to impose as a doctor. He must have slipped through security. Whoever this was, spent quite a lot of time planning this. It's not a simple break-in and enter; it was calculated," he told her.

Su Xiang sighed.

"I won't be surprised if the emergency from Dr. Lim was calculated, too, and not by him, but by an incident," he finished.

Su Xiang tilted her head back, staring at the fluorescent lighting of the ceiling. One of them flickered as she stared fixated. "We already checked the cameras, and he slipped through the blindspots. Though, this evidence is good. I am still fucked," she said to him.

"Xi," called Su Chen.

Su Xiang bowed her head to face him. "Yes?"

"We're going to take care of this, together," he reminded her.

She nodded. "I know," she responded. After a moment, she then asked, "Can you take me home?"

Su Chen stood up, taking his keys. They walked towards the parking garage, fastening their seatbelts. He dropped her off home.

Su Chen went to his apartment right after, darkness welcoming him. He went straight to his room, flicking on the lights. He opened his laptop, typing in his passcode, and his last tab appeared immediately.

The window on his computer showed an old image of a child, under a "Missing Persons Report."

Underneath were articles of people claiming his alleged death, others have claimed he was kidnapped. But the people who raised him, Song Ren and Su Feng, were no criminals, no kidnappers. But just how did they get entangled with his past?

Su Chen ran a hand over his face, tilting his head back.

His phone then vibrated, breaking him from his thoughts. He lifted his phone, checking the name that popped up. He quickly grabbed his keys, running down the staircase. He sped off, parking in front of a large, glimmering house. Walking down the path, approaching his car was Yu Haoran with a smile on her face. Su Chen took a deep breath, unlocking the passenger door of his car.

She hopped in gingerly, and he began to drive towards a public event. He was going to be her escort that night to his reluctance. She locked arms with him as she hopped off, and they went inside the venue.

He kept his expression calm and neutral. "Smile," Yu Haoran told him through a gritted smile. So he did, greeting people as he walked inside.