CH 177

After losing chance after chance after chance, Nurse Amy Borro had been driven to the edge by Yan Suizhi and Gu Yan. When she returned from the testing facility, she couldn’t even maintain her smile, and her complexion looked worse than ever.

“What happened to you?” The other nurses at the station asked her with concern. 

“Nothing.” Amy Borro was unable to raise her spirits. A failed mission would have dire consequences. At the mere thought of this, she couldn’t care less about dealing with these naive and stupid ‘colleagues’ of hers.

The ladies were still worried. “But you look completely out of it! Go on, what’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”

Amy Borro was bristling with annoyance on the inside. She didn’t want to talk, so she brushed it off, saying vaguely, “Something like that.”

The few young ladies were at a loss as to how to carry on the conversation in the face of such an attitude. They smiled at her and quietly went about their work. Only the head nurse, who was much older than these young nurses, was unfazed. She remained warm and patient as she asked Amy Borro, “Are you on your period? If you’re really having a hard time, you should go home; you don’t have to push yourself. I’ll arrange for someone else to take your place. It’s only three hours before 7 p.m. anyway.” 

When Amy Borro heard this, a new idea was suddenly sparked.

She pretended to hesitate for a few seconds, saying to the head nurse with a guilty look on her face. “It’ll be a waste to skip out on three hours; I haven’t missed a single day this month, so I could get full attendance if I stay.”

“Then…” The head nurse wavered.

“Can I change to a shorter shift?” Amy Borro stated her purpose, topping it off with a pitiful look.

The head nurse regarded her for a moment. “Tell you what, I’ll have Annie cover for you. You can head to the lounge and rest for a while. She needs to leave early during her night shift for some family matters, so you can take over her shift at eight in the evening to make up for that absence. How about it?”

How about it? That’d be splendid.

Evenings were a prime opportunity. There were fewer nurses on duty than during the day and the ward rounds weren’t as tightly timed. There were far fewer people in the way, and even the police officers guarding the door would be changing shifts, during which they wouldn’t keep as close an eye. It was just that others were scheduled for the night shift for this week. Amy Borro was still worried about finding an excuse to slot in when the head nurse offered it to her on a platter.

She didn’t even expect it to go so smoothly. It was as if God were by her side, wishing her success. 

Amy Borro almost snickered, but she kept her feeble look in place, saying to the head nurse, “If possible, that’ll be great, thank you.”

“What are you thanking me for? Just hurry up and get some rest,” said the head nurse.

In order to make her discomfort appear more realistic, Amy Borro did actually go to the lounge. She unhurriedly took down a bottle of painkillers from the medical cupboard and poured a glass of water. She unscrewed the cap of the bottle of painkillers and shook it a few times to make it look used. With that, she drank half the glass, then lay down on the bed, pulled the blanket up to her head, and closed her eyes.

Ymmjrlbcjiis, j mbiifjuef kbeiv mtjcuf lc atf ibecuf, jcv tfg jmalcu kjr rb bc qblca atja cbcf bo atfw cbalmfv jcsatlcu jwlrr. Sjmt bo atfw kjr iluta-obbafv, lc ofjg bo vlraegylcu tfg gfra. 

Vtf fjnfrvgbqqfv bc atf ktlrqfgfv mtjaafg bo tfg mbiifjuefr, ktb kbeiv wfcalbc Lbgjmf Off ogbw alwf ab alwf. Ktfs jii mfifygjafv atf ojma atja tlr tfjiat kjr lwqgbnlcu ecvfg atflg mjgf, ktlmt ybirafgfv Vqglcu Pns’r gfqeajalbc. Vtf kjr jmaejiis j ilaaif jqqgftfcrlnf. Ktf rfglfr bo ojliegfr lc atf vjs, vfrqlaf tfg mjgfoei qijcclcu atf ktbif bo ijra cluta, tjv mjra j mbcrlvfgjyif qrsmtbibulmji rtjvbk bnfg tfg.

She remained tense in the dark for very, very long… until she suddenly realised that those two damn lawyers had already left.

With the pestilence gods gone, what cause did she have for worry?

Nada, non-existent. After all these years, she had never once been foiled. 

The thought of this relaxed her. She recovered her calm from before and actually did fall asleep.

7 p.m.—the inpatient wing.

The head nurse finished making all the arrangements, adjusting the attendance schedule in the system and slotting Amy Borro’s name in. 

Meanwhile, at a restaurant a short distance away from Spring Ivy Hospital, the purported ‘pestilence gods that had already left’ were seated in a private room on the second floor, dressed to the nines, discussing matters that weren’t convenient to be aired outside.

“Are you certain that Jack White didn’t interfere with the experimental data?” Yan Suizhi asked.

Gu Yan was exchanging information with Joe. “The researcher in charge of watching the lab has checked the data. There shouldn’t be any issues.”

Pensive, Yan Suizhi watched the surveillance from the afternoon again. They had footage from the corridor and the lab—they had already gone through them a few times. There really wasn’t anything that stood out about Jack White’s behaviour in them, no matter how many times they watched it. However… 

“Where did he go after leaving the hospital?” Yan Suizhi pressed.

Gu Yan showed Joe’s response to him. “I just asked the same thing. The man following Jack White informed Joe that he returned to his flat after leaving the hospital. He hasn’t been anywhere else.”

Another message from Joe came through:

[Relax, there’s a twenty-four hour watch on his apartment building. If he does turn out to be problematic, signs will show eventually. And once anything happens, good or bad, we’ll be informed at once.] 

Yan Suizhi was reading the message when Gu Yan’s smart device suddenly chimed, and a push notification leapt out—Spring Ivy Hospital’s nurse roster has been updated.

It was new activity on the database that they had requested from Joe.

“The nurse roster…” Yan Suizhi didn’t expand the notification. He pressed the hologram down, lounging back into his seat, saying to Gu Yan, “Let’s make a bet; whether this change in the roster is a normal scheduling change or our spy nurse has struck again. I bet that Amy Borro has successfully squeezed herself into the night shift, and you can bet that she hasn’t. How about that?”

“…” 

This shameless gambler was back to cheat on his bets again.

Gu Yan eyed him for two seconds, then directly leaned over to kiss him. “Why don’t I just hand over the chips now?”

“Since when has anyone bet like you?” Yan Suizhi couldn’t help but chortle.

“I’ve also never seen anyone bet like you.” Gu Yan tossed the remark back to him. He projected the hologram again and expanded the notification. 

To no one’s surprise, there was a change to the roster; as they had guessed, Amy Borro’s name appeared in the night duty column.

At 8 p.m. on the dot, the lounge on the special ward floor lit up. Amy Borro, tucking her loose hair into her nurse’s cap, appeared punctually at the nurses’ station to switch shifts with her colleague, Annie, who was anxious to get home.

Half an hour later, the police officers stationed outside Horace Lee’s ward were also replaced by the next shift.

Those who had come to take over brought dinner with them. They exchanged greetings. Some went to the toilet, while others wolfed down their food whilst being debriefed on the situation in the day… The mood outside the ward would be very lively every change in shift, and liveliness often implied something else—chaos. 

Normally, the police would always keep a vigilant watch, no matter who it was or what they were doing, never missing a thing.

This timing was the only exception. The times that Amy Borro had acted previously were all at this hour. In other words, she didn’t have expertise in the day shift; the night shift was her true home ground.

Almost by rote, while the officers were distracted, she took a tray to the pharmacy with utmost self-composure.

The dispensing of Horace Lee’s prescription was handled by selected nurses during the day. The number of people on the night shift was limited, so one person would cover the entire process. Amy Borro swiped the slip and a bunch of medicine was delivered in precise doses. Two anti-inflammatory pills, fever medicine, an injection for the viral infection, as well as a cup of liquid medicine to relieve the gastrointestinal tract and reduce nausea. 

“Huh? Isn’t it Annie’s shift today?” The pharmacist peeked out, asking her curiously.

“I’m covering her shift; she had to deal with some family matters.” Amy Borro smiled, individually shifting these items onto her tray while the other watched her.

There were too many cameras from every angle here. Not the slightest movement could escape them, so Amy Borro didn’t choose to do it here.

She walked down the corridor towards the special wards. In the middle, there was a door leading towards the exit staircase which was always left partially open. Incidentally, this door obstructed the coverage of the security camera there, creating a blindspot. When passing by, she simply had to make sure to be discrete and take note of the angle. Then, detection would be impossible. 

This wasn’t the first time that Amy Borro was doing this. While walking over, she didn’t pause in step nor even change her gait. Her eyes didn’t stray, but when passing by that door, she lightly raised her left pinkie. A transparent pellet was gently and neatly dropped into the liquid medicine. The surface rippled twice and then was restored to calmness.

At this point, even if someone was staring unblinkingly at the hospital surveillance, they would not have caught anything unusual from that angle.

Success!

Amy Borro’s expression didn’t change, but she smiled on the inside. Sure enough, this mission was too easy. All that happened during the day shift was no more than a spot of bad luck; all it took was really just a wriggle of her fingers. It was effortless. 

She could even sense the pellet dissolving in the liquid. It was colourless, odourless, and undetectable. As long as no one saw her dropping the pellet into the cup, there would be no evidence left behind. It was traceless. Two hours later, Horace Lee’s fever and nausea, both symptoms associated with severe infection, would flare again, proving that Spring Ivy Hospital was powerless to treat him. With that, Horace Lee would be forced to transfer to a treatment centre—the Mansons’ domain.

Or, taking a step back, even if Horace Lee’s transfer didn’t go through, he would still die from the recurring symptoms of the infection.

And when that happened, not only would his death raise no suspicion, but Spring Ivy Hospital would also be held responsible for poor treatment.

Two birds with one stone. It was perfect. 

Countless resultant symptoms flashed across her mind. The more she thought about it, the more pleased she was, and she even had a skip in her step.

However, she had taken no more than a few steps when she felt a gentle tap on her shoulder.

A familiar voice carried over from behind her; someone nonchalantly yet courteously said to her, “Miss Borro, pardon me, but we might have with us something that you’ve dropped.”