"Don't tell me that's your fourth coffee today."
Meilin didn't bother looking up. She sipped slowly, eyes half-dead from the 32-hour shift she just survived.
"Third," she muttered. "Mind your own caffeine addiction, Dr. Zhao."
Yichen smirked, slumping into the chair beside her with his usual lazy confidence. He was still in his white coat, sleeves rolled up, hair a little messy the kind of mess that looked too intentional to be accidental.
"You only drink this much when you're stressed. So…" He dragged out the word, watching her closely. "Who pissed you off this time? A patient? Nurse Mei? Your father?"
Meilin raised an eyebrow. "You forgot 'you' in that list."
"I'm charming, not stressful."
She snorted. "You're both."
He tilted his head, his voice softening. "But seriously. You look like someone handed you a scalpel and asked you to operate on your own heart."
She paused. Her fingers curled tighter around the cup. "I got a message. From someone anonymous. They want me to stop looking into Li Jun's file."
That wiped the smile off his face.
"Wait. You're serious?"
She nodded. "Completely. They know I've seen something. And they're trying to scare me into silence."
Yichen leaned forward, elbows on knees. "Did you tell your father?"
Meilin let out a cold laugh. "You think he'd listen? He's probably the one who made the mess in the first place."
"Okay," Yichen said, standing up. "Then we do this the other way."
"What way?"
"My way. I don't scare easy."
Later that morning, the hospital cafeteria was unusually noisy. Nurse Mei was waving a spoon in the air as she argued with Chen Yufei over the correct way to cook dumplings.
"Boiled is traditional!" Mei shouted.
Yufei rolled her eyes. "It's not about tradition. Fried dumplings are crispy and sexy."
Gao Rui coughed on his congee. "I didn't realize food could be sexy."
Yufei pointed her chopsticks at him. "That's why you're single."
Mei burst out laughing.
Meilin dropped her tray beside them, exhausted.
"Rough night?" Gao Rui asked.
"Try 'locked in basement archives' kind of night," Meilin muttered, poking her rice like it owed her money.
Yufei's brows lifted. "Wait. What? You?"
Meilin gave her a look. "Don't ask."
"Was Dr. Zhao involved?" Mei chimed in, eyes twinkling.
"Dr. Zhao is always involved," Meilin said dryly.
Right on cue, Yichen walked in, grabbed a bottle of soy milk, and slumped into the seat across from her.
"Morning, family," he said, flashing a sleepy grin.
Yufei raised a brow. "Don't drag me into your drama."
"I heard someone got mystery-texted," Gao Rui said, lowering his voice. "You good?"
Meilin didn't answer right away
Yichen leaned forward. "She's good. Because we're going to find out who sent it."
Yufei looked between them. "Do we need popcorn for this?"
"Better get a whole meal," Mei whispered.
Meanwhile, Dr. Lin Guoxiang stood at the window of his office, watching the rain blur the garden path below.
A knock interrupted his thoughts.
"Come in."
The hospital director entered a tall man with silver hair and a permanent frown. "I hear your daughter's been snooping."
Dr. Lin's jaw tensed. "I'll handle it."
"You'd better. If she digs up what we buried, you know what happens next."
Dr. Lin said nothing, only stared at the storm outside.
That afternoon, Meilin was reviewing Li Jun's chart when she noticed something odd.
His name had been flagged for "transfer to private ward." But no such request had been made. And no one signed off on it.
She rushed to the nurses' station. "Who scheduled Li Jun's transfer?"
Nurse Chen frowned. "No one told me about a transfer."
Meilin narrowed her eyes. "Then who the hell's moving him?"
She ran to Room 14.
It was empty.
The bed was stripped. The IV stand gone. No trace of Li Jun. Just the faint scent of antiseptic and something colder fear.
Yichen caught up with her as she stared at the vacant room.
"What happened?"
"He's gone," she said, voice thin.
He looked around. "You think he was moved?"
"I think he was taken."
That night, Meilin couldn't sleep. She lay on the couch in the interns' lounge, flipping through the red folder again.
Photos. Burn records. A list of patients. One name caught her eye: Zhao Weihao.
She sat up.
Same last name as Yichen?
She pulled out her phone and texted him.
Meilin: "Does the name Zhao Weihao mean anything to you?"
The reply came two minutes later.
Yichen: "He was my uncle. Died in the hospital fire. Why?"
Her fingers hesitated.
Meilin: "His name is on the confidential list from the fire. He wasn't just a patient. He worked here."
Pause.
Yichen: "What?"
The next morning, Yichen stormed into the records department.
"Give me every file on Zhao Weihao. Staff. Patient. Visitor. I don't care."
The clerk looked nervous. "Dr. Lin, those files are restricted—"
Yichen slammed his badge on the counter. "Override it. Now."
He found the file in a dusty folder marked Personnel – 1998.
His uncle wasn't just a visitor. He was a junior researcher.
And the last entry in the report?
Accessed restricted lab. Never exited. Fire reported 4 hours later. No body found.
Yichen's jaw clenched.
Back in the main ward, Meilin stitched a minor forehead wound while her hands trembled.
Nurse Mei noticed. "You okay?"
Meilin nodded. "Yeah. Just… thinking."
"Thinking looks a lot like panic today," Mei said gently.
After her patient left, Meilin stood in the hallway, staring at her father's office.
She walked in without knocking.
He looked up slowly. "Meilin."
She dropped the red folder on his desk.
He looked down. His face gave nothing away.
"You knew. All these years."
He closed the file quietly. "Some truths won't help you."
"I don't care," she snapped. "I want the truth anyway."
Dr. Lin's eyes narrowed. "Be careful what you ask for."
In the on-call room, Yichen was pacing.
When Meilin walked in, he didn't even look surprised.
"My uncle was in that fire," he said. "And they erased him like he never existed."
Meilin sat beside him. "He's on that list for a reason. They knew something went wrong."
He looked at her, eyes stormy. "If my family got burned because of this hospital, I'm going to burn something back."
She took his hand.
He didn't pull away.
"I've got your back," she said softly.
Later, as the sun dipped behind the hills, Yufei and Gao Rui were arguing about vending machines again.
Nurse Mei sighed. "You two argue like an old married couple."
Yufei rolled her eyes. "I'd rather marry an actual vending machine."
Gao Rui grinned. "At least I'd never run out of snacks."
The laughter echoed down the corridor.
It was brief, but in that moment, it was everything.
That night, Meilin sat on the rooftop, watching the city lights blink below.
Yichen joined her, two bubble teas in hand.
She took one without a word.
"I missed this," he said.
"This?"
"You. Not being scared."
"I'm still scared," she said. "But I'm also mad."
He smiled. "Good. That's how the best heroes start."
Meilin leaned on his shoulder. "Promise me something?"
"Anything."
"When the truth comes out… we face it together."
Yichen nodded.
"Together."
To be continued…