Meilin strolled down the almost deserted corridor, the heat of Yichen's words still resonating in her heart from their night conversation on the rooftop.
That evening at Qingmei Medical Center had a peculiar quietness, the sort that precedes a storm. She had not anticipated him to open up or worse, praise her. And now? Now she had no idea what to do with herself.
She glanced into the break room, seeing Yufei reclining on the couch, half-awake, her tablet resting on her chest where it was playing a drama. Gao Rui read a medical journal nearby, his expression unchanging as if he had no idea what relaxing even felt like.
"Yufei?" Meilin whispered, tiptoeing in. "You awake?"
Yufei blinked open one eye. "Barely. Don't initiate drama unless it involves snacks."
Meilin dropped down beside her. "Zhao Yichen said I care too much, and that it's uncommon."
Yufei gazed blankly, then slowly came up. "Wait. You're serious?"
"Swear on Linlin's fairy tale book," Meilin said, placing her hand over her heart.
Rui turned a page, his tone dry. "Can we have one day without your romantic overthinking?"
"Can you have one day without being emotionally constipated?" Meilin shot back.
Yufei laughed. "Okay okay, I'm awake now. This is huge. Dr. Zhao actually spoke kindly? Was he concussed?"
Meilin dismissed her sarcasm. "It seemed. real. Not like the normal automatic instructions. And then he gave me tea."
Rui actually looked up, raising a brow. "You're being manipulated."
"Oh shut up, Rui. Just because no one's ever offered you tea doesn't mean we're all lost."
The intercom came to life unexpectedly.
"All available interns to Emergency Ward. Immediate intake. Repeat, immediate intake."
Yufei leapt to her feet. "Finally. Real drama."
They sped to the ER where chaos reigned. A patient had been wheeled in – a young man, not yet twenty-two, unconscious and bleeding from the side of his head.
Dr. Wen, the chief surgeon, shouted orders while nurses rushed about. "Possible internal hemorrhage. No ID. Found unconscious outside a bar near Haiyuan Road. Let's get his vitals, scan, and blood work now."
Meilin moved forward with a blood pressure cuff, attempting to push aside the queasy twist in her belly. The man's face was battered, his knuckles torn. Something about him didn't feel. right. Like he wasn't simply an accident victim.
"Maybe a fight," Rui whispered, moving up beside her. "Defensive wounds on him."
She nodded wordlessly.
Yichen just then appeared, his coat billowing behind him as he strode toward the monitors.
"BP falling. We have to open a central line," he instructed, eyes on the chart. "Rui, help me. Meilin, prepare the tox screen."
Meilin rushed to comply, but couldn't help feeling something was wrong with this case. There was more going on beneath the surface.
An hour later, the patient stabilized, transferred to the observation ward. Yichen stood studying the labs as Meilin hovered near him.
"There's something wrong," she whispered.
Yichen looked at her. "What are you talking about?"
"He's young. No ID. Beaten but not stolen from. No alcohol in his system, but… he had an odd mark on his arm. Like a stamp, or perhaps a sign. I couldn't get a good look at it before they sewed him up."
Yichen's eyes hardened. "You're sure?"
"Yeah. Just didn't feel right. Like this wasn't a mugging or a random bar brawl."
He put down the chart, serious. "Good catch.".
Meilin blinked. "Good catch?"
He rolled his eyes. "Don't make me regret this."
And in the general ward, Yufei had her own enigma. A young teenage girl had come in earlier that morning with what appeared to be appendicitis, but now she was shaking and vomiting.
"Vitals crashing," said Yufei, her tone tight with alarm.
Dr. Wen intervened once more, his brow furrowed as he examined the screen. "Sepsis? Spreading too rapidly…"
Yufei glanced at the IV bag. Her gut was shouting at her. She tugged it down hastily and inspected the fluid — and her heart plunged.
"This is not saline. This is not even our regular bag," she told him, holding up the label.
Dr. Wen glared, cursing under his breath. "That's not from the Qingmei inventory. Security. Now."
Zhao Yichen stood in the staff conference room, alongside Dr. Wen, Rui, Meilin, and Yufei, the tension heavy in the room.
"We could have an intruder, or sabotage within," Dr. Wen growled. "Security cameras reveal a man entering the side loading dock in a technician's coat. He never checked in."
Meilin's blood chilled. "You suspect he tampered with supplies?"
"Possible. And the young man earlier?" Dr. Wen went on, "Someone left him there for a purpose. If this is deliberate—"
"We need to report this," Rui cut in, jaw clenched. "Patients might die.
Yichen nodded. "I'll alert the security team. You three be vigilant. Do not tell other staff until we are sure of everything."
Meilin breathed slowly. "So now we're in a mystery novel."
"No," Yichen replied, eyes unyielding. "Now we're in danger."
The rooftop was quiet once more that night. Meilin stood there, folding her arms, watching the dark clouds over the city. Yichen walked out to join her, holding two cups of tea — a habit that had become quietly routine.
She took it without a word.
"I know that look,"
he said softly.
"What look?"
"The one that claims your mind's racing ahead of your heart's ability to keep up."
She smiled faintly. "I detest this sensation. Of ignorance. I did not come here to study medicine, but to endure hospital conspiracies."
Yichen stared off into the distance. "This work. it's not about saving lives. It's about safeguarding the area in which lives are supposed to be saved."
She faced him. "Do you think we are safe?"
"I believe," he said, hesitating, "you're braver than you believe."
And that did something odd to her. Because in spite of the sirens in her head, that single sentence grounded her.
She took a sip of the tea. It was warm, familiar.
But in the bottom level of the hospital, the mystery patient had just opened his eyes. And in the darkness somewhere, someone gazed at the CCTV footage on an untraceable monitor… smiling.