Me After Meeting You

In truth, bringing a patient’s personality back usually worked better with more family members around, and this was the reason why she had initially wanted Calvin to visit Elly more often.

Unfortunately, before any kinship could develop between the two of them, all kinds of things had happened between him and Amber. To express his stance towards Amber, he had avoided visiting Elly for quite a while, and was naturally unable to be of any help now.

The words “patient’s family members” caught Calvin somewhat off guard. He turned to properly look at Amber. She was wearing a white doctor’s coat, her hands were in her pockets, and her tone and expressions were calm and natural, as if she were talking to a stranger.

Her countenance had no trace of sadness, anger, disappointment, or loss. She was truly treating him as just another patient’s family member.

She had recovered so quickly that it seemed as if there had never been anything between them at all. It was as if the Amber who had once told him, “I’ve been waiting for you to tell me that you liked me for ten years,” in a simple but bright alleyway had never existed.

Calvin’s heart plunged, and he quickly turned around to shove the emotions rising up to his throat down and recollect himself. “It’s not too bad, just observing her like this.”

‘Not as bad as observing you like this.’

This bitter sentence remained locked tightly in his heart. After one last glance at Elly, he left the hospital.

***

Amber didn’t send Calvin out. She returned to her own office, silently sitting in a daze for quite a while.

Then, someone knocked on the door, waking her from her reverie. Dr. Susan walked in. “Why’re you in a daze?”

“I was thinking about my patients’ affairs.” Amber smiled upon seeing the bags in her hands. “Why are you here? Are you also on duty today?”

“Yes. I’m all alone, remember? So, I might as well help out my colleagues who do have families and mouths to feed,” Susan flippantly replied as she set the bag down in front of her. “I recommend you try some. It’s a morning’s worth of labor.”

Amber laughed as she opened the bag. Inside were a few boxes of small biscuits of various colors, wonderfully pretty.

“Oh, it’d be perfect as a snack for afternoon tea. Wait a moment. I’ll go brew some coffee.”

The hospital wasn’t too busy today; even the normally very busy gynecology department was more or less empty, which was why Susan had the time to come over and chat. As the two relaxed, they leisurely sampled the biscuits that Susan had made.

In the middle of their downtime, Trysta called Amber, saying that she couldn’t come in today, but that she was feeling calm and stable. However, Trysta’s tone sounded a bit like she was trying to curry favor with Amber, it was quite a bit cuter than her usual.

But Amber couldn’t forget about how Trysta had nonchalantly said, “I want to kill people.” The more adorable Trysta acted, the more worried Amber became.

When she hung up, Amber couldn’t help but sigh. Susan casually asked, “Your patient?”

“Yup.”

“Is she difficult to treat?”

“Somewhat.” And then Amber couldn’t help herself from adding on, “Actually, from a doctor’s perspective, the hardest thing to deal with isn’t a rare or difficult illness or something like that. Rather, it’s a patient who’s too clear-headed and too opinionated, someone who confidently acts in a self serving manner.”

Amber wasn’t very lucky, as she had two such patients, Trysta being one of them. Then her phone rang, and she sighed again. “My other trouble is calling as well.”

The one whom Amber had designated as her ‘other trouble’ was Ian. His first words were, “You’re at the hospital?”

“Yes.”

And then he hung up. Susan raised her eyebrows. “Just that?”

“No.” Amber stood up. “Our afternoon tea session has to end here. I’m sorry, but I have to go out for a moment.”

And then, before Susan could react, Amber ran off. Susan tried to follow her, but only saw a vanishing silhouette running down the stairs.

Amber quickly ran down two floors and then pressed all the elevator buttons. It was probably because it was New Year’s Eve, but there were quite a number of delivery workers riding the elevators. Only on the third try did Ian appear.

When he saw her, he first looked at the floor number on the elevator before raising his eyebrows at her.

Amber didn’t even need him to say anything to be at a loss for words.

She looked at the people by his side, who were each carrying a huge bundle of something, and then took a deep breath. “Did you bring all these people with you?”

Ian nodded, and she pulled all of them out. “I’m sorry, but please go back. Go back to where you came from, thank you.”

Ian watched as she bustled about. And when she had finally chased everyone out, he smiled at her, still in the elevator. “Did you think that would be effective? Some people are already upstairs.”

“….”

‘So all those delivery workers she had seen earlier were his people?!’

In the end, Amber became famous in the hospital once again, her mysterious nouveau riche suitor sent her an entire feast on New Year’s Eve. It was so much food that even all of her colleagues in the psychiatry department couldn’t finish it. They had to invite all the hospital workers over to help, and only then did everyone witness their plight.

In truth, everything had been sent over by Ian’s grandparents, who were concerned that Amber had to work even on New Year’s Eve. So naturally, they had to comfort her with food and drinks.

But Amber wasn’t comforted; instead, she was somewhat incensed as she dragged Ian outside.

“I have to work, so I have no choice but to accept your good intentions. But with that, you can go back now.” She pushed him into his car forcefully, a rare thing for her.

“But I haven’t given you my present yet.”

“I’ve received all that just now.” Even though she had been forced to do so.

“That’s not from me. That’s from my grandparents.”

“….”

She beat her chest in frustration. “Then what do you want to give me? Let me make this clear. I don’t want food, tools, or any flowers, because storing them and dealing with them is very troublesome.”

Ian nodded obediently.

“Then give it to me.” She stretched out her hand.

Ian rested his head against the window with one palm supporting his lower jaw as he looked at her. “Are you sure that you want to receive it here?”

Under the dim yellow glow of the streetlights, his calm and indifferent expression was unusually handsome, but it only gave Amber a very bad premonition.Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.

After rethinking the situation, she decisively said, “Go to my house first, and I’ll be there shortly.”

This ‘shortly’ ended up being quite long, because when Amber returned to her department, she received an unprecedented welcome. Even the head nurse, who was on leave, called her to comment on the situation. “How’s your boyfriend going to feel when he hears of this?”

Yes, they all still thought that Calvin was her boyfriend.

Her head hurt.

Amber felt that this New Year was going to be a horrendous mess, but the truly aggravating incident had yet to come. When she finally got home, she encountered a naked Ian sitting on the sofa with just a blanket to cover himself.

At least he had prepared a blanket for himself, but he had also redecorated her living room. It was quite the sight to behold, adorned with large swathes of red ribbons, the hue so vibrant that it hurt her eyes.

While she stared at the scene open-mouthed, he pulled off his blanket and presented his stark naked body to her. “This gift, please accept it.”

He even dared to act demurely!!