Tom was quite proud of himself. He remainedposed throughout the procedure when he performed a check on Patricia''s body. He didn''t do anything inappropriate afterward either. Instead, he headed out of her ward. A feeling of relief overwhelmed him once it was over, more intense than he had ever felt. Truthfully, this was quite unlike him. His heart beat faster than that of a kid who had stolen a nce of his puppy love. He breathed heavily and his blood drummed in his ears as he walked down the corridor.


    Tom''s excuse was that he was making the rounds of the wards. In reality, he had already inspected this area of wards before he checked in on Patricia. He left her ward because he feared he would do something improper if he stayed any longer. So, like a defeated soldier at a battlefield, he fled.


    "Tom, hi! I was looking for you! Why are you lurking around here?" a female voice suddenly called out, snapping him out of his thoughts. It was Leena. She carried a thermos jug in her hand, which contained the nutrition soup she had made for Patricia. She hoped her friend would recover soon when she had it.


    "Hi, Leena. Nice seeing you too. I was just checking in on Patricia inside," Tom answered, collecting himself. He feigned being calm and indifferent as he spoke. His feelings were all over the ce but he hid them well.


    "I see! I''ve brought a bowl of soup for you too. I didn''t see you around, so I went to your office and put the soup on your table. You better drink it hot. It wouldn''t taste good when it''s gone cold." Leena was a considerate person. Since she had made soup for Patricia, she thought she''d make some for Tom too. She liked to cook for her friends.


    "Soup? Are you using that to bribe me into sparing you from your daily medicine?" Tom rarely joked, but when Leena was around, he always felt like teasing her. The girl was too naughty and full of tricks.


    "Oh no, that''s pure nder. I brought the soup for your good. I saw you looking pale and wanted to make something good for you. How could you misunderstand my good will?" Leena pouted, reproaching him yfully.


    "Sounds sweet. All right, you can go inside. When you are done, don''t forget to stop by and fetch your medicine." Tom couldn''t help but grin. This girl always made himugh. He could never be too tough on her.


    "Ew..." Leena grimaced. That medicine was the worst. It tasted awful and she always tried to avoid it. Even looking at it reminded her of its bitter taste. Leena deliberately missed the doses. Several times, her attempts were almost discovered by Kevin. It was lucky for her that Kevin wasn''t always home, otherwise he would have nagged the hell out of her.


    Upon seeing the change in Leena''s expression, Tom smirked. Before Leena could reject him, he turned around and strode to his office down the corridor. He knew he didn''t have the heart to say no to her puppy eyes and innocent pleas. He wouldn''t be able to resist them. So, he decided not to give her any chance to plead with him.


    Leena frowned as she watched Tom walk away. She let out a resigned sigh and turned to face the ward door. As she entered, she greeted the two girls inside, "Patricia, how are you feeling? And Michelle, d to see you here!" Leena ced the soup on the side table and examined Patricia from head to toe, checking her physical status.


    "Thank you for asking, Leena. I''m feeling much better now." Patricia smiled at Leena. Although the pain in her body had not eased, her spirits were much higher afterst night when she had woken up.


    "Leena, why didn''t you call mest night? This was an emergency situation!" Michelleined. There was more concern than malice in her tone. She too cared a lot about Patricia.


    "It was quitete and I didn''t want to wake you up. And everything turned out well in the end. Now you know that Patricia is fine. It''s all good." Leena tried not to sound guilty as she gave her answer. The real reason she hadn''t called Michellest night was that she had been far too ted about Patricia waking up. In her excitement, she forgot to inform Michelle. She decided to keep this little fact from Michelle, in case thetter got mad at her.


    "Really? Are you truly that considerate? I think you just forgot to tell me." Michelle gazed at Leena with doubt in her eyes. During their short time together, she had discovered something interesting about Leena - when she told a lie, she felt so guilty that she avoided all eye contact.Copyright N?v/el/Dra/ma.Org.


    "Haha, I like your sense of humor! Oh, Patricia! Come, I''ve made some pork-bone soup for you. I bet you would love it." Leena quickly changed the subject. Seriously, how could Michelle read her mind?! Leena would be foolish to admit her assumption was true. "Pork-bone? Isn''t that too oily?" Patricia scowled. She preferred to eat light. If she refused to take the soup, she might hurt her friend''s feeling. On the other hand, she hated greasy food. She was in a dilemma.


    "Rest assured! I know what you like. The pork was lean. Before I made the soup, I parboiled it several times to clean out the blood and fat. The soup is delicious but also light," Leena said quickly. She still avoided Michelle''s eyes and was upied with opening the thermos bottle.


    Michelle was now convinced that her guess was correct, but she chose to let the matter go. Leena had a point anyway. It was only one night''s dy, and it was okay. Even if Michelle hade to know about the news the night before, she could not have done anything about it. Needless to say, one was not entitled to learn about everything about one''s friends.


    Just as Leena said, the soup tasted great. She had simmered it for hours to thicken the chowder. Although there was surprisingly little grease in it, it allowed for a unique but delightful taste. Patricia had just eaten some hospital food, but she still took some sips of the soup. "Hey, Patricia? I just saw Tom in the corridor. He looked so lost and bewildered. I wonder what happened to him," Leena asked once Patricia put the soup away. She wasn''t a gossipy person by nature, but she cared for Patricia and Tom. Patricia was her best friend and Tom was like a big brother to her. Leena wanted to help them out if they were in some sort of trouble.


    "Really? I have no idea. He seemed fine when he left. I think he said he was going to make the rounds of the wards. He had been gone for a while when you came... How could you have met him in the corridor? Didn''t he go to check on his patients?" Patricia was puzzled. Her brows knit together into a frown. She too started to feel that something was wrong here. Was it possible that Tom liked her? Every time he looked at her, it was like he tried to express something through his eyes. His gaze always seemed affectionate, but he never said anything out loud.????????????