Under everyone's supervision, Ariana obediently sat through the entire checkup without budging unless told to. As everyone focused on her and the tasks they had on hand, they neglected a person.
Considering Alexander's severe injuries, it would be a medical miracle for him to move on his own without assistance. Therefore, to them, he was one of the least of their concerns. Unfortunately, Alexander isn't any regular human being.
They forgot his high tolerance and strength. In other words, their equation would be correct if it was on a normal patient. But to Alexander, these injuries were considered small.
As soon as Ariana finished her body exam, she asked, "Why are you all here? Who is watching after Alexander?"
"Relax, his injuries will make him stuck in bed for at least half a month." Chen Mu said confidently.
"No, no! So, you mean nobody is looking after him??" Her reaction was quite big as she almost stood up from the wheelchair. Chen Nan sat her down and said, "Wifey, you're worrying too much about him. He's fine now. All bandaged up like a mummy."
"That's not what I'm worrying about! He's not a regular person! When he was eight, he broke his leg and fixed it with a few twists. Even after someone re-attached their joints or whatever, it'll take them a while to recover...but he could walk without crutches within a few hours afterwards." She wished she was exaggerating it, but it happened in front of her.
Her expression turned dead serious as she mentioned the number of times he had gotten hurt from serious injuries yet recovered in miraculous speed. Everyone's eyes widened more as she continued talking about his past injuries.
"Shit! Let's check on him then!" Lin Que, Chen Mu and Chen Nan rushed out the door while everyone stayed behind with Ariana. When they reached his room, the door was opened and nobody was inside. The window was also left opened and traced of blood could be seen on the bed sheets.
The IV drips and other injections laid tangled on the bed.
"Holy... what is that man? Some legendary unbeatable beast? Let's look around. He couldn't have gone that far with those back injuries. I'll go around the halls and shut off the exits. You two check the outside." Lin Que ordered as they split up.
Fifteen minutes ago, while Ariana was still having her checkup, Alexander received a phone call. Hearing the grumpy, raging tone on the other end, he answered, "I understand. I'll be back soon."
Pulling the injections out of his arm without caring about the pain it would cause, he changed back to his own clothes. Looking at the cellphone in his hands, a helpless frown appeared, "You guys shouldn't have given my phone back to me or the clothes."
Turning his head once again, he imagined Ariana coming into the room like she did before. His head shook sideways in slow motion as he lifted the window and climbed out from the third floor. Just like that, he left the hospital without anyone noticing.
Reacting as if he was reluctant to leave, his head looked up to the third-floor window where he had jumped down from. "I'm sorry. I hope we don't see each other again." Slightly emotional from his one-sided farewell, he rushed out of the hospital area and into the city's crowd.
-Present-
Sweat formed on their faces as they failed to see Alexander anywhere within the hospital.
"Forget it. He most likely left already. Look." Chen Mu pointed at the flattened grass by the building where it showed hints of his escape route. The blood stain on the grass and walls proved he was here not too long ago.
Following the small tracks of blood before it disappeared, it leads them to the streets.
- Conference room in hospital -
"He's gone?!" Everyone's mouth was left dangled open when they told them that Alexander has escaped. The only person who remained rather calmly was Ariana. The sullen expression on her face was truly ugly.
Gripping on her phone tightly, her nail scratched against her phone case. "At the end, you betrayed my trust."
"Ariana, calm down. It's bad for the child if you put so much pressure on yourself." Chen Nan tried loosening her tensed shoulders.
"Who said I'm not calm?" She looked up at him with darkened eyes filled with disappointment.
Everyone kept quiet as they didn't know how to respond to her. Observing the faces around the room, she sighed and pressed a few buttons on her phone. "Here, it looks like he is on his way back to the underground tunnel."
"What?" Their eyes focused on the blinking green dot on her phone screen.
"When did you put a tracker on him?" Chen Nan wanted to praise his wife for her intelligence.
"When I went to visit him. Nobody, including him, found out my fast hand movement. I hid the tracker on his clothes."
"Ah...and I thought you really stumbled on your way out of the room." Chen Nan recalled how she tripped slightly with her hand slapping flat on the clothes.
"It's a mini pin that matches the color of the clothes. He probably wouldn't realize it." She said as she watched the green dot on her phone move.
"But if he doesn't change into the clothes, then your efforts would've gone to waste." Grandpa Xia said as he worriedly stared at her.
"Nope. Knowing him, he would only trust his own clothes. I have a request." She stood up and bowed.
"If it is a request to go back there, then I object. You're with child right now. That isn't a suitable place to be in." Grandpa Xia strictly rejected.
"I can't let Chen Nan fight alone. I know this is a selfish request, but I have to. I could wait for the results for the pill to come out. I could wait for the antidote for Qian Ling. I really want to know who is behind my family's torture and my wrecked childhood. I really want to know why Alexander would betray my trust and once again go back to that dog hole!" Her palms slammed on the wooden surface.
Chen Nan felt the negativity she was emitting and rubbed her arms to control her temper. "Shh, shhh. Calm down. Calm down."
Grandpa Xia sighed, "Even if you don't think about yourself, then what about your child? You can't risk it."
Facing another rejection, her head lowered to her tummy. Caressing her barely noticeable bump, she said, "Even if I stay here the amount of pressure won't reduce. It'll still be bad for the baby. If either way I'll get stressed out, then I'd rather choose a more meaningful way to stress myself out. At least I can be with my husband through life and death."
Chen Nan sighed deeply and looked around at the disapproving looks, "Ariana, are you sure about this?"
"Absolutely." Her eyes locked onto his with no signs of hesitation.
"Okay. I'll let her come with me and protect her with my life if I have to. She's right. If stress is bad for her pregnancy anyways, then she would probably feel more at ease by my side. This time, you must listen to my words and not repeat what you did last time. Understand?"
Processing his words in a serious tone, her shoulders finally relaxed. She smiled, "Yes."
Chen Mu reminded them that it would be a while before they could figure out what's in the pill. In other words, they still have some time to provide her enough nutrients to replenish her energy. they would also prepare supplement pills for her. Hearing their decision, Grandpa Xia couldn't help but turn a blind eye to it.