Lucy drove to Prime Hospital and when she arrived, she didn't bother to park her car in the underground parking lot. She parked it near the main entrance instead. She walked ahead to her destination, the pharmacies, where all the medications were stored in a locked cabinet or in a certain fridge at a department.
She just wore a nightdress, and top it with a cardigan that was long enough to reach her ankle, her style made some nurses and doctors around bewildered. What could make Lucy wore such things this early in the morning and it was her day off too.
Lucy disregarded everyone's gazing eyes, she instead focused on finding some medicine to neutralize the poison inside Aubrey.
"Oh? Weren't you off today?", a nurse who was in charge of the department asked. She took a long gaze towards Lucy from head to toe.
"Ah, I'm here for medicines. Can you help me with them? It's urgent.", Lucy forced an awkward smile.
"Hm? It's not official? What are you going to do with the medications?", the nurse answered straightforwardly, unaware of Lucy's desperation.
"Well.. can you please help me.. just once? I'll get the macarons from that store that you like!", Lucy pleaded, she laughed dryly.
"Really? Oh my! I love that store's macarons! They were always out of sale everytime I went there! I know you were good friends with the owner! Thank you!", the nurse jumped in delight. She was content with the bribe.
Lucy smiled. The owner was indeed her friend. The store was very popular and it had many franchises across the country. The owner was a daughter of a wealthy family too. Dessert from that store was also quite pricey.
"So.. what do you need? I'll help you find it.", the nurse smiled.
"Thank you Vivi! I owe you one!"
"Nah.. you won't if you get the macarons for me tomorrow.", the nurse called Vivi chuckled lightly.
Despite being a Kim, a family that owned the hospital, Lucy was easy to get along with. She was not like some villainness in typical romance novel that liked to show off and was rude. Vivi liked that about Lucy. That was why she was willing to help her.
Words got through until the top floor of the hospital, that Lucy came to the hospital with a casual dress, despite having a day off. She was close to the car when she heard someone called her from behind.
"What are you doing here, Lucy?", Gary asked. He looked like he had just finished running for a marathon.
"Gary? Oh nothing, I forgot something last night, so I come to get it.", she smiled. Trying to convince her cousin.
"Is that so? Have you had breakfast? Let's go and have one. I just finished my shift.", he said, smiling.
"No! Actually, I barely had any sleep since I played games until late at night. So I want to catch some sleep!", Lucy lied through her teeth. Hoping that she would be home faster. Aubrey needed to be treated fast. Having been poisoned was not a small matter after all.
"Really?", he sounded quite disappointed.
"Yes. Well then goodbye!", Lucy hopped into the car, and she quickly drove away.
Gary was worried, she said she was sleepy. How could she drive here without trouble then? Was she going to be alright driving back home now?
•••
Two hours had passed, and Aubrey was now stabilized. Lucy made sure to check on him every fifteen minutes. She checked the IV by the bedside again, it was still full. It was a miracle that he did not need a hospital to get rid of the remaining poison.
She was glad that the anticonvulsant was now beginning to take effect. He only consumed a small amount of strychnine, but it was taking a huge toll on his body.
Now Aubrey was under anesthesia, he needed to stay this way for 24 hours, only then will he be able to be out of danger.
Lucy sat down beside the man, whom she got to know as Aubrey Lee. She didn't know anything about this man. Whether he was a criminal trying to run away from his cell or whether he was actually a patient in mental asylum.
She knew nothing about him. Except for the fact that he needed help right now. She knew it was wrong to help him without going for an official procedure, but knowing how he was a patient with a mental disorder made Lucy reluctant to do something against his wishes. Those who needed help with their state of mind and psychology was someone Lucy wanted to protect the most.
'PTSD caused by something that happened in the past.. resulting in him having nightmare disorder.. he also showed signs of anxiety.. avoidant personality disorder..? Hm.. his REM stages were really abnormal when he was asleep..', Lucy thought hard. She was contemplating every possibility.
Being a genius doctor and having too wide of a knowledge about her own expertise were really helpful when it came to observing. She could pinpoint what exactly Aubrey was experiencing just by looking at him closely.
His manner, muscle movements, and the way he communicated were enough for Lucy to take a guess. She had spent her life observing people and she was rarely wrong.
"There must be a reason.. traumatic experience? Was it since a long time ago?", she mumbled to herself. And she was correct again. It was indeed such a long time ago when it happened.
She concluded that Aubrey might had experience something agonizing when he was young, because a child's mind was more fragile that that of an adult, he might not be able to cop with the situation when he was a kid. And it dragged on without further check-up or counselling.
"But to be this traumatized is weird. People mostly recover from their trauma when they become an adult since their mind is more capable of better judgement.", Lucy frowned when she realized the crucial point. What made this man unable to get away from his own past?
Just when she was thinking hard about her newly found patient, Lucy heard her doorbell rang. She cursed inside her head when she realized how strange it would be if someone else walk inside her house only to spot a man lying on her bed!
"Damn..!", Lucy stepped near the door, and she saw that it was just her sister. She opened the door, only enough for her to take a peek.
"Hey, let me in. I'm tired.", Mia raised a brow upon seeing her older sister acting weird.
"What are you doing here? If you just got back from playing around then go back to your own house and sleep.", Lucy sighed, she didn't budge, the door was still technically shut.
"No way, my house is too big and it feels lonely there.", Mia complained. Making a sad puppy face.
"Then go back to mom and dad's.", Lucy said, sounding a little annoyed.
"What? You know how they are.. they will make me do house chores and cook and not let me oversleep. Even if they pay the maids, they won't pay me.", the sister pleaded.
"That's because of how lazy you tend to be. They wanted you to be able to do more than just checking up on people's broken teeth.", Lucy opened the door for her sister to get in, even though her words were those of complaints.
"If you dislike how I'm bothering you to open the door every single time, then tell me the passcode.", Mia said, chuckling.
"Like hell I would tell you.", Lucy said. She then went upstairs again, and stopped at the middle of the stairs.
"I'm going to sleep now. Don't come in my room and bother me.", she took her step quickly to her room after that, and locked the door.
Mia didn't notice the difference in anything, thus she took it as a green light to have the living room all to herself. While Lucy, was now beginning to regret taking Aubrey to her room. She was stuck with him for the entire day.