Since that miscarriage, Amelia Foster's sleep had been disturbed. Almost every night, she would wake up inexplicably at around ten minutes past midnight and would then keep her eyes open until dawn.
The days when she could wake up to the sun felt like a lifetime ago.
Being in a daze for just a minute, she hastily got up, quickly washed up as if prepping for a battle, and rushed downstairs.
Because she was already late.
Having left early yesterday and now arriving late today, she pondered on an excuse to give to the Head of Department for a leave of absence.
However, when she arrived at the hospital, she learned that the Head of Department was performing a major heart transplant surgery, predicted to last the entire workday. She had no choice but to go to the head of HR herself or risk being considered absentee.
The head of HR, Director Huang, was an old man, not yet fifty. He had a reputation for harassing female doctors and nurses, even though he was the Dean's own brother and hence untouchable. Everyone usually avoided him as much as possible.
Thus, although the office door was open, Amelia Foster still knocked a few times before entering.
Director Huang moved his gaze from his computer screen to Amelia the moment he saw her, scrutinized her from head to toe, and then squinted his greasy eyes, commenting, "Amelia, you are dressed beautifully today. We rarely see you in skirts."
Amelia used to live in the dormitory, very close to the emergency building. It took less than five minutes to make the round trip through the passage of the underground parking lot, so she was too lazy to change. She practically lived in her white doctor's coat.
This morning, in a hurry to leave the house, she'd just grabbed a skirt from the clothes she brought home yesterday.
Director Huang's gaze on her made her feel uncomfortable. She decided to stand about one meter away from the office desk, planning to leave as soon as she finished speaking. However, before she could even utter a word, the man, who was previously sitting in the chair, stood up and walked over to her, looking at the hem of her skirt and saying, "Your legs are so pretty, thin and white, they look so delicate."
Upon hearing the old man's inappropriate comments, Amelia's brows furrowed and she was about to lose her temper when Director Huang asked her, "Are you feeling better? I thought you would need a few more days off."
She was stunned for a moment, earlier crafted excuse got choked in her mouth.
Director Huang took a sip of tea from his cup, his eyes darting to her neckline as he laughed and said, "Dr. Richmond called me early this morning. He said you were running a high fever last night and forgot to take leave."
She was somewhat surprised, "Dr. Richmond from our department?"
The chief surgeon, Dr. Richmond, was a stern professor over sixty. He usually held a strict demeanor towards the young doctors and hardly ever took the initiative to apply for leave on her behalf.
Amelia Foster looped through her thoughts, quickly latching onto Daniel Cooper. He held a distinguished place within society, and considering his involvement in pharmaceutical business, his close relationship with Dr. Richmond wasn't unusual.
Since he had already made arrangements for her, Amelia didn't refute anything and went along with it.
However, Director Huang showed unexpected interest in this matter, suggesting indirectly, "Dr. Richmond seems to take special care of you, knowing about your midnight fever and all."
Amelia turned ice cold, "What does Director Huang actually want to say?"
Director Huang put down the tea cup in his hand, scratched his chin and laughed, "I know all about your father's situation. Why not come with me? I can help you out just like Dr. Richmond, and being younger than him, I'm sure I can satisfy you better..."
As he spoke, he suddenly lunged toward her, and Amelia instinctively slapped him without a second thought.
The slap caught Director Huang by surprise and left him a little dumbfounded. By the time he snapped back to reality, Amelia Foster had already run out of the office.
Roaring at the doorway, Huang yelled, "How dare you hit me, you just wait for it!"