Annaâs eyes widened in surprise, and she couldnât help but blush. âNo. Nothing,â she replied.
âDr. Gabriel, help me see how the injury on my armis, will you?â Wayne calmly held up his bandaged arm and looked at Anna.
He appeared to be only here to see a doctor.
Anna was at a loss for what to do. The attending doctor in the ER had gone home to celebrate the anniversary with his wife, leaving her alone to see patients. She thought no one would come and she didnât expect to see Wayne.
As she removed the bandage, she noticed Wayne staring at her, and he didnât seem to think it was a coincidence.
Who comes to the hospital at two a.m. fora wound that was already bandaged the day before? Anna thought.
As Anna unwrapped the bandage, she saw the severe wound inside. She then stopped thinking about anything else and focused on treating the wound. Her hand trembled as she asked, âWho bandaged you? That person didnât even clean your wound or apply medicine. Thatâs so irresponsible!â
Wayne remained silent. He was staring at her and seemed to have a lot to say to her.
Anna ducked away as if she had been electrocuted, âWait here while | go get the medicine. Donât touch the wound.â
Five minutes later, Anna returned with a tray of antiseptic drops. She sterilized and cleaned his wound, applied ointment, and bandaged him 392 Canât Wait To See Her with clean bandages. She didnât look up at Wayne the entire time, and she didnât make eye contact with him, either.
She then cleaned everything up, wrote the prescription, and said to him, âYou have a mild abrasion. Because your wound is infected, youâll have to come here every day after I redress it. Donât use your wounded hand too often; otherwise, the wound will split. You can stop coming here once the wound has completely scabbed over.â
Anna tore the prescription off and handed it to him, saying, âGo pay the bill and get the medicine.â
Wayne sat down instead of taking the piece of paper. âYou wouldnât be talking to me if I hadnât really been hurt, would you?â he asked as he sat down and put his shirt back on.
âWhy did you say that? We donât have a grudge, so why wouldnât | talk to you? We sort of know each other, so I would have at least said hello to you.â
âWe sort of know each other?â Wayne asked, then fell silent.
âDonât hold up the patients behind you because your consultation is over. Besides, Iâm almost done with my shift.â Anna said this without looking up. As if she didnât want to talk to him anymore, she kept her head down and read her psychology textbook.
Meanwhile, Wayne sat in his chair, not intending to leave. He said, âGreat! Letâs meet for breakfast after you get off work. Iâd like to thank you for bandaging my wound.â
âItâs three oâclock, I donât think any restaurants are open right now,â Anna grumbled.
âThere will be if I want to.â
Hearing that, Anna put down her pen and looked at Wayne unhappily, âYou donât have to do that. Iâm a doctor, and youâre a patient. You came 392 Canât Wait To See Her here to see a doctor, and it is my responsibility to treat you. You donât have to buy me food to thank me.â âYou donât treat other patients this way, do you?â Wayne asked joyfully.
He had met Natalie on his way home yesterday evening, and she had told him that Anna had returned. He read the list of doctors at Birminghamâs hospitals and found that she worked at the hospital where Peter was staying, As a result, he was delighted about it. Of course, he wanted to see her right away.
His question caught Anna off guard. She remained silent for a long time before saying, as calmly as possible, âYou can whine all you want about me, but Iâve already taken care of you. Youâre the one whoâs stuck here.â
âIIL leave after | ask the questions.â
âWhat exactly do you want to know?â
âWhen did you get back?â
Anna was no longer hostile. She squeezed her fingers, attempting to distract herself from recalling things from the past. Then she put on a cold face and said, âA month ago.â
Wayne smiled immediately.
âBut not because of you,â she added.
Wayne remained calm and asked, âWhy didnât you tell me?â
Anna asked aloud, âWhy should | bother telling you? Is it necessary for me to do that? Why?â She felt that since the two of them had said their final goodbyes five years ago, there was no need to do so again.
âArenât we friends?â
âFriends? I donât believe we could be friends.â Anna became enraged. 392 Canât Wait To See Her She had no idea what Wayne was thinking, but she could never be friends with him again after their breakup.
âDoes that explain why you avoid me?â
âWhen was the last time | avoided you?â Anna raised her head and fixed her gaze on him.
âI asked around, and you were scheduled for the inpatient cardiac surgery rotation today. Yesterday morning, Grandpa was admitted to this hospital, and you were abruptly transferred to the emergency department. Arenât you avoiding Grandpa on purpose?â
âDid you have someone look into me again?â
âI was also concerned about a misunderstanding, so I came to ask you directly what was going on.â
âYouâve already figured everything out, havenât you? You wouldnât believe me even if | deny it.â Anna became enraged. She thought, Wayne, you havenât changed a bit; you still love to look into things about me, donât you?
âI believe you.â Wayne said firmly.
Anna was irritated when she realized how firm Wayne was. She flatly denied it, âIâm not avoiding him. Iâve just been reassigned to stay in the emergency room for the time being. Things will be back to normal in the morning, and Iâll be there. I treat every patient the same way. Why should | hide from anyone if | havenât done anything wrong?â
Wayne nodded, âThank you for taking care of Grandpa for me. I may be unable to visit him in the hospital, so I was hoping you could look after him for me.â
âWork is important, but you should have time to see your family,â Anna said scornfully. 392 Canât Wait To See Her âI didnât visit Grandpa not because I donât have time, but because Grandpa doesnât want to see me.â
Anna was taken aback and wanted to ask him what was going on. She didnât say anything in the end, figuring it was better not to ask. Then she uttered, âYouâve asked everything you need to ask. So, you will leave now, right?â
Wayne stood up right away. Before leaving, he turned around and said, âDr. Gabriel, even though we canât be friends, we can say hello next time we see each other. Iâm not a robber, and this is a law-abiding society. What are you scared of?â