LPR 10.1

"So, Wade, Rocky tells me you want to go home today," Darius said as he approached Wade, who had returned to the patient's bed. He saw Wade nod slightly in response. "All right, but since my position right now is that of a doctor and not your friend, I need to check your condition first."

Wade's expression changed slightly as Darius proved his words. Darius did indeed check his condition. "I'm fine." He exhaled with a hint of laziness. "Besides, why are you the one examining me? You're not my doctor."

Darius clicked his tongue. "Khalid has some urgent matters that can't be postponed, and since I'm free, I've kindly decided to take over for him. Ah!" Something crossed his mind and he continued. "I'm not doing this because I want to, but because I know your nature. If you want to go home, then you must go home. So, it's better for me to examine you than to let you go without being examined."

Wade was silent. Darius had hit a nerve. "So how am I? Don't I meet the criteria to go home? I'm fine."

"You don't feel dizzy at all?"

Wade shook his head. "Not at all."

"Of course," Darius said, nodding with a straight face. "I'm sure it's the Palace stairs that are dizzy because of you."

Rocky quickly cleared his throat to keep from bursting out laughing. Wade glared at him. Meanwhile, Darius just smiled broadly with a mischievous expression.

"I'm sure you're fine. The proof is that you still can't take a joke." Darius scowled, looking curious. "Is it so hard to make you laugh, Wade?"

"The world has been fine all this time even when I wasn't laughing."

Darius' eyebrows furrowed even more. "Well, you're right, but—"

"I'm sure our topic now is whether or not I can go home now."

"You're right again." Darius gave in. But Wade's attitude didn't offend him at all. On the contrary, he smiled warmly and continued his examination. "Everything looks normal, but I need to remind you of some important things."

Wade took a deep breath and held back his desire to leave. At least he had to be patient a little longer to hear Darius' advice as a doctor.

"First, make sure your head is always kept clean, especially the wound area. Ask Rocky to help you change the bandage according to the schedule and if there are any signs of infection, like redness, swelling or pus, contact me immediately. Do you understand?"

Wade nodded quickly. "Of course."

"Second, avoid strenuous activities," Darius continued, secretly enjoying Wade's worried expression. He clearly knew that Wade was really tired of being in the hospital. "I know the reason you want to go home quickly is because you want to work, but take care of your body. Regardless of the fact that you're strong, and no one in this world doubts that, I'm sure you don't want me to find a reason to bring you back here. Right?"

Wade held his breath, trying to keep his patience. "Of course, Darius."

"So don't move too much, especially suddenly. Your head needs time to fully recover."

"I will remember your advice, Darius," Wade said as he stood up. He smiled meaningfully. "So, can I get ready to go home now?"

"Of course."

This time Wade could finally breathe a sigh of relief. He had feared that Darius would use his capacity as a doctor to keep him in the hospital longer. At worst, Darius might have come up with one or more reasonable excuses to keep him from going home. Fortunately, this did not happen. All his worries vanished instantly.

"One more thing, Wade."

Wade pressed his lips together. His relief was interrupted by the fact that there was someone more nagging than Rocky, and that was Darius in doctor mode. "What else do I have to do?"

"Going home means going home."

Wade's mouth dropped open as Rocky nodded repeatedly.

"Going home doesn't mean leaving the hospital and going to the office. I hope you know what I mean."

Wade was speechless and Rocky took the opportunity to speak to Darius.

"I will remember this and make sure that Mr. Wade goes home."

Darius smiled. "Thank you, Rocky."

Wade could only roll his eyes. He threw his hands up in the air and said nothing more. He figured he could at least get out of the hospital that day. Besides, not going to the office didn't mean he couldn't get one or two things done; there were plenty of things he could do at home.

About half an hour later, Wade left the hospital. He sat comfortably in the passenger seat while Rocky, who was driving, glanced at him several times through the rearview mirror.

As a personal assistant, Rocky could easily guess what Wade was thinking and just shook his head slightly. There wasn't much he could do about it. He couldn't watch Wade 24 hours a day.

The most important thing for Rocky right now was that Wade was okay. Besides, he should be grateful that Wade's eagerness to work proved that he was indeed fully recovered.

That's exactly how Wade felt. He wasn't just eager to go home because he didn't like the hospital; he knew his body had truly recovered. He felt that his injury wasn't serious enough to warrant a two-night stay in the hospital. On the contrary, he felt his body was stiff from lying down too much.

Wade moved his shoulders three times, trying to stretch his body. At the same time, his mind was racing, thinking about what he could do at home later. There seemed to be a few tasks he could check on, one of which was the continuing strangeness in Estelle's behavior.

W-what? Wade frowned, then paused for a moment. Then he asked himself, Estelle? He seemed unsure, but finally confirmed it. The more I think about it, the more I notice the oddity in Estelle's behavior. What exactly is going on?

Wade cleared his throat and shook his head. He decided not to dwell on the mysterious matter of Estelle any longer. He had enough other things to think about. He took a deep breath, exhaled slowly and opened his eyes.

Wade's eyes caught a familiar car. "Estelle?"

"W-what, sir?" Rocky asked immediately, slightly startled that Wade had suddenly mentioned Estelle's name. "Miss Estelle?"

Wade didn't answer right away. Instead, he looked straight ahead. Then he nodded with conviction. "That's Estelle's car. Why did she stop? Is something wrong with her car?"

Rocky looked in the direction Wade was looking with a doubtful look on his face. Nevertheless, he followed Wade's instructions. He drove their car in the direction of Estelle's and then stopped. Wade got out of the car immediately without saying anything.

*