At the Hospital

When he arrived at the hospital, Roland sprinted straight up to the reception desk.

"My friend was involved in a traffic collision; I need to see her. Can you tell me what room or ward she's in?"

"Are you a relative or fiancé?"

"No, I'm her boss, and I'd like to think, her friend."

"Then I'm sorry, but I can't give patient information out to you. You'll have to wait for her to tell you her room number or call for you."

"What? How dumb is this—" As he was about to fly into a rage, he stopped himself. "No, I'm sorry; you're just doing your job. Can I wait in the area over there until I hear from her?"

The receptionist gestured that he could. He sat in a chair facing away from the hospital entrance, hoping to spot Anna down the halls.

'Damn, I might own a company, but I hold no sway here.'

Although Roland was the CEO of a relatively large company, his words still didn't hold much weight in other sectors of the city. As a new company, his roots weren't deep; he didn't have strong connections with people in office, and he hadn't yet donated to the city's various institutes.

'To make a hospital bend the rules, I'd need someone with strong backing, someone whose family has years of history in the city.'

Of course, he had someone in mind.

Roland immediately pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number.

Ring ring.

Surprisingly, as he dialed the number, a phone started ringing behind him.

He turned around, only to see…

"Veronica, what are you doing here?"

She bit her lip and looked to the side.

"Well, I… er… saw your presentation and heard there was an emergency. I asked someone to look into it and rushed straight here. Is Anna ok?"

Behind her, Veronica's drive was dumbstruck. 'You asked someone to look into it? When did you do that between hiding in your room silently and ordering me around?'

Oblivious to the driver's thoughts, Roland replied, "I don't know, they won't tell me anything."

He hesitated for a second, then continued, "Actually, I was calling you just now. Do you think you can pull some strings? Your family's words have power in this city, right?"

Veronica harrumphed.

"Of course, we do. We're not some upstart business like you." She winked at Roland and walked over to the receptionist.

Five minutes later, a nurse arrived in the waiting room.

"Mr. Wimbledon, Ms. Gilen, I'll show you to your friend."

As they followed the nurse, Roland felt the most nervous he'd felt in a long time. If any one of his close friends had been in a traffic collision, he'd have been a nervous wreck. But this was Anna. It was a miracle he was still standing, considering how much his legs were shaking.

"Alright, here we are, I'll leave you to it."

The nurse gestured into a room and left, leaving Roland and Veronica to peer in nervously.

When Roland saw her, he couldn't stop himself from calling out, "Anna!"