Chapter 96: Healthy But...
After Zane ordered his friend to follow him out of his office, the two men walked back to President Lee's office and Zane sat on the dark leather couch. Not waiting for his friend to speak Zane accosted Ian first.
"So are you going to tell me what's really going on between you and Mina or are you going to make me guess?" and by 'guess', Zane meant he would call Ellie to look further into the situation. By now he could tell that the situation and the relationship between the two was anything but simple.
"Shouldn't I be asking you the same thing? You're even protecting her now," Ian retorted. Zane found that statement funny, and he wondered when he had protected Mina.
"Ian, let me ask you something simple. When is the last time that girl ate?" Ian dropped his pen and rubbed the bridge of his nose.
"Why didn't she say anything to me?" he asked. Ian was in the habit of skipping meals, but he had already eaten lunch before he brought Mina to his office. Since he was pressed for time, his focus was prepping for his meeting. Still, 'being hungry was no excuse to get into a fight,' he thought.
Zane studied his friend's expression.
"You seem to be on a mission to make Mina hate you," he said.
"Why do you say that?" Ian asked.
"You basically called her nothing in a room full of people," Zane replied.
"Yes, but I made eye contact with her before I said it." Zane smacked his own forehead at the revelation.
"So let me get this straight, you, president Lee, the man who, self admittedly, locked up and tortured Mina, looked her in the eye, while in a room full of strangers and said she was no one. Ian, you're smarter than this. How do you think that came off?" Ian did not respond.
After thinking for a long time Ian realized that while he meant for his gaze to reassure Mina that all of this was part of his plan, for someone who already had a negative impression of him, it was more like a bold declaration of contempt. Not wanting to flaunt his inexperience to his friend, Ian continued to bluff.
"Does any of that matter?" He asked, and Zane smiled at the response. He knew his friend was pretending not to care, but it was obvious from his previous reactions, that he did. Zane only hoped that Ian didn't wait too long to admit it to himself.
Zane was still in the dark about the details of what happened between Ian and Mina, and to him, the girl was the type that any man, including himself, could easily fall for. Zane wanted to tell Ian that he knew about the video of Mina on his phone, but he opted against it. He was afraid that trying to force Ian to admit his interest would only make the man pull further away. So, Zane broached the subject in a different way.
"By the way, I'm still looking into those ditched resumes," Zane said. Ian had forgotten all about that issue.
As soon as his friend mentioned it, Ian found himself thinking about what would have happened if Mina's resume wasn't hidden from the company. Even if she didn't get hired, he would have at least been able to find her, but would she have liked him? At the hotel that night, she told him that she had a crush on him, but right now, she hated him to the point where she refused to trust him with her basic needs. She regarded him as a ruthless murderer who was just using her toward a greater goal. Not only that, but based on Zane's interpretation, Mina was probably under the impression that she was an invisible spec to people like him.
While Ian's mind was wandering about all the ways Mina could have interpreted his earlier statement in the meeting, his phone rang, and from the expression his friend made, Zane could already tell who was calling.
"Hello Lisa," Ian said, and Zane left the office without another word, he was team Mina all the way. Hoping for an excuse to forget about Mina, Ian agreed to everything Lisa asked without consideration. He just wanted to bury the guilt he carried toward both women, but he had no clue on how to proceed.
"Dinner tonight?" Ian repeated the last part of Lisa's suggestion. "Yes, sure," he said. Ian promised that he would no longer let himself be distracted by a pretty face. Besides, he was sure that Mina hated him beyond comparison at this point.
Ian was still on the line with Lisa when the hospital that treated Mina called and almost as if to slap himself in the face with his own lie, he rushed Lisa off the phone. He had just told himself that he would no longer care, but now even he knew it was not true.
----
Dr. Juan called President Lee personally. He told him that other than being weak, Mina was a healthy young woman. The doctor explained that Mina was suffering from a vitamin B12 deficiency as well as several other vitamin deficiencies. He recommended for her to adopt a stable diet and perhaps start a regimen of dietary supplements. Dr. Juan found Mina's brain scans unremarkable; there were no obvious signs of damage or shading. He told President Lee that if the long periods of sleep continued after six months of vitamin therapy, they could do more aggressive testing. The doctor was smart, and he made sure he told President Lee all the good news first, but he still had things to share.
Mina's psychiatric evaluation revealed that she was likely suffering from some sort of mental anxiety. In other words, Mina's MSE revealed that she was subject to mood swings and bouts of confusion. He recommended that she see a specialist to get a more accurate diagnosis. President Lee agreed, but would Mina?
----
Zane did not immediately return to his office; he had another meeting to attend and he did not want to hurt Mina's reputation by spending too much alone time with her. Trusting that the girl would not cause any more trouble, Zane went straight to his last schedule of the day.