Discharge

After sitting down on his chair, Alexei whipped up his phone from his suit jacket and looked at the missed call log. He then clicked his message box and opened up the text. After reading it, Alexei's mood went above the clouds. However, after calming down, he did not know what to do. Hesitating to call back, he only ended up staring at the registered ID name in his contacts.

Arbitrarily, he pressed the message button. When the screen keyboard appeared on his screen, he blanked out and did not know what to type. A loop of typing and erasing went on for a few minutes before he finally settled on his chosen words and pressed the sent button.

Alexei felt even more tired after sending the message, as if he were sending a formal essay to be graded by the greatest linguist who ever existed. But after a while, Alexei smiled at his own foolish act and placed the phone in the centre part of his table, waiting for a reply.

Feeling uncomfortable, Alexei loosened his necktie and unfastened two of his buttons. Occasionally glancing at his phone without being mindful for his surroundings made him failed to notice Michael's arrival. And it was only when Michael knocked on his desk three times did, he sensed his presence.

"I'm quite intrigue as to what made you so eager to patiently wait at something while giving timed glances at your phone."

Alexei hurriedly grabbed his phone from the table when he noticed Michael trying to take a look at his screen. Unbeknownst to him, Michael's sharp eagle eyes already took a glimpse of the contents and surmised the situation based on what he read.

"Are you in good terms with the Vice president of Crowns Conglomerate?"

Michael did not beat around the bush. Alexei rolled his eyes, evading the point in Michael's question.

"What makes you say that? Isn't it pretty normal for an entrepreneur to be acquainted with each other?"

Alexei gave a wry smirk, which made Michael's face turned black like the bottom of a pan.

"If I remember correctly, you still haven't explained to me why you're at the scene where Lady Dana was shot. You do remember that she's our rival, right?"

Michael pinched his glabella and sighed in exasperation!

"Well… that… I followed her there." Alexei explained what happened that particular day, with Michael interjecting his comments every now and then.

"Alexei, You- What were you thinking!? Are you trying to kill yourself? Why in the world did you follow her!?"

Standing up in frustration, Michael paced around the office while asking Alexei a bunch of questions.

"It's fine! Look, everything is settled now, there's no need to get angry." Alexei patiently coax Michael, feeling a bit guilty for what he did.

At this moment, Michael was too speechless to think of rebutting Alexei, which made the office hush with a pin drop silence. Coincidentally, a ringtone goes off indicating an incoming message. Both men took a quick glance at each other before Michael sat down across Alexei while the latter opened up the message.

As Alexei read up the content, a slight smile emerges from his face.

"What now?" Michael inquired.

"She said 'Thank you. I appreciate what you've done.' Isn't it nice?" Alexei replied.

Michael surrendered to his fate. "Fine! Que sera sera!"

At that exact moment, a knock on the door was heard. Both Michael and Alexei went back to their professional mode. "Come in."

"Sir, The President and the Director from Royal Corps are in the lobby. Shall I bring them here? Or in the conference room?" A young man in his late 20's entered and informed Alexei.

"Bring them to the conference room. And Michael, could you bring me the report from the planning department last month? Just put it on my desk." Alexei instructed while arranging his necktie and casually putting on his coat.

Both the young man and Michael bowed at Alexei before excusing themselves, walking out in the room silently. Alexei also left the office and went to the conference room to meet up with the clients.

In the meantime, Dana, who smelled the tantalizing aroma of food, woken up from her quick nap.

"Madame, you must be hungry. Please eat some. We had the chef from the penthouse cook you something light. According to your doctor, you can only eat solid foods after 24hours from waking up. So, please make do with this meal." Selena arranges the table and the cutleries in front of Dana, preparing her dinner.

"It's Milky seafood porridge. The chef decided to have seafood flavour so you can feel a bit of taste, since most of the patients from surgery doesn't have appetite." Selena helped Dana to sit up straight and opened the bowl for her, making the delicious aroma of the freshly cooked meal fill the air, accompanied by rising vapour.

"Thanks, Selena. What of Hanna and Marie?" Dana scooped a little of the porridge, smelled it first, before starting to eat.

"Hanna is accompanying Sir Martin in the company to deal with the aftermath of the events, while Marie is processing your discharge papers. The doctor said you can recuperate back at the penthouse." Selene meticulously reported all that happened when Dana was asleep.

"Also, your father sent an order for you to be back in London after the whole fiasco is settled, he said, that by the next 2 weeks, Mr Dimitri Grandelle will be coming from Durham for a short visit."

Dana was taken aback by what she heard and paused. "Oh… I see."

"Is there anything you need assistance with, Madame?" Selena carefully asked, hinting at the change of emotions from her employer.

"No. that would be all. You may take the rest of the day off." Dana dismissed Selena.

"Understood. I'll have Marie come here directly after the preparation." Dana nodded in acknowledgement, in which Selena took as a cue to leave the room. She was also considerate enough to adjust the temperature of the AC before quietly closing the door.

Thinking of what would happen in the upcoming days, Dana lost her appetite, but seeing the food in front of her and the IV needle inserted into her left hand, she had no choice but to force herself to eat for the sake of her health and recovery.

After finishing her food, she clumsily cleaned up her table which ended up in a more mess than before. Dana exhaled deeply in annoyance and went back to her bed. Marie, who has finished preparing the documents for release, was startled by the scene when she entered the room.

"Madame? Are you alright?" Marie quickly assisted Dana to comfortably lay in the bed while Marie quickly cleaned up the mess. "Also, I've already talked to the administration, they said you are good to go for tonight, so I called Sir Martin and Hanna to have someone arrange and clean up the penthouse. Furthermore, all of the documents that are urgent and needs your signature are being delivered to the penthouse by Sir Martin's orders."

Marie then proceeded to pack all of Dana's belongings in the room, her clothes, bag, and other things they brought before and after the surgery.

"The car is waiting for you downstairs. Madame, can you walk, or do I need to call for a wheelchair?" after taking care of the things around the room, Marie handed the luggage to the guard who was waiting by the door. She then supported Dana in standing up.

"It's fine. I can walk-" Before Dana could finish her sentence, she sluggishly leaned towards Marie for support. Marie did not need to hear the answer before pushing the button by the bedside.

"Madame don't push yourself. Sit first." Marie guided Dana back to the bed. At the same time, a nurse entered and inquired about what was wrong.

"Get me a wheelchair and a bottle of water. Madame is still feeling lethargic and can't walk by herself." Marie quickly instructed the nurse, who hurriedly did as she was told.

After finally putting Dana in a wheelchair, and checking if everything is in order, Marie started pushing the wheelchair towards the elevator. All throughout, Marie is the only one speaking, while Dana gave some nods occasionally. Finally, they have arrived at the entrance to the hospital where the driver, butler and all the guards are waiting for her.