Chapter5

The pale hand soothing Tjatiwa's frown, belonged to none other than Dr Sang Qi.

His gaze seemed somewhat softer and the stern lines around his mouth had disappeared. He appeared exhausted, the dark circles under his eyes giving a firm testament to his fatigue.

The Butler was caught off guard seeing as he didn't expect the doctor to come in at this point. He had overheard from the nurses how Dr Sang Qi had insisted on taking on this operation even after he had just finished his 36 hour shift.

'This is truly the mark of a remarkable man' thought the butler, as he studied the handsome doctor opposite him.

Dr Sang Qi was a tall man, bordering 1.88 meters tall. He was of medium build. His broad shoulders carried the white coat as if it was tailored for him. His scrubs, albeit a little loose, did very little to conceal his well developed pectoral muscles. His face was clean shaven, showing off a beautifully sharp jawline. His pale pink lips seemed to be suppressing a soft smile. A button nose majestically graces his face, simultaneously giving him an air of innocence. His eyes, however, are sharp with upturned outer corner and down turned inner corners. His sword like eyebrows gave off an air justice.

"Erhm" Dr Sang Qi, coughed, disturbing the old man's on-going scrutiny.

The butler who was pulled out of his revelrie, averted his eyes with a hint of embarrassment. He had been caught openly scrutinising the good doctor and it was awkward .

"Uh.... Mr?" Dr Sang Qi asked the old gentlemen before him.

"Hove, just call me butler Ndebele doctor" the butler answered eagerly.

"Butler Ndebele, you can go rest now. I will keep an eye on Miss Khuphe here. We'll let you know as soon as she wakes up." The doctor offered, his gaze reverting back to Tjatiwa, who had seemingly calmed down under his touch. His heart warmed up at this realisation.

"No no doctor, it's okay. You have worked hard and I can see you are tired." Said the butler.

"Why don't you rest a little bit? Your shift is probably over by now. I'll watch over little Missy here." He reassured, his concern for this good doctor plain on his face.

"Alright. I'll crash on the couch here. If anything happens, wake me up immediately... Do not hesitate okay?" Dr Sang Qi asserted.

Ignoring the butler's confused face, he took the couch on the opposite end of the room and settled there, as if that was most natural thing in the world.

Butler Ndebele was stumped. Since when did doctors dedicate themselves to a patient this much. Checking the time, it was 19:40, probably an hour since the operation ended. Looking at his now peacefully sleeping Missy, the butler suddenly felt all the emotions, that had been kept at bay by the adrenaline, come crashing down on him. His old body trembled a little and his hands shook. Never in his life had he suffered such shock. He flopped into the chair by the bedside and buried his face into his hands. His emotions, finally finding an outlet, surged through, drowning his hands with salty liquid.' When had he ever cried like this?'

At the moment he could do nothing but quietly sob untill he could pull himself together, whilst trying not to wake the confounding doctor.

"Mmmmnngh" a painful groan woke the butler up. He had no idea when, during his out pouring sorrow, had he fallen asleep.

He jumped up, his chair screeching as he pushed it back.

"Missy! Doctor!" He called in excitement, not knowing who to pay more attention to.

Dr Sang, quickly got off the couch and materialised right next to Tjatiwa's bed.

"She is not completely awake yet, but the morphine has run out." Dr Sang observed as he changed her drip. He pressed the call button and a few minutes later, a nurse rushed in

"Her colour looks good, she doesn't need any more blood transfusion. There are no signs of inflamation currently." He ran through his speech as he checked the patient gently.

"She came to really fast, that a good sign" he monologued.

"I'll be off for now, take care of Miss Khuphe. I'll be back at 07:00." He said, checking the time and noting that it 03:55. He needed to get home and freshen up, before Tjatiwa woke up.

"Alright butler Ndebele I'll see you in about 3 hours.You can rest assured now, Miss Khuphe is really strong." He bid farewell and strutted out, not waiting for the old man to respond.

"Okay doctor" the old butler responded to the doctor's disappearing behind.

Checking that Tjatiwa was okay and making sure the empty blood transfusion bag was removed, the nurse also left the ward.

The reassured butler took to the couch, resting his weary body for a couple of hours before his Missy would wake up.

He felt better now that he knew his young Missy was out of danger. Seeing her lying quietly in the car had taken a few years off his life.

"By the time master returns, Little Missy should be well healed." He muttered, closing his eyes and succumbing to a more or less peaceful sleep.