Confusion

It has been a long day for Jenneth. She has been swamped with paperwork the entire day that her only break was during lunch or when she goes to the restroom to relieve herself. She literally stayed in her table the entire day.

It was already past five PM when she finished her work for the day. Not that she has a deadline, but she just wants to finish everything ahead of time. It's for her to have enough time to review and even revise it if needed.

"Ma'am, I'll go ahead," Cess told her. She's one of the medical technologists in the hospital, and she acts like Jenneth's assistant as the chief medical technologist.

"Okay." Jenneth smiled at her.

"You're not yet going?" Cess asked. "It seems you have a lot of work today."

"I just finished something, but it's okay now."

"Then, can we go together? So that I could have free ride again." She winked at her.

Jenneth smiled. Cess's house is on the way to her own house, so she sometimes give her free ride home. Anyway, she also likes having someone to chat with while she drives home.

One of the staff med techs passed through her office. Well, her 'office' is not really an office. It's just an enclosed cubicle on one section of the laboratory. It's fine for her, since she also likes seeing what's happening in her department, making sure everything is running smoothly.

As the staff passed by, she shouted loudly. "CBC! Who's available?"

Jenneth suddenly remembered something.

"I need to go to someone," she told Cess.

"You have a patient?"

"Yes," Jenneth answered. "She's my friend's daughter."

"I see. Then, see you tomorrow, Ma'am. Bye!"

Cess went out of the cubicle, and as he went out she run into that staff who's looking for someone who can do the CBC exam for a certain patient.

"CBC?" the staff asked Cess.

"Nope! My duty just ended, you know," Cess told her.

"Aren't you on OT? You're doing OT today, right?"

Jenneth smiled as she watched the exchanged. The two staff went out to the Laboratory's reception area.

She looked at her desk. Will it be okay to see Darlene today? Yes, she's curious about her condition now, but when she remembers who she can meet while visiting the child, she's having second thoughts.

Wait. Why is she having second thoughts? Why is she worried about meeting that man if she went to visit Darlene? Does this mean she's still affected by him?

"No way!" she said to herself as she gathered her things and shut down her computer.

Why would she be affected? She's definitely not affected. Of course, he's her ex-boyfriend so there's still something between them. There's still that awkwardness especially because of all the things that had happened before. But that doesn't mean that she's still affected by him. That doesn't mean she still have feelings for him.

Yes, she doesn't have any feelings for him anymore.

And so she fixed her stuff and arranged her things on her table. Then she went out of the office and went straight to the second floor, where Darlene's room is located. As she was passing by the nurse station, she saw Samantha. The doctor is reading something on a clip board she's holding. Jenneth went to her.

"Hi, Doctor!"

Samantha smiled at her.

"How's our patient?" she asked her.

"Platelet is back to 148. RBC is 4 and WBC is 4.3," Samantha answered.

"That's good." That means Darlene is getting better. Jenneth is glad to know that.

"Yes. The fact that Kenneth's there really helped a lot."

"Kenneth has arrived?"

Samantha nodded. "I think he just arrived this morning."

"That's good. It seems he's really the one that Darlene needs. You're right. You really are a good doctor."

Samantha smiled. Jenneth realized that it's not only Samantha's appearance that had changed. Even her demeanor and the way she handles herself, it's totally different now. Surely, she still have that friendly aura inside her. That's the reason why even though she was a shy girl back then, she still felt comfortable with Samantha's presence. She's really very friendly.

It's just that Samantha lost that boyish vibe of her. She's not the girly type back in high school, but more of like the tomboy type. People often describes her as a naughty and playful teenager. Maybe because all her friends were boys. But right now, Samanta is a lady in everything, even the way she walks to Darlene's hospital room. She now has that womanly finesse and sophistication.

Jenneth followed Samantha, as well as the nurse on duty that will assist her. Kenneth was with Darlene when they arrive, and of course, Ryan. Jenneth took a deep breath as she suddenly felt something strange on her stomach. She suddenly felt excited.

She scolded herself internally for that.

"I guess our patient is already up," Samantha said.

Darlene is already sitting up on her bed, while Kenneth is feeding her porridge.

"Uhm... Yes… She's already hungry," Kenneth said as he stood up from Darlene's bed.

"That's a good sign," Samantha said. "Hi Ryan."

"So, you finally met each other?" Ryan asked instead.

Jenneth frowned at Ryan's reaction. Was he teasing Samantha? Or was it something else? Then she thought, why does it matter? Why does she have to know every reaction Ryan makes? He can react however he likes for all she cares.

"Yeah, just this morning," Samantha said to Ryan. "I brought Jhing along."

Jenneth wondered why Samantha needed to say the obvious. Is it still about her crush on Ryan? Or did she already find out about their past?

She brushed that thought off her mind and just smiled at Kenneth. "Hi Kenneth." She then went to Darlene. "Hi Darlene. Remember me?"

"Aunty Jhing…"

Jenneth smiled. "I'm glad you remembered. Did Ninong Ryan gave your bracelet back to you?"

"Of course I did!" Ryan snapped in.

Jenneth smiled. "Is that true?" she asked Darlene.

"Why does it seem like you don't believe me?" Ryan complained.

Jenneth suppressed her smile caused by Ryan's reaction.

"Yes, Aunty. He already gave it to me," Darlene said to Jenneth.

"Good." She smiled at Darlene.

Samantha then went to Darlene and introduced herself.

"Darlene, I am Samantha, and I am your doctor."

"Aunty Sam..."

Samantha smiled. "It seems they already told me about you. I need to check you up, okay?"

Darlene nodded.

Samantha went on and examined the child. When she was about to put the BP cuff on her arm, she noticed that it's bruised.

"Let's do it on your other arm," she said as she switched to Darlene's other arm. She then proceeded into taking the patient's blood pressure.

Jenneth examined Darlene's arm, the one that looked bruised. She concluded that the bruises were due to the needles inserted into the delicate skin of the child.

"Seems like the med tech who did the extraction is quite inexperienced," Jenneth commented.

"They always take her blood," Kenneth said.

"It's Sam's fault," Ryan commented.

"We need to monitor her blood count every three hours... Her BP is okay," Samantha explained.

"Maybe they always do the extraction on this arm," Jenneth said after seeing the multiple needle marks on Darlene's arm.

"Maybe her veins on that arm are easier to see," Samantha said.

Maybe. Jenneth let go of Darlene's hand while Samantha continued checking her.

"Her tests results improved from the last time that I checked her. If this continues, she will get well soon," Samantha said to Kenneth.

"That's good." Kenneth looked relieved.

"She just needs to see her father," Ryan said. "Now that Kenneth is here, for sure our darling will recover immediately."

"It seems like it," Samantha said.

"And also because her doctor is good," Ryan added.

Jenneth looked away.

"Dad said that you came from the US," Darlene said to Samantha.

"Yes. I live in the US now, but I came back to have a vacation," Samantha said to the kid.

"You can hang out together once you get well," Ryan said to Darlene.

"Why not? That's why you should get well immediately, okay?" Samantha said.

Darlene just smiled.

"Kenneth likes that a lot," Ryan suddenly said.

Now, that is strange. Jenneth saw when Kenneth looked sharply at Ryan, and the latter smirked at Kenneth. Is Ryan teasing Kenneth and Samantha?

But Ryan suddenly retracted. "That Darlene will get well soon. Isn't is what you like?" he asked Kenneth.

Jenneth is kind of confused with what she's witnessing. As far as she can remember, Ryan and Samantha has something special back in high school. So why does it seem like Ryan is trying to set up Kenneth with Samantha? She just could not take away that suspicion out of her as she watched the three friends migle with each other.