Getting their hopes high

The landlord was scared.

"I did not know that she lived here until I noticed she was constant here, I asked Rose- the person that housed her who told me that she was a homeless friend who would take refuge in her house for a while. I do not have complete control over who should and who should not visit my tenants, I only gave some laws which did not invade their privacy" he said exhaled and continued.

"Just few months ago, she came to me and explained that Nora would rent the house after her the rent she paid expires, she pleaded with me that she did not want the Nora of a girl to roam around the streets in search of a house after leaving here so I agreed. I planned to go through the formalities and investigate her further when she comes for the apartment but I did not expect that she had criminal records. To be sincere I never thought of hiding a criminal in my abode and she never behaved like one. She smiled at everyone and was even more close to children helping them with their schoolwork whenever she was around. No one would have thought of her as a criminal. In short, I am ready to give you all the information that I have about her but please don't send me to jail." The scared landlord in desperation said everything he could about  Nora while trying to defend himself.

When the people from the base got all the information, they needed from the man, they finally joined their colleagues who had already gone to the hospital. Since the results they have gotten so far confirmed that she must have been carried home by Nora on that day but is not here right now, the only place she could be, was the hospital.

Nora went into the theater where her mother was getting operated on, as a medical student. The doctor in charge was one of the famous doctors in the state so when Nora heard that he coincidentally, was her role model, she begged Ivy to help her go into the operation room while the operation was taking place in order to learn from him.

She was discouraged from doing so at first because blood had been initially drawn from her for the surgery and she would not have much time to rest before the operation but she insisted that she was fit enough to go in there.

On the long run, she felt very tired and dizzy but she tried her best not to make it obvious lest they send her out to go to rest. She did not want to miss any part of the operation.

The people from the base waited patiently for Nora to come out. They did not want to act on impulse so they waited while others sneakily checked all the corners of the hospital. The operation lasted for eleven hours and everyone in the operation room started coming out. At this time, Nora was completely worn out. She walked out with the last strength that she had left and fainted. The doctors available immediately attended to her and it was confirmed that she fainted due to fatigue. She was taken to a ward to rest while her mother was taken to the intensive care unit of the hospital to recuperate.

The people from the base were not happy for this outcome but they still waited for her to wake up not failing to remain vigilant. They had only two strings of hope remaining to prove that Annabel was carried by Nora.

One of their hope was on the result of the DNA taken from her house and the other was on Nora herself.

If Annabel was with her, she would look for her either immediately or not long after she woke up, she wouldn't completely ignore her.

If they could at least confirm that Annabel was with Nora, then finding her was not going to be a problem.

Nora's dad was not allowed to see his wife after the operation so he stayed by Nora and watched her sleep.

Ivy came back so late today.

Today was packed as everything she had to do today had to be personally attended by her which she didn't expect. After a long day, she was not sure she was still going to see Nora's mother. At the thought of Nora, she remembered that Nora had not called her since today. She picked her phone and called Nora.

The phone in the ward rang and Nora's dad was double minded about whether or not he should take the call. When the call persisted, he finally took it. The people from the base listened carefully to the audio playing in their ears, they had initially  planted a bug on Nora's phone which they would use to monitor her calls. The other person somewhere in a dark room with only a computer system started trying to investigate who was calling her and what the person's motive was. After trying for a long time, he realised that no matter how he tried he could not break into the firewalls of the system. That meant that this person was one of the two persons more skilled than he was so he finally gave up. He called the people that sent him and explained the situation to them.

That made them to suspect Nora more.

When Nora's dad took the call, he did not wait for the person at the other end to speak.

"Good day ma, the owner of the phone can't speak to you at the moment." he said.

When Nora heard this, she was tensed.

'Could it be that Nora was still at the operation room' she was even more worried when she saw that Nora's phone had been hacked and whatever they were saying was monitored. She opened her laptop and started typing on the keyboard while still talking with Nora's father.

"Why? Is the operation not yet over?"

'This person asked about the operation, it meant she was someone close to Nora' Nora's father reasoned and replied.

"It has been completed, but she is sleeping right now."

You must be her father, Ivy guessed and Nora's father affirmed.

"It's alright. I am her friend and I called to tell her that I am sorry for not being able to come around. I hope you would help me send the message across to her."

"I would" Nora's father assured.

Ivy disconnected the call and looked at the screen. The person who hacked Nora's phone was definitely skilled and the only information in this short time was the position of the hacker and the fact that someone right inside the hospital was listening to their conversation. She made a mental note of the people who could be after her but none of them would try to use hacking Nora's phone to get her.

The people from the base realised that the voice in their ears faded slowly then completely disappeared. They ignored it since the call itself and what they talked about was not suspicious.

Nora slept for ten straight hours and by the time she woke up, Ivy was already by her side.

Everyone including the people from the base looked expectantly at Nora as she stretched trying to gain consciousness of her surroundings. When she was completely aware of where she was and saw Ivy here too, she asked after her mother.

"She is in the intensive care unit of the hospital, the doctor said she would wake up within twenty to seventy two hours." Ivy explained

Nora sighed.

"Please help me with your phone, I want to call someone and I don't want to use mine" Nora suddenly requested.

It was obvious that she was about to call Annabel.