Doctor Patrick

Arthur pushed the door open slightly and he peered through the tiny gap. He saw a man working at a table, facing away from him. The man was of average build and surprisingly enough, was wearing a business suit. There was smoke coming out from the table, which was shielded from Arthur's view. Either he was smoking or the activity he was doing produced smoke.

Arthur believed the man was the Doctor Patrick he had heard so much about. Honestly, Arthur was not expecting the man to be in a suit but there was no one else in the room, so who else could he be?

There was a pounding sound that came from the table. Arthur had reasons to believe the man was working on the miracle pills using the mortar and pestle.

The room was larger than the storage room, it was about the size of the grey room downstairs. The room was sparsely decorated. Other than the table, there were several metal racks in the room that were similar to the ones Arthur saw in the storage room. They too were filled with paper boxes. That was pretty much everything that was in the room.

Arthur's heart skipped a beat when he saw a pair of beady eyes underneath one of the metal racks. He had found the Jade Rabbit!

'Thank God, it's not injured.' Arthur sighed inwardly. 'But how am I supposed to get it out of here?'

Arthur thought about it and realized the rabbit came to the clinic for a purpose. After all, it had made the effort to eclipse the glow in its fur, its visit here wasn't coincidental. It probably would not leave until it laid its hands on the mythical mortar and pestle.

That left Arthur with a conundrum. He believed this Doctor Patrick was in possession of the Jade Rabbit's mortar and pestle and the young man did not think he would surrender it voluntarily. The man, although of average build, was still larger than Arthur. Arthur was not confident he could take down Doctor Patrick in a fisticuffs.

That was not taking into the consideration that Doctor Patrick might be a mythical creature himself. After all, which normal human being would be able to recognize and utilize the Jade Rabbit's mortar and pestle?

At a time like this, Arthur wished the Jade Rabbit was a client like Miss S. She would be able to take care of this herself. How would a cute rabbit help him in a fighting situation? By cheering him on?

Similar to how he dealt with Kelpie, Arthur realized he had to outwit Doctor Patrick somehow. The young man had always believed the philosophy of brain over brawn.

Thankfully Arthur had prepared for this. He knew the possibility of having to overcome a situation like this so he planned ahead. The young man cleared his throat and the young nurse's tired voice came out of his throat, "Doctor Patrick, there's a client who requests to see you in person. He is currently downstairs, would you please go meet him?"

The pounding stopped and Doctor Patrick answered without turning around, "Melissa, haven't I warned you to stay away from the lab when I'm working?"

It was just a simple sentence but Arthur managed to gather plenty of information. For one, now he knew the name of the young woman was Melissa. Other than that, the man sounded like he had something dangling on his lips so Arthur believed the smoke came from a cigarette the man was smoking. There was also a threat lacing through the man's voice, it appeared like he was not that friendly of a boss.

It did make sense in a way, which kind boss would work their worker until they were so tired but still refused to let them go home to rest?

Arthur's plan was to distract Doctor Patrick by having him go downstairs and he could swoop in to grab the Jade Rabbit and its mortar and pestle. He would slink away before Doctor Patrick returned. It was a simple but effective plan. However, for the plan to work, Arthur had to send Doctor Patrick away somehow. The man's refusal to leave his so-called lab was ruining Arthur's plan.

The young man though was not going to give up so easily. A stern warning was not going to chase him away. He tried again with Melissa's voice, "But Doctor, the man insists to talk to you in person before he is willing to make the purchase. He's going to buy 10 packs at once, I don't think we should miss out on such a valuable business opportunity. He was also considering the possibility of a partnership..." Arthur was pulling words out of his behind to try to come up with reasons for Doctor Patrick to leave his post, however, his words caught in his throat when Doctor Patrick slammed one of his hands on the table and growled, "Melissa, I've already told you. Do not disturb me when I'm working!"

Due to his explosive reaction, Arthur realized that the man was smoking a cigar and not a cigarette. He observed that from the man's hand that slammed on the table. The hand was holding a cigar. 'The man is loaded,' Arthur concluded. It matched the way he was dressed. At the same time, it made the bile in Arthur's stomach churn because it meant that the man had been feeding on people's hope by selling them these miracle pills for quite some time already.

The man continued in a dark tone, "Tell the man, it's a take it or leave it type of deal. I have the merchandise and he has the money. If he wants to buy the stuff, then fine but that is where our transaction ends. There will be no meet-and-greet. If he is still so insistent, then just chase him out. We are not lacking in desperate customers.

"Also Melissa, this is my last warning. Do not disturb me anymore. Understand that there are plenty of people who is willing to take your post. Now go!"