52

The receptionist looked alarm at Dr. Wu who looked at her smartly. She flipped through the documents quickly and not finding a fault began to inch her hand towards the phone, "I'm going to call security to see if you have authorization."

Michael cleared his throat, "This is Mrs. Wong. You know Henry's wife. She's here in the need of an emergency surgery. We have the paperwork. We have the surgeon. We have an assistant surgery technician who has his license. Do I have to bother Mr. Wong about this? You know he's working very hard to make sure that you keep this job."

She quickly backtracked. "Oh. No. No. No. That won't be necessary. You should have started with that and I wouldn't have--"

"Henrietta, which room is available? I prefer it if you tell me sooner rather than later." Michael said lowly.

She sniffed and shuffled her papers. Henrietta then surrendered the keys to Michael with a look of utmost annoyance. "Down the hall to your left is the surgical ward. It's called 101B. It should have everything set out for you as it is set up for the surgery scheduled tomorrow morning."

Wu exchanged glances with Nolan. The men holding Ellie's gurney repositioned themselves before continuing to the operation room. Dr. Wu suited up in the gown she had brought with her. Michael deftly double tied it to the surprise of Dr. Wu.

"I was in the medical division in the Vietnam War." He admitted sheepishly. "I have quite a record in keeping others safe."

Dr Wu laughed as she tied her gloves, "No wonder you're so calm in these circumstances. I assume you went off quite young. In those days no one really had a birth certificate or anything. My father fought against you in that war, I suspect you would have a good laugh if he was over here instead of back home."

Michael chortled as he began to walk out of the room.

Wu called after him, "Since you have experienced blood, would you like to hand me my instruments when I request them?"

Michael looked flustered as Wu assessed him sharply. Nolan sheepishly wanted to volunteer himself, but he knew it was inappropriate. He did have some experience in high school doing just the same, but Wu's eyes glossed over him. Michael earlier had been referring to his own credentials to get them into this room. He was always one step ahead, Nolan had to admit glumly.

With the men who had moved Ellie, Nolan was rushed out of the operation room. The servants all dispersed for bathroom and smoking room, while Nolan could not relax. He saw the door to the amphitheater was open so he snuck in and waved to the two who were inside the room.

Dr. Wu waved back with a smile as she adjusted the above light on Ellie's exposed back. Michael was busy cutting a plastic sheet which Nolan found incredibly strange. Then he put the cloth on top of Ellie's naked form so all that was visible was a small square of skin.

"Have I placed it correctly?" Michael asked over his shoulder as he put the safety scissors away in the drawer where he had first found them.