Josiah didn’t return that night, so Winnie brought the stuff he wanted to the hospital instead.
Thinking Josiah probably hadn’t eaten, she bought two sets of breakfast on the way there.
While making her way to Josiah’s office, Winnie overheard a conversation between a few nurses when
she walked past the nurses’ station on the eighth floor.
“Isn’t Dr. Houghton working a little too hard? He has been working overtime for three days in a row! He
went home really late last night and came in early this morning! I don’t think he managed to get any
sleep at all!”
“I know, right? I don’t know why he’s working so hard when he’s already so rich! If I were him, I’d just
kick back and relax every day!”
Winnie paused in her tracks when she heard them mention Josiah.
One of the nurses noticed her sudden pause and asked, “What brings you here, Ms. Garland? Is there
something you need help with?”
Winnie flashed her a smile and replied, “Oh, nothing. I just came to see Dr. Houghton.”
Halfway through her sentence, Winnie noticed someone who looked a lot like Greta walking past the
corridor.
She then quickly placed the food on the counter and told the nurse, “This breakfast is for Dr. Houghton.
Please bring it to him.”
Before the nurse could even respond, Winnie turned around and ran after the person she had seen
earlier.
After a brief pause, the nurse brought the food over to Josiah’s office.
Josiah was changing and had just removed his white coat when the nurse came in through the door.
“What is it?” he asked when he saw the plastic bag in her hand.
The nurse placed the food on his desk and said, “It’s breakfast. You haven’t eaten, right, Dr.
Houghton?”
Josiah turned her offer down without any hesitation. “Thanks, but I’m about to head out now. Please
take the food away.”
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt“But this is from Ms. Garland. I don’t think I should be taking it away,” the nurse said.
Josiah instinctively glanced outside his door when he heard that. “Ms. Garland? As in, Winnie
Garland?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Josiah got to his feet and asked, “Where is she, then? Why would she have you deliver the food
instead?”
“I don’t know. I’m guessing she saw someone she knew. We were having a conversation when she
suddenly turned around and ran after that person,” the nurse replied with a shrug.
“Who was it?”
The nurse shook her head. “Ms. Garland didn’t say, so I’m not sure who it was. She just asked me to
bring you this food. So, will you be eating it, Dr. Houghton?”
“What do you think?” Josiah then motioned for the nurse to leave as he gave Winnie a call.
However, the call got declined after the first ring.
Worried that something might have happened to Winnie, he immediately gave her another call, only to
have it declined again.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. “I’m here, so you can stop calling now.”
“The nurse told me you ran after someone you knew. Who were you running after?” Josiah asked with
a frown while putting his phone away.
Winnie shut the door behind her immediately after entering the office. “I saw someone who looked a lot
like Greta, but she was gone by the time I ran after her. Could you help me check the surveillance
footage? I really want to find her.”
“Sure thing!” Josiah knew she was searching for Greta, so he agreed to her request and brought her to
the security room.
While checking the surveillance camera footage, they realized that the person who looked like Greta
seemed to know the place well. Not only did she avoid all the surveillance cameras in the hospital, but
she also went straight to their blind spots upon getting to the parking lot.
It wasn’t until they checked the footage from a few hours ago that they saw her visiting a patient in
ward 801.
Winnie and Josiah then rushed over to ward 801, which turned out to be occupied by an old man in his
seventies.
He was diagnosed with a malignant tumor and had undergone surgery two weeks ago. The surgery
went rather smoothly, and the old man was in the process of recovering from it.
Seeing as the old man was doing quite well, Josiah decided to have a little chat with him.
“Hello, sir. I’m a doctor at this hospital. Was that person who visited you earlier a family member of
yours?” he asked.
Despite his old age, the patient was alert and on guard.
“Are you sure you’re a doctor? Why aren’t you wearing your white coat, then? What are you up to? Are
you trying to con me of my life savings?”
Josiah didn’t know whether to laugh or cry when he heard that. “I’m not trying to con you, sir. I really am
a doctor here, and I don’t have my coat on because I ended my shift a while ago. Since I had noticed a
stranger entering your ward earlier, I figured I’d drop by to ensure everything is okay.”
“What stranger? You’re the stranger here! Get out now, or I’ll scream for help!” the old man yelled.
Winnie quickly pulled up Greta’s picture on her phone and showed it to the old man.
“Sir, could you have a look at this picture and see if you recognize this person? She’s an old friend of
mine, but I lost contact with her a long time ago. Another friend of hers is also looking for her.”
The old man’s expression changed the moment he saw the picture.
“No, I don’t know her at all! I don’t even know you, so why would you be asking me about your friend?
You two had better get out of my ward right now, or I’ll press the bell and have security escort you both
out!”
“All right, we’ll leave right away. Please calm down, sir,” Josiah reassured the old man while gesturing
at Winnie.
The two of them then quickly stepped out of the ward.
“We have his registration information here at the hospital. I’ll get it for you in a bit. You have people
searching for Greta, right? You can just pass it to them,” Josiah said.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm“All right.” Winnie frowned. “Did you see the look in that old man’s eyes when he saw the picture?
There’s definitely something off about him.”
Josiah nodded. “We’ll look into it. By the way, did you get the thing I asked for last night?”
“Yeah, I did. Here you go.” Winnie spoke while handing him a clear plastic bag containing a few strands
of Jacinta’s hair.
Josiah glanced briefly at it before shoving it into his pocket.
“Let’s go see Old Mr. Fairchild and get some of his hair as well. After that, we’ll try to obtain some hair
from Stuart and carry out the DNA test. We’ll only be able to confirm our theories once the results are
out.”
Winnie nodded. “Sure thing. Let’s go.”
“Wait, I need to make a trip back to my office.”
“Why?”
Josiah waved the plastic bag in his hand. “I need to store this in the safe. You can wait for me at the
elevator.”
He then ran off after saying that, only to return a few minutes later with the breakfast that Winnie had
bought him.
“Thanks,” Josiah said while pointing at the food.
Winnie flashed him a smile as she recalled how he had helped her and Xavier out. “Don’t mention it. I
bought it to thank you anyway.”
“How about you do me a favor instead?”
“What would you like me to do?”
“You can play the role of the driver while I eat this and take a short nap.”
Winnie agreed to it without a second thought.
Halfway through the drive, however, she slammed the brakes and brought the car to a sudden halt.
Josiah was caught off guard and nearly had the entire sandwich shoved into his mouth. “What
happened?”
“Stuart just sent my granny a text message…” Winnie replied with a frown.
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