Chapter 10

"So here I have all my reports on the patient," Luke said handing a pile of papers to doctor Wu, "and this is the dvd I was talking about." He handed the dvd case to doctor Wu as well.

"You've convinced me doctor Ward. I will review all this material and we'll conduct an investigation on doctor Hamilton. But with all you've done already, I doubt we'll be needing to investigate a lot. It seems to me we've already got enough information to bring him to court. However my number one priority right now is releasing this young lady. I'll get back to you as soon as possible." Doctor Wu said standing up. He extended his hand to Luke again.

"Thank you for all your hard work on this. If all doctors would pay as much attention to the signs as you did, I would be out of a job."

"You're welcome doctor, I'm just trying to do my job."

"Well, you succeeded."

Later that evening Alex was lying on her couch, watching some cartoon on Nickelodeon. She used to like watching them before leaving for work, but tonight she wasn't really in the mood. The whole situation with Summer had drained pretty much all the life force there was left in her. Absently she took another sip of her beer, when the phone started to ring.

"Hello?" she spoke into her phone.

"Alex, hi, it's Luke."

Alex sat up quickly. Up until today Luke always had come by when he had news about Marissa and the situation they were in. The tight pull of worry immediately settled around her heart.

"Luke, what's wrong?" she asked him.

"Oh, I'm sorry, nothing is wrong. I would've come by in person, but my wife wants me here tonight so that's why I'm calling you. I just wanted to let you know I spoke to doctor Wu of the National Medical Committee. And it's good news; they're starting up an investigation."

Alex let out the breath she'd been holding in. Her heartbeat sped up.

"Thank God" she breathed.

"Doctor Wu even said his first priority is to get Marissa out." Luke said, before Alex heard a female voice yelling for Luke to get off the phone.

"Listen, I've gotta go, my wife wants me to put the little one to bed. But hang in there, it will all be over soon." He told Alex to once again reassure her. Then he hung up to go be with his wife and kid.

Alex felt more than a little relieved after the phone call. This news, it was the first solid proof that Marissa really would get out soon. The fight with Summer the same afternoon didn't matter to her anymore. It seemed so trivial.

Slowly but surely, she was changing into a person who could hope and believe again. A person with the life force of blood running through her veins, warming her to the world. She knew, if given enough time, she would learn to like this world again. She would start enjoying life and she would appreciate the beauty that it held, the beauty she had been blind for since Marissa had been taken away.

As if to toast on the realization she took a huge gulp of her beer and then realized something in continuation to her thoughts before..

Luke had been talking about his wife and putting the little one to bed. Guiltily Alex had to admit to herself that she had no idea Luke was married, let alone that he was a father. She hardly knew anything about his life. Till this day, she had not opened her eyes to see the person behind Luke. She hadn't appreciated her friendship with him the way she should have.

As she grabbed her coat to leave for work, Alex made a mental note to herself. She would definitely ask Luke about his wife and kid and invest more in their friendship. And in doing so, she knew she would start seeing beauty. She already started to see it by just thinking about her friendship with Luke and she knew hearing about his wife and kid would add to this emotion. As she pulled the door to a close behind her she noticed the orange sun setting. She let her eyes rest on it for a moment. A smile lit up her face.