CHAPTER 18 – SATURDAY PLANS

It was Monday morning and Sakura was running late for work once again

'Waaaaii! I can't believe I overslept again, what is wrong with me?! Oh! A text from Aoi?'

** Where are you? Tanaka is looking for you**
** Pls tell him I'm on my way**

Finally, Sakura arrived to the hospital and went straight to Dr. Tanaka's office as they had agreed upon.

'I thought you were not coming today'
'So sorry, I didn't sleep very well last night and I overslept today. It is a lame excuse I know'
'Don't worry about it. We don't have much time now, but here this is the dosage for the little boy. You must administrate an injection every 8 hours'
'I thought we were going to discuss whether this was the best approach for him'
'It is already arranged. His parents have agreed, didn't I tell you?'
'Yes I remember but…'
'You are still very young to understand this, but sometimes a doctor must take drastic measures for the good of their patients'
'I didn't mean to sound disrespectful, sorry'
'No harm done. I will need you to sign here'
'What is this?'
'It is just a confirmation that you will be in charge of this part of the treatment'

She looked at the papers and remained silent for a moment

'What's wrong?'
'Well, I didn't actually prescribe this treatment. You are the head doctor of this department and you made this decision just like you said earlier'
'Ha ha of course, this is just a formality. These new drugs are very expensive, so there has to be some accountability. This basically means I have given you the drugs and you will be administering them as prescribed by me. You are welcome to read the whole document, I won't be offended'
'Thanks'

Sakura read the document and signed it afterwards

'That's all then. Now good luck with everything and let's meet downstairs at 4:15 to go to our first lecture' – he smiled and opened the door for her

It was a long day. Sakura started the little boy's treatment that same morning, still a bit hesitant of the orders received by Tanaka-san.

(He is definitely older than me, more experienced and all. I shouldn't doubt him like this but I can't shake this weird feeling inside of me…I hope you get better, I really do). She made sure everything was in order before leaving the hospital.

'Shall we?' – Tanaka was already waiting for her in the hospital lobby

Tanaka was very knowledgeable about medicine not just in his field of expertise but in general as well. Sakura had a fantastic time at the lectures every day. On their way to university, they would speculate on the theories that would be proposed by the doctors and then banter on the way home about their differences in opinion.

'Thanks again for dropping me home'
'My pleasure, Kinomoto-san'
'I want to tell you something. I think I misjudged you'
'What do you mean?'
'I just think back to our first interactions and I thought you were a completely different person. First impressions can be changed after all ha ha'
'I am glad. I must say I really enjoy your company… and the lectures of course'
'Me too. Well good night'
'Kinomoto-san… what are you doing this Saturday?'
'My boyfriend is coming back from a trip on Saturday, so we will do something together'
'I see, how nice! Well take care and please think of me as a friend, if you ever need someone'
'Thanks a lot, good night'

(It has been so hard not to check my phone for messages from Syaoran. We have barely spoken this week. I knew he would be too busy!)

Suddenly a call from Skype

'Syaoran!'
'Hi, how are you going?'
'Good… much better now. I just got home from the university'
'Right right, is that going well?'
'Yes, it has been so interesting so far. One more day to go and you will be back'
'You are so eager. I hope you welcome me home properly…'
'Ehh!? What do you mean?'
'You know exactly what I mean'

Sakura felt a rush from head to toe and her face blushed immediately

'I will be back by 7pm. The driver will pick me up from the airport and then we have dinner reservations at 8'
'What a nice surprise! I can't wait'
'Look forward to seeing you too'

NEXT DAY IN THE AFTERNOON

'Good job today Kinomoto-san. It was very unexpected that the presenters asked random attendees such hard questions'
'I was so nervous though! The room was in complete silence and everyone was looking at me'
'You did great! I can't believe this was the last one'
'Thanks again for considering me and bringing me along. I learned a lot'
'No worries. See you on Monday and good luck with your Saturday plans'
'See you. Have a nice weekend too'

She got out of the car and was looking for her apartment keys when someone called out her name

'Good evening Kinomoto-san'
'Good eve- (Naomi?!) Good evening. How? Why are you visiting me at this hour?'
'Aren't you going to invite me upstairs?'

(God! She looks incredible, she is all dressed up like a princess…)

'Sorry, I am being rude. Please come up'
'What a nice place you have here Kinomoto-san' – Naomi walked into the living room and sat down on the couch

(Wow! She is clearly lying…)

'Excuse but, how do you know where I live?'
'Sweetie, you can find out anything about anyone if you know where to look'
'Eh? Anyway, what is the reason for your visit?'
'Well, I wanted to know when Syaoran is coming back from his trip. I went to his office and they told me it was confidential information. Can you believe it? Ha ha'
'You could have called. You didn't have to come all the way over here to ask me that'
'To be honest I was also kind of curious about you. I wanted to see for myself what all the fuss was about' – she crossed her legs, opened her purse and took out a cigarette – 'do you mind?'
'Err…actually yes. If you could not please'
'Fine. So when is he back?'

(What am I supposed to say?! I mean if they didn't tell her at his office, there must be a reason. I don't know what to do?!'

'I…not sure. I am actually not sure when he is back'
'Oh really? That's strange, being the girlfriend and all. I mean you SHOULD know'
'He said it might be this weekend or next week so… I can't tell you for sure'
'Ok. Aren't you going to ask me why I want to know?
'You do business together. It is understandable if you have pending affairs to discuss'
'Ha! You are so into him, aren't you?'
'Excuse me?'
'Just an observation. I will leave now then, thank you for your time'
'Do you need me to call you a taxi?'
'No, my car is downstairs. See you again sometime'

(What a strange woman. After what Syaoran told me about her, I can't help but feel angry. We are the same age but she looks way more mature than me, like a sexy and powerful person. I wonder if she still has feelings for him, nah! If she did, she would have never hurt him like that…)

SATURDAY MORNING

Knock knock

(What is that? So early in the morning…) – Sakura put on her robe and went to open the door

'Hi there'
'Kei-kun?! What are you doing here? – (too many visitors all of a sudden…)
'Just call me Kei, it is fine. Syaoran is ok with it' – he winked at her
'O-ok, why are you here?'
'I just came to check up on you. Syaoran told me you rejected his kind offer to stay at his place. This is really not the best neighbourhood… some very questionable people are looking at my car right now'

Sakura rushed to the window to see who it was

'Hey! that's my landlady and her sons'
'They look sketchy to me ^^'
'How rude!'
'Don't get mad, I came to help you'
'What are you talking about?'
'Look, Syaoran may not seem like it but he is a really caring guy. I can honestly tell you, I have never seen him like this before'
'But there is nothing to worry about. Plus he is coming back today anyway'
'If you say so. Wanna come for a ride? I will tell you what food he likes the most as an apology for making you mad'
'Really?! Yes, I would love that!'

Kei took Sakura to be biggest mall in the city, they browsed for hours in the dozens of stores and finally bought some cooking ingredients.

'So happy! I hope I can prepare it well enough'
'I am sure he would even eat hot rocks if he knew you made them ha ha'
Sakura blushed immediately 'Stop with those jokes'

'Let me drop you home. I bet you want to get ready for your date tonight, huh?'
'Thanks for everything Kei'

Sakura was extremely happy, the day she had been waiting for was finally here. She decided to wear the new necklace he had given her.

(Knowing him, we are probably going to eat at a fancy restaurant… it is 7:30 already. He hasn't called yet)

The clock kept ticking and there was no sign of Syaoran.

(Maybe his flight was delayed or something…) She looked at her watch 8:25pm, her mobile started to ring

'Miss Kinomoto! It is Wei here'
'Hi, is something wrong?'
'I don't know how to tell you this but Master Li has been taken to the hospital. There has been an accident… well, he is injured'

Sakura felt like her heart had sunk and her head felt a bit dizzy

'Miss Kinomoto, are you there? Are you ok?'

She hung up, grabbed her purse and ran out of the apartment

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