Running Late

Apartment 5- Monday 8:40 am

Li Xiuying was hurriedly having breakfast at the kitchen counter. She chewed her dumpling as quickly as her jaws would allow and washed it down with a small glass of soy milk.

She put her plate and chopsticks in the sink, and wrote a note for Ren Daiyu on the mini-whiteboard on the fridge door. She wrote with the board pen 'Help yourself, see you later.'

She grabbed her briefcase and phone from the kitchen counter and rushed to the foyer. Li Xiuying hated being late. She firmly believed that if you weren't early you were late.

Although Li Xiuying usually abhorred being late; she felt that today it was worth it considering it was due to spending the night having a good time with her friend. Li Xiuying and Ren Daiyu ended up going to bed at 2 am in the morning because they decided to watch yet another movie after the romantic comedy. They binged on cake, ice-cream and snacks. The only reason that they even went to bed was because Li Xiuying was falling asleep towards the end of the movie.

In the foyer Li Xiuying slipped on a pair of chunky black suede brogues. She put her black jacket on and checked the pockets to make sure they contained a pair of gloves. She put her phone in her pocket and grabbed her car keys and the key card from the foyer table.

Li Xiuying quickly walked to her car, slipped in and began the drive to the Hospital.

5 Minutes into her journey she was met with traffic.

She called Jiang Huan.

Jiang Huan answered on the second ring: "Good morning Dr. Li."

Li Xiuying: "I'm running late. I should be there by 9:30 at the latest."

Jiang Huan: "Okay Dr. Li."

Li Xiuying then hung up.

The cars ahead of her were moving forward at a snail's pace. She eventually made it to her parking space in the hospital car park. It was 9:20.

She was about to open her car door when she felt her phone vibrating in her pocket. It was a number she didn't recognise.

Li Xiuying: "Hello"

Little 4th said in a cute voice: "Big sister YingYing. It's me. I mean its Little 4th."

Li Xiuying smiled a little: "Is something wrong?"

Little 4th lowered his voice slightly: "Elder brother asked me to ask you whether you were going in today? He told me I shouldn't tell you that he asked me, so don't tell him I told you." He felt no shame at having sold his older brother out.

Li Xiuying frowned a little at the mention of the man who thought of her as an allergen.

Li Xiuying: "Yes, I'm in the car park. Running late."

There was a moment of silence before Little 4th spoke again.

Little 4th's voice contained worry and apprehension: "Big Sister YingYing, are you feeling better today? You didn't look well on Saturday."

Li Xiuying smiled slightly once again.

Li Xiuying: "I'm fine now. Thank you for asking little 4th."

Little 4th was happy: "Okay Big Sister YingYing, I'm going to let you..."

Little 4th didn't quite finished his sentence.

Li Xiuying looked at her phone screen and saw that the call hadn't end. She then heard muffled voices and shuffling.

Little 4th's voice became a little clearer; he seemed to be talking to someone. "I'm talking to her now, she's parking her car."

A deep male voice replied to little 4th, Li Xiuying instantly recognized it as belonging to Qin Song. Li Xiuying couldn't quite make out what Qin song was saying; his voice was too far away from the phone.

Li Xiuying heard little 4th raise his voice: "Big brother stop bothering me and interrupting my time with MY big sister. Shouldn't you be at work? Hmph."

Little 4th once again spoke to Li Xiuying: "Big sister YingYing, I can't talk right now. There's a big dark cloud looming over me. Remember your promise."

Li Xiuying was about to reply when she heard Little 4th raise his voice even louder over the phone: "Big brother, Its none of your business!" The phone line then cut.

Li Xiuying locked her phone screen and put it in her pocket. She grabbed her briefcase form the passenger seat and exited her car.

She briskly walked towards the hospital.

Li Xiuying entered the hospital and headed straight for her office.

...

Li Xiuying opened the door to her office and was greeted by Jiang Huan hold a stylus.

Jiang Huan: "Good morning Dr. Li is everything okay?"

Li Xiuying: "Overslept."

Jiang Huan nodded and spoke: "According to your rota, you are free to choose where you would like to work today. However, there was a request from a Dr. Liu a HPB surgeon. He wanted your opinion on a case he's operating on today."

Li Xiuying: "Pager?"

Jiang Huan used her stylus to press on her tablet. She opened up the document titled 'messages for Dr. Li Monday 15th.' Jiang Huan scrolled through the long list of messages until she found Dr. Liu's

Jiang Huan: "I'll page him now." She paged Dr. Liu from her desk phone.

A moment later the phone on Jiang Huan desk started ringing.

Li Xiuying picked up the phone: "Hello."

Male voice over the phone: "Hello is this Dr. Li?"

Li Xiuying: "Yes and you are?"

Male Voice: "I'm the theater assistant; Dr. Liu is currently scrubbed and asked me to call you. I'll pass you over to Dr. Liu."

Dr. Liu: "Hello Dr. Li."

Li Xiuying: "Dr. Liu I apologize for my late response."

Dr. Liu's was shocked that Dr. Li had apologized to him.

Dr. Liu's voice was tinged with surprise as he spoke: "That's quite alright. I'm currently in theater 12. Could you perhaps come over and have a look at my patient?"

Li Xiuying: "15 minutes." She put the phone down.

Li Xiuying spoke to Jiang Huan: "Anything else?"

Jiang Huan: "There are a lot of messages from residents asking to shadow you and if there are any opportunities to work with you on any research projects. Someone also asked about the topic you will be teaching this Friday."

Li Xiuying nodded: "I'll be going to A & E, after the theater consult. Page C to come to A&E. Topic undecided." Li Xiuying then left her office to head to theater.

Jiang Huan nodded. She opened the spreadsheet which contained all the details of the residents which had messaged. She located the details for Hu Yín Tao or 'C' as Li Xiuying had dubbed her.

Jiang Huan looked at the details for A, B, C, D, E and F.

She wondered to herself: "What would Dr. Li call the residents when she came to the end of the alphabet?"