And an ambulance.
The pen in my hand clattered to the floor.
I immediately stood up and went to the blinds.
A line of police cars escorted an ambulance, speeding past.
“A police officer got hurt. Go find out who it was.”
“Mr. Hayes, are you worried about your ex–wife?”
My fists, I realized, had clenched without me even noticing.
I just said,
“Go, now.”
My secretary hurried downstairs.
9
When my secretary returned,
I was still in the tea room, the pot long since empty.
I clutched the teacup, my lips pressed tight.
“Who was it? Who got hurt?”
My secretary lowered his head.
“Mr. Hayes, it was your ex–wife. I heard her injuries are very serious. Do you want to go see her? She was taken to Central
Hospital.”
The cup clattered from my trembling hand.
“Get the car ready, now!”
I rushed to the hospital. Outside the emergency operating room, I saw her captain, pacing anxiously.
The captain saw me, stood up, and looked at me with a face full of guilt.
“Mr. Hayes, I’m so sorry, Aubrey, she…”
The operating room door swung open, and a nurse emerged, her hands covered in blood.
The captain and I urgently grabbed her. “How is Aubrey?!”
11:00 AM
<
She shouted, “The patient’s condition is extremely critical! Don’t impede me! I need to get more blood!”
Through the brief opening of the door, I saw a team of doctors inside, their faces grim.
Aubrey lay motionless on the operating table.
Only the steady beeping of the monitor filled the tense silence.
The nurse ran back, carrying a box of blood bags.
I grabbed her arm.
“Let me in! I’ll go in with her, I can encourage her!”
She glanced at me, as if I were utterly irrational.
“Let go! Don’t make things worse!”
