“What?” he was unsure if his ears had heard right.

“I just found out someone tampered with her brakes and the police are investigating it right now. You should hurry and see if she’s still alive.”

“Chief,” Donghae said, “first of all don’t let anyone know about this.”

“I got it.”

“And one more thing.” Donghae went on. “We can remove her from the suspects list.”

“What about the rest of the investigation? You can’t leave it when we’re not even halfway.”

“I’ll continue the investigation.”

An hour and a half later Donghae was walking through the hallway of the hospital toward the front desk where a young woman sat. After getting the information he wanted he stepped into the elevator that would bring him up to the 3rd floor. He found the room 303 immediately and paused before the door for a longtime. Slowly reaching for the doorknob he pulled the door open.

A short small hallway invited him into the room. Ahead of him was a tan colored couch that sat against the wall where the windows were. The curtains were drawn open allowing some sunlight to infiltrate the room and as he walked further in he saw a person sleeping peacefully on the hospital bed. An IV drip attached to her left arm and her right arm in a small cast. Cuts were visible on her face and arms.

He stood against the wall watching her for an hour and a half before she finally awoke from her slumber. Her eyes fluttered, she blinked a few times, and took a look around the room. When her eyes stopped on him silence literally penetrated the whole room before she turned away and tried to sit up. Donghae hurried forward to help her but she quickly flinched from him finally managing to sit up on her own.

“I’m ok,” she said looking away from him.

Moving to stand back against the wall he watched her hair slip over her shoulders and cover the side of her face. She still looked as pale as she had that Monday morning when he’d first seen her.

“Someone tampered with your brakes.” Donghae broke the silence.

“I realized.” Victoria replied then didn’t say anything more. She seemed to give off a vibe that told him to leave her alone, which he did so.

Donghae didn’t leave the room, but remained glued to his spot feeling his heart go out to her. The fact finally came to him that she was as alone as he was, the only difference was that she lived alone in this big city when he had his uncle to keep him company. The loss of her baby and her boyfriend must have hurt her a lot and he knew that it was hard to cope with it alone, yet she was alone.

“I remember giving you my card last week, if there’s anything you need you can call me,” Donghae said before leaving the room.

When he reached the large front steps of the hospital he turned around to glance back. Finally making his way to his car he grabbed his phone.  

“Uncle,” Donghae said, “do you think you could let me stay in that summer house of yours?”

When Donghae reached Incheon he met his uncle at the doorway waiting for him. That same welcoming smile he always wore on his face was there when Donghae saw him.

“What do you want to stay in Seoul for?” his uncle questioned.

“There are probably going to be some things I’ll need to finish over there,” Donghae replied before hurrying up the stairs to pack.

When he reached his large bedroom he found a bag and stuffed some of his clothes into it, grabbed some books, and was headed back down the stairs. His uncle was standing at the bottom of the stairs waiting for him holding out the key.

“I promise I’ll come back often,” Donghae said. “Thanks.”

Donghae almost reached the door when he turned around to give his uncle a hug. After leaving the home Donghae hurried toward his office just to grab a few things.

“What are you doing back, sonny boy?” questioned Sasha glancing up as he walked pass.

“Where’s the chief?”

“I don’t know. He likes to go in and out whenever he likes.”

“Tell him I’m going to be staying in Seoul, so if he needs anything to just give me a call or something. I can probably only make it back here twice a week,” Donghae explained rummaging through his drawers for some folders.

“Why are you staying in Seoul? Is it that new case?” Donghae turned around feeling surprised as Sasha’s nosiness.

“It’s the first time you’ve asked me so much,” Donghae exclaimed with a mischevious smile, “and yes. I’m going to continue my investigation there. Make sure not to have too much fun without me here, I’m off now!” Donghae boasted out the doors.

When he got into his car he stared at the building before him. It would be the first time he’d be on his own literally. He hadn’t remembered staying away from his uncle once, but it wouldn’t be too late to experience the world by himself. Besides, he was a grown up now.

The yellow summer house was a long, but small home hidden under the large black roof. Opening the screen door he unlocked the white door behind it and walked inside to be greeted by the lovely interior decoration of the kitchen. Cupboards and drawers were neatly engraved with numerous fancy designs and the round oak table in the middle of the kitchen matched perfectly with it. Closing the door behind him with his bag slung over his shoulder and books in hand he walked further into the fully furnished den where he found a large HD flat screen TV. It was a bit dusty but Donghae figured he would clean it later. He turned down the hallway to the left and found the bathroom and two bedrooms. One he decided to make his office and another his bedroom during the time he’d stay there. Placing the books on the floor along with the bag he began to rearrange his new office.

/////

Victoria wasn’t sure how long she slept after the nurse had made her eat but when she awoke the curtains were drawn and the room was dark. It was probably nighttime. Allowing her eyes to adjust to the complete darkness Victoria glanced around the room to see the empty couch in the corner of the wall and tried to painfully sit up. Her body was sore and her muscles ached all throughout her body. It felt as if she’d been exercising for a whole day. Biting her lower lip to suppress her need to make any noise from the pain Victoria paused when she heard footsteps just outside the door. Quickly turning to the left where she was sure was the direction where the door was, she felt anxiety build up in her and she suddenly felt nervous staying all alone in the hospital. She gulped as she tuned her ears in to anything she’d hear and could make out the rattling of the doorknob as if someone was trying to force open the door. Who was there? Who would come in the middle of the night? There was no voice and no noise for a second then Victoria jumped when that someone who’d been trying to open the door tried running against the door to break it open. Feeling her breathing quicken Victoria scrambled off the bed forgetting all the pain in her body and ran with the IV drip connected to the long pole wheeling after her as she reached for the lights. When the room became infiltrated with light Victoria blinked painfully for a moment then stared at the door. It was still closed.

She couldn’t bring herself to sit or lie back down so she stood there beside the light switch staring at the door waiting and waiting. Debating about whether she should call the nurse or someone else she finally walked toward the night table beside the bed and opened the drawer. If she recalled correctly the nurse had told her that her wallet and phone had been retrieved from the wrecked car.

If she called Song Philip in the middle of the night he probably wouldn’t be able to get there until an hour or so later. If she called the nurse she wasn’t sure she’d feel at all safe with her. Suddenly grabbing both her wallet and phone with shaky hands they dropped from her hand and onto the bed a second later. Her wallet laid open with a number of business cards sticking out and that was when she caught sight of it. Reaching for the name card she stared at the golden letters which read: Lee Donghae Criminal Investigator.