Trapped In Lace

It was an hour past midnight when Rachel Shen came out of the operating room.

At this time, the hospital was very quiet. Summer had brought upon an intense heat, and the entire city was hot as a stove. Despite that, there was a particular chill at the hospital.

Rachel Shen looked over to the brightly lit emergency department. There, a familiar face caught her attention.

A tall man carrying a woman in his arms was briskly walking towards her. Closely behind them, another man followed.

There were already a couple of nurses behind them. Rachel Shen calmly but hurriedly walked towards the group.

The man had obviously seen Rachel Shen. Although his face was calm, there was a hint of anxiety in his eyes. "Rachel, please come and see her," he said, his voice low and cold. "She got drunk, and now she had a high fever."

Jack Fu rarely spoke in a quick and slightly panicked way. But Rachel Shen was used to the situations like this, and she still kept cool. "Take them to Room 108," Rachel Shen told the nurse beside her.

Immediately, the nurse led Jack Fu to a room on the left.

Jack Fu looked up at the sign and strode over.

At this time, the man who was walking behind Jack Fu came up to Rachel Shen. "Well, there's something you don't see every day," he said in a joking tone.

Rachel Shen didn't say anything as she followed Jack Fu into the room.

When Michael Du saw how Rachel Shen ignored him, he followed her with a sigh. 'Jeez. They're all pretentious and boring. How can Jack be around women like this?' Michael Du thought to himself. He stared at Rachel Shen. Even when she was facing backwards, it was easy to tell that she was beautiful. Despite the fact that she was wearing a loose doctor's gown, her figure swayed with immense appeal.

There was no doubt that she was full of allure. Her features were perfect, and her eyes were as clear as spring water. However, her lack of spiritual energy made people feel that she was dull all over. 'That woman is truly a pity!' Michael Du thought regretfully.

Upon arriving at the ward, Rachel Shen saw Jack Fu putting the woman onto the bed.

Two nurses silently stood by. Both of them seemed to be waiting for Rachel to arrive.

Rachel knew that Jack always had an intimidating air around him. This day was no exception, even though he was a bit disheveled at the moment.

Looking closely at Jack, Rachel saw that the three buttons on his shirt were torn off. On top of that, there were fresh, red scratches on his neck.

She glanced over to the woman who was lying on the bed. The woman was unconscious, but was softly groaning. It was obvious that she was very woozy.

"Take her temperature," Rachel said to one of the nurses as she approached the woman. Seeing the woman's body up close, she noticed that there were bruises all over her body -- on her arms, chest, and neck. Upon further inspection, Rachel observed that they were actually swollen kiss marks. Some areas were even slightly bleeding.

"39 degrees, doctor," the nurse said, holding up a thermometer.

"How long has it been since she's had this fever?" Rachel asked.

By this time, Jack had completely calmed down. He looked at Rachel with his black eyes, pursing his lips as he tried to recall the details. "She began to feel dizzy since yesterday," he finally replied, in his slow and low voice. "And then, this morning, she started to burn with fever."

Rachel nodded, and looked at the woman again. "Did you have sex before you took her to the hospital? Or have you been excessive engaging in sexual intercourse?"

It was normal for a doctor like Rachel to ask these kinds of questions. Jack, on the other hand, shifted his weight, looking like he was a bit uncomfortable at Rachel's question.

The two nurses also knew that stuff like this was normal. But, it was definitely surprising to them considering the person at hand...

Jack was wearing fairly casual clothes, a black shirt and black suit pants. There was a cold and stern look in his eyes, which were framed by a perfectly refined face. At one glance, he looked like an enigmatic nobleman. It was hard to imagine how he could be so rough in bed.

Rachel was being completely professional, and didn't think that there was a problem with her question. She looked up at him, and saw Jack standing in silence. "Have you been engaging in excessive intercourse?" Rachel asked again.

Although Jack had a calm and blank look on his face, his eyes revealed a flash of emotion.

After five years of marriage, Rachel never tried to read or guess what Jack was thinking. To her, he was such an enigmatic person that it was unnecessary to try and go through his mind.

But at that moment, Rachel noticed a glimmer of emotion in his eyes, and she began to realize whether he had misunderstood her.

It was a bit peculiar that Jack would bring a woman to the hospital in that state despite the fact that he had married her. But, in truth, Rachel didn't care at all. They didn't have any feelings towards each other. If Jack thought that she was taking this opportunity to interrogate him, he was wrong.

The silence dragged on in the ward, creating an awkward air.

All of a sudden, Michael burst into laughter. "So that's what happened? She had too much sex?"

"Please clear the room," Rachel said as she walked over to the bed. "I need to do a more thorough physical examination."

'Never thought that woman could be so straightforward. Doesn't she have an ounce of humor?' Michael thought. With his hands in his pockets, he sullenly left the ward. Jack followed him out of the door.

There were no other injuries on this woman's body aside from the bruises Rachel had initially seen. "Hook her up to an IV," Rachel told one of the nurses.

Jack had a foot out the door when he heard this, and came back inside, looking up and down at that woman, Celine Duan, carefully. "Is it serious?" he asked Rachel.

Rachel was busy writing a prescription on her clipboard. "It's just a cold. She needs to stay hydrated." Rachel handed a piece of paper to the nurse. "She just needs some medicine and then she'll be fine."

The ward fell silent again afterwards.

Michael, who came back after Jack, couldn't stand the silence anymore and went out.

The nurse came in to give infusion. But before the needle could enter her body, Celine Duan suddenly woke up.

"What are you doing? Who are you?" Celine Duan pushed the nurse away in horror.

Rachel was stunned. She didn't expect that a patient who was just unconscious could exert that much strength.

Jack rushed over and held her down. "Celine, you're in the hospital," he said, his voice with the uttermost tenderness. "You just need to take a drip."

But when Celine Duan saw Jack, it seemed as if she got even more agitated. "Who asked you to bring me here? Don't act so noble in front of me!" she screamed as she tried to shake him off.

Her shrill, sharp voice echoed in the ward, making Rachel's head ache.

Jack's hands were firmly planted on Celine Duan's shoulders. "Don't worry. We'll be back soon." He also signaled the nurse to come over.

Celine Duan was feeling furious. Her face was blushing, but her lips looked pale and weird, probably from her excessive drinking. When Celine Duan saw the nurse coming, she stretched her hand out and wanted to scratch the nurse badly.

The nurse felt frightened and immediately took a step back.

Because of the nurse's reflexes, Celine Duan missed. She then turned around to scratch Jack's neck. Just like that, Jack's neck had more scratch marks on it.

Jack had no choice but to grab Celine's hand to restrain her. But no matter what he did, he couldn't stop her.

"I don't want to see you, Jack! Get out of my way!" she shouted. Celine's wails blared across the quiet hospital.

While all of this was happening, Michael came in and watched the raucous scene in shock.

Rachel couldn't bear it anymore and came over. "Have you had enough? This is a hospital, not a scene of some TV drama!" she said.

Hearing Rachel, Celine calmed down a little.

Rachel grabbed a needle and injected it into Celine's hand.

"What?" Celine asked. She wanted to push the needle away, but Jack quickly stopped her.

Michael couldn't believe what was happening in front of him. 'Wow. I've never seen Rachel get angry like this.' He started at Rachel for a while as she expertly put the needle in a vein on Celine's hand.

After Celine's injection, Rachel sighed and returned to her office to take a quick break.

About an hour later, Rachel heard someone call her name.

"Doctor Rachel, the patient in Room 108 is looking for you."

She had no choice but to cut her rest short. Looking at her watch, she figured that the infusion was over.

When Rachel entered the ward, she found that Jack and Michael were waiting there.

"Your fever is gone," Rachel said after quickly taking Celine's temperature. "Just take your medicine and you'll be fine."

"Okay," Celine mumbled. "It's time for you to get off work, isn't it?" Jack asked Rachel.

Rachel gave a prompt nod.

Jack helped Celine put her coat on, and then said to Rachel, "Let's go. You can get a ride from Michael."

"We can finally leave?" Michael said with relief, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand.

After quickly changing out of her doctor's clothes, Rachel made her way to the parking lot.

Upon getting there, she saw Jack was already driving away.

After Rachel sat down and belt up, Michael started the car. He seemed to be in a better mood now, even talking about what had just happened.

"It was such an unbelievable coincidence! When we were drinking with some of our men in JH Bar, we suddenly saw Celine being forced to drink by a group of people. It was really a crazy night! If it weren't for us, she would have been in danger," Michael said.

Rachel sat quietly on the passenger seat, looking straight ahead. "Watch out for that car in front," she warned.

"It's nothing," Michael said. He slowed down the car as he spoke. He was used to driving fast, so he didn't really think talking while driving was a problem. But since Rachel was with him, he slowed down a little.

After overtaking the vehicles in front, Michael continued to talk. "Celine was not sober that time," he said. He looked at Rachel, who was still staring ahead. "Are you even listening to me?" Rachel's face was as blank as before.

"Yes. And then you took her to the hospital, and the rest was history," Rachel said indifferently.

Michael was about to tell Rachel more about what happened last night, but he didn't expect that Rachel could end the conversation like that.

Rachel was in no mood to talk to him. She was exhausted, and didn't want to engage in any small talk. 'Today was my first night shift. I'd better get some rest when I can so I can adjust properly, ' she thought to herself.

For ten days straight, Rachel worked on the night shift. Because of this, all she wanted to do most of the time was to sleep. On one particular day, it wasn't that busy at the hospital, and so she could afford to take a nap at her office. However, as she was about to fall asleep, her phone suddenly rang. At an instant, she sat up and grabbed her phone.

Looking at the screen, she saw that it was her brother calling.

"Hello?" Rachel's voice was a little hoarse.

"Sis, please come here and help me! Hurry please... They'll kill me..." Eric Shen sobbed.

Rachel frowned, fully awake by now. "Where are you?"

"I'm in JH Bar. Come here quickly."

Rachel hung up the phone, heaved a deep sigh and walked to the office next door.

"I got a thing to do and need to get off work earlier. Can you cover for me?"

"Okay, no problem."

It was late at night, and the lights dimly lit the roads.

Rachel drove to the JH Bar.

Entering the bar, Rachel was greeted with colorful, flashing lights and loud music. It was hard to see people's faces. The dancing hall was full of coquettish women. The noise of the music, laughter, and whatnot was highly irritable for Rachel.

She had only been to a place like this for a couple of times, and she came only because she was looking for someone.

Rachel went up the stairs to the second floor of the bar. Along a long hall, there were several private rooms. The area was padded with soft, red wool, muting the noise from downstairs.

It was one of the most famous hot spots in the city. Even though it looked like an ordinary bar, it was said that it had the best DJ and the most beautiful girls went here to have a good time. The second floor was more like a completely different world. As soon as Rachel stepped foot there, the loud music from downstairs was muffled. The rooms here offered its occupants a decent amount of privacy. Once the doors were shut, only the waiters were allowed to come in and out of the rooms as they pleased.

Seeing that no one was around, Rachel thought that she would be able to get in without any problems. Rachel walked to the private room at the end of the corridor, pushed the door open and calmly walked in.

To her surprise, the lights inside were as bright as day. Rachel squinted, her eyes adjusting to the sudden brightness.

After a while, she looked around the room, and saw that she knew most of the people who were there.

The room smelled like pine wood. There were pieces of antique furniture, including a sofa which looked like it was made out of solid mahogany. At the other end of the room, there was a folding screen decorated with an array of sculpted flowers and birds. However, the brilliant, bright light ruined the supposedly classic and elegant atmosphere.

Rachel stepped in further, and saw a couple of strangers sitting on beanbag chairs in the corner. On the other side of the folding screen, she saw Jack was leaning on the couch with Celine. It looked like Celine was back to her usual self. She looked much better than when Rachel had seen her in the hospital the other day.

On the floor beside them, was her brother, Eric Shen, his face pressed against the carpet. "What happened here?" Rachel said with a frown.

"Sis..."

"Rachel?"

Eric Shen and Michael spoke almost at the same time.

Michael was sitting on the sofa and looked at Rachel with his eyes wide open. "Is this man your brother?" Then he turned his head and looked at Jack sitting on the couch. 'So, wouldn't that mean that this is his brother-in-law?'

Meanwhile, Jack just stared blankly at Rachel.

The room fell silent. Michael looked back at Eric from Rachel and back to Eric again.

The more he looked at the two, the more he could see their resemblance.

"He was holding Celine's hand and trying to take her somewhere," Michael explained, breaking the silence.

Rachel couldn't believe that Eric would do something like that. But soon, she had processed the situation and began collecting her thoughts.

"Sister, I didn't mean it. I really like Celine. I just wanted to pull her away," Eric retorted weakly.

Rachel closed her eyes and took a deep breath. There was no denying now that he had admitted it. It was obvious that he liked Celine. 'Didn't he know that Celine was the apple of Jack's eye?'

"Jack, he is young and thoughtless. Please let him go. I promise it won't happen again."

With a cigarette in one hand and a goblet in the other, Jack cautiously swirled the wine in his glass. The wine in the glass was as red as blood. Although he was looking at her direction, he seemed not to pay attention to Rachel. After a long time, he said slowly in a flat voice, "Sure, I'll let go of him! But he has to pay for what he had done to Celine."

Rachel's heart sank along with his words. She could feel the suppressed anger in Jack's words, but she wanted to give it another shot.

"Jack, this is my brother, Eric. He has always been a reckless and naughty boy ever since his childhood. You two used to play and get along so well. Have you forgotten about that?" Rachel said through her teeth, her words slow and sure.

Hearing this, Eric froze, his eyes wide.

Michael raised his eyebrows in surprise. 'This coward playboy kneeling on the ground was one of Jack's playmates? What an amazing world!'

However, it seemed that Jack paid no attention to her at all. He stared at Eric for a while and then looked away. "And what of it?"