Chapter 24 AMBUSH IN THE DARK
Chapter 24 AMBUSH IN THE DARK
“Did you see how the other girl was staring at me? She really liked what I was saying about the brain and the tumors and how everything can be replaced if you wanted it to be.”
Xavier rolled his eyes, “come on Nathaniel. Let’s not talk about how it was weird that you were talking about the most gory thing you can say to women. I’m sure they found you fascinating but apart from that, I wouldn’t say attractive.”
Xavier and Nathaniel laughed while walking through the halls. They had finished eating in the restaurant and they are getting back to their stations when Craig came into the hallway.
“Alex?” the both of them stopped and turned back to see Mr. Craig.
“Dr Criag,” Xavier answered.
“I want to see you in my office.”
“Okay sir.”
Xavier exchanged glances with Nathaniel who shrugged and walked away as Xavier followed Craig to the office.
The moment they entered, Craig walked around his desk and flopped into his seat as he gestured for Xavier to sit down across him.
Xavier nodded then pulled the seats and sat down in it, clasping his hands on his knees and staring at the doctor as the man stared at him with intensity.
“I heard about your little spat with the Thorne Family, so I am here to ask what your side of the story is.”
Xavier smiled, “there’s no side of the story, sir. I don’t think I’m in any position to say anything.”
“Oh that’s bullshit,” Craig sighed, looking away. “Look… if anybody’s bullying you it’d be nice to say something. This hospital has a zero tolerance for bullying. We don’t take it lightly. Now just because Thorne has a large stake in this hospital and the board itself does not mean that some of us board members are useless. We actually have an equal claim to the decisions made here, especially when we have bright minds like yours and we need them in this hospital and the world at large.”
“I just don’t see how that would change anything if he decides to be on the opposite end of the table against me.”
“It will change a lot,” Craig broke in, leaning back. “So… tell me… what happened?”
Xavier took in deep breaths and explained all that happened which Craig already knew about.
The moment Xavier was done, Craig nodded slowly, “I’ll give you one piece of advice. It’s something that it’s up to you to obey or if you don’t want to it’s fine you can just toss it into the trash, but I’ll just be very blunt with you here. I want you to totally avoid Blaine and Aris. Avoid anyone from the Thorne family. Just avoid them all. You don’t want to get into the bad side of that family. It’s not something you want to dance in. It's very dangerous.”
Xavier knew that as he nodded, “sure thing, sir.”
Craig could see he was getting through to the new doctor as he exhaled a sigh of relief, “that’s very good. Your hearing is going to be next week. I was able to speak to him and we moved it back to the original date… next week Friday. That is when your hearing will be. For now, you have almost two weeks to work on being the best you can be and create a good impression of yourself.”
“Yes sir.”
“Today is your second day in the hospital, if I were you, I’d make it count. You still have a couple of hours to make the wonderful move you made this morning. Don't let what Blaine told you muck up the entire thing. Do you understand me?”
“Yes sir.”
“Good. You can go.”
Xavier got to his feet, bowed to the man and walked out. At least now he had built a level of trust with Craig and Nathaniel, but he had also built an enemy profile with Aris Thorne and his son Blaine Thorne.
He walked out of the hallway and into the lobby to work with the rest of the doctors helping the patients that he could see needed help. He tried his best to avoid Blaine and friends and at the end of the day he was done and ready to go back home.
Nathaniel followed him out of the hospital then looked at the dark sky, “wow, so this is what 9 o’clock looks like.”
Xavier chuckled, “do you want a ride home? I’ll drop you off.”
That was when Nathaniel noticed Xavier‘s car, “holy shit! You… have a Bentley?! How are you… How are you able to afford a Bentley?”
Xavier smiled then leaned against the car, “let’s just say it’s a gift from someone special for me passing my exams.”
That was a lie, but Xavier wasn’t going to tell anyone about his system powers. That would put a target on his back and he wasn’t about to lose his only leverage in this strange world.
Nathaniel looked at his watch then gasped. “Oh shit! I forgot something. I have to go pick it up then from there, I will go home.”
“I can wait for you if you want,” Xavier offered.
“Alex… are you sure? I don’t want to be a bother.”
“Hey,” Xavier gave a brief smile. “It’s all right. With what you’ve done for me today, I’m the one who should be grateful. This is my way of showing gratitude no matter how small it is. I couldn’t have gone through today without you.”
They stared at each other for a while before Nathaniel nodded.
“Alright, sure, just get the car out onto the road and I’ll meet you by the park. That should be a great spot.”
“Okay.”
Nathaniel ran into the hospital as Xavier entered the car and drove to the spot that he was supposed to be waiting for Nathaniel in.
The moment he got there, he got out of the car and leaned against it, staring out into the road. It was dark around here with a street light flickering in the distance, but at least he was in a safe place.
Or so he thought, because soon enough he heard shuffling behind him.
He turned to see three huge men standing before him. One of them had a gun pointed at him.
“Do you know what this is?” The main leader smiled as Xavier put up his hands.
“A robbery?” He muttered, getting a laugh from the man.
“Not quite, but close. How about I show you?”
That was when Xavier heard the hum of the system powers within him.
\[HOSTILE THREATS IDENTIFIED\]
\[COMBAT PROTOCOL AVAILABLE\]
\[AWAITING HOST COMMAND\]