My Darling, My Dearest novel Chapter 357

"You are never my burden..." Bill's voice become very low. He picked up the note again and read it word by word. The blue veins on the back of his hand popped out in a shocking manner.

"I'm sorry."

A mixture of shame, guilt, and regret overwhelmed Rachel like a tide. "If it weren't for me, maybe such a thing wouldn't have happened."

After a long silence, Bill seemed to have calmed himself down. Without looking at her, he said, "This has nothing to do with you."

He threw the note on the floor and walked to the hospital entrance. Rachel bent down and picked it up. Andy's handwriting was strong and powerful. "Bill, I have reached retirement age, but I have been worried about you so I haven't mentioned it. Now, I can take this opportunity to retire. Take good care of yourself, and don't worry about me. I'm going to take advantage of the next two years to move around and go to places I have always wanted to go to. Maybe I can live a more free and unrestrained life than now.

You should pay more attention to your health. You can find a girlfriend. If you want me to come back early, you should get married as soon as possible. I will definitely come back for your wedding."

Andy had prepared this note in advance. It was not written only at that moment, but was instead burning a hole in his pocket all this time. It looked like he had no intention of getting examined and only found the appointment to be the perfect opportunity to leave.

How could he be so cruel, just leaving like that? What about Bill?

After putting the note back into her pocket, Rachel walked out of the hospital. Bill was waiting for her in the car, his face now back to its normal expression. He said lightly, "Rachel, get in the car. I'll drive you to work."

Rachel replied, "There's no need. I drove here by myself."

Seeing the worry and uneasiness in her eyes, Bill forced a smile and turned to comfort her, "I'm fine. Don't worry about me. I will keep looking for Andy."

"Okay."

Rachel nodded and told him to be careful on the road.

However, she didn't head toward the parking lot. Instead, she turned around and went back to the hospital. She knocked on the door of the monitoring room and politely asked, "Hello, my family has gone missing. Can you get the surveillance video for me?" Although everything was planned by Andy, Rachel couldn't help but wonder —if she hadn't persuaded Bill to let Andy go to the bathroom alone, would he have the opportunity to leave?

No matter how she looked at it, she had something to do with Andy's disappearance.

The security guard looked at her up and down and said, "I'm sorry, but if you want to check the CCTV footage, you have to get the instructions from the superiors. If everyone was like you, coming here demanding to see footage just like that, the hospital would be in a mess. This place is not a market."

Rachel knew that what the security personnel said was reasonable, so she didn't retort even if the man's tone wasn't pleasant. After all, she was too anxious about Andy's disappearance.

Seeing how she didn't make a fuss like those people, the security guard's voice softened. "Miss, don't worry. Try to look around first. If you still can't find your family, go and ask permission from the higher-ups. Then I will help you."

From the security office, Rachel walked around the hospital lobby.

There were so many people entering and leaving the hospital, and Andy had been gone for some time. It was impossible for her to look for him this way.

She wanted to check the CCTV footage to see if Andy really had left the hospital, and if so, through which door and which direction he went. With these clues, it should be much easier to find him.

However, she didn't know anyone in this hospital. It was quite a predicament.

Suddenly, she heard a man's clear voice say, "Rachel? Is that you?"

Rachel turned around and looked up at the man who spoke. His bronze skin and features looked familiar, but she could not recall his name. She asked weakly, "You are...?"

The man did not get offended and instead chuckled. "I can't believe you look the same after all of these years! Have you forgotten who asked you that question during your graduation presentation?"

As expected, the mention of academics jogged Rachel's memory. Her eyes lit up, and she said, "You're Jasper, right? I remember now!"

"Yes, I am." The man held out his hand and said with a faint smile, "Jasper Zhang. There, I introduced myself to you today. Don't forget again."

Rachel took the proffered hand in a firm handshake and smiled up at him more brightly. She had met Jasper Zhang only once before.

That year, he disagreed with a point raised in her graduation thesis, so he questioned it during her presentation. Rachel was able to counter his argument and prove that his idea was wrong, but he never was totally convinced at the time.

Rachel didn't take that encounter to heart at the time. Little did she know that she would meet him again after so many years.

Rachel suddenly noticed the name plate hanging on Jasper Zhang's right chest. "Jasper, are you a doctor in this hospital?"

"Yes, I am the director of surgery department," said Jasper Zhang, unknowingly puffing up his chest with a trace of pride. Then, he asked, "How have you been?"

"Not very good,"

Rachel replied, uncaring about how her reply might sound to the man. She opened her mouth a few times to speak. When her words failed her, she pulled at Jasper Zhang's sleeve and walked quickly forward.

Jasper was surprised. "Hey, Rachel, what's going on?"

"Jasper, I need to ask your help about something. Since you are a director here, it should be easy for you to go to the security room to check CCTV footage, right?" Before Rachel could say anything more, Jasper Zhang shook off her hand just as she was about to drag him into the room.

He pulled at his sleeve to straighten out the wrinkles and said to Rachel in a mildly admonishing tone, "Look, Rachel, you may be my junior in medical school, but you can't just ask me to help you look at our CCTV footage. I'm a director of this hospital; you have to tell me the reason first. "

Upon hearing this, Rachel snapped out of her thoughts. She was so anxious just now that she pulled him over without explanation. She immediately apologized and explained the reason.

Jasper Zhang shook his head and said, "Oh, I see."

He stood still, as if frozen.

Rachel couldn't figure out what he was thinking, so she asked, "Can you do me this favor?"

"Given your reason, of course I will help you." Although Jasper Zhang looked very sexy, he was like an old man inside. He sighed and said, "Rachel, although I'm only your senior, I still have to tell you that you can't be so impetuous when you do something. You should know that as doctors, we should be careful..."