Chapter 9: A Winter Break Promise
MIA burst out of the chairman’s office in pursuit of Henrik. But he was much too fast to catch.
It would’ve been the polite thing for him to wait for her. But she had the feeling that would be asking too much of Henrik. His brain had already moved on to the next thing, and he’d forgotten about Mia altogether.
“A free clinic…”
Mia sighed.
The first thing that came to mind was the little free clinic she once worked at. After her benefactor, Dr. Letts died, Mia had been forced to leave the clinic. Since then, personnel changes had taken place, so even if she went back there, nobody would welcome her anymore.
Which reminds me…
Thinking about the clinic led her to think back on what Bralle said the other day. Was Letts’ death really caused by poor health? Mia had no way to know the truth, either way…did she?
When she entered the lounge, she found Mathias alone with the rabbit, stroking its fur. The table in front of him was strewn with books on rabbit care. Mathias was clearly giving this his best shot.
Mathias looked so funny, caring for a small fluffy rabbit. But the disconnect didn’t seem to register with him.
In fact, he was slightly smiling as he stroked the soft fur.
Mia looked away quickly, suppressing a smile.
Mathias looked up, frowning a little.
“Where have you been?”
Mia hesitated for a moment. If she told him she’d been visiting the chairman, Mathias would want to know why. Then she’d have to mention Chris.
As she was still debating how to answer…
“What are your plans for Winter Break, Mia?”
Mia whirled around to see Henrik standing there. As she was still processing the situation, Henrik continued talking.
“I’d like to invite you to visit my family home.”
“Whaaat?”
Mia gawped at him.
“What the heck is going on here?!”
They all whirled around to find Felix standing in the doorway, fuming.
Henrik, however, remained unruffled.
“…As we were saying? My family home?”
Mia jumped, blinking rapidly as Henrik turned back to her.
“Er…what are you talking about?”
“My family. We run a major public clinic.”
Oh yeah, the chairman mentioned that.
Henrik was the eldest son of a famous doctor who ran a big public clinic. Mia had been so busy thinking about her own past. But now, things clicked into place for her.
“Oh, I get it! That’s what the chairman was referring to!”
“Precisely.” Henrik nodded nonchalantly. “Actually, it would be great if you could help out. The end of the year is always extra busy with cold and flu patients, and we never seem to have enough staff.”
“Yes, I’d love to go!”
Mia was delighted. This could be a major step.
“We won’t be able to show you a fancy time, I’m afraid. Just a few home comforts.”
“That sounds wonderful!”
Last year Mia had felt so left out when everyone came back and talked about what they did over break.
“M-Mia…you’re going to Henrik’s house? You do realize what that implies, don’t you?”
Felix looked stricken and shook angrily. Behind him, Mathias seemed to be holding his breath, watching Felix anxiously.
There seemed to be some misunderstanding here. Mia quickly explained.
“We got a big clue from the chairman. At first, both Angel Tears and Demon Claw were seen as new, unexplained ailments. You don’t go straight to a big hospital when you’re sick with something unknown, right? You go to your local physician for a diagnosis first. There might be some old patient charts or something!”
But Felix was unconvinced. In fact, it didn’t look like he’d even processed what Mia had said. She blinked up at him.
“What’s wrong, Felix?”
“I mean…Mia. What about our promise?”
For some reason, Felix’s eyes were glistening with tears.
“Promise…?”
They’d made a promise? Mia thought back, but nothing came to mind.
“Well, Felix, do you have plans over Winter Break? Wanna come along?”
“Huh?”
Henrik twitched as Mia casually invited Felix, too.
“He can’t. It’s impossible. As I recall, there’s a royal court banquet for the Winter Solstice.”
Mia was reminded of Felix’s true identity. She gazed up at him.
A banquet at the royal court? How splendid!
Felix was just standing there, pale-faced and silent. Then he blinked several times. All at once, he was beaming.
“Of course! I’d love to come! And you come too, Mathias!”
“Leave me out of it.”
Mathias got to his feet, fighting back a smile. The rabbit lolloped down from his shoulder, diving into his pocket. A second later, its furry face popped back out.
“Let’s all ring in the new year at Henrik’s home, then!”
With his trademark disrespect for social etiquette, Felix cheered. Mathias, meanwhile, launched into a lecture.
“What are you playing at, Felix? Don’t just drag me along with you. I have my own things to take care of, you know. I’m busy. And you can’t just invite extra people.”
“Don’t worry. I’m sure it’s a ‘the more, the merrier’ type deal.”
“Yeah, right!”
Henrik turned his back on their argument, his shoulders drooping.
“Agh, what a pain. So it’s ended up like this, has it?”
Mia peered at him.
“Oh dear…you never intended to invite Felix and Mathias?”
Mia thought they were all a team. She’d just assumed they’d spend the break together, as they did last year. Why were things different now?
But Henrik had only invited her. Going alone to stay at the home of a member of the opposite sex—Mia did know what that implied. She gasped.
Is he planning to…introduce me to his parents?!
If so, Felix’s horrified reaction would make sense.
No, it couldn’t be! Henrik isn’t like that! Besides, he asked me to help out!
She peeked at Henrik fearfully. But he wore his usual expression and shrugged at her.
“It’s not that. I just…assumed they’d be unable to make it. It would definitely help the investigation to have extra hands on deck. Although I doubt they’d be of any use at a medical facility. They’ll probably eat more than what they manage to earn by working. Ah, Mia, I should warn you…things will be very hectic at home. You should really come prepared.”
There was something a little odd about him, but he was the same old Henrik, wasn’t he? Yes, of course, he was…
Felix worries too much! Anyway, what promise did he and I make? None, right?!
In Felix’s mind, he’d already decided that once Mia’s mother was cured, that would be the green-light for him and Mia to start dating for real. At least, that seemed to be what he was thinking.
No way!
Just thinking about it made Mia blush. She shook her head, trying to drive out thoughts of Felix. Then she turned to Henrik again, making her voice sound extra perky.
“I’ll come prepared, for sure! In fact, I can’t wait to get involved with some honest work!”
Then she followed it up with a cheesy grin and a double thumbs-up.
She heard chuckling and turned to see Felix giving her a wry grin, shaking his head.
Next to him, Mathias smiled at her too. It looked like he’d given up on lecturing Felix on social graces, at least for the moment.