Ivy's notion had flabbergasted both Ryder and Preston. They perceived the seriousness of the situation. Any smart man would grasp this opportunity and get their work done let alone a man who wanted to destroy the country. The situation right now was extremely critical and everybody's attention was elsewhere. He would be at an advantage now, it was a win-win situation.

"What do we do now?" Preston asked after much contemplation.

"Shall we talk to Chief about it? He might suggest something." Ryder gave his idea.

"We could do that?" Preston said.

"I'll give him a call." Ryder made a call to Frederick immediately.

"Chief. Hello."

"We have something very important to tell you."

Ryder was silent for a few seconds. He was waiting for the other person to finish speaking.

"We will tell you in person Chief, it's confidential."

"Yes, Chief. We want to meet you right now."

Preston listened to his one-sided conversation.

"Chief, Deputy is not with us. Something happened to her. We will tell you everything when we meet."

"Okay Chief."

"What did he say?" Preston asked when Ryder ended the call.

"He is waiting for us in his house."

"Great."

"What about Valarie?" Ryder asked, looking at the unconscious woman.

"I'll stay. You go." Preston volunteered.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, someone has to be here. We don't know when her life will be in danger again. There might be an attack on her again. This hospital may be the best, but it cannot stop people from entering and leaving. Can they?"

"You are right."

"Also, you know Chief better than me. So, it's better that you go."

"Okay. Take care."

Ryder left Preston with an unconscious Valarie to meet Frederick.

The ward became silent once again. Ryder was once again immersed in his phone. He was testing his newly acquired hacking skills by hacking his other phone. Although he was successful in hacking it, he was unable to get complete control of it. He tried again only to meet the same result.

"Looks like my skills are still bad." He muttered and locked his phone. He, then stretched his muscles and massaged his shoulders. They had become stiff. But, he stopped immediately when he sensed something. He saw Valarie move a little and then there was nothing. Any normal person would have deemed it to be his imagination, but not Preston. He was sure he saw Valarie move.

Preston went to her hurriedly. "Chief, Chief, are you awake? Can you hear me? Chief?" He called out to her and held her hand but he did not get any response. However, he could feel her fingers move, although it was very subtle.

He placed her hand back and went out of the ward to get a doctor. Luckily for him, he saw a lady doctor walking in the corridor. It was none other than Aria. she was on her night rounds when Preston called her.

"Doctor." He ran to her.

"Yes? Oh my. Are you alright?" She looked at the panic-stricken man in front of her.

"It's Valarie. I think I saw her move."

"Is it? I'll take a look."

Aria went along with Preston to Valarie's ward. She held her hand to check the pulse. It was stable, her heartbeat rate was normal. She then checked the report beside her bed.

"Excuse me Mister, the patient condition has improved a lot. If what you said is right about her moving, then she will be up by this time tomorrow. Her attending doctor is Dr. William Baker. I'll give him a call first. He will give you the correct analysis. But trust me, the patient will wake up within the next twenty-four hours."

"Thank you. Thank you so much doctor." Preston thanked her and sighed in relief.

"I'll give Dr. Baker a call."

Aria pulled out her phone and gave a call to the reception to inform Dr. Baker about his patient. "He will be here shortly. I'll wait here until he comes."

Aria sat on the stool beside the bed and held the tray of bandages in front of her. She had seen Valarie's bloody bandage on her head. She carefully cut the bandage to not hurt her and then cleaned the wounds.

After making sure that no more blood was oozing out, she did her bandage again.

"Did nobody come here to change her bandage?" Aria looked at Preston who was watching her every move.

"A nurse had come an hour back. But we asked her to come back later." Preston answered truthfully.

"You can't do that okay? Her bandage must be changed every few hours otherwise there will be infections and her healing process will be delayed." Aria said in all seriousness.

"Sorry doctor."

"Take care from now," Aria said.

"Have we met before?" Preston asked after thinking for some time. He was getting a familiar vibe from her like he had met her before.

"I don't think so. I am seeing you for the first time today."

"Ohh."

Preston then thought of Ivy and looked at Aria. They had very similar features, though they were not prominent. Not many people could find the similarities. However, Preston was a weirdo, he caught it immediately.

"Do you know Ivy West?"

"How do you know Ivy?" Aria asked surprised.

"Valarie knows her."

"Oh. Is this Valarie Evans? Oh my."

"Yes."

"Ivy is my sister and I have heard her talk about Valarie."

"Fair enough," Preston commented. He understood why he was getting a familiar vibe from her.

"My sister was here to meet Valarie a few minutes back."

"Yes, I met her."

"That's great," Aria said and became silent.

Silence filled the ward. But suddenly, the ECG started behaving crazy. Valarie's heartbeat increased rapidly. She was also sweating profusely.

"Doctor what is happening to her?" Preston's voiced was filled with worry. Just now he had heard that his Chief was fine and would be waking up anytime soon and now there were weird changes in her.

"Relax. There is nothing wrong with her." Aria said and check her pulse again.

"Don't tell me to relax doctor. Something is wrong with her and instead of looking at it, you are asking me to relax." He shouted.

Aria cringed hearing his voice, but she did not panic. She calmly looked at Valarie and held her hand. She took the napkin on the table and wiped her neck.

Valarie was still breathing heavily and the ECG was still beeping loudly.

"Are you even a doctor?" Preston pushed her aside forcefully. The impact of his push was so strong that she fell heavily on the floor. She even hurt her leg.

All of a sudden, the beeping became normal. Valarie calm down and her eyes quivered. A few seconds later, she opened her eyes. Preston looked at her dumbfounded.

'Chief is alright. She opened her eyes.' He was so happy that he completely forgot about Aria.

The door to the ward opened and the fifty-year-old Dr. Baker walked in followed by a nurse. By then Aria had got up and she was standing at the side.

"Dr. Baker, I think your patient woke up. I'll leave her to you."

"Thank you Dr. West. I'll take over from here."

Aria nodded at him, took a final look at Valarie, and left the ward limping.

Dr. Baker immediately went to attend Valarie. He checked her vitals and he spoke slowly.

"Miss Evans, are you alright?"

She blinked and opened her mouth but no words left her mouth.

"Calm down Miss Evans, you were asleep for a long time. So, your throat has gone dry."

The nurse made Valarie drink a cup of water.

"How are you feeling Miss Evans?" Dr. Baker asked again.

"I am fi.. fine." She spoke with great difficulty.

"Great. Does it pain anywhere?"

"My head." She said.

"That is a given. Now I'll give you some painkillers. You will feel well after you wake up."

Dr. Baker induced the painkiller in her IV drip and slowly Valarie fell asleep once again.

"Doctor, how is she?" Preston asked.

"Miss Evans is recovering well. Her pain will be reduced by tomorrow."

"But doctor, why did she behave that way before she woke up?"

"That is normal. Since she was in a coma, her body was asleep. When her brain became active again, all her organs started working again. So, the sudden jolt made her heartbeat to increase."

"Oh," Preston said after hearing his words.

"Yes. I'll come and see her after an hour. Call me if there is anything."

Dr. Baker exited the room. Preston did not find Aria anywhere in the room. He did not even know when she had left the ward.

He immediately remembered the way he had pushed her and his heart was filled with regret.

"Why did I do that?" He scolded himself. He looked at the nurse.

"Can you stay here for a while? I'll be back."

"Sure Mister." She said.

Preston now went in search of Aria. He had to apologize to her for his bad behavior.