A Graduation Gift

Cassandra anxiously waited outside the operating room with Stella and Lyndsy's agent.
All of them stared at the doors eagerly, hoping that at any moment, someone would come out and tell them that Lyndsy was
going to be okay. However, several hours passed and no one came out.
Soon, reporters arrived at the doors of the operating room as well, waiting for the latest scoop and for Lyndsy to finally emerge.
This irritated Cassandra. She immediately called the security guard in to drive them away.
"This is a public place. You have no right to drive us away!"
the reporters yelled, causing huge chaos in the hospital.
"I will call the police if you don't go away right now. This is invasion of privacy!" she called back.
Thinking about Lyndsy lying unconscious in the operating room and dealing with the snooty reporters stressed her out so much.
"Celebrities have no privacy. Without media people like us, do you think Lyndsy would even be this popular?"
the reporters reasoned out. They were not about to give up this hot take.
Outside the operating room, the chaos was soon going out of control.
"Everyone, please get out,"
said a calm, low, but powerful voice all of a sudden. This immediately turned everyone quiet.
Cassandra turned to see who it was. The person who just arrived was a tall handsome man with cool, deep, eagle eyes. On him
was a sleek, dark suit.
"If you want to interview Lyndsy, you can come to the press conference we'll hold later. Right now, she's still at a critical condition
so there is nothing yet to see. Can you all wait a bit?"
Rufus said as he looked at the agitated reporters. Then, he eyed the security guards behind him.
The uniformed men immediately gathered and escorted the reporters out. This finally relieved Cassandra.
"Did they hurt you?"

Rufus went up to her and asked. He went to check on her as soon as she got out of the skirmish with the reporters, his eyes full
of concern.
Looking at Rufus, Cassandra remembered he was in charge of TY Group and it was TY Entertainment who invested in the
movie. This made her heart sink.
"The person you need to care about right now is Lyndsy. We don't know what is going on with her,"
Cassandra said as she tilted her head helplessly. She could still see it in her mind: Lyndsy lying on the floor, blood covering her
face...This gave her a lump in her throat.
"Of course I care about Lyndsy. I've talked to the hospital director and I asked him to do everything they can to save her,"
Rufus said reassuringly as he looked at Cassandra's face.
"And the shooting location. You must tell them to check it carefully. Why did the machine break when it was first used on
Lyndsy?"
Cassandra questioned as if she were speaking on behalf of her friend to the TY Group.
"My men are working into it. We'll know the results soon,"
Rufus replied, squinting at the little woman in front of him. He could tell that Cassandra was immensely stressed and upset at the
moment.
She barely even looked at him. She just kept looking at the doors of the operating room. One could tell that she was clearly very
worried about her friend.
"Cassandra, don't worry. It'll be fine,"
Rufus said in an attempt to console Cassandra, but all he got was her rejection.
Cassandra found herself taking a step backward, further away from Rufus. She put her fingers to her temple and started to rub
them. She looked very exhausted.
Suddenly, the doors of the operating room opened and the doctor came out.
Cassandra and the others immediately approached him wanting to know how was Lyndsy.

"Her head was damaged, and her legs and waist were also severely injured. Currently, she is in a coma. The operation was
successful but it is still early to tell if the recovery will go well,"
The doctor said and then left immediately after he shared the findings. Everyone stayed outside to wait for Lyndsy to be carried
out.
Stella was very nervous, gripping Cassandra's arm so tightly that it was painful, but she endured it.
In a few minutes, a nurse finally started to push Lyndsy out. Everyone followed her into the ward which was reserved for VIPs.
Rufus followed but was stopped by Cassandra as he was about to enter the ward.
"Cassandra?"
Rufus asked as he looked at her in surprise. Her arms were wide open and she was standing firmly by the door.
"This is our studio's business. You are not allowed to get involved,"
Cassandra said before she closed the door.
Rufus stood stupefied. Then, he turned and found Victor who stood not too far away. He waved to call his attention.
"How is the investigation?"
Rufus asked thoughtfully with hopes that there was something valuable.
"I've checked the site. The high-wire was okay but the roller was a little askew. I assume that was the problem. As the roller
couldn't hold the wire precisely, when the wire was pulled up it went out of control, thus, causing the accident. And for a more
specific reason, we still need to do more digging,"
he reported briefly. He looked determined to get to the bottom of the case.
"I also feel something fishy about the martial arts director. He seemed too calm and quite dismissive of everybody,"
Victor said, more to himself than to Rufus. His brow furrowed as he recalled the man's arrogance. There was definitely
something off about him.
"He was the best action director the team could find. But if you're suspicious of him, send someone to watch him,"

Rufus suggested as he stroked his chin thoughtfully.
"Got it, boss,"
Victor confirmed and started to make the necessary arrangements. Rufus, on the other hand, leaned against the wall of the hall
waiting for Cassandra.
The truth was, he did not need to deal with Lyndsy's incident himself. He could have asked his men to handle it.
But since it was related to Cassandra, he decided that he had to attend to it himself.
A helpless smile came across his lips. It was obvious that Cassandra blamed the filming team for the accident. He, as an
investor in the film, naturally took some of the blame as well.
In the ward, Cassandra looked at the sleeping Lyndsy. Half of her face was still wrapped with gauze and her whole body was
connected to a monitor. She seemed lost in her sleep.
"What do we do now without Lyndsy?"
the agent said in panic. Lyndsy's sudden accident totally bewildered her.
"First, check all of Lyndsy's messages. Get back to them and postpone all of her work using the best excuses possible. Second,
Stella, go back to the studio and make sure everything else is moving. Remember, you cannot tell the public anything yet. Just
tell them she's recovering. Finally, I have a strong feeling that this was not just a simple accident. That action director was very
experienced. Why did he not let anyone else inspect the equipment before Lyndsy used it? There's something really off about
this and I will find out what it is. I just need you two to make sure the studio is handled in the coming days. Okay?"
Cassandra said, assigning them tasks that need to be done fast. Stella and the agent felt better knowing that there was someone
they could rely on. They all nodded in agreement.
"Okay then, you both go and start working now. I will look after Lyndsy,"
Cassandra ordered, dismissing both of them. Stella and the agent looked at each other and then left the ward to collaborate
immediately.
Rufus, who stood outside, saw the door open. To his disappointment, the people who came out were not Cassandra.

He stopped Stella to ask about the situation in the ward.
"Did Lyndsy wake up? How's Cassandra?"
Rufus asked, anticipating an answer. He knew Stella, after all.
Stella, though, had a very bad impression of Rufus. Why would she even answer his questions? Who did he think he was?
"Cassandra said we shouldn't tell the 'outsiders' anything!"
she replied dismissively and then walked away, totally ignoring Rufus.
"Am...I an outsider?"
Rufus murmured, barely hiding his frustration.
He kept waiting outside with his arms crossed across his body, leaning against the wall. He looked at the closed door
expectantly.
Actually, what was he doing there? This was just a door. He could open it anytime he wanted.
But then again, he knew that Cassandra was unstable right now and she did not want to see him. It would be a bad idea to barge
in. He had to wait patiently.
'Cassandra, I'm here for you even in times of trouble, ' he reminded himself.
Sitting beside the bed, Cassandra called Edith to tell her about what happened, but Clark took the phone immediately when he
heard that she might not go home today.
"Cassandra, do you need me to go to the hospital to help you?"
Clark asked with concern and anxiety. Cassandra could imagine what he looked like in front of Edith at that moment.
"No need. Lyndsy is in the ward already. I just need to wait for her to wake up and for her parents to arrive," she replied.
Rufus was waiting already outside and she did not want to see him. She didn't want Clark to come all the more for he always had
ill intentions with her.