Byran looked at his tearful mother and comforted her, âMom, stop crying People who donât know better would think Iâve kicked the bucketâ
âYuck! You canât say such unlucky thingsâ Xenia hastily wiped her tears, âAlright, Iâll stop crying As long as youâre okay. I can rest easyâ
Xenia felt a surge of fear flood over her Thank god Byran was alright If something had happened to Byran, she would have lost her rock.
Suddenly, the door of the ward was pushed open, and someone walked in.
The four members of the Howard family heard the noise and looked towards the door It was Patricia returning from her medical check-up, her face was pale, and she seemed a bit out of it.
After seeing that her brother was awake on the bed, Patriciaâs expression cleared up. She walked over and said, âByran, youâre awake!â
Byran nodded, âYeah, Patricia, Iâm all good. But whatâs up with you? You look like youâve seen a ghost.â
Xenia remembered that her daughter also drank the pomegranate juice she spiked with saffron.
Although Patricia threw it up, she still worried that her daughter would suffer any after-effects So she asked, âPatricia, you just went for a check up, how did it go?â
Mentioning the check-up made Patriciaâs color worsen again, âMom, donât worry, Iâve had it done, everything is normal, and there are no issues.â
Xenia still pulled her daughter over, feeling unconvinced. Checking her over, she said, âPatricia, if the check-up was fine, why do you look like death warmed over? I was so foolish. In trying to have your back, I almost screwed you and Byran over.â
Patricia got her motherâs drift and played along. âMom, Iâm fine. You canât be this clueless again. Itâs a good thing I drank that juice, if pregnant Ellinor had it, it wouldâve been a big mess.â
Xenia put on a sincerely repentant face, nodding. âI know, I was being an idiot. I swear I wonât do such things again.â
McNeil Howard and Balfour watched the mother-daughter duo, both a bit disgruntled and disappointed but seemingly appeased by their act, so they didnât push further Byran, however, was clueless about what had happened. He asked, âMom, what are you and Patricia talking about? What did you do, and how did it almost hurt me and Patricia?â
Patricia and Xenia were taken aback. As they looked at a confused Byran, they were at a loss and couldnât find a good way to explain the situation.
McNeil Howard didnât want his son to be involved in the messy situation. To avoid affecting his mood, he cleared his throat, trying to change the subject, âPatri, you were gone for so long for your check-up, what tests did they do? I noticed you look a bit off, did the doctor say anything?â
Patricia quietly answered, âDad, Iâm okay⦠I just had a lot of blood drawn during the check-up, Iâm a bit squeamish when it comes to blood, so I probably havenât recovered yet, which is why you think I look off.â
âWhere are your test results?â Balfour squinted at her, and he sternly extended his hand, demanding to see the results.
Patricia faltered slightly, her eyes flickering. âUm⦠Balfour, I forgot to get the test results; the doctor said everything was normal, so I didnât care much about the actual reportâ
Balfour, sharp as ever, caught on that his sister seemed to be hiding something. He frowned, ordering displeasedly. âGo get it now and let me see!â
Patricia chuckled, casually responding. âBalfour, you donât need to worry about me. Iâm really alright, Iâve got no issuesâ