Aurora said nothing in response, so Rickey leaned in closer, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial tone near her ear. âAs your desk mate, Iâll make sure you get special treatment. If anyone messes with you, just tell me. See this arm? I broke it in a fight.â
Aurora couldnât take it anymore. âIf you donât pay attention in class, Iâll ask Ms. Vazquez to change seats!â
âAlright, alright.â Rickey agreed with a lazy shrug, but he still didnât pay attention. Instead, he slouched down on the desk, phone in hand, unaffected by the attention his broken arm drew.
After school, Aurora made her way to the hospital.
Inside the ward, she unpacked her textbooks, preparing to do homework while sharing Rickeyâs self-introduction with Joelle.
Adrian lay still in the hospital bed, his fingers twitching slightly, as if responding to the sound of Auroraâs voice.
Joelle smiled warmly and asked, âAnd then what happened?â
Aurora paused, thinking for a moment. âActually, heâs not bad. A little fierce, but heâs been kind. During break, he even offered to fill up my water bottle.â
Joelle raised an eyebrow, surprised. Was her daughter really becoming that popular? âAre you sure he didnât put anything in your bottle?
It wasnât that she was being overly cautious, but Rickeyâs sudden kindness seemed unusual for a first meeting.â
âNo.â Aurora shook her head, confident. âI watched him the whole time. He just filled it for me.â
Joelle nodded, reassured. It seemed like there was no need to talk to Iggy about changing seats after all.
Children should handle their own matters. Parents didnât need to meddle too much.
âMom, when will Dad wake up?â
âI donât know.â
She held Molly close, her eyes still on Adrian, while Aurora gently kissed Adrianâs forehead.
âDad, please wake up soon.â
Adrianâs lashes fluttered ever so slightly.
But none of them noticedâLeah had entered the room, and Joelle quickly asked her to take Aurora and Molly home.
The hospital was full of germs, and it wasnât good for kids to stay too long.
âIâll come see Dad again tomorrow!â Aurora promised.
Joelle accompanied them to the elevator before returning to the quiet room where Adrian lay.
The next day, during lunch, Callan updated Joelle on Miller Groupâs situation.
Since Joelle had taken charge, things had calmed down considerably.
Shawn had been a great help, teaching her the ropes in business matters. Miller Group was everything Adrian had worked for, and Joelle was determined to protect it for him.
In the afternoon, visitors started arriving, but they didnât stay long, mindful not to disturb Adrian.
.
.
.