âAmos?â Christopher saw his name on the phone.
âWhereâs Eudora? Why did you pick up her call?â Amos questioned.
âPresident Granger, please mind your language! Eudora is having a fever and she almost fell from a building. She has been in the hospital for the whole day. Why arenât you here yet?â
Fortunately, he showed up in time and grabbed her arm. Otherwise, she would have ended up like that man.
âWhat did you say?â Amosâ heart missed a beat. âHowâs she now?â
âSheâs not dead yet!â Christopher screamed.
â¦
Eudora came back from outside and saw Christopher talking on her phone.
âWho called?â She asked.
âAmos Granger!â He yelled and passed the phone back to Eudora.
âHello!â Eudora took the phone and cleared her throat before she answered, âHi Amos. Christopher was just exaggerating. I just have a cold. Iâm feeling much better now. I will be discharged from the hospital tomorrow.â
âIâm sorry that I missed your birthday.â Amos frowned. âSomething urgent came up.â
He remembered.
She thought that she had finally calmed down but Amosâ words made her feel bitter again.
She sniffed and replied with a smile, âItâs okay. Iâm not a child anymore. On top of that, I had a whale of a time with Aunt Valerie! By the way, isnât it already nighttime there? You should go to bed now!â
She hung up the phone without hesitation.
She was afraid that tears might roll down her cheeks if she didnât hang up.
Christopher looked at her in surprise. âYour birthday?â
âYeah!â Eudora exhaled and nodded.
Christopher answered, âSorry, Iâm an incompetent boss. I donât even remember my staffsâ birthdays.â
âNo!â Eudora shook her head. âItâs not your fault.â
âNo, this was your first birthday since we met. Plus you have been helping me so much. We should celebrate it! Wait for me. Iâll come back soon.â
âHey!â Eudora wanted to stop him but he had already run off.
âLet him be,â she thought.
Christopher came back after a few minutes. He held a birthday cake in his hands. It wasnât too big but it looked delicious.
Eudoraâs eyes widened. He smiled, âItâs really difficult to get a cake here. I had to go quite far away to get one.â
He put the cake on the table and carefully lighted the candles.
âJust because your birthday is over doesnât mean we canât still celebrate it. Hurry up and make a wish!â He exclaimed.
Eudora was touched as she never considered her relationship with Christopher as close. They were just colleagues. But Christopher had been so thoughtful. Eudora felt a tinge of warmth in her heart.
âBut Iâd already made a wish!â She thought of the wish she made that evening.
âI see. Letâs just eat the cake then! I like cakes!â He cut the cake into a few pieces and passed the first piece to Eudora. âBirthday girl gets to eat the first piece.â
He gave the remaining pieces to the doctors and nurses in charge of the ward.
âThis cake will be a blessing. A blessing to many people. You will definitely receive a lot of blessings in return, too!â Christopher exclaimed and had another bite.
He repeated, âHappy birthday, Eudora!â
âThank you!â
âYouâre welcome! I still need you to help me and my company. If you become a famous designer in the future, please donât forget me!â Christopher teased.
Eudora burst into laughter. âOf course, I wonât.â
â¦
Amos couldnât fall asleep.
He got up and went to the hospital again.
Harley saw him and screamed, âSheâs awake!â
Amos entered the room when the woman who was dressed in the hospital gown slowly opened her eyes. She saw Amos and whispered weakly, âItâs you⦠Amos Grangerâ¦â
âItâs me!â Amos nodded. âGet well soon. Iâll take care of everything.â
The woman nodded. âI can never repay your kindness.â
Amos shook his head. âYou do not need to. I should do this. You saved me years ago!â
The woman looked at him in surprise. âAre you talking about the time when we were in the basement?â
It was the nightmare that Amos wanted to forget the most. He nodded with a solemn face. âYes.â
Both of them fell silent. After a while, Amos added, âI remember you once said that you wanted to live in New York. Iâve already sent someone to find a house there. You can settle down there when you are discharged. Let me or Clint know if you have any other requests. I have to go back to Rosaville City first.â
The woman grabbed his arm and pleaded, âPlease, donât go.â
Amos frowned. âItâs safe here.â
âNo, thereâs a lot of bad people here. She appears in front of me every night. She will torture me, beat meâ¦â The woman trembled in fear.
âWho is she?â Amos gnashed his teeth.
âI donât knowâ¦â The woman shook her head with fear in her eyes as her body shivered. Suddenly, she screamed at the top of her lungs.
Clint rushed out to call for help. The doctor and nurse quickly came in and administered some sedatives.
When she slowly calmed down, the doctor explained, âShe had been abused for a long time and this has caused psychological harm to her mental state. Family members should accompany her as much as possible until she gets better.â
Harleyâs face froze. âUntil she gets well?â He quickly glanced at Amos, his heart stirred heavily.
He asked, âDoes Sister-in-law know about this?â
Amos shook his head and stared at the doctor.
âWhen can she be discharged?â
âShe only sustained minimal physical injuries. She can be discharged at any time. But, for her mental health, it is going to take a lot of time to recover.â
Harley was stupefied. âWhy did you ask these questions? Are you going to bring her back?â
Amos frowned. âShe wouldnât have to go through this if it werenât for me. How can I just leave her?â
Amos had a point, but Harley didnât think that was a good idea.
He added, âWhat should we tell Sister-in-law? Werenât you going to propose to her?â
Amos replied, âIâll make it clear to her.â
â¦
Eudora had a dream. In her dream, she was flying her kite with Amos.
The air was filled with happiness while they ran across the field together.
All of a sudden, a gust of wind broke the kite string and the kite flew off.
She chased after the kite. However, no matter how hard she tried, she failed to get the kite back.
Her kite drifted away with the wind.