.
Jimmyâs mother was taken aback. She quickly looked down and lifted Jimmy up. âWhatâs wrong, Jimmy, whatâs wrong?â
After vomiting twice, Jimmy finally stopped. Covered in sweat, he frowned and asked, âMommy, am I dying?â
Jimmyâs mother finally panicked, âOf course not. Mommyâs here, honey. Mommy will take you to the hospital right now.â
She scooped him up in her arms and left.
When she passed Nora, Nora said again, âDo a spinal tap on him right away and check to see if itâs encephalitis or not when you get to the hospital.â
This time, Jimmyâs mother looked at her and said nothing. Instead, she walked away.
When she left, Nora checked the time: classes werenât over yet. So, she left Pete there and went home alone.
Miss Lynn, ââ¦â
She had thought Cherryâs mother would comfort her a little before she left; after all, she had just had an argument with her classmate. But why was she so unconcerned about it?
No, that wasnât right. Cherryâs mother was a very good mother. She must have been very busy with work at the time and must have rushed out of work right after she got the call. She must be going back to work to earn money to raise Cherry now.
Yes, she must be.
With this in mind, Miss Lynn re-entered the classroom, where she immediately saw Cherry engrossed in a book.
Miss Lynn couldnât help but approach. She ruffled Cherryâs hair and said, âDonât be afraid, Cherry~â.
Pete stiffened, but forced himself to tolerate the body contact.
It seemed to him that there were more and more people he could agree to get physical with these daysâ¦.
Soon classes were over.
One by one, the children said goodbye to Pete, who left the garden along with Tanya. Mia watched them climb into the big black car before getting into the Smithsâ car with dismay.
Seeing him, Joel couldnât help but ask, âWhatâs wrong, Mia?â
Mia asked shyly, âDad, is the big tiger going to eat Cherry?â.
Joel, â?â
Mia told him what had happened earlier that day. Joel ruffled her hair and said, âItâs okay. The big tiger wonât dare eat her.â
Miaâs big eyes widened and she looked at him in bewilderment. She asked, âWhy, the big tiger wonât dare eat me because I have Daddy, but he doesnât!â
Joel looked down and replied, âHis daddy is Justin Hunt. Donât worry, the big tiger wonât dare eat him at all.â
Mia was relieved to hear that. âThatâs great!â
Joel, however, turned around to look outside: Tanya had put the boy back in the car. Did this mean that the boyâs mother hadnât bothered to come and pick him up from the garden?
He stared at Tanya.
In the back of his mind, however, was the DNA test reportâ¦. The results were too complex. He didnât dare raise it with Ian even now.
He would have to think carefully about how to word it correctly.
ð ð ð ð ð
It didnât take long for Jimmyâs mother to arrive at the hospital. She headed straight to the pediatric department with Jimmy.
By then, Jimmy was already feeling much better. However, the pediatrician ran a series of tests before telling his mother the reason for his vomiting. He said, âItâs probably because youâve been crying too much from the shock. Jimmy, do you still feel like throwing up?â.
Jimmy shook his head.
The doctor smiled and said, âSometimes you donât have to make too much noise over something trivial.â
Relieved, Jimmyâs mother nodded.
The doctor then said, âHowever, itâs better to err on the side of caution, so letâs run a few more tests.â
Jimmyâs mother had the babysitter go pay the medical bill. Then, she called Jimmyâs father.
Jimmyâs fatherâs name was Jordan Hoffman. He specialized in businesses like undercover deals and such in New York, he was considered a leader in the industry. Other than the Smiths and the Hunts, you could tell he had no courtesy to anyone else.
He was a boor with a large, muscular figure, standing about 6â2â³ tall with a weight of 205 pounds. He was working out. His muscles bulged mightily to the beat of the movements of the gym equipment.
When his cell phone rang, he picked it up and answered in a very loud voice, âWhatâs wrong, dear?â
Jimmyâs mother wiped away tears and said, âWhatâs wrong? Someone has bullied your son Jimmy in the garden.â
âShit!â Jordan stood up, causing the pieces of gym equipment to clatter loudly together. âWho is so bold as to bully my son? But, did you say Jimmy had to go to the hospital for bullying? Why is he such a coward?â
ââ¦â
Jimmyâs mother choked for a moment before shouting, âWhat would my son know if heâs only five years old! A girl in his class bullied him and told him he had encephalitis, scaring him so much that he cried for two hours until he threw up! What are you going to do about it?â
Jordan shouted angrily, âWhose daughter is so naughty, how dare you insult my son? Iâm going to tear that little bastard to pieces.â
Jimmyâs mother got nervous and said, âWho are you planning to tear to pieces? How can it be the childâs fault if she hasnât grown up yet? The one Iâm angry at is her mother! The garden had gotten her to come, and yet she told me to give Jimmy a spinal tap. Weâre talking about a lumbar puncture, you know? Itâs a really painful procedure, who does she think she is, does she think she can scare other people like that!â
Jordan nodded. âYeah, youâre right! Iâll have someone check who his parents are right now.â
Jimmyâs mother nodded. âIâll also put pressure on the kindergarten. Why should we allow those parents to send their children to kindergarten? Letâs make them voluntarily withdraw from kindergarten! If not, Iâll kick them out!â
âOkay, weâll do whatever you say, dear. By the way, how is Jimmy?â
At the mention of Jimmy, the womanâs tone softened and she replied, âHeâs feeling much better already. He only threw up because he was crying after he got so scared. Iâm so angry. Why does a mother spread such rumors? Is it so much fun to scare children? If it wasnât because Jimmy had suddenly started vomiting, considering my bad temper, I would have slapped him a few times hard today!â
âIâm going to check who her father is right now, and give her father those slaps instead! Whatâs the girlâs name?â
âCherry Smith.â
âFine!â
Jimmyâs mother was still very angry even after hanging up. She started madly contacting the principal and teachers on her cell phone and texted them.
Jimmyâs mother: âSince Cherry Smithâs mother, Nora Smith, refuses to apologize for her daughterâs actions, I suggest that the kindergarten expel your daughter! I will not change my mind unless they make a serious apology.â
When Miss Lynn saw the text message, she quickly contacted Nora. âMiss Smith, I understand Cherry didnât say that to scare Jimmy, why donât you have her apologize to Jimmy?â
Nora, who had been repeatedly awakened by the phone calls, was already very impatient at this point. She responded aggressively, âPeteâ¦oh, I mean Cherry, heâll take three days off from the garden for now then.â
Jimmy was very serious. If his mother didnât follow his instructions and have him in for a checkup right away, three days would be more than enough time for his illness to get worse.
Miss Lynn, â?â
At the hospital.
It was only when Jimmyâs mother received word from Miss Lynn that Cherry would temporarily stop attending classes that she finally calmed down.
When Jimmy finished the various checkups, his mother finally calmed down and looked at him. Suddenly she thought of the headache Jimmy had mentioned earlier and asked, âIs your head still hurting Jimmy?â
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