chapter 113

Chapter 113. A game of Chess with Lena GomezLena sat on the couch, with her legs cuddled in her arms. She was worried about her mother and Grandpa Go could see that, he was worried as well but he needed to look strong for Lena, if she found out that he was also scared, then she might get even more worried.Grandpa Go went and sat beside her, he put his arm across her shoulder and pulled her to his body. “It is alright smarty pants, your mom would be fine, I promise.” He consoled.“Are you sure Grandpa? Why did mom pass out? Is she not feeling fine?” Lena queried curiously, with fear visible in her eyes and trembling voice.“No Lena, your mom is fine, I am sure it's nothing serious, she will be back very soon so you don’t need to worry,” he said, trying to sound convincing.“I am scared Grandpa,” she confessed.“I know dear, but you don’t need to be scared, you are a strong girl right? Strong girls shouldn’t fear, and your mom would be disappointed if she finds out that you were afraid or that you cried while she was away, so please be my strong girl,” he said and cuddled her.She was already sobbing. Grandpa Go brought out a handkerchief from his breast pocket and cleaned her tears. “It's alright dear, please don’t cry.” He consoled.He began to think of what he could do to get her mind off her mother, if she kept thinking and crying, then she would certainly develop a headache. An idea crossed his mind.“Hey smarty pants, I promised I would teach you how to play a game of chess so that you can beat your mom right?” he queried.She sat up immediately with attentive eyes. “Yes Grandpa, are you going to teach me now?” she queried.Grandpa Go smiled. “Of course I will, so that when your mom comes back, you give her a big surprise by beating her,” he replied.Lena smiled, revealing her white little beautiful set of teeth. “Alright then Grandpa, let’s start already.” She said excitedlyGrandpa Go called the butler and asked him to go and get the chess board from the game room immediately, when the butler arrived with the chess board and pieces, he had them arranged immediately.“Alright, listen attentively Lena… Chess Titans is a game for two players, dubbed White and Black. The goal is to capture your opponent's king. In the game, this is known as a checkmate.Chess is played on this board with 64 squares. Each player begins with 16 pieces, lined up in two rows. The first row is occupied by pieces called pawns. The next row contains: a king, a queen, two rooks, two bishops, and two knights.This is how to play; White goes first, then players take alternate turns. Take a piece and then move it to a different square. This is how each chess piece moves, The King: you move it one square in any direction—forward, backward, sideways, or diagonally. The king is the game's weakest piece, and it’s most important.Then the Queen: it can go to an unlimited number of unoccupied squares in any direction. The queen is the game's most powerful piece. Next is the Rook: it can be moved in an unlimited number of unoccupied squares, but only forward, backward, or sideways.Then we have the Bishop: it moves in an unlimited number of unoccupied squares, but only diagonally. We also have this one, it's called the Knight,” Grandpa Go explained, pointing to one of the chess pieces.“Wow… cool, I love knights, tell me about it,” Lena said excitedly. Grandpa Go smiled, he was happy that she was smiling again, he hated to see her worried or crying.“Alright dear, the Knight moves in the shape of an "L"—two squares in any direction, a 90-degree turn, and then one more square. The knight is the oddball of the game. Knights are also the only pieces that are allowed to jump other pieces.Finally, we have the Pawn… this particular set of chess pieces moves two squares forward on its first move, one square forward thereafter. Also, pawns capture enemy pieces by moving diagonally” he explained.“Cool, I get it… let's play, I will go with the white pieces, Mom always says white stands for light and light always wins,” she said confidently.“Alright then, let's see how it goes,” Grandpa Go smirked. He had been hoping to teach her, but it looked like she was already competing with him on her first day.Oliver paced around in the hospital hall, he was worried about Aria who had been admitted in the hospital. The doctor had asked him to wait outside so they could run some tests on her and find out what was wrong.Oliver brought out his phone and decided to inform Sammy, so that he could tell Rosie. She would be mad if she found out that Aria was taken to the hospital and no one informed her. He dialed the number and Sammy picked at first ring.“Hey man, I was just about to call you,” Sammy said from the other end.“Sammy, please let Rosie know that Aria has just been admitted in a hospital, she suddenly passed out so I had to bring her here,” Oliver replied immediately.“What? Aria is in the hospital? Which hospital?” he queried.“It is the city hospital, Doctor Josh is out of town so I had to bring her here,” Oliver replied.“Oh, well we are in that very hospital right now, which ward are you in?” Sammy queried.Oliver was about to ask him what they were doing in a hospital, but he decided to wait till they got there. “Um… just come up to the third floor, the first hallway there, you will see me there,” he replied.“Alright, hold on man, I will be there in a Jiffy.”