Filed to story: Returning to Her Not-So-Poor Family
It was fortunate that the slope where she fell was not very long, or the consequences would’ve been unimaginable.
“Grandma, does it hurt here?” Mirabella gently touched her waist.
“It hurts, it hurts so much.” Belinda’s tears involuntarily flowed out.
Everyone’s hearts were once again hanging in the balance, fearing that the fall might have caused some serious damage to her waist. They nervously watched Mirabella and the old lady.
“Does it hurt here?” Mirabella touched the left side of her waist.
“It hurts so much.” Belinda’s face contorted in pain.
“And what about here?” Mirabella touched her right side.
“It’s unbearable.” Belinda, blinking back tears, seemed to be in terrible pain.
“I’ll help you turn over, gently, to have a look.”
Belinda was in so much pain she couldn’t move. The caregiver stepped forward to help, but Serena quickly stood up, “Let me do it! Let me do something for Grandma.’
“Your hands are so cold, and you don’t have the medical knowledge like them. If you hurt Grandma again, it wouldn’t be good.”
Louisa meant no harm with her words, but to Serena, it sounded like a scolding from her mother.
Her heart was filled with guilt and sorrow.
Mirabella and the nurse gently turned Grandma on her side, “Gentlemen, please turn around.’
Kenneth, Sampson, and David immediately turned their backs.
Mirabella gently lifted Grandma’s nightgown, revealing a severely bruised and swollen waist.
“Bella, is this situation really serious?” Louisa couldn’t help but worry.
“It’s a soft tissue injury Mirabella said, applying an anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving cream to Grandma’s waist. “This cream can reduce inflammation and promote healing. Because Grandma is in severe pain, we will give her an oral painkiller to accelerate circulation and promote the absorption of inflammatory metabolites. It should be alleviated in about 7 to 10 days.”
“That long? Isn’t there a quicker way?” Serena hadn’t expected the recovery time to be so long.Mirabella calmly replied, “You should be grateful she didn’t break any bones, otherwise it wouldn’t be measured in days.”
Serena wanted to explain that she didn’t do it on purpose, but a look from David silenced her. She swallowed her words.
After Mirabella had disinfected all of Grandma’s wounds, applied the medicine, and fed her crushed painkillers, she whispered, “Grandma, rest for a while.”
“Bella, stay with me.” Belinda whimpered, the pain unbearable.
“I’m here, rest easy. The medicine will start working soon, and you’ll feel better.” Mirabella, knowing that the touch of her palm against the wheels caused some discomfort, didn’t hold Grandma’s hand, but leaned in and spoke softly, “If you feel uncomfortable, tell me at any time.”
“It hurts so much.” The pain was real for Belinda. At her age, her body was nowhere near as resilient as it had been in her youth.
“You fell, of course it hurts. But fortunately, there are no broken bones, just soft tissue injuries.’ Mirabella paused,then turned to Sampson, “It would be best to have someone come and take an X-ray, just to be safe.”
“If you Say it’s fine, it must be fine.” Sampson trusted her medical judgement.
“Let’s check anyway, for everyone’s peace of mind.’ Mirabella reassured, then turned back to the lady on the bed, “You rest now. I’ll be right here.”
“You better not leave.”
“Lwont.”
Drowsy from the pain, Belinda soon fell asleep.
Mirabella’s gaze then fell on Serena, making her feel a bit uneasy.
“I just.”
“Lower your voice. Mirabella reminded her, “Grandma isn’t fully asleep yet.’
Serena went on to explain in a softer voice, “I saw how beautiful the snow outside was, and I wanted to take Grandma out to see it.’
“Don’t you know that people who have just woken up should avoid the wind? Especially since Grandma hasn’t fully recovered yet.’As Mirabella finished, a servant timidly spoke up, “I warned Serena, but she insisted. Her grandma also indulged her.”
“Why didn’t you go with them?” Sampson asked.
“Serena didn’t want me to. She said she wanted to take care of her grandma alone, like Ms. Bella.”
All eyes turned to Serena again.
“I just wanted to have a moment alone with Grandma like my sister. If I had known something like this would happen, I would never have let Grandma leave the house.”
Serena, her voice choked with sobs, struggled to speak. Her tears fell like pearls from a snapped string, rolling down her cheeks one after another.
“I didn’t mean to. Seeing Granny hurt like this, I blame myself. I wish I could take on all the pain myself.”
The crowd watched her weep, her hair disheveled, and her clothes damp with tears.
“Why did the wheelchair slip?” Mirabella asked.
“The flowers in the garden was in full bloom, and it was so beautiful. I wanted to take Grandma there to see it and pick some flowers to put in her room. But the branch was too high, and I accidentally bumped into the wheelchair when I jumped down.”
Perhaps realizing that she was at fault, Serena cried even harder, hugging Louisa tightly.
“Mom, I didn’t mean to. Grandma has been so good to me for eighteen years, I would never want to hurt her. I was just trying to pick some flowers for her, she loves flowers so much.”
Louisa patted her back, “Crying won’t help now. Just be more careful next time. Your grandma hasn’t recovered yet, and this fall will only make her suffer more.”
“Lunderstand, Mom. I won’t act on my own anymore. I’ll ask for your approval before I do anything. I won’t let Grandma get hurt again.”
Serena’s crying was heart-wrenching.
A maid, unable to bear the sight, stood up to testify.”lL saw the wheelchair roll away from a distance. Serena tried to save Old Mrs. Griffith right away, but the wheelchair was too heavy, and it was moving too fast. Serena was dragged along and fell even farther than Old Mrs. Griffith.”
“Let Serena change her clothes first,’ Sampson suggested, then turned to the caretaker. “Bella will stay with Old Mrs. Griffith. You go check if Serena is hurt and give her some medication”
“Yes, sir’ the maid replied, approaching Serena.
Serena was still weeping, “Uncle Sampson, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to.”
At that moment, Mirabella noticed Old Mrs. Griffith on the bed open her eyes slightly, and heard a weak voice.
“Bella.”
“Grandma, I’m here.” Mirabella leaned in closer immediately. “Are you feeling okay? Do you feel unwell anywhere?”
“My stomach. I feel nauseous. I think I’m going to be sick.” The expression on Belinda’s face was one of great discomfort.
“Take it easy. I’ll help you up.” As Mirabella was about to lift her up, a maid brought a trash can, and Belinda vomited violently.
“Snow fungus soup?” Mirabella recognized it immediately. “Who fed Grandma snow fungus soup?”
The maid glanced nervously at Serena.
Serena looked puzzled and explained, “I did some research online and found that snow fungus soup is good for nourishing the lungs and stomach. So I made some for Grandma since she used to enjoy it. Isthere a problem?”
Another maid brought a cup for Belinda to rinse her mouth.
Yet another maid brought a warm towel to wipe Belinda’s face.
A third maid handed Belinda a cup of warm water to soothe her throat.
Mirabella helped Belinda to lie down slowly after turning on the air purifier. “Grandma has poor digestion. The snow fungus and sticky rice in the soup would burden her stomach and cause bloating.”
“I didn’t know.” Serena was flustered. It was only a bowl of snow funqus soup, how could it cause bloating?
“Serena, in the future, if you want to feed Grandma anything, ask the caretaker or Bella first.’ Louisa didn’t expect this to happen, causing her mother to suffer unnecessarily.
“She meant well. She just didn’t know.” Kenneth tried to pacify the situation. “Let’s take Serena to change her clothes first.”
They’ve been sitting here for quite a while now. Serena might catch a chill. People might think they were punishing the child this way.
“Dad, Mom, Uncle Sampson, David, Mirabella. I really didn’t know that the soup would give Grandma bloating.”
Serena’s tears fell once again. “All I remembered was that granny loved it, so I made it for her to please her. I just wanted to get closer to Grandma.”
“Go ahead” Sampson didn’t scold her. If it had been a servant who was so careless, he would have fired them long ago.
“Bella.” Belinda on the bed spoke weakly, “My stomach hurts.”
“I’ll give you a little massage.” Mirabella had a knack for massaging the stomach area.
Before leaving the bedroom, Serena saw Mirabella carefully sitting by the bedside, looking after Grandma.
All she heard was Mirabella softly asking, “Does that feel a bit better?”
Belinda on the bed replied, “Yes, much better.”
