Filed To Story: Returning to Her Not-So-Poor Family
“My mom tried to jump from a building, she’s been taken to the hospital. I need to go.”
Martin moved to leave, but Serena grabbed his hand, “I’m coming with you. I’m your wife now!”
After all, she was part of the Cooper family now!
Martin glanced at her flouncy wedding gown, knowing she was not easily mobile, “The engagement party can’t go on without you. I’ll check out the situation and get back to you. Stay here for now.”
Serena watched his hurried departure without further protest.
At the hospital.
“Where’s my dad, my sister?” Martin asked. Read at Lana replied, “About an hour ago.”
An hour ago?
Martin froze in his tracks.
It didn’t take more than half an hour to get from his house to the Century Grand Hotel. If his sister Diana had really gone to the hotel to confront him after learning of their mother’s accident, they would have bumped into each other before he left the hotel. But when he had left just moments ago, there had been no sign of Diana.
Just then, his phone rang again. It was Diana calling.
“Diana,” Martin answered immediately, anxiety edging his voice. “Where are you?”
“Hello, is this the brother of the phone’s owner? You were listed as a recent contact. I’m a nurse at Hope Hospital. The phone’s owner was in a car accident and was brought here by a Good Samaritan.
She’s in critical condition and needs surgery urgently. Could you please come and handle the payment?”
“What are you talking about?” Martin’s world rocked on its axis. “Which floor are you on? I’m on my way.”
“Emergency, twelfth floor.”
“Got it.”
Without a second thought, Martin dashed to the elevator and shot up to the twelfth floor. He paid the fee and sought out the attending physician to inquire about Diana’s condition.
“The patient has multiple bilateral rib fractures, a sternal fracture, lung contusion, and a traumatic splenic rupture, among several other injuries. She was in severe shock upon arrival and is in criticalcondition.”
Martin’s heart clenched with worry, and he asked urgently, “When will she be out of the woods?”
“It’s hard to say. Even if she pulls through this, there are more hurdles ahead. Rest assured, our surgical team is doing everything possible to save her.”
As Martin stared toward the operating room, lost in concern, his phone rang with a call from the family’s bodyguard.
“Mr. Martin, your mother’s attending physician would like to speak with you.”
“Alright, I’m on my way.” The thought of all three family members hospitalized in one night left Martin utterly drained.
“Mr. Martin,” the doctor began upon seeing him, briefing him on Florence’s condition. “Your mother was in critical condition when she arrived. We performed a series of preliminary exams and symptomatic treatments. She was vomiting continuously, and before we had the test results, we were worried about increased intracranial bleeding and hematoma causing high intracranial pressure, so we had to intubate her and put her on a ventilator.”
The doctor continued, “Her blood pressure kept dropping, and the internal bleeding wouldn’t stop. Her heart rate on the monitor was climbing, so we injected red blood cells and plasma and administered norepinephrine to maintain her blood pressure. We also noted her potassium levels were below normal, so to prevent electrolyte imbalance, we administered potassium.”Martin didn’t fully grasp the medical jargon, but he understood his mother’s condition was grave.
“Is she in danger? When can she be cured?” Martin’s worry was palpable.
“It’s hard to predict. Even if this surgery is successful, there’s a high risk of complications afterward. It will be difficult for her to overcome each one.” Heartbroken, Martin felt as if his world was collapsing. Grasping the doctor’s shoulders, he pleaded, “Doctor, please, you must save her.”
The maid, Lana, was scared witless, fearing the blame would fall on her. She rushed to explain, “I didn’t see anything.”
Ever since Martin cut ties with his family, Florence was inconsolable and had gone home to recuperate.
“Mrs. Florence has been like a walking dead, numb and indifferent, sometimes even crying silently.”
“Today is your engagement party, and Mrs. Florence hasn’t slept since last night. She hasn’t had a bite to eat or a drop to drink all day, and at 7 p.m., she silently went back to her room.”
“We thought she was just tired and wanted to rest, but then there was this huge crash, and when we ran out, we realized that Mrs. Florence had jumped.”
Lana, bowing deeply, quickly added, “Mr. Martin, I truly had no idea Mrs. Florence would take her own life. If I had known, I would have stopped her by any means necessary, staying right by her side.”
She never imagined that when Florence argued with Martin and spoke in anger, she meant every word!
Florence had said that if Martin insisted on marrying Serena, she would jump into a river, off a building.
In short, she wanted to turn his joyful occasion into one of mourning.
She wanted to make him feel guilty for the rest of his life!
“When we found Mrs. Florence after she jumped, we immediately had the driver prepare the car and called for the master and Miss Diana. Mr. Ansel fainted on the spot when he saw Mrs. Florence’s condition, and Miss Diana ordered us to take Mrs. Florence and Mr. Ansel to the hospital, while she went to confront you on her own.”It was only moments ago, when Lana overheard Martin on the phone, that she learned Miss Diana had also been in an accident and was rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery.
“She’s on the twelfth floor in surgery. Wait there for her, and let me know the moment the surgery is over,” Martin instructed with exhaustion.
“Yes, sir,” Lana said quickly, bowing and retreating.
After a while, Martin received a video from one of his men.
“Mr. Martin, this is the road surveillance footage of Miss Diana’s car accident.”
Upon viewing the footage, Martin saw that on a mountain road, a truck driver seemingly fell asleep at the wheel, his vehicle swaying dangerously. Diana’s car was also speeding, and they were about to collide head-on.
Diana’s frantic honking woke the truck driver, who swerved sharply, slamming into the mountainside.
Diana, in an attempt to avoid him, crashed into the guardrail, and her car tumbled down.
“This is a photo from the scene of the accident.”
From the photo, Martin could see that Diana’s car was completely mangled.
His heart ached; if the car was in such a state, what were the chances she was unharmed?Martin watched the surveillance video and the scene photos over and over, his heart heavy with grief.
The despair and fear his sister must have felt as she fell.
Just then, his phone rang. It was Serena.
“Martin, how’s Mom?” Serena’s concerned voice came through the line. Serena, without a hint of blame, spoke with understanding, “I’ll come be with you after I’ve seen the guests off.”
“I’ve got to be the one to see the guests off. You can count on me, I won’t overdo it. I’ll be with you as soon as I can,” Serena said, understanding his need for her presence. “I know you need me right now, and with me by your side, things will seem a little easier.”
“Serena.” Martin’s eyes welled up with emotion, touched by her kindness.
“Just wait for me.” Serena ended the call, instructed a team of stylists to help her into a more glamorous wedding gown and adorned herself with a fresh set of sparkling jewelry before taking the stage to deliver her speech.
The guests had finished their meals and on their way out, each received a parting gift that was quite the token of appreciation.
Propped up by a support chair hidden beneath her wedding dress, Serena bid farewell to each guest.
Then, she had Dora help her into something more comfortable and set off for the hospital.
Meanwhile, Joyce was sharing her latest book obsession in a group chat with her besties.
“Ladies, I’m totally hooked on this novel ‘Chasing Love with Regret’! It’s a must-read. If you’re not into following serials, maybe wait until February 29th – the author says it’s wrapping up then.”
“I’m all caught up with the latest chapter,” Mya chimed in. “The mastermind still hasn’t shown up. The author mentioned that nobody in the comments has guessed it right. The real boss is going to be a total shocker. Joyce, who do you think it could be?”
“I just hope it’s not someone close to the heroine, or I’ll cry my eyes out!” Joyce couldn’t help but say. “I wish the author would drop the remaining chapters all at once. Two chapters a day is such a tease.”
“They probably have a rule about only releasing two chapters daily. But imagine if Bella gave it a glance. With her smarts, she’d guess the mastermind in no time. But with over a thousand chapters, Idoubt she has the time to catch up.”
“Who says?” Kelly responded. “Bella can speed-read like nobody’s business. What takes you ten days, she does in less than one. But yeah, she’s been swamped lately, hardly has a moment to herself.”
“That’s a shame. Hey Kelly, why don’t you give it a read and help me analyze who the mastermind could be?”
Mirabella was just about to reply to the chat when her phone rang.
“Boss, we’ve located Stinger. He’s at the airport with a fake identity, heading to Baradocia. His flight takes off in an hour.”
Catching him would be a whole lot harder once he left the country.
Mirabella stood up immediately and said, “Meet me at the airport.”
“Roger that.”
On the other side of town.
Serena had just arrived at the hospital when she received a message.
[I’m at the airport now.]
A triumphant glint flashed in Serena’s eyes as she replied, [Once the dust settles, I’ll let you know when to come back to the country.]
[Okay.]
She deleted the chat history and entered the emergency building.Martin rushed forward to ask, “How’s my mom doing?”
He saw his mother’s bruised face, her eyes closed, unconscious. In just a few days, she had become so gaunt.
New Book: Returned To Make Them Pay
On her wedding anniversary, Alicia is drugged and stumbles into the wrong room—straight into the arms of the powerful Caden Ward, a man rumored never to touch women. Their night of passion shocks even him, especially when he discovers she’s still a virgin after two years of marriage to Joshua Yates.