“Has there been an update from Marino yet?” Zachary asked.
“Not yet… They’ve moved again after we went to see Dr. Felch. I think they’re avoiding us out of fear due to what happened two years ago. Marino is currently trying to find out about their whereabouts in Phoenix City. It’s Dr. Felch’s hometown, so they shouldn’t be far,” Ben replied.
“Try Olivia. She should still be in contact with Hayley,” Zachary said wearily while rubbing his forehead.
Ben gave him a worried look. “I’ve contacted Olivia through Peter yesterday, but Ms. Lindberg’s men have her heavily guarded. We’re unable to get anywhere near her. How about we head over to Serene Hospital and get you looked at, Mr. Nacht?”
Zachary closed his eyes and said, “What good are the doctors there if even Raina can’t do a thing about my condition? For now, just focus on finding and bringing Dr. Felch to me. He’s the only one who can fix this.”
“Yes, sir. In that case, I shall take my leave now.” Ben quickly turned around and left so as to not disturb him any further, only to see Cynthia approaching when he opened the door.
She was holding a bowl of herbal tonic in hand and flashed Ben a smile when she saw him.
Ben felt an inexplicable sense of unease when he looked at the bowl, but Zachary’s voice came from behind before he could question her about it. “Is the medicine ready?”
Cynthia then walked straight into the study room and closed the door behind her.
With a frown on his face, Ben was about to walk away when he heard something shattering inside the room, followed by the sound of Ellie crying.
“I don’t want to take this medicine! I want Mommy! I want Mommy!”
Ellie had knocked the bowl of medicine over and was crying for her mom.
Freya’s hand was scalded by the hot herbal tonic, causing her to lose her temper and lash out angrily, “Stop crying!”
Ellie froze and went pale as she stared at Freya in fear.
Realizing what she had done, Freya frantically tried to coax Ellie. “You have to take your medicine or you won’t get better, Princess Ellie. Come on, be a good girl and take your medicine, okay?”
Ellie’s eyes were filled with tears as she continued looking at Freya.
“I’m sorry I raised my voice earlier, Princess Ellie. It’s because my hand got scalded by the medicine. Here, can you see?”
Freya held her hand out and showed Ellie the huge red patch that had formed on her skin.
Ellie felt guilty when she saw it and was about to apologize when a figure appeared next to them and spun Freya around before slapping her hard across the face.
Smack!
Freya fell to the floor from the impact, but she didn’t dare get mad as she saw that it was Cynthia who hit her. “I’m sorry, Ms. Blackwood! I…”
“How dare you yell at Ellie like that? Who do you think you are? Get the hell out!” Cynthia signed aggressively at her.
“Yes, Ms. Blackwood!” Freya ran out of the room with her hands covering her teary face.
Cynthia then flashed Ellie a gentle smile and signed, “Did she scare you, Ellie?”
Ellie simply hugged her stuffed alpaca and curled herself up on the bed while trembling in fear.
“Don’t be scared, Ellie. I’ll have someone prepare a new bowl of medicine for you, so make sure you drink it, okay? You can’t get better if you don’t take your medicine!”
Cynthia gently ran her hand through Ellie’s hair before signing at the medical staff, ”Well? What are you waiting for? Go whip up another bowl!”
“Right away!” the medical staff replied and ran off to prepare the medicine.
“Now, now, stop crying and just take a nap while you wait. I’ll come keep you company after I feed your daddy his medicine, okay?”
Cynthia signed at her and got ready to leave when she saw Ben standing outside the door. ”Why are you still here, Ben? Aren’t you leaving for the office?”
“I’ll head out in a bit. I’m here to see Ellie,” Ben replied with a smile.
“She’s sick and should not be disturbed!” Cynthia signed quickly.
