Chapter 1885
After ensuring her friend Marlinie was snug under the covers, Bertha moved to the other bed to check on her daughter, Lea,
At that moment, Lea was deep in sleep, her brow furrowed in dream-induced concentration…
Bertha gently smoothed out the wrinkles on Lea’s forehead and slipped under the covers next to her, closing her eyes in an attempt to find her own sleep. Despite her earlier assurances, to Marlinie, words woven with solace and strength, Bertha found herself besieged by her own tempest of thoughts. Her concerns were tethered to her husband, Thaddeus, whose well-being in the police station was a question mark in her mind.
He was notoriously hard to please and his temper was as unpredictable as a spring storm. She dreaded the thought of him causing trouble for the officers.
Tossed by restless thoughts, Bertha sat upright and glanced at the clock. Dawn had broken; she decided to freshen up and fetch some breakfast for Marlinie and Lea.
Sliding into her shoes and jacket, she approached the door, only to be greeted by the rhythmic knocking of Ellinor.
Bertha was taken aback, “Ellinor, what brings you here so early?”
Ellinor was not by herself. She was cradling Baber in her arms.
Baber had been startled awake by a nightmare and couldn’t get back to sleep, so she decided to take her for a walk to distract him and to check on her mother.
“My little one has been injured and is now admitted here; sleep evaded me, so I thought to visit my mother. ” Ellinor responded.
Bertha’s heart ached at the sight of Baber, “What befell him? Poor boy!”
Ellinor decided to shield her mother from further worries, so she conjured an innocent explanation, “Just a minor tumble. Bertha, is my mom still asleep?” Bertha glanced back at the sleeping Marlinie and hushed Ellinor with a finger to her lips, ” She has only just slipped into sleep; let her rest. I was about to gather breakfast from the hospital restaurant. Why don’t you join me? We can pick up something for you and Baber too!”
Ellinor gazed into the room, seeing her mother at peace, and accepted Bertha’s offer with a simple, “Okay.”
After closing the door behind them, they stepped into the elevator.
Ellinor had draped her jacket over Baber to protect him from the chill.
“Bertha, you’ve said my mother has only just found sleep. Has she been struggling with it?” inquired Ellinor.
Bertha shifted her gaze to Ellinor, debating whether to let her in on Marlinie’s troubles. After a moment’s hesitation, she decided Ellinor should know. “Initially, your mother was startled awake by a nightmare. Then, she encountered someone whose presence she wished to escape, which revived a host of sorrowful memories.”
Ellinor’s brow furrowed, “Who did she not want to see?”
Bertha sighed, “Who else but that man from the Howard family, your biological father. Somehow, he found your mother’s room and had a few words with her, which upset her greatly!”
It was McNeil!
A frown creased Ellinor’s forehead; she remembered seeing McNeil when she was heading to the room earlier!
