Chapter 213: ENCOUNTER IN THE HOSPITAL
"You are no longer a child, Carl. You are growing up, and you know life is not always beautiful." Laurel tried to choose her words carefully.
Carl had gone through so much, and she couldn’t blame him entirely for his involvement with the wrong crowd. Neither she nor James was there to be with him when they went through a nasty divorce.
Knowing James, he must have only made things harder for Carl, which pushed him away even more.
"What you have done hurt me; I feel that I’ve failed to be your mother." Laurel took his hand as he lowered his head to hide his tears, but they fell freely on the back of her hands. "I forgive you. I don’t think I am really angry with you, but I can’t stay in contact with you... for now."
Laurel felt a tightness in her throat; she was on the verge of tears as well. She wished it would end differently. She wished she could become wiser and grow as a person so she could accept him back into her life.
However, she couldn’t. She was only a human, and the pain of the betrayal was still fresh. It lingered at the back of her mind and echoed Carl’s resentment when he loudly said that she was not his mother.
Somehow, the words cut so deep, they left a scar that would never heal.
Laurel would only build up resentment towards Carl if she tried to keep him around, and it wouldn’t be good for both of them. She knew there would be a time she would finally snap and say hurtful things.
"For now, let’s live our lives without each other." Laurel caressed his hands. She realized they were big now. She used to hold his hands when he was little. He really did grow up. "The wound is still fresh, and it hurts to be around you."
Carl’s shoulders trembled as a whimper escaped his lips, realizing how much pain he had done to his mother. He couldn’t even say how sorry he was, because the words wouldn’t heal anything. He had said it a thousand times.
"But in the future, when both of us have healed from this, and if you still want a relationship with me, maybe we can try to start from the beginning." Laurel caressed his head gently and kissed his forehead. She cupped his face in both of her palms.
Laurel didn’t shut the door completely; she left a crack for them. She gave them time to heal.
"I hope by that time each of us can be a better person. How’s that?"
With the words said, Carl hugged Laurel tightly. He cried in her arms like when he was little and hurt, knowing that his mother was his safe place.
Meanwhile, Laurel held him, patting his back to give him some comfort. Her son was hurt, and it pained her as well.
They weren’t blood-related, but she loved him all the same. It was a pity that sometimes love was not enough...
***
"It’s just a normal fever," Ranon said, as they were done with the examination. He smoothed the crease between Hazel’s brows.
Strangely enough, it was Hazel who was more agitated, while Ranon was the calm one. He handled everything smoothly, while Hazel couldn’t stop fidgeting and tensed up when they took Ashlyn’s blood for a sample.
The little one was crying, and Hazel had this urge to snatch the syringe and stab it into the doctor’s hand. Thankfully, she didn’t act on her impulse.
Well, even though she was sedated most of the time when she gave birth to Ashlyn, she was still in pain at some point.
Therefore, given what she had gone through to bring this baby into the world, it was understandable if she was furious when someone hurt her.
At least, that was her logic.
Right now, Ashlyn was sleeping in her arms. They needed to be careful, and Hazel had to watch what she ate, since she was still breastfeeding her exclusively.
"I will handle the administration for a while. You can go to the lobby first; I have called the driver to pick you up there."
"Okay." Hazel nodded and then went to the lobby, but the car was not there yet, so she decided to sit down with her baby, watching her sleeping face. Ashlyn curled her little hands, and her lips were slightly ajar.
Hazel nudged her chubby cheek and frowned.
"You cause a ruckus in the early morning. I want to sleep a little bit longer, you know." She kept nudging her cheek until the baby furrowed her brows, and only then did she stop, afraid she would cry because Ranon was not around.
He was good at calming their baby. Hazel had to admit that Ranon handled their baby better than she did.
"We meet again!"
Hazel was startled and immediately looked up to see Rafael Scar. He was smiling harmlessly at her baby.
"What happened with Ashlyn? Is she sick?" Rafael asked in his cheerful tone, which sometimes made Hazel frown. Where did he get the energy to be so lively like that?
More so, the way he called her baby’s name, as if he were close and had met Ashlyn a few times, while this was their first encounter after she gave birth.
"She has a fever," Hazel replied lightly.
"Oh, poor little thing. I hope she will get better soon." Rafael looked around. "Are you alone?"
"No, my husband is handling the administration. He will be here soon." So, get lost. Hazel didn’t say the last words, though.
"I will visit within this week. Do you want something specific as a gift?" Rafael sat down next to Hazel, cozying up so they could have a longer conversation.
"No. There is no need for that." And you don’t need to visit us. Hazel kept adding the words in her head while maintaining a friendly smile.
"Okay." He agreed readily, but Hazel knew he would bring something. "Do you know that the candy shop where we met was on fire the same day of our encounter?"
"Yes, I saw it on the news." Here they were; he was treading a dangerous line again, like the last time they met in the hospital.
"What a pity. I like the candy shop. My niece has been crying because we can’t visit that place for the meantime, and she can’t get the candy she likes."
"The fire started so close to your visit; didn’t you notice something?" Hazel asked. As he brought up the topic, she wanted to know whether he had a hand in the incident. It wouldn’t be easy to get information from him, though.
"No, everything is fine. Thankfully, there is no victim." Rafael stared at Hazel meaningfully.
"Yes, thankfully, there is no victim."
"So, did you get the candy that you like when you visited?"
Hazel shifted her attention to her baby. "No. It was sold out." That was the same answer that she gave Nolu and Yara at that time.
"Have you been in contact with River lately?"
Hazel’s heart skipped a beat with this sudden question. He caught her off guard, but she regained her composure quickly.
"I don’t know what you are talking about."
"You visited the morgue a few weeks ago to see her body."
Hazel lifted her head and looked at him. There was no change in his expression, as if they were talking lightly about the weather. This man must have been a fox in his previous life. He was too cunning.
"The car is here; I will leave first. My husband is waiting for us." Hazel stood up; the car was there to pick her up, and they only needed to go to the other exit to pick Ranon up.
Hazel thought that Rafael would insist on her having this conversation, but he just waved his hand. "Take care. I will visit soon."
"Thank you." Now that Hazel thought about it again, of course, Rafael knew about her visit. This Central Hospital belonged to him now.
She considered changing hospitals to keep the medical record out of his reach, but then this hospital was the best in the country.
And it didn’t guarantee Rafael wouldn’t be able to get his hand on it, since it was still the same field.
What’s his deal?
"Something is bothering you?" Ranon asked when he took Ashlyn from Hazel’s arms after he got into the car. It was afternoon, and Hazel was hungry because she had skipped breakfast.
"No. I am just hungry."
Ranon chuckled and suggested that they stop at a restaurant, but Hazel wanted to go back home and put Ashlyn in her crib.
The baby was sick; she didn’t want to expose her more.
"You are a good mother." Ranon teased, and he leaned over to kiss her cheek.
However, Hazel didn’t think she was, because the reason she wanted to go back home immediately was to check on something.
She had hired someone to track down Arthur in another country, and she was expecting to receive the information today.
She wondered what her father was doing there. Did he run away?
"There are three candidates for a babysitter for Ashlyn. When do you want to see them?" Ranon remembered that Hazel was adamant about meeting them first.
"Now will be good."
However, when they reached home, Denzel had been waiting for them; of course, Ema tagged along too, and the old man was furious because they were going to hire a babysitter for Ashlyn.