Chapter 46: Little Liar!
When Rebecca arrived at the hospital, Alexa had already taken her medicine and was getting ready for sleep.
After marrying Frederick, the hospital had moved Alexa from a regular ward in the inpatient department to a special care room.
The environment was several times better than before.
Not only that, Frederick had also arranged for a dedicated caregiver to look after Alexa.
The last time they met, Alexa had been acting crazy - either yelling at the nurse giving her an IV, accusing her of having bad intentions and trying to harm her, or pointing at Rebecca saying "you ruined this family and killed my husband."
But this time, Alexa was able to quietly follow the nurse's instructions to take medicine and get injections.
Even though she still didn't remember Rebecca.
After helping Alexa brush her teeth and wash her face, then coaxing her to get under the covers and sleep.
Rebecca leaned over the table and finished her homework under the dim floor lamp, then slept on the sofa.
Sleeping beside her mom, even on a sofa, Rebecca felt completely at ease.
She slept soundly through the night.
When the alarm went off, Rebecca went to the hospital cafeteria to get breakfast and came back to eat with Alexa before waving goodbye.
"Mom, I'll come back after school to keep you company!"
Walking out of the inpatient building, the cold wind hit her, and Rebecca quickened her pace toward the bus stop.
During rush hour, the subway was packed like a can of sardines.
She was squeezed and swaying all over, using all her strength just to hold onto the handrail with one arm.
This was an experience she'd never had in the past 20 years.
She felt a pang of sadness starting to well up, but then thinking about how life, which had hit rock bottom, was slowly getting better - she could go to school without worry and spend evenings with Alexa - Rebecca felt that this bit of hardship wasn't much at all.
For two days in a row, after school she'd first go back to her dorm to change books, then go to the student cafeteria to eat.
After eating, she'd go to the library to finish her homework, which happened to avoid the evening rush hour, then Rebecca would take the subway to the hospital.
Thinking that this would be her life from now on, Rebecca felt quite happy.
Frederick's mood was not so good.
In the Facebook chat box, their conversation had ended on Monday night.
After that, Rebecca seemed to have forgotten he existed.
As if that "honey" she'd said that night was something he'd imagined.
He wanted to reach out to her, but didn't know how.
Before even starting, Frederick had already imagined Rebecca's relieved "Good night, Frederick."
At least tomorrow would be Friday!
But thinking about tomorrow being Friday only made time pass even more slowly.
Glancing at the deep black outside the window, Frederick grabbed his car keys and headed out.
The Maybach drove straight to the hospital.
The doctors were professional, the nurses responsible, and the caregiver was flawless.
After asking detailed questions and getting back in the car, Frederick felt much more relaxed as he typed a message: [Rebecca, I went to see Mom, she's doing really well.]
Before sending the message, he looked up and saw Rebecca walking into the inpatient building with her backpack.
He deleted the message and sent a new one: [Where are you?]
A few seconds later, Rebecca replied: [I'm doing homework at the library.]
Little liar!
Not angry at all, Frederick seemed to have gotten used to her little lies.
His mind was full of the image of standing at the bottom of the steps in a moment, seeing her face full of embarrassment and awkwardness from being caught in a lie. A smile rippled through Frederick's eyes.
The slow-moving time wasn't torturous at all now that he had someone to wait for.
Ten o'clock.
Ten thirty.
Seeing that she wouldn't make it back before lights out, Frederick got out of the car and headed toward the ward.
The lights in Alexa's room were already off.
His eyes paused slightly. Thinking she had already taken a taxi back alone, Frederick's regret was just surfacing when he heard that soft voice from inside the room, "Mom, good night..."
So she was staying here tonight?
Thinking of something, Frederick's expression instantly darkened.
Turning to leave, Frederick made a call, "Mike, find out what's going on and get back to me as soon as possible!"
"Yes!"
By the time Frederick walked back to his car, Mike had already found out.
In the night, the Maybach seemed to carry its own murderous aura as it roared toward Empire University.