Chapter 12

Jason Stokes:

I slept in the room that was next to Lexi's room that night and had Maxwell's voice through the wall.

Hunger woke me up the next morning and I left my room to get some breakfast.

A beautiful young lady that I sighted some seconds ago ran into me and instead of saying sorry, she ran to her bag, which had fallen out of her hand.

"Are you okay?" I asked her and she turned pale upon hearing my voice.

"I'm sorry," she pleaded tremblingly when she looked at my face.

"About you bumping into me? It's okay. Let me help you with this," I said. I was trying to act like a gentleman, but she kept staring at me. "Is something on my face?" I asked her.

"No," she replied with a shake of her head, "I just can't believe that you're the one standing in front of me. Thanks, but I think that I can do it myself."

"Okay," I replied and left her to her papers. A few seconds later, my phone rang inside my pocket and I picked it up; it was Carl Parker.

"Good morning, sir," Carl said.

"Hey Carl. Good morning," I replied, "You have found Lexi Ryan?" I asked hopefully.

"Absolutely yes and not only her," he replied proudly, "I'm going to send you a fifty-page file that I worked on during the night."

"About Lexi Ryan?"

"And other people."

"Okay," I replied and sighed, "I'm expecting the file."

"Alright sir," he said, and I hung up the phone.

Lexi Stokes:

Someone knocked on my hotel door and I wondered if Jason had finally found us. I checked the person through the peephole and saw a woman who was looking in every direction as if she just robbed a bank.

"Fucking reporter" I murmured

I slightly opened the door and looked at her She extended her hand for a handshake and said "Nice meeting you, Mrs. Stokes. I'm Carmella Hart."

I ignored her hand and said, "I'm not ready to answer any questions."

She looked at me strangely for some seconds before saying "I'm not a reporter"

"And who are you?"

"Carmella Hart"

I hissed and closed the door. She started knocking on the door "Mrs. Stokes! Mrs. Stokes!"

I walked to where the hotel phone was, and I was about to call the hotel when her statement stopped me "I'm here because of your husband. His life might be in danger"

I thought about her statement for almost a minute before heading back to the door. I opened the door with the thought that she was still standing in front of it, but she was not, she was gone.

I ran out of the room without caring that I was still in my night gown and finally saw her.

"Hey" I called and waved at her. She turned back and followed me back to my room "Coffee?" I asked her when she sat down.

"No, thank you. I'm okay"

She looked tensed.

"You said my husband's life might be in danger" I said after a prolonged silence.

She sighed and brought out a file, "Yes."

"How?"

"Everything started a long time ago. About twenty-seven years ago."

I frowned my face, "I don't understand."

"You will. Just give me thirty minutes of your time."

"Okay."

She sighed heavily and handed me a black and white picture of some nurses. She got out of her seat, stood in front of me and pointed at a young woman among the nurses "This is Joanna Hart. She was a cancer patient. She died some months ago"

"My condolence"

"Thank you. She worked as a nurse some years back before leaving the country"

"What does she have to do with this?"

"Everything" she replied "She worked at St Patrick's hospital for ten years before she resigned and left the country...forever. Some months before she left, she was Ariana Stokes personal antenatal nurse"

Ariana Stokes was Jason's mom name. I frowned upon hearing this and got more interested in the story "And she was one of the nurses that helped her during her labor"

She took the picture from my hand, went to the file that was on the table and took another picture which she handed to me. The same woman was carrying a beautiful baby

"This is her son, Casper Hart, he is my husband"

"Oh..." I said surprisingly because Carmella Hart didn't look like a married woman She took the picture from my hand and handed me another where the same woman was standing beside a man that was smiling at the camera "This is Noah Morrison, he is a sonographer, he died some years ago. Noah became Joanna manfriend after Joanna and her husband divorced due to her barrenness. And they were like that for years. Joanna like most barren women have given up hope of becoming a mother and one day, there came an opportunity for her. Ariana Stokes showed up in the hospital with her bump. During the time, the Stokes weren't that rich or popular and no one ever thought that they were going to be that rich. Noah was the hospital sonographer at the time. At her pregnancy's early stage, Noah saw only one embryo but after some weeks, when Ariana showed up for another ultrasound, he noticed another embryo"

"Are you saying what I'm thinking?"

"Absolutely" she replied and nodded her head "And Noah didn't tell Ariana Stokes about it"

She took the photo from me and handed me another photo. Two men were smiling at the camera "The man by the right is Noah, Noah Morrison"

"Yeah, I see that" I said with a nod of my head "And the man on the left is Dr McCarthy. He died in a plane crash about fifteen years ago. He and Noah were childhood friends, and he was also working in the hospital at the time