Chapter 221: A Possibility

Since Hyson was sulking under the blanket, Raelle was left with nothing to do except for keeping an eye on the watch to see how long will it take for Hyson to start talking again. And as always, it didn't even take more than 5 minutes before pushed the blanket away and breathed heavily.

"It was hot inside," he said while fanning his face. "I almost suffocated." He pointed at her, "Go and get me some ice cream."

"Haven't you eaten enough ice when you fell?"

Hyson's lips twitched as he glared at her, "That's not funny! I could have died out there."

"It's good that you know that you could have died out there," replied Raelle. 

Hyson made a sound before saying, "Can't you just get me ice cream? That's the only thing I ask of you always."

"And I always pay for your ice creams," said Raelle. It had become a kind of a tradition between them now. Hyson always wanted ice cream when she was around and she was always the one who had to pay for it. But once he got his ice cream, he'd certainly forget all about this best friend who paid for it.

"So? You're rich!" 

Raelle nodded in agreement, "Since you always say I'm rich, why don't you do something about it?"

"Huh?" Hyson was confused by her words.

"If people have someone rich in their life, they'd love to use that person or his influence. What is wrong with you? Why can't you just use my name?"

Hyson frowned at her, "It's a friendship, not a transaction. Between you and me, it has never been about giving and taking. Our relationship is far above it. I am proud of you. I'm proud to have you as my best friend, as my family. But I don't want to feel like I'm using you. It might make me despise myself."

"Only you think something will change between us," she told him. "Forget it, tell me if you need anything else other than ice cream. What do you want to do?"

"Nothing," he replied in a small voice. "Ellie, have you talked to my mum?"

"I didn't tell her anything."

"I know. I'm just asking, have you talked to her?"

Raelle gave him a nod, "Yes, I just talked to her this morning. Why?"

"Did you notice something different about her?" Hyson looked quite serious when he questioned her. He had felt like his mother was feeling down when he talked to her last night. But he had always been over-sensitive when it came to his mother that's why he wanted to hear her opinion. After all, Raelle was better at reading people through the smallest of changes in them.

"She looked depressed and confused," answered Raelle honestly.

Hyson almost jumped up when he heard that, "So, I wasn't wrong!" He bit his nails as he thought about it, "Do you think someone hurt her?"

"There is a possibility."

"Right? Who really hurt her?"

"I said it's a possibility. There is also a possibility that nothing happened."

Hyson glanced at her, "But my heart is telling me that something is wrong with her. Something's bothering her."

"Your heart?" repeated Raelle. "When did it learn to talk? And it's even holding conversations with you? That's marvelous."

"Remind me why we are friends."

"Why? Did you lose your memory?"

Hyson opened his mouth to retort but the doctor came in and he held himself back. The doctor glanced at Raelle and asked, "Are you with him?"

"I am," she answered. Looking at him, she added, "We are family."

Hyson's lips curled up at that remark.

The doctor asked her to come to a side as he had something to discuss. Hyson could see that something was wrong. He just glanced at Raelle who gave him a look before she followed the doctor out. 

From a young age, Hyson had realized one thing. He hated seeing tears in his mother's eyes. And so, he did everything in his power to make sure that his mother wouldn't cry because of him. When he was young, he got injured in a fight and his mother could neither eat nor sleep in worry. From then on, he promised himself to never let her see his pain.

He was just a kid but he mentally started hypnotizing himself with the same words, 'There is no such thing as pain.' This one sentence ended up being engraved on his soul. Now, he really didn't pretend, his brain truly didn't believe in pain any longer.

A child's mind is like a blank page. That's why they say, childhood shapes a person's future. Just like that once the same child goes through childhood trauma, it's almost impossible to change it.

Hyson changed the meaning of pain for himself from a young age. It was indeed his childhood that shaped him into what he was today. That's why, right now, it was difficult for him to tell the extent of his own injuries.

Raelle came back to the room and found Hyson staring at her, "What is it?"

"You need to have surgery," replied Raelle.

"Really?" Hyson's brows raised up in surprise. "Why? I think I'm doing quite well."

"They found internal bleeding in your abdomen," answered Raelle. "They knew the internal injury was serious but they didn't expect it to start bleeding. Get ready for the surgery. It isn't severe for now but the surgery is necessary."

"Is it really that serious?" he asked and placed his hand over his stomach. "No wonder I thought something was weird when I was eating."

Raelle took out her phone and made a call, "Cloe, where are you?"

"Chief, I was just about to call you," said Cloe. "I found her." 

"Good," replied Raelle. "Hold her tight. I'll be right there." Then she turned to Hyson and said, "I have to go now but I'll be back soon. I won't tell your mother about this but Opa will come to see you."

Hyson looked at her, dispiritedly, and nodded, "Okay!"

Raelle turned to leave but not before telling him, "Don't get any ideas here. I'll be back before your surgery starts. Just take care of yourself while I take care of some matters."

After she walked out, Hyson looked heavenwards and clasped his hands together to pray, "I pray for your poor soul whoever is at the mercy of my Elle. After all, she doesn't have a thing like mercy in her."

....

On Cloe's side, she was looking for Xu Hua and surprisingly caught her right outside Amiah Jade's apartment building. Although it seemed like she was here to look for help, it didn't matter because she walked right into her cage.

"Miss Jones," started Amiah while patting Xu Hua's shoulder. "We are all civilized people. Let's discuss it peacefully."

"Miss Jade, the only reason I'm not touching you is your brother. Don't force my hand."

"Then for my brother's sake, let her go. Her whole career is before her. She is young and made a mistake on impulse. You shouldn't be too hard on her. Besides, didn't you already shut down the production? Isn't that enough?"

Cloe was looking at her nails while yawning as if she was so bored of this lecture that it was putting her to sleep. 

"That isn't enough for me," answered Cloe without any hesitation. "The main culprit is here. How can I let her go?"

"She is young," repeated Amiah.

"How young is she? Is she capable of thinking on her own? Is she capable of making her own decisions? If yes, then she needs to learn her lesson. And if no, then I must ask you why the hell did you allow such a young person to join your crew?"

"We are all humans. We all make mistakes," argued Amiah. "When you first started your job, you must have also made a lot of mistakes."

"I did," agreed Cloe. "And my Chief always punished me for those mistakes as well. Although we all are human. That's no excuse to play with someone's life."

"I only wanted him to lose his way, I didn't mean to hurt him," said Xu Hua from behind Amiah.

Cloe snorted at that, "Are you trying to tell me you knew nothing about what will happen if he lost his way? In a forest that was known as a dangerous one? And you're telling me you knew nothing about the snowstorm as well? Are you that naive or do you think I'm that naive?"

Amiah stepped up and asked Xu Hua to stay quiet as she faced Cloe, "Miss Jones, let's face the truth rationally. Hyson didn't get hurt. He is safe now. You can't punish someone over a possibility that didn't even happen."

"Oh?" responded Cloe. She held both of their wrists and dragged them to the road and pushed them right in front of a car. Looking at the fast speeding car that rushed towards them, both Amiah and Xu Hua were stunned and even forgot to pry their arms out of Cloe's grip and run.