The reason he hated her
Noah rushed out of the car while carrying Ari in his arms. His face was pale, and his hands were trembling as he strode inside the hospital's corridor, he raised his voice and said, "Someone come and see what is wrong with my wife."
The nurses behind the nursing counter heard his shout and immediately peeked out of the counter. When an elderly nurse saw Noah rush inside the hospital, her eyes widened and she exclaimed, "Oh my! Please follow me, lay her down on the stretcher."
The elderly nurse ordered Noah. He followed her orders as he put Ari on the stretcher and no sooner did he put Ari on the stretcher, than the elderly nurse asked a young man to push Ari into the examination room, Noah was about to follow them, but the elderly nurse stopped him.
"Please wait here, Sir. Your wife is just unconscious, there is no need for you to worry, we will examine her and update you about her situation alright?" As she spoke, the elderly nurse went to look for a doctor who could check up on Ariana.
However, Noah was not paying attention to her. Instead, a word kept ringing in his ears.
"Worried? Who? Me?" He questioned no one in particular. There was no way he would be worried about that woman who ruined his life and even caused his grandmother to die!
Noah stood in the middle of the corridors, refusing to accept that he was worried about Ari.
"Why are you standing in the middle of the corridor like a frozen statue? Move aside." One of the nurses pushed Noah to one side and then walked away.
Because of the push, Noah stumbled, but he did not fall, he only moved a few steps back. If not for the fact that the current situation caused his mind to check out and left him as defenceless as an eleven-year-old child, Noah would have never allowed anyone to push him like that.
The memories of the past came surging in his head and tuned the noises of the hospital out.
***
Nineteen years ago,
"Noah!" Grandma Nelson clasped his wrist and pulled him away from the busy street. "How many times I have told you? You cannot move closer to the street where cars drive by."
"I am sorry, grandma…" Noah apologized with a pout. He pointed at his ball that had rolled from the park to the middle of the road. "I was only trying to get it."
The two of them were playing in the park and little Noah's ball had rolled to the street when he was playing.
Grandma Nelson sighed as she picked up her grandson in her arms and hugged him.
"Noah, regardless of anything, you should never go on the street without adult supervision, all right? We will pick up the ball when the traffic subsides a bit, all right?" Grandma Nelson spoke to Noah, who nodded in return.
'It's not going anywhere, I will get it for him once the traffic is a bit slow,' Grandma Nelson thought to herself.
She brought Noah outside with her without telling her daughter-in-law, Mia Nelson. If Mia was to find out that Grandma Nelson brought Noah out without bodyguards, her daughter-in-law would make another fuss.
Grandma Nelson was different from her daughter-in-law who took pride in being followed by several bodyguards. She didn't like being monitored all the time, and thus she snuck out of the house when no one was watching.
Noah also liked enjoying small adventures with his grandmother and never complained.
However, today, Grandma Nelson felt a need for a bodyguard. If she had brought one to least, she could have asked the bodyguard to pick the ball up.
Leaving the pavement, she walked through the cobblestone path inside the park and brought Noah to a slide. Seeing that no one was playing with the slide, Grandma Nelson said to Noah, "Come up, we will play here, alright? Once the street gets less busy, Grandma will pick up the ball for you."
Noah did not want to play on the slide, but he would rather not push his grandmother. He nodded obediently and then climbed the stairs with his grandmother helping him.
His grandmother kept an eye on him until he slid down before helping him up once again.
"I am not a kid, grandmother," Noah said to his grandma, even though he liked how she took care of him.
"You will always be a child in my eyes," Grandma Nelson reproached him slightly as she continued to hold his hand as he slid down the small slide.
A few minutes later, Noah started to enjoy the slide. His lips parted in a smile as he laughed in glee. Seeing him enjoy the ride, Grandma Nelson also smiled happily.
It was then that her gaze fell on a man wearing a mask and cap on his head, even his eyes were covered with sunglasses. At first, Grandma Nelson did not pay attention to him, she was not someone who would judge anyone, but then she saw the man pick up a girl sleeping against the tree trunk.
Earlier when she saw the little girl with beautiful cherry blossom hair, she thought that the girl was sleeping after horsing around the park, but now she had another suspicion.
Her suspicion got even stronger when she saw the child not even moving the slightest when the man with the mask picked her up. The girl didn't even steer! It was as if she were knocked out by a drug.
Grandma Nelson had seen numerous things in her life, and she knew what was going on in one glance. A glimmer flashed in her eyes as she walked towards the man instead of helping her grandson ride the slide.
"Grandma?" Noah turned to look at his grandmother. He followed his grandma's line of sight and saw a man picking and carrying a young girl away.
He was just a little boy, but even he could see that there was something wrong with that girl.
Noah heard his grandmother say, "Young man, please stop!"
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