Frank shook his head with a plastered smile. "No, come on. She is just mad at everything. She doesn't mean what she said, please. That was not stated in the agreement." He pleaded.
Adrian's face turned to a scowl. "Who the hell is talking about a freaking agreement here?! Didn't you just hear her?" He paused for effect. "Well, whatever. It's three days, and that is final! If they insist on being here till the next two weeks, or they wanna drag the matter to court, then it is their freaking business." He muttered, stomping away.
April stared at him with loathing and hatred. Why did he seem to be after her life? Why did she feel deep down in her guts like he wanted something from her? He had a girlfriend already after all or did he still like her?
She was about to go after him and give him a piece of her mind when her phone rang. It was Jorge. "Hey, April. Where are you? I heard you have been released" his voice was sober.
She let out a sigh first. "I just got home actually. How are you? Is there a problem? Have you been crying?" she quizzed.
"Come to the hospital quickly. Maya has an emergency. I think Lana Hayes must have pulled some dirty strings."
April didn't wait to hear the rest of what he was saying before dashing forward, but Ned held her.
"What is the problem? Talk to me first." He urged.
April could barely breath as she was in a high state of panic. "Jorge.... Jorge just called. Jorge.... said.... Leave me Ned." She tried to pull herself away from his grip as she could barely get the words out of her mouth.
"You can't just rush out like that when my scooter is here, and I wouldn't move it either if you don't tell me what is happening." He told her. "Please take a deep breath, okay? Don't get so worked up."
"Save me the pep talk, Ned. How am I supposed to take a deep breath when I have no idea if my sister is still breathing or not? Jorge just called to say Lana Hayes tried to hurt her and she is in an emergency."
"What?" Ned exclaimed. He didn't stand to hear further, quickly he hurried over to his scooter with April at his tail.
"What is happening? Someone tried to harm your sister?" Frank asked after them, but they barely heard him. Well, Adrian did, as he hadn't gone far yet. He jogged over to them before Ned kicked his scooter.
"What the hell did I just hear? Lana Hayes did what?" he inquired.
They shot him daggers with their glares. "Stay away." Ned growled. "I swear, if anything happens to her, I would make sure I sue you and your girlfriend, including your hospital with my last blood." He swore.
"I am so sorry about this. Please, why don't you come take my car instead? I promise, I would make sure we get to the root of this matter. But for now, come take my car. It is way faster." He pleaded.
April was surprised at his sudden change of demeanor. Wasn't he the one yelling and growling like a lion just the previous moment? She wondered. Ned agreed anyways, and together, they both made for his car, leaving Frank behind. From the tail of her eyes, she saw another guy join Frank just as she entered the car, and Frank frantically waved something in the air as he ran to them. It had to be the key to the new lock that was added to the door. Well, that didn't matter now. She thought as Adrian started the car and sped off. They managed to put on their seatbelts in the eerie awkward silence and tension.
The hospital staff and some others were surprised to see the trio dashing into the lobby and then the elevators. By the time they made for Maya's room, she was in coma already and was being pulled on a gurney for an emergency operation.
"What is happening?!" Adrian and April quizzed in unison, totally out of breath. Dr. Patrick, the doctor in charge of her could be sighted amongst them. He held an AED machine in hand and was sweating heavily. He urged the others to take her to the OR quickly.
"She almost passed out." he told April and Adrian. "We just managed to resuscitate her, and efforts are being made to stop her bleeding. An emergency surgery is about to be performed, so hopefully, she would be alright." He explained, rushing off to join them as he spoke. Adrian went after him too, while April followed behind him, but he ordered her to stay back and wait as she was in no position or state of mind to be in any ward to talk of an OR.
Ned held April's hand as she leaned against him. "I don't know what to do, Ned. Why do you think all of this is happening at once?" she cried. He said nothing, but merely patted her back.
"It's gonna pass and it would become history. She will be fine." He comforted her. "By the way, where is your dad?" he asked.
"I don't care." She retorted. Her dad had disappointed her big time. How on earth could he have gone behind her back to sell the house, and why did it have to be his jerk of a friend, Frank, who ran the whole deal? To think that the original buyer was Adrian even made it more sickening. She felt so deeply hurt as the house held memories of her mother as well as her childhood memories, and now, thanks to some people's wickedness and greed, they were losing it. Even now, she was also losing her sister. Her tears flowed the more, as her mind kept going wide. She cried on till she fell asleep without realizing it. By the time she opened her eyes, Ned was no longer there. Seated by her side was Adrian, and she blinked severally to be sure of where she was. Because one thing was sure, this wasn't the waiting room where she and Ned had been. This had to be Adrian's office.
"What am I doing here? Where is Ned?" she sat up to realize she was seated on a plush sofa. "How on earth did I get to your office?" she queried.
Adrian stared at her calmly with a wan smile. "Breathe. It's not like I am going to kill you or eat you up. Something urgent came up, and Ned had to leave. You dozed off crying, and he pleaded with me to look after you."
She stared at him with disbelief. There was no way in the world Ned would make such a dumb statement to him, not after all what he had pulled, and was still about to pull so far. "Really? And you just expect me to believe you, huh?" she asked, rising to her feet. They held each other's gaze for a fleeting moment and April felt butterflies in her tummy. Why was he staring at her that way. Did he like her? Or did he feel sorry for her? Should she ask him who the cleaner's son was, and why Lu was with the bracelet? No. She refrained, shaking her head to shake off the thoughts.
There was no way she could be here for a moment longer. Staying with a lion or a snake that appeared to be calm was a very dangerous thing. "Where is my sister? Is she okay? Tell me you guys haven't killed her yet." She demanded impatiently.
"You need to be calm, okay? Your sister is fine. The surgery was successful and we were able to stop the bleeding." He assured her.
She gave him a rueful stare and headed straight for the door when they heard a deep gruff voice outside, approaching the office. He quickly pulled her back. "Hold on. Don't go out just yet." He warned, dragging her to the small store in the office as he shut the door.