Recognizing Adrian Xavier’s voice, Bella Jefferson’s temper flared.
“There are plenty of doctors at the hospital.
You can look for them.”
The other end of the line fell silent.
Assuming he had hung up, Bella was just about to put her phone down when a child’s weak voice suddenly came through.
“Daddy, did we disturb Miss Bella?
Is that why she’s angry?”
Then came Adrian’s voice, coaxing the child.
He sounded incredibly patient and full of tenderness.
The fog in Bella’s brain cleared completely.
The irritation she had felt just moments ago subsided significantly at the sound of Sarah Xavier’s voice.
She felt a strangely deep ache for this child.
Even though she was the child of Adrian and another woman, hearing the little girl blame herself made Bella’s heart instantly soften.
Unable to help herself, she chimed in to comfort her.
“Miss Bella isn’t angry.
I just thought it was a spam call, so I spoke a little too loudly.”
“A spam call?” Adrian let out a short, exasperated laugh.
“It seems Miss Jefferson is quite popular, getting harassed late at night so often.”
Bella was just about to curse him out when she heard Sarah cough twice.
“What’s wrong with the child?” she asked anxiously.
She quickly sat up in bed, the unease in her chest prompting her to start changing her clothes.
The crisp sound of Adrian patting the child’s back reached her ears.
“She must have caught a chill from the wind.
She has a slight cough and a low-grade fever.”
Hearing this, Bella frowned, and words of reproach blurted out.
“Her condition is already precarious.
Do you have any idea what a fever and cough could do to her body right now?”
“I know…”
“If you knew, why did you let her stand in the wind?” Bella interrupted, her tone fierce.
“Miss Bella, it’s not Daddy’s fault.
It’s because Sarah was naughty and went outside that she got sick.”
The soft, weak childish voice was laced with guilt.
Bella couldn’t bear to say anything more.
Ultimately, she let out a helpless sigh.
“Send me the location.
I’ll head over right now.”
A location pin quickly popped up on her phone.
Worried about Sarah’s condition, Bella finished changing, grabbed her car keys, and hurried out the door.
***
Cloudcrest Villa was Adrian’s private residence, sprawling across the highest mountainside in the city.
By the time Bella arrived, forty minutes had already passed.
Nancy Monroe had been waiting at the entrance and personally came over to open the car door for her.
“Miss Sarah is on the second floor.
I’ll take you up.”
Bella stepped out of the car.
However, she was in no mood to admire the mansion right now.
She followed Nancy into the villa and was led up to the second floor.
The moment she stepped into the room, she saw two doctors standing by the bed.
Her mind filled with doubt.
A couple of days ago, she had heard that Adrian had brought Sarah home to recuperate.
She wondered why he had insisted on calling her over when there were already doctors present in the house.
“Mr.
Xavier, Miss Jefferson has arrived,” Nancy reported, snapping Bella out of her daze.
The group gathered around the bed, including Adrian, all turned to look at her.
The two doctors even took the initiative to step aside and make room.
Bella approached the bed.
This was the second time she had seen Sarah.
The last time, in the emergency room, the child had been unconscious with an oxygen mask over her face.
She had only been able to see her tightly shut eyes and pale little face.
Now, the child was awake.
Her face was flushed from the fever, and her tear-stained eyes looked like obsidian dipped in clear water—so pure they could reflect a person’s silhouette.
The light fell into her pupils, refracting into scattered gleams like a floor covered in crushed stars.
Just one glance was enough to stir a deep sense of pity and affection in Bella’s heart.
Unable to hold back, she reached out and touched the little girl’s forehead.
The fever wasn’t dangerously high, but her skin was still quite hot to the touch.
One of the doctors said, “Miss Sarah’s fever peaked at 38.2 degrees Celsius.
She has a mild cough and a runny nose.
We tried to give her an injection earlier, but she refused.”
The other doctor chimed in, “We’re currently using physical cooling methods, but the effect is minimal.
We just took her temperature, and it’s still at 38 degrees.”
Bella smiled gently.
“Tell Miss Bella, why won’t you let them give you the injection?”
Sarah lowered her head, tears welling in her eyes.
“Injections hurt.
Sarah is scared of the pain.”
Bella’s heart clenched.
Her gaze swept over the back of the little girl’s hand.
The needle marks seemed even more numerous than the last time she saw them.
Although the surrounding bruises had faded somewhat, they were still a shocking sight.
Endless cycles of medication, treatments, and injections since childhood had clearly left a trauma in the child’s mind.
It was only normal for her to be afraid.
Bella felt a severe lump in her throat, her breathing growing heavy.
Her eyes brimmed with heartache as she softly coaxed, “Then Miss Bella will do it very gently for you, okay?”
The thin, tiny hand was freezing cold, completely devoid of warmth.
Bella felt another sharp prick in her heart, and even her nose began to sting with unshed tears.
The air conditioning in the room was on, keeping the temperature comfortable, and the child was currently running a fever.
So why were her hands so icy?
Instinctively, Bella wrapped both of her hands around the little girl’s, trying to transfer her own body heat to her.
After resuscitating her the other day, Bella had prescribed medication to control Sarah’s condition.
Those meds couldn’t be mixed with other drugs.
Now that she had a fever, an IV drip was the only option to bring her temperature down.
Bella had expected Sarah to resist.
To her surprise, the little girl gave a cautious nod.
“Then…
can Miss Bella tell me a story while giving me the injection?”
Bella froze, not quite understanding why the child would make such a request.
Beside them, Nancy explained, “Miss Sarah said that in the emergency room that day, Miss Jefferson told her a story, and she instantly stopped being afraid.
Tonight, she was the one who asked for Miss Jefferson to come over.”
“Watch your mouth!” Adrian scolded sharply.
Suddenly, everything made sense to Bella.
It turned out Adrian had called her over specifically because Sarah had asked for her.
During that resuscitation, Sarah’s vital signs had been perilously weak.
Panicking, Bella hadn’t known what else to do, so she had started reciting the stories she used to read aloud during her pregnancy for her own daughter’s prenatal education.
She never expected that Sarah had actually heard her.
“Miss Bella, the story you told was really good,” Sarah said with a small smile.
Her smile was truly beautiful.
Her eyes curved into little crescents, and faint dimples appeared on her cheeks.
Bella’s heart melted completely, and she agreed in a gentle voice.
“Alright, then I’ll tell you more of the story of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.”
Sarah blinked, her face filled with anticipation.
“Miss Bella is so gentle,” she thought.
“Just like the mommy in my dreams.
She holds my hand tightly and tells me stories.
With Miss Bella here, I’m not afraid anymore.”
Seeing the child staring at her so intently, Bella was momentarily dazed as thoughts of her own daughter surfaced.
A sudden tightness gripped her chest, and even her voice grew slightly hoarse.
The entire room was unbelievably quiet, with nothing but the sound of her telling the story.
Halfway through the tale, Bella picked up the syringe and prepared to administer the injection.
Sarah instinctively shrank back, her tiny body slowly curling up as fear flooded her clear eyes.
Suppressing the emotions churning within her, Bella comforted her, “Miss Bella’s injections don’t hurt.
Are you willing to trust Miss Bella, Sarah?”