Novel Update
Chapter 120
The person on the other end of the phone was none other than the nurse from the hospital who hadn’t managed to catch up with Mirabella.
Mirabella halled a cab and made her way back to the hospital. Along the journey, Mandy bombarded her with a relentless stream of calls, but none of which she answered. Eventually. she simply blocked Mandy’s number.
“Ms. Mirabella, I am terribly sorry. I should have called you earlier to come pick up your belongings. I was caught up with something and couldn’t get around to it,” the nurse apologized, handing over a letter to Mirabella with a look of regret.
Mirabella took the letter with a courteous nod. “No problem, thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” the nurse replied with a smile. .
As Mirabella walked away with the letter, she paused and turned back to address the nurse “Can I ask if my grandmother was discharged on her own?”
The nurse shook her head. “I’m not sure about that. I was working the night shift. I wasn’t here this morning.” She paused and then offered, “Shall I ask one of my colleagues for you?”
A flicker of disappointment crossed Mirabella’s eyes, but she quickly shook her head and declined, “No, that’s alright,” before walking away. Please check at N/ôvel(D)rama.Org.
At the hospital’s garden, there were public benches where people could sit and enjoy the greenery. Mirabella found a spot on a bench and opened the letter.
[Mira, I have gone back to my hometown. You take good care of yourself and don’t worry about me. I’ll take good care of my health. I’m waiting for the day you bring home an international trophy.]
The content of the letter was brief, and the handwriting was far from beautiful. It bore the slow and rigid strokes of an elderly person. In the corner where the name was signed, there was a dry mark where a tear had once fallen.
A lump stuck in Mirabella’s throat as she could almost picture Catherine, her grandmother, writing this letter with a heavy heart and trembling hands. The days when they had only each other for company flashed before her eyes like scenes from a movie, bringing back a year of serene memories that stood out in her life.
Mirabella tilted her head back slightly. Her eyes fluctuated between clarity and dimness as the soft glow from a nearby streetlight cast a mix of warmth and solitude upon her face.
“That’s a rare expression on you.” Suddenly, a voice laced with teasing cut through the quiet. Mirabella slowly turned her head, and there he was: James, with his sharp features and lean figure, standing with his arms crossed and an air of nonchalance about him. She had no idea how long he had been there.
Mirabella’s brows furrowed slightly as she carefully folded the letter and asked, “What are you doing here?”
James raised an eyebrow playfully. “If I were not here, I would miss your rare moment of vulnerability, wouldn’t I?”
Mirabella stood up and moved closer to James. Her piercing eyes locked onto him, and her voice was tinged with an icy detachment. “Having trouble seeing things? Let me get closer so you can have a
good look.”
A smile flickered at the corner of James‘ mouth as he beheld the girl standing defiantly before him. Her proud stance was a stark contrast to the quiet figure seated on the bench moments earlier. He raised his hands in mock surrender, chuckling, “Okay, my bad. Wrong choice of words.”
Mirabella let out a soft scoff and turned away from him, but a thought suddenly raced through her mind. Abruptly, her gaze returned to James. There was a hint of suspicion in her voice, “Did you help my grandmother with her discharge from the hospital?”
She knew that when Catherine had previous heart trouble, it had been James who had brought her to the hospital. The idea that her grandmother could leave without a trace and that James might have had a hand in it seemed all too probable.