The moment Charlotte entered the house, Fifi flew into her arms and knocked the wind out of her. “Mommy, Mommy!”
“Miss, you’re finally back!” Mrs. Berry flung down her mop and ran over to her. She grabbed Charlotte’s arm and said with tears in her eyes, “Oh, my poor dear, let me see where they injured you!”
“It was just a few injuries, nothing serious… Ouch!”
Charlotte had made to hug Mrs. Berry, but a dizzying pain in her shoulder prevented her from doing so. She looked down and winced.
“Mommy, hang in there!”
Fifi flew to land on Charlotte’s hair, nudging the woman’s head with her green one to comfort her.
“Fifi, my darling!” Charlotte reached up and patted the parrot gently on the head.
“Have a seat, come on!” Mrs. Berry steered Charlotte towards the sofa and made her sit down. “Poor girl. It’s been so many days! Why haven’t your wounds healed completely?”
“It’s fine. They’re starting to heal.” Beads of sweat appeared on Charlotte’s forehead. “Mrs. Berry, these are the medicine and vitamin supplements that the doctor gave me. Could you help me put them away? I’ll go and change my clothes in my room.”
“Are you sure you can manage by yourself? I can help you change.” The housekeeper looked uncertain.
“No, it’s alright! The school bus should be reaching soon. Why don’t you go and pick up the kids?”
“Oh, right. My memory sure is getting worse by the day. I’ll go once I put away these bags of medicine.”
Mrs. Berry helped Charlotte back to her room before she went and put everything away. Afterward, she headed downstairs with Fifi to pick up the kids.
Charlotte put on a set of home clothes with much difficulty. Just as she was about to take a sip of water, her kids ran into the house and started chirping noisily, “Mommy, Mommy, Mommy!”
“Hello, my darlings!” she cried. The three meatballs ran into her arms, knocking into her wound in the process. She had to bite down hard on her lip to make sure she didn’t cry out in pain.
“Oh my goodness, children, be more gentle!” Mrs. Berry admonished. “Your mother…”
“It’s alright, it’s alright.”
Charlotte shot a look at Mrs. Berry, warning her not to bring up her wounds to her children.
“Mommy, why are you sweating so much? Are you feeling uncomfortable?”
Robbie, her oldest, had excellent observation skills. He frowned when he realized that there was something off about his mother.
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