Jack emphasized the last two words. It was as if he was scolding her.
Rachel studied his arrogant eyes and felt uneasy.
The uneasiness she felt was not because of Jack's threat. For some reason, she felt as though someone was laying a trap for her.
She wanted to get past Jack, but he got closer and kept pushing her forward.
Finally, she gave in. Fuming, she got into his car. She would just have to see what he was planning to do.
For the next few days, Jack's car arrived on her doorstep on time every morning. And this lasted for three days.
Also, Lucas called her from out of the blue, telling her that something urgent had come up. He said that he might be unable to come back in time.
Lea called Rachel and asked her whether Lucas had come back. Rachel had to tell her that his schedule was delayed. Lea breathed a sigh of relief and said, "That's good. I just returned to our hometown with my old man yesterday. My stepmother had an accident. I will not be back until a week or so."
Rachel was about to tell Lea what had happened between her and Jack these days, but she stopped when she heard this.
'Never mind. We can talk about it once she has returned. I don't believe that Jack will be my driver for another week,' she thought.
And she was right.
On the fourth day, Jack informed her that he would no longer come to pick her up.
She breathed a sigh of relief. She had survived these few nerve-wracking days and thought that her ordeal was over.
On the next two days that followed, Jack didn't show up. Rachel was in high spirits. When Dr. Wang had urgent matters to attend to, she agreed to swap schedules.
It was quiet during her duty that night. There was nothing else to do, and she had no operations scheduled. At nine o'clock, a nurse came by to tell her that Mendes was causing trouble again.
Celia had gone home from work, and the nurse she had hired could not comfort the boy. So she came to Rachel for help.
Rachel stood up and made her way to the ward. The nurse had taken Mendes near the door because the other patients could take no more of him. He had been making a scene.
When Rachel arrived, Mendes was in the arms of the nurse. He was crying hysterically. His chubby little face had gone red, and he choked as he cried and yelled for his mother.
This wailing saddened Rachel. Mendes, Celia's half-brother, was only five years old.
Rachel was one of the few people in the hospital who knew what had happened to their family. Celia's mother had been dead for less than three years when her father brought Mendes home.
One could only imagine how affected Celia had been by this. It was one of the reasons why she was so impatient with her little brother.
Not long after her father had brought Mendes home, he flew to South America to pursue his career.
It turned out that her father didn't like Mendes very much. While Celia felt a little better because of this, she couldn't help but pity the boy.
After Mendes broke his arm and was in hospital, their father had only visited for two days. Then, in a hurry, he had left them. It was as though he didn't care for his son at all.
This whole time, Mendes' mother had never shown up. Many times, Celia had expressed her anger toward the boy's irresponsible parents.
However, there was nothing she could do. She was a young girl herself, and it was impossible for her to take care of a kid.
For the time being, she had no choice but to leave Mendes in the hospital and have a nurse take care of him.
"Can you please take him outside?" someone in the ward asked, frowning. "He's being too noisy!"
Rachel and the nurse apologized before the former took Mendes to her office. "It's okay," she assured the nurse. "I'll take care of him. You can come by for him again later."
"Thank you very much!" the nurse said, relieved.
It took a long time for Mendes to quiet down. Rachel had tried her best to calm him, and both of her arms were now sore.
Now sufficiently tired, Mendes wiped the tears off his cheeks and said that he was hungry. "Let's get you all washed up first, okay?" Rachel said. She wanted him to look clean and presentable before his sister came.
The boy nodded obediently. She brought out a fresh towel and a small, clean basin from the cabinet. Then, she took the boy to the washroom. She used warm water to clean his face and hands.
Rachel then walked back to her office with the child. As they walked, she realized that they had made the floor wet and slippery. She turned to him and asked him to stay where he was and wait for her.
For some reason, Mendes was very quiet. He sat on the small office couch and said, "Please come back soon."
Rachel smiled and pinched his face, nodding.
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