As morning broke, Charlotte was still slumbering away. Ellie barged into the room and leaped into her
arms.
“Ellie!” Charlotte awoke with a shock. Before she could react, Ellie cupped her face and peppered it
with kisses. Charlotte’s face dripped with saliva as Ellie exclaimed, “I missed you so much, Mommy!”
“I missed you too! My good girl, I won’t leave you again.” Charlotte hugged Ellie tightly.
“Boohoo, you must keep your promise, Mommy.” Ellie’s mouth puckered into a pout as tears filled her
eyes. “If you leave me again, I will ignore you.”
“I didn’t leave you. I was just late and didn’t manage to fetch you.” Charlotte cradled Ellie’s chubby
cheeks as she anxiously explained, “I’m sorry. Please don’t be angry with me, okay?”“Hmph!” Ellie
turned her head away and went on pouting. “I’ll only forgive you if you make me bread!”
“Sure, I’ll go and make your bread now.” Charlotte quickly climbed out of bed.
“Mommy, Mommy…” In the opposite room, Jamie’s urgent voice called out, “Take me to see Mommy,
Robbie!”
“Give me a second. The doorbell rang. Let me see who’s here.”
Robbie put on his shoes and went to open the door.
“Ellie, how about we go see Jamie?” Charlotte lifted Ellie and strode out the door barefooted.
One of Ellie’s arms circled Charlotte’s neck, while the other arm gestured towards Jamie. “We’re
coming, Jamie!”
“Mommy…” Jamie spread his arms and screamed for Charlotte.
“Mommy! Dr. Howard and the nurses are here!” Robbie yelled from the living room.
“Good morning!” the doctor and nurses greeted Charlotte.
“Good morning, please come in.” Charlotte greeted them in return.
“Oh, come down Ellie. Your Mommy’s waist is injured. She can’t carry anything heavy,” said the doctor
anxiously when he saw Charlotte holding Ellie.
One of the nurses rushed up to carry Ellie. “Good girl, Ellie. Your Mommy’s waist is hurting. I’ll take
care of you for the next few days, okay?” the nurse soothed Ellie kindly.
“Okay.” Ellie nodded obediently. She cocked her head toward Ellie and said, “What happened to your
waist, Mommy?”
“I just have a small injury. It’s nothing serious. I’ll be fine in a few days.” Charlotte pulled Dr. Howard
aside and asked, “How do you know that my waist is injured?”
“I heard from Mr. Ben. He said your waist is injured and that you can’t do heavy labor. He reminded us
to be careful and said that he’ll arrange for a doctor to come and treat your injury today.”
Mrs. Berry’s agitated voice sounded out from outside. “Are the children back? Robbie, Jamie, Ellie…”
“Mrs. Berry…” Robbie and Ellie dashed out when they heard her voice.
Ellie tunneled into Mrs. Berry’s embrace. She hugged Mrs. Berry’s neck as she said, “We missed you
so much, Mrs. Berry!”
“My darlings. I missed you too.” Mrs. Berry could not hold back the tears that welled up in her eyes.
She carefully scanned Ellie and Robbie. “Let me see if you’re alright. Did anyone bully you?”
“No. We’re fine.” Robbie immediately noticed the needle marks and bandages on Mrs. Berry’s wound
site. “What happened, Mrs. Berry? Are you sick?”
“I’m fine. I feel fine as long as I get to see you.” Mrs. Berry cried as she had one arm around Ellie while
the other was around Robbie. “Where’s Jamie?”
“Jamie is in the room. His leg is injured, so he can’t get out of bed,” said Ellie as she pointed towards
the bedroom.
“What? What happened to Jamie?” Mrs. Berry started to panic. “Take me to him now.”
“It’s just a minor injury. You don’t need to worry.” Charlotte walked over with tears brimming in her eyes,
and she pulled Mrs. Berry away to say, “What brings you here? I thought you were hospitalized?”
“Dr. Langhan brought me here.” Mrs. Berry pointed at Raina and the two attendants behind her.
62fb1bb41dcb31934bd49bda