There weren’t many scenic spots nearby, so they drove to a nearby lake.
As they alighted from the car, Abigail linked arms with Diarmuid and they walked over the cobblestone path near the lake. The vegetation there was lush, and there was a cool breeze blowing at them from time to time despite the scorching climate.
Abigail leaned her face against his arm. “I love this feeling.”
To stroll along a small, quiet path with the man she loved.
Diarmuid grinned, and patted her on the head.
As they strolled along, Abigail saw a familiar figure looking left and right, as if worried someone would catch him.
Why was he here?
By the time Ireen let go of Diarmuid and walked towards the person, he had already got in a car.
“What are you looking at?” Diarmuid asked.
Abigail frowned worriedly. “I think I saw Ricky.”
Diarmuid turned towards where she was looking, but saw nothing. “Are you sure you’re not mistaken?”
Abigail shook her head. “No.”
She couldn’t have been–it was obviously Ricky.
He sounded frantic when she called him today, and he was acting all shady just now–something was clearly wrong with Ricky!
Nonetheless, Diarmuid put an arm around Abigail’s shoulder and said, “I’ve told Stan to look into him. He’d have something soon if Ricky really was messing around at Bernstein Holdings. Come on, let’s go.”
Abigail nodded, feeling gradually uneasy. Her foreboding feeling soon came true!
Stan discovered that Ricky was the one who leaked news about the casino ship.
“How could it be him?” Abigail asked in disbelief. “He should have no reason to do it…”
However, Ricky’s unusual behavior meant otherwise.
“Did you find anything else? Has he been up to anything recently?” Abigail kept on asking Stan.
“I did, but there’s nothing unusual there,” Stan replied.
Abigail frowned. “That’s weird…”
Bzzt-
Just then, Abigail’s phone started to ring.
It had been taken from her when she boarded Ian’s casino ship, and she forgot to take it when she left since she was anxious to rush Tommy to the hospital.
Stan had recovered it for her.
The call turned out to be from Sheryl, and she sounded worried, “Abigail, you have to come back. I think something’s wrong with Tommy!”
“What happened?”
“I’m not sure, but he’s convulsing a lot. I’ve called an ambulance, but you really should come take a look.
“Okay,” Abigail replied.
“Did something happen?” Diarmuid asked.
Abigail had no idea what was happening yet, and since Diarmuid was busy with his family business, she didn’t tell him about Tommy. “It’s nothing. My mom just asked if I was going home soon… I thought I should since I’m not doing anything anyway.”
Smiling at Diarmuid, she said, “Okay, I’m going now. You should go about your business.”
“Should I still keep an eye on Ricky?” Stan asked.
Abigail thought briefly about it. “No.”
If Stan couldn’t find anything, Ricky was either being wary–or it could have been nothing at all.
She certainly hoped for the latter to be the case. If Ricky was wary, they would find nothing anyway.
Perhaps she was being paranoid, too. Ricky had never been out of line. In fact, the boy had been doing well, and Sheryl told Abigail that he was as frantic as she was when Abigail was abducted; he even went as far as to go with Sheryl to demand Abigail back from Harvey.
Samantha White was already jailed, and Abigail wasn’t about to get into an argument with Ricky just because of her meager suspicions.
”
“I’ll ask Jimmy to give you a ride,” Diarmuid said.
“Okay,” Abigail replied.
Once Abigail reached the Bernstein Mansion, the ambulance had long since arrived and had taken both Sheryl and Tommy to the hospital. As such, Abigail had to head to the hospital.
“You should go back to the mansion,” she told Jimmy the chauffeur, and ran inside.
She headed straight to pediatrics, but did not see Sheryl or Tommy. Eventually, Abigail found her mother at the clinical laboratory.
Rushing to her side, she called out, “Mom…!”
Sheryl seemed to find peace of mind right then. “Oh, Abigail. You’re here.”
She passed Tommy to Abigail, and Abigail saw the needle holes on his fingertips. “They were drawing blood samples?”
Sheryl nodded. “Pediatrics had no idea what’s happening to him, so they sent him here to get tested.“
Tommy was clearly uncomfortable in Abigail’s hold. He was flailing his arms around, and was choking with tears from time to time, but not crying out loud. It was obvious that he was sick.
Abigail kissed his cheek, her heart aching for him. “When did you notice that he was sick?”
“Before I called you,” Sheryl replied.
Abigail nodded–all they could do is wait for the test results.
In the meantime, Abigail took Tommy to someplace quiet, hoping that he would be more comfortable with less people around.
However, that didn’t seem to make things better for Tommy–he soon began to cry. Too young to put feelings to words, it was the only thing he could do.
Knowing that he was in a bad condition, Abigail told Sheryl, “I’ll get him checked. Wait here for the lab results.”
Sheryl nodded. “Okay. Go on.”
Abigail brought Tommy to the outpatient service–the only option left for her was to examine any possible cause of discomfort.
While she waited, the lab results were soon out, and
Sheryl rushed to Abigail with it.
Abigail took a look and scowled, because she knew what it meant.
“Let me see,” the doctor said, and Abigail gave it to him. “I see… There’s this compound called 2S,6R detected in the boy’s body. It’s what causes his convulsions.”
Sheryl didn’t understand what he was saying, however, and pressed, “What’s that, doctor? How did he get sick?”
“He’s not sick,” the doctor replied. “This chemical compound has to be ingested-”
“What?!” Sheryl exclaimed in shock and confusion. ”
Tommy never took anything! Why would it be in his body?
“I’m sorry, but it has to be ingested, and it’s not a commonly found compound. Perhaps someone mistakenly gave it to him.”
Sheryl tried to argue, but Abigail cut her short. “Mom, has anyone visited our home recently?”
Sheryl thought about it and replied, “No. It’s just you,
Diarmuid, and Ricky.”
There was no way Abigail or Diarmuid would hurt their own child. Sheryl wouldn’t do it either… Which made Ricky the only possibility.
Could it really be him?
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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