Hush, My Sweet Darling

Chapter 42: Inevitably Flawed

Hearing the frustration in Ren's voice, Kiko wiped her tears with the back of her hand and looked up. "Because I deserved it."

"What's that?"

"You asked me why I let her hit me. It's because I deserved it." She sniffed. "I-is it true, Dr. Wu? Is her mom really dying?"

"I don't know who her mom is. Do you think I know every patient in this hospital?" 

"Her name is Vivian Sieuw."

Both of Ren's eyebrows rose, but he didn't answer her question. Instead, he opened a tube of antibiotic ointment and started to rub it on a scratched wound right next to her lips. "Don't move, or you'll make me miss the spot."

"But—Ow!"

"Didn't I say not to move?"

"It hurts!" Kiko retorted, glaring at him. 

"Stop talking then!" Ren glared back. 

This time she complied. As soon as Ren was done with the cuts near her lips and moved on to another one on her forehead, she asked again, "What about my question? You know Vivian Sieuw, right?"

Ren snorted. "Who in this city doesn't know Vivian Sieuw?" He smeared another layer of goo on her wound. "The famous socialite, also the wife of the famous actor Glenn Lau."

Kiko nodded. "So... is it true that she's dying? What does she have? How come there's nothing in the media about it?"

Again, Ren didn't answer. He continued to treat her facial wounds patiently. After he was done putting on the salve on all of them, he covered them with the band-aids—one by one, until the last one. "Alrighty, it's finished! Now you may cry again!" He grinned.

But his attempt at levity fell flat when he saw the somber look on Kiko's face. He sighed. "Are you asking me to break the doctor-patient confidentiality?" he asked. "All I can tell you is, even if the media isn't covering it, why would her daughter lie about it?"

Kiko bowed her head. "So, it's true..." Her eyes flooded with tears again.

"Are you really in a relationship with Glenn Lau?" Ren couldn't help but ask. However, the instant the words came out of his mouth, he realized it wasn't his place to ask. "Forget it. Just ignore my question."

"I was," Kiko muttered. "But not anymore... We broke up. I haven't seen him in a year."

She then wiped her tears and got up from her seat. "I'm really sorry for all the trouble, Dr. Wu. Thank you so much for taking care of me. I'm going to leave now."

Then, as though she had just remembered something, she looked around the couch. Not finding what she was searching for, she gave Ren a guilty look. "Your ID card... it's in my bag. My bag's still in the lobby," she said. "I'm really sorry."

Ren drew out a long sigh and made a phone call, instructing the person on the other end to collect Kiko's bag and bring it to his office. He then got up to his desk and took out a strip of paracetamol from its drawer. 

"Take this," he said, handing Kiko two tablets of the painkillers. He then fetched an unopened bottle of water from a small refrigerator inside his office. After opening the cap, he gave that to her too. 

"Thank you," Kiko said before swallowing down the tablets. "I'll be out of your hair after I give you back your ID card."

With both hands on his hips, Ren puffed out his cheeks, staring at her. His edge of irritation had returned. It might be because she was injured, or perhaps it was because of her current pitiful appearance, but whatever the reason was, he didn't want this woman to leave just like that.

"No," he said. "You're injured. I'll bring you home."

"No," Kiko immediately refused but flinched in pain from speaking hurriedly. 

"You can't even talk without wincing."

"I'm fine," she insisted. "Besides, I drove my car here."

A knock on the door interrupted them. A hospital staff member came in with Kiko's bag. 

"This is not the time to be stubborn," Ren said, taking the bag from the staff member's hand, and grabbed his car key. "Just leave your car here. Let's go."

***

At the same time, at Hong Kong International Airport...

It was late afternoon, just before twilight. The plane that brought Jared back to Hong Kong had just landed. He was waiting for his luggage at the baggage claim when a phone call came in. He checked the caller ID and picked it up.

"I just arrived. Just waiting for my luggage."

"I don't understand why you'd refused to take the private jet. Now it will take you even longer to get here..."

"Claire, I already explained that the jet would take the rest of the staff back on Saturday. It would be such a waste to get the jet fly an extra roundtrip just for me."

"Why did you have to be the one flying with commercial airlines? Why can't they do that? It's your private jet!"

"Claire, please don't—"

"Fine. Let's not argue now. The appointment is in an hour. Whatever you do, just don't be late."

And with that, the phone call ended, needless to say, abruptly.

Jared rubbed his temple, letting out a fatigued sigh. As soon as he put his phone back inside his pocket, he spotted a little girl, probably around three or four years old, standing just before the conveyor belt, not far in front of him. Her hair was done in cute loose pigtails, and she was holding a rabbit doll, eagerly looking at the suitcases on the moving belt.

Perhaps, what had caught his attention was the fact that the child was alone. Where were her parents? Didn't they know conveyor belts could be dangerous for kids that age? What were they thinking, leaving their kid unsupervised?

He scoured the room to see if he could spot her parents. 

That was when he saw a man losing control of an overloaded baggage trolley, which was now rolling rapidly toward the belt.

More specifically, it was cruising in the direction of the little girl.

♡──── ❝ Author's Note ❞ ────♡

"Sometimes good people make bad choices. It doesn't mean they're bad people. It means they're human. We all make mistakes." —Sui Ishida.

Are you still rooting for Kiko after knowing what you know in this chapter?

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Thank you so much for reading!

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