Ashton didn’t respond. I pursed my lips and shot him a sidelong glare. “What? Are you upset about that sweetheart of yours?”
He raised a brow and chuckled. “No. I was just thinking you seem a little more naggy these days.”
What a bummer. I rolled my eyes and gave up talking, leaning aside and looking out the window instead.
The scenery outside flew by in a haze. My eyelids felt heavier as time passed. Why was I getting tired so easily these days?
As soon as we got home, Ashton proceeded to settle some of his pending work. It was already late, so I went back into the bedroom and headed straight to the shower. Just as I was about to call it a night, Hailey’s message came in.
I didn’t expect her to keep in touch with me so regularly, since we’d only met once.
The message was brief. Hello, Ms. Stovall. Have you slept already?
I texted back: Not yet. What’s the matter?
Not really… Just wondering when you are coming over to A City again.
It had indeed been a while since I last went there. Is there something you want to talk about?
Her reply came in almost instantly: Nothing much, just wanted to ask since it’s been a while.
It wouldn’t have bothered me so much if such an answer came from somebody else, but Hailey’s different. For someone who was dealing with depression, there could be a hidden message behind her seemingly casual response.
I’ve been a little tied up these days, but I’ll definitely pay a visit when I’m free! If you aren’t too busy, why don’t you come over to K City?
Okay. Silence then followed.
Something felt odd, though I was too exhausted to think about it. My consciousness drifted off as soon as I lay in bed that I didn’t even realize when Ashton came in that night.
The next morning.
I was woken up when my phone rang. But while I was still tossing in bed, Ashton had already reached for it and answered the call for me.
“Who’s that?” I croaked groggily.
Instead of replying me, he sat up in a sudden jolt.
I rubbed my eyes and gazed at his alarmed face. “What happened?”
“Summer had a severe nosebleed and started coughing up blood,” he explained as he hung up the call and scrambled out of bed. “They’ve sent her to the hospital.”
At that, Ashton put on his clothes hastily and rushed into the bathroom.
I sat up in a daze for a good few minutes before it finally dawned on me. Summer is hospitalized! I thus jumped out of bed and immediately dialed Cameron’s number, but it went unanswered.
So I called Emery instead. When she answered, her voice sounded somewhat fuzzy against the noise in the background. “Scarlett! Summer’s ill. Come to the hospital quickly!”
Before I could answer, Emery hung up abruptly. Perhaps she was in too much of a panic to explain everything over the phone. There wasn’t much time to waste, so I quickly grabbed a change of clothes. Ashton came out just as I was done.
Hence, we left to the hospital right away.
Ashton’s phone rang constantly as we drove. Having both hands occupied on the steering, he glanced at me quickly. “Can you help me answer that?”
I took his phone in my hands and looked at the flashing ID. “It’s a number from W City!”
He signaled with a nod.
As I turned on the speaker, an unfamiliar voice echoed, “Mr. Fuller, we’ve got some news. The factory where the child was sent to back then turns out to be a chemical plant. It seems quite a number of its workers were diagnosed with cancer due to radioactive pollution. The factory belongs to the Crest family, and it’s currently shut down.”
None of us said a word, and the voice continued, “That pollution was caused by an explosion which happened shortly before that incident with Mr. Crest. All workers who got involved had since undergone a health examination, though not everyone was affected by the chemical hazards.”
My mind went blank. The air around me felt heavy as I mulled over those words. I hung up the phone and looked at Ashton. “Jared did send Summer to the factory and let her stay there for some time. Could it be that she…”
My shaky voice trailed off. Ashton pondered in silence for a moment before he began, “Summer was with Kristina when we found her, so I’ve always thought that my initial hunches about her staying at the plant was wrong. Now it seems like she was indeed at the factory from the beginning, and Jared probably sent her to Kristina after the explosion.”
“But why would he do that? Summer is his child!” I could hear my own voice heightening as I fought against the tears that started to well up in my eyes. “Why did he send her there in the first place if he knew that it’s so dangerous?”
Ashton bit his lip for a second. “Who knows? Maybe he really wasn’t aware about it at first, which was why he handed her over to Kristina later on.”
“Even if that’s true, shouldn’t he have informed us? We could’ve brought Summer for a check up if we knew what happened! That way we could’ve at least made sure if she’s alright after that incident…”
At this point, I didn’t know what else to think about or say anymore. A storm had begun raging within myself, and I saw the hardened expression on Ashton’s face too. “Let’s not jump into conclusions for now. We’ll wait and see what the doctor says later. It could be that she just happened to be under the weather these days.”
He was right. There was nothing we could do except hoping that Summer would be just fine.
