When the meeting was over, Jared and Jenny escorted us to our car outside. Thus, we bade each other goodbye and drove away. While on our way back to Mainland, my phone started ringing. It was a call, at first I thought it was Aunt Vicky calling but then I saw an unknown number.
"Who is it?" Frank curiously asked.
"I don't know," I said and then picked the call, "hello"
"Hi, Laura, where are you now?" I heard Lorraine said, one of the sheriffs in Cornfield.
"I am... on my way back home, is everything okay? Where is Aunt Vicky?" I asked out of curiosity. Earlier, we were on a phone call when the call ended before we finished our conversation. And all efforts to reach out to her again proved abortive.
"Your aunt is in the hospital, she's unconscious" Lorraine replied, landing me into bewilderment. Frank was surprised too, although I doubted if he had heard what she said the fact that the phone wasn't on a loud speaker.
"What??" I sqeualled, trying to process what she just said. Aunt Vicky is in where? Hospital, and unconscious? I mulled over, wondering what could have happened to her.
"Yes," Lorraine confirmed and continued, "she fell down earlier. We didn't even know in time, and when we found her later we rushed her to the hospital"
"What's her condition now?" I asked,
"Whose condition?" Frank asked in what seemed like a whisper, making me to gesture to him to wait, I would feed him the whole thing later. "Okay," he acknowledged my gesture.
"Like said, she's unconscious. But she will be fine, as promised by the doctor. Just that she had a small fracture on her head" Lorraine explained further. Fracture? Well I hope it didn't affect her brain because if it did, then she might be in an irreversible situation, brain dead.
"Okay, we will arrive at the hospital soon" I said.
"Okay, but be calm. Don't end up endangering yourself while on the road" she warned me.
"I will take care of myself" I assured her.
"Good" she said.
"Thank you" I uttered.
"You are welcome" she ended the call.
"What was that, what happened? Who's sick?" Frank bespoke, trying to know what my conversation was all about on phone.
"It's Aunt Vicky, she fell down and presently in the hospital unconscious" I apprised him, trying as much as I could to control my emotion. I really cared for her, and the moment I heard she fell unconscious I nearly burst into tears.
She had gone through a lot, I really need to know what exactly happened and how she fell. A grown up like her can't just fall down, there has to be something. Something Lorraine wasn't willing to share at the moment. I thought to myself.
"Unconscious? Did she hit her head or something?" Frank asked, he was also confused like I was.
"Yes, I heard she hit her head. But how did she even fell down, that's what I want to know" I muttered.
"Perhaps she tippled, or she must have bumped into someone or something, who knows?" Frank aired his own views.
"Yes, maybe, or maybe she fell because she's sick. When we were on phone, she didn't sound good. I tried to calm her down but," I paused and tried as much as I could to hide my pain, "I just don't know what exactly Jessica want from her mom, she obviously didn't want her mom to live long"
"Why are you saying that, Laura? The fact that Jessica is being childish doesn't mean she doesn't like her mother, she's just a teenager with different things running in her mind" Frank tried to defend the stubborn girl.
"Teenager, huh? But is she the only teenager in this world? Why is she so different then, why is she the troublesome type?" I said not minding if my voice was loud or not, for all I cared there was no way I could sit and watch someone trying to defend Jessica. That girl had already transgressed her limit and whatever bad she does shouldn't be justified by anyone.
"Laura, people are different. We are all different. I know I wasn't that bad when I was a teenager, but I was too good too at your stage, Laura. See? That's just the fact, people can never be the same" he tried to make a point but I quickly turned it against him.
"People are not different, yes, but does that mean we should act the way we like. Just imagine having a daughter like Jessica, how would you feel being subjected to the pain my aunt is facing? Tell me, how would you feel?" I asked, and seeing how speechless he was, I continued, "Trust me, you won't justify whatever she's doing. My aunt had made that mistake before and here she is, regretting"
"Okay, I agree with you. But what can be done now to change Jessica? What exactly does she want to stop all these, is it all about the Oxford thing? If that's the case then, I will tell her to get prepared. I will sponsor her myself, besides I have enough money to do that. I can also sponsor you too if you like" he said. Albeit he was trying to help, but I didn't like the idea. The whole idea of him sponsoring her was bizarre to me. Why not someone else, someone not from the Walters Family?
I had my reasons for thinking that way, Jessica would definitely not stop at any point to take advantage of the offer they give her. She would try to take advantage of it, to enrich herself... or spend lavishly in the U.K. That was why I never liked the idea of him sponsoring her, but what could I possibly do? The last time I came plain to tell him not to, he looked at me as if I didn't like her. What if one day he told her I was the one that stopped him from sponsoring her? I thought extensively to myself.
