Chapter 27: The Next Morning
Cassandra’s POV
I called Stella first thing the next morning and explained the situation. I wanted to go back to the hospital to visit Stanley, but I wasn’t sure how she’d react. She thought Jordyn was a total asshole so I didn’t think she’d be overly sympathetic.
To my surprise, however, she was.
“Of course, Cass. Don’t worry about anything. I’ve got it covered. I’ll look after things here at the company while you visit Stanley,” Stella told me.
“Really?” I asked, unable to hide the shock in my voice.
“Yes,” she laughed. “I’m not a cold-hearted bitch! I know you care about Stanley. I hope he recovers soon. Just check in with me, okay?”
I agreed and hung up, a little flummoxed by her support. Clearly she understood that this was about Stanely, NOT Jordyn.
A little while later, I pulled into the hospital parking lot and was surprised to see Ellie. She was just getting out of her car and she hadn’t seen me.
“Really?” I scoffed to myself. It was hard not to get riled up when I saw her. The bitch had pushed me down a fricking flight of stairs, after all! She was a real piece of work!
But I had to stay calm. She wasn’t worth my time and energy. Besides, I was here for Stanley, and I owed it to him to a source of strength.
I figured she was there with Jordyn. I really wasn’t prepared to run into Jordyn again. Not so soon after last night when he told me he didn’t want a divorce. However, Stanley was HIS grandfather and Ellie was HIS fiancé, so they both had a right to be there.
But Ellie when Ellie got out of the car, I didn’t see Jordyn anywhere.
‘She must be here alone,’ I thought.
I watched her cross the parking lot with her high heels clickedy-clacking the whole way. I noticed that she didn’t enter through the main doors to the patient rooms. Instead, she went through doors that led to the doctor offices.
I was curious so I decided to follow her. I walked just far enough behind, making sure she didn’t see me. When we got inside, I saw her duck into a doctor’s office. I stealthily walked down the hall and glanced at the name on the door.
‘That’s strange,’ I thought to myself. It was the same surgeon who had performed the emergency surgery on Stanley. Why would Ellie be talking to the surgeon? Perplexed, I tried to eavesdrop. But I couldn’t hear anything through the door, so I shrugged it off and made my way over to Stanley’s room.
Stanley was still unconscious, his face still an awful gray color. My heart lurched. I’d been hoping he’d be awake by now. His family’s maid, Persa, was arranging the flowers by his bedside. I assumed she’d been there all night. She was a loyal, diligent
maid.
Persa smiled brightly when she saw me.
“Mrs. Smith,” she said. “I’m so happy to see you. You’ve come to visit Stanley?”
“Please, it’s Miss Taylor. Jordyn and I are getting a divorce,” I corrected her. She furrowed her brows in surprise, but nodded.
“My apologies, Miss Taylor,” she said. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
I resisted the urge to sigh in frustration. Jordyn really needed to start telling people about our divorce. I was tired of being the one to break it to HIS people.
“Thank you,” I told her. Then, eager to veer the conversation away from anything Jordyn-related, I asked about Stanley.
Before she could answer though, a nurse scurried in. She went straight to the machine to check his vitals.
“Good morning,” I said to the nurse. “We were wondering if you have any news about Stanley’s tests? Will they be scheduled for today?”
I was anxious to find out more about what had caused his illness. I still couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t quite right. I was hoping the tests would help illuminate the cause of his illness.
“Sorry, Ma’am,” the nurse said, shaking her head. “We’re still waiting on the head physician to put in a requisition for the tests.”
“He hasn’t even put in the requisition,” I asked, surprised. Jordyn had been adamant last night that his grandfather was to receive a barrage of tests. The doctor had agreed. So why hadn’t he ordered them yet?
“I’m sure he’ll put in the orders shortly,” the nurse smiled at me. “But I’m happy to report he’s doing well. In fact, we’re optimistic that he’ll wake up any time now.”
I nodded. “Well that’s good to hear,” I said. But my instincts were telling me that something was VERY off now. I turned to
Persa.
“Persa, were you there when Stanley collapsed?” I asked.
“Yes, Mrs. Smith, um, sorry, I mean Miss Taylor.”
“Can you please tell me EXACTLY what happened? As far as you remember?” I prodded. “Did anything unusual happen? Was he showing any signs of distress?”
Persa thought for a moment, then shook her head. “None,” she said. “He was perfectly well. Everything was normal as far as I could tell. He was getting ready for bed, like he always does. I prepared his fish oil for him, like I always do.”
I nodded. Ever since I’d known Stanley, he took fish oil before bed. It was a habit I knew well. There was certainly nothing out of the ordinary about Persa’s account of the night.
But still, something wasn’t quite adding up here…
“And then?” I asked. “What happened after he took his fish oil?”
“It was normal at first. But after a while, he clutched his chest. And just….collapsed…” Her voice trailed off as she glanced
worriedly at Stanley. Tears brimmed in her eyes. Poor thing. She was very attached to the old man. She’d been his maid for as long as I married Jordyn.
I was just about to console her when…
Stanley took a big gasp of air and…his eyelids fluttered open.
2/2
