Chapter 7: Take Me Out of Here

"I'm sorry I couldn't hold her back, she insisted on going to wherever she was going alone”

"Did she mention where she was headed?”

"No, Mr. Jasper, she didn't say a word of it. She just left her things in the car and left"

“Hmmm, alright Josh. You can take her things to the house, I'll be there in 5” Jasper said as he hung up in anger. He tightly pursed his lips, his face had a stony expression, and his eyes had a distant gaze. He was pissed, he couldn't recall when the last someone disobeyed his orders, but his newly married wife did. No one disobeys the CEO of Maksoft technology, absolutely, no one.

Seated in the taxi, Luna's mind raced, her heart was heavy with a mix of relief and fear, and the car, even though it was moving fast, seemed to be moving slowly toward her. Each red light, each slow car in front, seemed to extend the agonizing wait.

Luna walked briskly to the room where her mother lay, her face pale and drawn, but her eyes were open. Luna rushed to her mother's side, tears welling up in her eyes. "Mom, are you okay? You're awake." Her mother's hand, frail, reached out and squeezed Luna's.

Doctor Mark approached, his expression grave. "She's stable, but she's still quite weak. We'll need to monitor her closely." He explained the potential complications and the long road to recovery.

Luna listened with a heavy heart. Although she was aware that the road ahead would be difficult, she also knew her mother was a strong woman. With a newfound feeling of optimism, she sat by her mother's bedside and held her hand.

“How are you feeling mum? Does it hurt?” Luna asked anxiously.

"I'm fine Luna, I'm fine” her mum replied weakly.

"Are you sure you're fine, please tell me if you need something.”

"Not at all, dear. What happened, why am I here Luna?” Sandra asked, looking a bit confused. She didn't remember falling sick let alone lying down on a hospital bed. Everything looked strange and the scent of antiseptic that lingered in the air, made her almost throw up.

“Calm down mum, please calm down. Don't worry you'll be out of here soon. Just try and get well soon, everything will be alright,” Luna assured her mother. She didn't want to break the news to her yet, she was still weak and fragile and such news would break her more. Rest a bit let me get you something to eat mum.

“Luna, please take me out of here, I don't like this place, please take me out of here Luna." Her mum looked frightened, she had always hated hospitals and this was no exception.

“You're not strong yet mum, don't worry we'll leave once you get better, I promise. But you need to be strong, please be strong for me Mum, please." Luna pleaded, a tear almost dropped down her chin but she fought so hard to hold it back.

“Alright, if you say so." Luna’s mother replied, a pinch of disappointment could be heard in her voice. A nurse came in and administered some drugs to her, it was needed as the drugs helped calm her nerves. Elena stared at her frail mother and shook her head slightly. “At least she's awake" Luna mumbled under her breath.

Luna, not wanting to leave her mother's side, stayed with her all night, checking on her at intervals.

Luke arrived at the mansion before Jasper got home, he carefully brought Luna's belongings out of the trunk of the car, he was very careful in handling her stuff, he didn't want to damage any of things, they were all packed together and there was no way he could differentiate which one's fragile and which was not. After bringing them out from the trunk, he moved them into the mansion. He wasn't sure where to keep them so he decided to leave them in the sitting room while he sat and waited for his boss's arrival.

The maid, a lady in her 30s, noticed someone come into the house, she left the dishes and rushed to see who it was.

“Good day Mr. Luke, how are you today?”

“I'm fine Ariel. Thank you” he replied with a warm smile.

“You're here to see Mr. Jasper? He's not home yet but he'll be here soon."

"Thanks, Ariel, I'm aware of that, I just brought home his wife's belongings.”

"Oh, that's right. But… I can't see her or is she coming with Mr. Jasper."

“About that… she'll come alone" Luke scratched his head a little not knowing what to say exactly.

“Alright. Mr. Jasper asked me to get her room ready earlier today, you can as well keep her things there, that's if you don't mind.” Ariel said politely.

“Yes, please. Where's her room?"

"It's this way. Come with me.” Ariel replied as she led him to Luna's room, Luke followed behind carrying Luna's belongings.

“She's not here yet?" Jasper stared at the large clock that hung on the wall of the sitting room. It read 11:05 pm. He had been sitting in the sitting room since he came back.

“Or is she no longer interested in the contract? Is she scared of me? Was I too harsh on her earlier today? Hmmm, does it matter? It doesn’t matter, of course, she had to be taught some manners." Jasper pondered loudly as he paced back and fought in the sitting room. He held his bottle of vodka in one hand.

“She's a poor girl and she needs the money, there's no way she would leave just like that, her bags and stuff are here.” He spoke under his breath as he walked slowly to his room.

Luna’s eyelids fluttered open, she felt a wave of drowsiness come over her. She was briefly dazzled by the bright hospital lights. She blinked many times as her eyes gradually adapted to the antiseptic setting. A sharp jolt of memory pierced through her. Her mother. She’d been here, keeping watch. But what about…

“Wait a minute, am I missing something? Argh…” Her eyes and mouth widened in realization.

“Jasper...”