Panic

Lillian’s POV

“Mummy, are you mad at us?” Carter asked, as we walked to my car, hours later when I was done working.

“Yes, sweetie. Mummy is mad at you three,” I replied, cinching them into their respective car seats. “What were you doing out of the house with a stranger? And didn't I tell you to remain in the room?”

My crybaby, Caleb, instantly started sniffling as his eyes turned watery with tears and his lips quivered, causing my heart to clench, but I knew I had to scold them, so they'd know to start listening to me.

“We are sorry, mummy,” Connor pouted. “We were just going to stay outside for three minutes and then quickly return inside.”

“And how were you going to tell the time?” I couldn't help but snicker. “Do you have a wristwatch?”

Darting me a sheepish look, Carter shook his head in negation and I sighed heavily.

“Please start listening to my instructions, okay? Do you know how scared I was when I didn't see you in there and walked around the whole house for about thirty minutes, yelling your name?”

“We are sorry, mummy,” Caleb sniffled. “The kind mister didn't let any bad thing to happen.”

By “the kind mister”, I knew he meant Stefano, which made me scoff inwardly, because he was anything but kind.

A one of a kind brute, perhaps.

“Wait, he didn't let any bad thing happen how? Was something bad supposed to happen?” I asked, my heart panging with mild dread.

The three of them shared a guilty look before Connor looked at me.

“Promise you won't get mad, mummy,” He said, outstretching his left pinky finger. “Promise?”

Tentatively, I clasped his finger with mine. “Promise. What happened?”

“I was chasing a butterfly and wasn't looking at where I was going and almost got hitted by kind mister's car, but he didn't hit me and was very nice instead.” Caleb rambled out in a single, scared breath.

My heart sank deep to the pit of my belly as my legs suddenly weakened. So if it wasn't for Stefano's alertness, I could have been in an emergency room, crying over Caleb.

Without thinking, I unstrapped Caleb from his car seat and began pressing every part of his body, searching for either an internal or external injury, that may have gone unnoticed by me.

“Mummy, you're hurting me,” Caleb cried. “Please stop doing that.”

“So you're hurt then. We are going to the hospital,” I said, fastening his strap again.

“No, I mean your fingernails were digging into my skin,” He cried. “I'm fine. Kind mister didn't hit me.”

“We are going to the hospital for a checkup and that's final, okay?” I said, before getting into the car and driving to the nearest hospital in the axis.

“Please do every form of tests you can on him. I just want to make sure he's alright,” I said to the nurse, as they placed Caleb on a bed in the emergency room, minutes later.

“Mummy, I'm scared,” My son whimpered, and a wave of fear cascaded through me.

Pressing a kiss to his forehead, I said. “Don't be, my love. Everything will be fine.”

“Be rest assured that we will tend to him well, ma'am,” The nurse replied. “Could you give us some privacy?”

“Sure,” I replied, before going back to the waiting room reluctantly.

My heart broke when I saw Connor and Carter crying and sitting together on a bench their arms wrapped around each other, just like they had been in the womb.

“Mummy is sorry for the way she reacted earlier,” I said, crouching in front of them. “Can you forgive her?”

“Yes,” They chorused amidst hiccups. “We are sorry for leaving the room too, mummy. Will you forgive us?”

“Mummy did that a long time ago,” I smiled, pressing kisses to both their foreheads. “Stop crying, okay?”

“Okay. Will Caleb be fine?” Carter asked.

“Yes, baby. I just want them to run some simple tests on him, so we can be certain that there's no cause for alarm,” I replied, glancing down at my wristwatch. “It's eight and you guys haven't had dinner. Let me go get you something from outside. Don't leave this place, alright?”

“We won't, mummy. Carter and I will wait here,” Connor replied, to which I smiled, as I stood up.

“Good boys. I'll be back before you know it.” I said, before trekking out of the waiting area.

Thereafter, I followed the direction arrows to the canteen where I got food for my children before heading back inside.

As I watched them devour their respective plates of rice with meatball sauce, a smile creased my lips and my heart warmed with fondness.

Hours later, a nurse clad in lilac scrubs walked into the waiting area.

“Miss Lillian Baker?” She called.

“Yes?” I responded, sprouting out of my seat.

“The doctor wants to see you,” She said, to which I nodded before following her to a room, which had the words, “pediatric ward” plastered atop it.

“You can go in, ma'am,” The nurse said, to which I nodded.

“Thank you,” I replied before entering the room, my heart hammering against my chest in violent rhythms.

At the far end of the room, I saw Caleb sitting on a bed and conversing with a tall male clad in navy scrubs.

“Mummy!” He squealed, as I crossed the distance between us.

“Hi, baby. How are you?” I beamed, pressing a kiss to his forehead.

“I'm fine, mummy,” He grinned, revealing his pearly teeth.

Ruffling his hair, I turned to the doctor. “Hello, doctor.”

“Hello, Miss Baker,” He replied. “Based on the results we got from the several tests carried out on little Caleb here, he is fine. Although we are still waiting on some results, the major ones have been done and he's one hundred percent alright. He can go home tomorrow morning.”

Relief coursed through my veins at his utterance and I nodded.

“Thank you so much, doctor,” I replied, to which he smiled.

“You are welcome, Miss Baker,” He replied. “Bye, Caleb.”

“Bye, doctor.” Caleb grinned, waving at him.

“Are you hungry, baby?” I asked, and my son shook his head in negation.

“Mummy, the doctor is so cool,” Caleb uttered. “But kind mister is cooler.”

Repressing the urge to roll my eyes at the mention of Stefano, I feigned a smile. “You should get some sleep, sweetie. I need to go check up on your brothers.”

“Okay, mummy. Love you.”

“I love you too, my baby.” I said, kissing his forehead for the umpteenth time that day before taking my leave.

Taking my seat beside Connor and Carter, I retracted my phone from my pocket for the first time in nearly five hours, and saw I had a message from Mrs Laughlin.

“Good evening, dear. Thanks for everything. You did a superb job with the event and I'm really grateful for you.

If you are less busy, can you come and see me tomorrow?

Take care.” The message read.

Rereading the message, I racked my brain trying to decipher why Mrs Laughlin wanted to see me tomorrow but couldn't think of a thing.

Perhaps, she had another business opportunity for me, I thought to myself.