Chapter 8: Chapter 8

"Milkman's child," Alex joked.

"Adopted actually," a voice entered the room.

Alex felt Gabriella grew a bit stiff as a little pressure came from her tiny hands. Alex turned around to see Anthon.

"So not scared of men after all?" Anthon asks, keeping his distance. Gabriella looked up for the 1st time, looking at the two handsome men in front of her.

"Please don't hesitate to text or call me, no matter the time," Anthon said turning on his heel and walked out again.

"I assumed he might be adopted but never knew as I never really saw him. Really only know him from family photos I last saw as a child," Gabriella says looking down again.

Alex picked up the remainder of the soups and put them in the little bar fridge. All the high-end rooms in the hospital were equipped with a little kitchen.

"They should move me to the commonly shared rooms, I really cannot afford this and I am sure that my aunt doesn't like wasting money either, she herself insisted on a common room when she was hospitalized years ago," Gabriella said concerned.

"Don't worry about it, you have a donor. Everything is covered including all your medical bills," Alex calmed her down.

Nobody knew that Alex spent most of his money paying for patients' bills. Alex scribbled his details down on a piece of paper and gave it to Gabriella. "I really want to stay but have to pop out for a while, can I visit you again later?" he asked hopefully.

"Yes, sure, that will be great," Gabriella said with a little smile.

"Give me a shout if you need anything or just company." With that, he squeezed her hand and left.

Gabriella relaxed into the pillows and closed her eyes. She immediately opened them again as flashbacks came streaming in. She looked around the room and found it remarkably high end, must be nice to have the money she thought to herself. The artwork on the walls is abstract but pleasing to the eye. She enjoyed the shades of blue with yellow accents and black stripes. She looked towards the window and guessed it must be around mid-day. She saw the flat screen tv and looked around and found the remote on the side table next to her. She channeled served for a bit and settled on some cartoons.

Mrs. Finn got ready to leave for the day but decided to stop at Gabriella's room. "Feeling better? Did you have something to eat?"

"Yes, thank you, I have some soup in the fridge."

Mrs. Finn took one of the soups out and warmed it up in the microwave. She handed it to Gabriella who took it without objection.

"You should be able to take in some solids in a couple of days, I will bring you a smoothie for breakfast tomorrow morning, any preference?" Mrs. Finn asked with a smile.

"No, anything is good," Gabriella responded, slurping some soup.

"My number is on your file as 'Next of Kin' if you need anything," Mrs. Finn says tapping on her file. "Good night Gabriella"

"Good night aunty."

Gabriella put down the empty soup cup and reach out for her phone to save Alex and Anthon's number. She laid back and continued watching cartoons.

Gabriella is woken up by a hustle and bustle as the nurses did their rounds and hand over to the nightshift. She lazily took a sip of water. One of the nurses helped her to the bathroom so that she can brush her teeth. After brushing her teeth, the nurse saw her to her bed and tucked her in, and rubbed some ointment into Gabriella's hands and feet and Gabriella treated her own breast with guidance from the nurse.

"Sorry that this happened to you," the nurse said with a sympathetic voice.

Gabriella did not respond.

"This is the buzzer, just press it once if you need anything," the nurse points out the button in arms reach of Gabriella's bed. Before leaving the room, she turned on the night light and closed the curtains. "Good night Gabriella," the nurse said leaving the room.

Gabriella did some channel serving and decided to ignore the angel she can see from the corner of her eye, eventually, she fell asleep consumed with nightmares.

After updating his News-site, Alex decided to do some research on Anthon and the Finn family. He found an article on Mrs. Finn adopting Anthon after her husband, Mr. Finn, and his brother found him crying next to his 'beaten to death' mother's body. His biological father still in jail for murdering his mother.

He also found an article on Mrs. Finn's husband and his brother, Gabriella's father's freak accident on a research expedition when Gabriella was 3 years old. He did not find anything on Gabriella's mother and wondered if she is dead as well because she has not come around to visit her.

Alex took a hot shower and as he got out, his elevator-bell rang. He knew it is Amber and decided to turn it silent as he really not in the mood for her. He wanted an early night so he could visit Gabriella early in the morning and check up on the progress of the Bus -stop man.

Mrs. Finn beat Alex to breakfast and he patiently waited outside Gabriella's room at 5 am in the morning for her to leave. He heard them talking about Gabriella's father. He drank the breakfast smoothie he made from his own garden and eavesdrops on their conversation. Mrs. Finn came walking out of the room. "Good morning Alex."

"Morning," Alex greeted standing up, but Mrs. Finn did not stick around for chit-chatting.