Chapter 25: Chapter 25

Alexander Martinez pov;

"Ms Garcia hasn't attended school for the past one week, Sir." Mr Johnson informed Isabella after I asked him about her whereabouts because she hasn't come to the house lately.

"What about the cafe she was working in?"

"I visited the cafe by myself and found that she hasn't been to the cafe for the past one week, Sir."

She didn't go to school... didn't go to work... haven't come to my place... what is she doing in her house?

Mr Johnson continued, "Shall i go to her house and check on her, Sir?"

I gave a nod and said, "Wait, I'll come too."

"Sir, I can bring her here by myself. You don't have to struggle for this."

I stood from my place and said, "I'm not asking for permission, let's go." And walked out of my room.

I came to Isabella's house to see her but the driver stopped somewhere in the middle of the avenue junction.

"Why are we stopping here?" I asked the driver.

"The road to Ms Garcia's house wasn't suitable for a car to drive in, Sir."

When I was about to get out of the car, Mr Johnson said, "Sir, I'll go in and check on her first so you can wait in the car." And got out of the car.

I gave a nod and remained in the car.

He returned and said, "No one answered, Sir."

"Not in the house?"

"The door looks like it's locked from inside so she must be in the house, Sir."

"Knock again."

"Yes, Sir." And left.

He came back after some time breathing heavily and said, "No response, Sir."

I let out a sigh and got out of the car.

"Sir, why are you getting out of the car? This place is not good for you, Sir. It's better to stay inside the car. What if there's paparazzi around here? We'll get into trouble if they see us in here, Sir."

I shushed him and walked to Isabella's house with the help of Mr Johnson's direction.

After a while, Mr Johnson pointed to a shabby little place saying, "We are here. This is Isabella's house, sir."

No wonder she acted weird when she came to my place for the first time.

I knocked on the door and waited for her to open the door.

Mr Johnson said, "She's not answering, Sir."

"Is she really in there?"

He nodded hurriedly and said, "Yes, Sir. She hasn't left the house since she returned from the hospital."

I looked around the place and found a window on the top left side of the house.

"Did you check out the window?"

"No, Sir."

I walked towards the window and tried to look through it but it was higher than me. I signalled Mr Johnson to come.

After he came, I said, "Bend."

"Sir?"

"I'll ask the driver then."

"Sir! I-I'll bend, sir."

He bended and I stood upon him and looked through the window.

When I looked into the house, it was all dark. I couldn't see anything properly so I lifted up the glass door and looked inside. I looked closer into the house and found someone lying on the floor. Isabella? Is she sleeping? But why would someone lie on the floor? Why not bed? There were empty bottles scattered around her.

Suddenly, I jumped on the ground and ran to Isabella's door and tried to break it.

"S-Sir, what are you doing?"

"Breaking in."

"S-Sir, you're going to get hurt if you don't stop hitting your shoulder like that, Sir."

Since I didn't listen to what he said and continued hitting the door to open, Mr Johnson joined and kicked the door along with me. Finally, we made forced entry into the house.

Isabella was still lying on the floor unconscious. When I tried to call out her name, Mr Johnson ran to her and tried to wake her up but no response. She looked like her soul was out of the body.

"Sir, she's not waking up."

I took one of the bottles around her and checked, it looked like it was emptied not long ago.

"She's drunk. Get her into the car."

While Mr Johnson was picking her up from the floor, I walked around the house she was living in. It's a small room with cracks on the wall and scattered home appliances here and there. The room was kept neat and clean even though there were many things scattered around.

How could someone live in this place? It's so small. The size of the whole house is not even the size of the bathroom in my house. When I walked around, there wasn't a single family picture on the wall. Weird. Her school books were kept on the dining table and under it there was a basketball rolling on the floor. There was a toy loop attached to one of the walls. Maybe her mother bought it when she was a child. Her jersey was lying on the bed in the corner of the room.

When I looked back, Mr Johnson took Isabella with him already. The place where Isabella was lying, filled with empty bottles rolling on the floor. There were around five to six bottles. Did she finish everything by herself?

Mr Johnson, "Can we leave, Sir?"

I nodded and said, "Take some of her clothes and her school bag. She's going to stay in my house till her mother gets out of the hospital." And made my way out after saying that to him.

I walked through the crooked street and came to the car and got in the back of the car where Isabella's beside me.

After some time, Mr Johnson came to the car along with her things and sat beside the driver in the front.

"Did you take everything?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Inform the doctor to visit the house."

"Yes, Sir."

"Mr Johnson, why didn't I know that you had a daughter before but Isabella did?

"Ms Garcia found out on her own, Sir. I didn't say anything to her."

I said to Mr Johnson while looking at Isabella, "Your little sister is really good at things like this. I think we should be careful around her."

During the drive, Isabella began to shiver suddenly. I checked her temperature, it was ice cold. Her temperature was dropping so badly and her body started to twitch.

"Drive faster to the house!" Said to the driver.

"Yes, sir."

Mr Johnson asked, "Wh-What..." After seeing her twitching, he checked her temperature and said, "It looks like she's having a seizure, Sir."

"Can alcohol cause seizures?"

"No, Sir."

"Then what's happening to her?"

"I don't know, Sir. I'll ask the doctor right away, Sir."

While he was on the call, he turned to us saying, "The doctor said to give her water, Sir." and gave a bottle of water to me.

I held her shoulder to make her sit straight and tried to give her water but she wasn't drinking it so I forced her by holding her jaw to make her drink the water and she drank it in a little.

Mr Johnson continued, "The doctor said to keep her warm, by covering her with blankets, Sir."

I removed my coat and covered it on her but she was still shivering.

I tapped on Mr Johnson saying, "Give me your coat."

While he was removing it, I ordered the driver, "Yours too."

After covering Isabella with Mr Johnson's and the driver's coat over mine, her temperature raised a little but the twitching didn't stop.

"I think you should hold her hand to prevent from hurting anywhere, Sir."

I held both of her hands together and said to the driver, "Drive faster!"

We came to the house. Mr Johnson picked her up in his arms and ran into the house where I followed him behind.

When I entered the room where Mr Johnson took Isabella, the doctor was checking her so I came out and stood outside the room.

Mr Johnson came out and said, "I'll pick her things from the car, Sir."

He left after I gave a nod.

After some time, the doctor came out saying, "It's alcohol poisoning, Sir. It causes when there's too much alcohol in the blood. I've given her an IV to treat the dehydration in her body."

"Is it because of an overdose of alcohol?"

"Yeah, but this is called binge drinking. She must have taken at least four drinks within two hours to get alcohol poisoning. Don't worry, she'll be alright once she wakes up. After she wakes up, keep her hydrated as much as possible."

"Thank you, doctor."

Mr Johnson returned and helped the doctor to head out while I was entering Isabella's room.

I walked to her and saw her lying on the bed being unconscious. I sat beside the bed and looked at her. IV stand was beside the bed standing upright and needle was stuck on the back of her hand.

Mr Johnson came in and kept her things which he took from her house and tried to leave.

"Mr Johnson!" I called out to him.

He stopped from leaving the room and walked towards me and asked, "Yes, Sir?"

"The doctor said she had alcohol poisoning. She drank too much alcohol which made her like this. Do you know what made her drink like a lunatic?"

"I think she's worried about her mother who is in the hospital, Sir."

Will someone drink if they're worried about someone?

I asked him, "Aren't you worried about your little sister? Why aren't you asking anything?"

"I talked about her condition with the doctor, Sir."

"You may leave now."

"Yes, Sir." And left.

I looked at Isabella who's sleeping peacefully. I think this is the first time you've been silent after we met.

I heard a phone ringing but couldn't find the phone anywhere near. The ringtone is different from mine. It must be hers.

I found the phone in Isabella's bag and found many missed calls under the names of Noah, Evelyn, Liam. Who are these people? I think they must be Isabella's friends. It looks like she has friends who care for her. Her phone's battery looked like it was about to die. Her phone ranged again. The name displayed on the phone screen was Liam.

Should I answer this?

When I tried to put the phone back into her bag, the call was answered accidentally.

I let out a sigh and took the phone out.

On the other side of the call, "Bella! Bella? Are you there? Can you hear me?"

"She's sleeping." I said in a low tone.

"What? Who are you? Who's speaking?..."

Who am I? How should I answer this? While I was thinking what to answer, the phone got switched off so I kept it back in the bag and zipped it.

The IV got over so I removed the needle from her hand carefully like the doctor instructed. I patted her hand and placed it near her. Why did you drink like that? Are you hoping to die? What if we weren't there at that time? What would have happened to you? What if your mother knows about this? Will she be happy after hearing that her daughter drank alcohol to die? I was amazed when I heard about you in the first place. I thought you were a responsible child to her mother but why did you do that? I doubt that for what reason did you drink like that? Was it just a mistake or did you know beforehand that you'll get alcohol poisoning? I hope it's a mistake.

I covered Isabella with a blanket before coming out of the room.

Mr Johnson was standing outside Isabella's room all these time?

"What are you doing here? Didn't you go to your place?"

"I waited to see Ms Garcia, Sir."

"She's sleeping. Come tomorrow."

"Yes, Sir. Then I may take my leave for today, Sir." And left.

I came to my room and laid on the bed, trying to sleep. I hope it was a mistake.