Chapter 91: Chapter 91

As soon as Carol got home, dropped off the stuff that she traveled with, and took a shower, she changed her clothes and approached one of the drivers so he could take her to Sacramento to see Mr. James and Jessica. Luckily enough, they were admitted to the same hospital so it would be easy to just drop in and see them.

"What did you say, ma'am?" The man asked in surprise after she made her request known to him. Carol looked him up and down, sure that he had heard her very clearly, but was just being difficult for reasons known to him alone.

"Is there a problem?" She asked at last.

"You want to go on a drive all the way to Sacramento?" The man asked again in surprise.

"Yes. I believe that that is what I said. Why does that seem to surprise you so much?"

"Because Boss Sebastian would not like to hear that you took the car to travel on such a long journey when you could easily use one of the planes. He'll have my hide for that, ma'am." The man said respectfully, while Carol gaped at him.

"You're calling a journey that is just about an hour, or an hour and thirty minutes at the most, a long journey?" She asked incredulously, sure that she had misheard him.

"Well, ma'am, I know the boss very well. He'll be angry." The man said stubbornly.

"So what do you propose I do, then? I don't know the first thing about where I'm to get one of these planes. I have not seen or visited Mr. James since he had the heart attack, and I'm very sure that that does not speak well of me at all. I just want to go visit him."

"I'll tell someone to arrange it immediately...oh, wait. Did you say that you were going to see Mr. James? There's no need to travel then. He's back in his home, which is just on the property next to this one."

"Excuse me? You mean to say that he's been discharged?"

"Yes, ma'am. The man refused to stay in the hospital despite the fact that his heart was so badly damaged and that he was so weak. He insisted that they take him back home and now, he's being tended to by his personal doctor. He's hooked up to machines, and everything, according to what I heard too. He just seems to hate hospitals so much." The man finished.

"Well, in that case, I will go over right now and visit him then ... or would you order an airplane to take me there too?" Carol joked, raising her brows at the man, who burst out laughing, looking very pleased that she was being so friendly with him.

"No, no, of course not, ma'am. I'll take you there right this very minute." He said, opening the car door for her so she could get in. Soon they were on their way to Mr. James's new house. The property was identical to Sebastian's own in terms of size and affluence, although the main house was not as large as Sebastian's. A maid greeted Carol at the door, asking who she was and asking her to wait in the living room so that she could inform her employer of Carol's presence. She waited for only a few minutes before Mrs. James came into the room, looking very washed out and tired. She sank into a chair wearily and smiled briefly at Carol.

"Welcome, my dear. I'm sorry that you have to visit us in this sort of circumstances. Would you like me to ask the maid to get you anything to drink?"

"No, aunty. Don't bother yourself. So it's true that Mr. James is back home despite the scare the other day?" Carol asked.

"It's true, my dear. He refuses to stay in the hospital no matter what. He has a phobia of hospitals from when he had to first stay by my side after I had the accident that cost me my womb and then when Sebastian's parents had the accident that claimed their lives too. He hates hospitals since then and can't stand to be in one for extended periods."

"And the doctors let him go despite how ill he is? Why would they do that?"

"They can't hold him there against his will. He had to sign something that shows that he was leaving against medical advice."

"Wow. Is he getting any better?"

"I don't even know. I mean, the time the doctors gave us is almost up. I mean, it's less than a month now. Originally, I had thought that since he refused to stay and be monitored in the hospital, he would not last this long. However, when I saw that he could still walk on his own, at least to an extent, even though his time was almost up, I thought that maybe he would be able to survive and even live longer than the time given. Now though, with the heart attack, I wonder if he will last the week. I'm talking too much, right? I'm sorry."

"Oh no, aunty. You're not at all. Please feel free to talk all you want if it makes you feel better, okay?"

Mrs. James laughed a little and wiped at the tears that had gathered in her eyes while she talked. "Anyway, I guess you want to see him, not so? I should warn you that he's barely there. He might not even recognize you."

"Oh, my God! Is it that bad?" Carol asked in surprise.

"Yes, my dear. I'm afraid that it is." Mrs. James replied, leading the way to where Mr. James was. Carol did a double-take as soon as she spied him lying on the bed, connected to tubes. The bed seemed to swallow his now very slim frame. Carol could not reconcile the white-haired old man lying in the bed in the center of the large, airy room with the robust man who had come to her house that day a year and a month ago to bully her father into making one of his daughters to marry his nephew. She approached the bed slowly and carefully, not knowing what on earth to do or say, or if she should even do or say anything at all.

Mr. James was awake, and as she approached the bed and looked down at him, he looked back up at her, trying to focus his gaze on her face. Carol waited patiently, trying to resist the urge to burst into tears. She had come to like this man a lot, despite how much she had hated him in the beginning, and she knew that his death was going to hurt her as much as though she were his blood relative. After a while, he finally seemed to be able to see her face clearly and tried to smile.

"Carol? Is that you, my dear?" He asked in that wavery tone that most very old people seemed to have. It was not a tone that she had thought that she would hear so soon from Mr. James. She turned to glance at the wife who seemed pleased that he had recognized Carol.

"Yes, it's me, Mr. James. How are you doing?"

"I'm fine. I thought I asked you to call me uncle." He joked wryly. Carol nodded solemnly.

"I'll remember next time, uncle. How are you feeling?"

"Well, I guess you could say I've had better days, but at least, I'm still here, so there's that. How's my boy?"

"I reckon that he's fine. I haven't seen him for two days."

"What? Why is that?"

"Well, I went to the funeral, and I just got back so I haven't seen him. He's probably at work."

"What funeral?"

"Well..." Carol started, looking at his wife for help. She glanced away without saying anything.

"Who died, Carol?"

"It's my sister, Victoria."

"Oh no. That's very sad. She was such a pretty girl. Was she sick or what?" He asked, already looking drowsy. He was fast asleep before Carol could answer. Mrs. James ushered her from the room and back to the living room, apologizing profusely.

"I'm so sorry I did not even remember to offer my condolences for the death of your sister earlier, Carol. I've just been so preoccupied."

"It's okay, aunty. I hope she's at peace now. So, I was thinking ... what do you think of me going to visit Jessica? I was thinking of doing that."

"Well, I don't know. It's a good gesture, I suppose. She's still unconscious though, and shows no sign of waking up."

"I will just follow Sebastian when next he's going to visit her ... as a way of showing that I support him." Carol lied. She was going to see Jessica so she could really see what the other woman looked like. Her curiosity was killing her and she needed to satisfy it once and for all. She needed to see what the woman whom Sebastian preferred to spend his days with nowadays looked like.