Jenna Axton heard the door open and turned to look. The mont she saw Luna Axton, a smile spread across her face.
"Sweetheart."
"Mom, Blaze Fairchild is here."
After speaking, Luna Axton stepped aside to let Blaze Fairchild in.
When Jenna Axton saw Blaze Fairchild, she seed dazed for a mont.
The Blaze Fairchild before her was tall with broad shoulders, completely different from the little boy in her mories.
Back then, when she took him out to play, Susie was still pregnant. Whenever Blaze Fairchild got tired of walking, he would co looking for her.
The little boy would stretch his arms up high and plead in his sweet, childish voice, "Auntie, carry ."
That voice was so sweet it could lt your heart.
He also had a special love for rainbow-colored candies and would always sneak one into his mouth when the adults weren’t paying attention.
He would then, thinking he was being clever, stick his tongue out for the adults to inspect. Seeing it stained with color, the grown-ups had to force themselves to hold back their laughter and play along.
But that, after all, was the young Blaze who was still sheltered by his mother and father.
The Blaze Fairchild of today was mature and composed, his gaze distant and indifferent, his face devoid of any emotion.
"Mr. Fairchild, hello."
"M...om," Blaze Fairchild stamred stiffly.
He hadn’t called anyone "Mom" in twenty-three years, and the word felt incredibly foreign and difficult to pronounce.
Jenna Axton gestured to the sofa. "Please, have a seat."
"Okay."
Luna Axton, seeing how reserved Blaze Fairchild was, grabbed a bottle of water and placed it in front of him.
"Luna, warm it up a bit. It’s cold out," Jenna Axton said, a smile playing on her lips.
Before Luna Axton could reply, Blaze Fairchild gently refused. "Don’t trouble yourself. Cold is fine."
Luna Axton pressed her lips together to suppress a laugh. ’So, even Blaze Fairchild gets awkward when eting the parents.’
Jenna Axton saw her daughter’s mischievous delight, and her smile deepened. "Please, make yourself at ho, Mr. Fairchild."
Blaze Fairchild placed his hands on his knees and gave a slight nod. "I will."
’He hadn’t expected to be so inexplicably nervous eting her mother for the first ti.’
Luna Axton sat down by the bed. She had only exchanged a few words with Jenna Axton when a hospital orderly arrived to take her mother to the operating room.
Luna Axton, who had been calm, grew more and more tense the closer they got to the operating room. Her heart was pounding in her throat.
’Blaze Fairchild was right; she couldn’t stay calm after all.’
Her mother hadn’t even had any sudden complications, yet her emotions were already a wreck.
The doors to the operating room slid shut. She stared at them for a few seconds before heading to the waiting area, her eyes fixed on the large monitor.
The screen displayed scrolling information, providing status updates for each patient in surgery.
Blaze Fairchild got up several tis to take calls in the hallway.
He finished an entire online eting, but her mother’s surgery still wasn’t over.
The other families in the waiting room had already rotated out several tis, but she still hadn’t heard a doctor call for "Jenna Axton’s family."
Luna Axton sat with her legs crossed, an anxious knot tightening in her stomach. She subconsciously began twisting the hem of her shirt.
’She clearly rembered Dr. Wyatt saying it wasn’t a major operation. Why was it taking so long?’
Blaze Fairchild saw her anxiety and tried to distract her by starting a conversation.
"I’ll have Mrs. Creed bring so food over. Is there anything you’re in the mood for?"
"Anything’s fine. You decide," Luna Axton replied. She didn’t have the ntal energy to think about it; she’d just go with whatever he arranged.
Suddenly, a large, warm hand covered hers. "She’ll be okay. Don’t work yourself up."
Luna Axton’s gaze fell to his large hand. ’It’s so warm. It must feel very reassuring to hold.’
"It’ll be fine." Blaze Fairchild gently patted her hair, then got up to call Mrs. Creed.
Luna Axton sat there in a daze. ’I have a feeling sothing is quietly changing between and Blaze Fairchild.’
Her thoughts were hazy, impossible to grasp. After an unknown amount of ti, she suddenly heard a voice call out.
"Family of Jenna Axton."
Luna Axton shot to her feet and walked toward the operating room doors.
Blaze Fairchild, who was in the hallway, was closer to the doors.
With his phone still in one hand, he had already placed his other on the gurney as it was wheeled out.
As they reached Jenna Axton, he pocketed his phone and beat Luna to the question. "Were there any complications during the procedure?"
"No, the patient is fine. We had an issue with a piece of equipnt, but we replaced it with a backup unit in ti. It had no impact on the surgery."
Hearing this, a relieved smile broke out on Luna Axton’s face. "Thank you."
The group then wheeled the gurney back to the special care ward.
Jenna Axton lay on the bed, utterly drained. Her complexion was sallow and her lips were pale.
Luna Axton held her mother’s hand tightly, tears of heartache welling in her eyes.
Her mother, once as beautiful as a rose, was now gaunt from her illness, with sunken cheeks and hollow eyes.
Jenna Axton had no strength, but she managed a weak squeeze of Luna’s hand and a slight shake of her head, trying to tell her she was all right.
Dr. Wyatt, the departnt head, and a hospital administrator Luna didn’t recognize were speaking with Blaze Fairchild off to the side, discussing post-operative care and potential complications.
Luna Axton had no desire to listen. She already knew everything the doctors were saying.
She had even ntally walked through her mother’s surgery countless tis over the past few days.
After the large group finally departed, Blaze Fairchild returned to the sofa and sat down.
Mrs. Creed arrived with a thermal food container twenty minutes later.
Mrs. Creed was very discreet and didn’t glance in the direction of the hospital bed.
She carefully wiped down a small table before placing the food containers on it and opening them one by one.
"Young Master, Young Madam, the al is ready."
Mrs. Creed had taken the only stool in the room, leaving just the sofa for seating.
Just as she was hesitating about whether to sit next to Blaze Fairchild, he shifted his high-and-mighty self over and patted the spot beside him. "Sit here."
The mont Luna Axton sat down, Blaze Fairchild placed a bowl of soup in front of her. "You haven’t had much water today. This is warm."
"Mrs. Creed, arrange for a competent caregiver to co to the hospital."
He took care of her with such ease that Luna Axton almost had the fleeting thought that Blaze Fairchild actually liked her.
"Yes, sir," Mrs. Creed replied.
The al was served in individual portions, so there was no need for her to serve the Young Madam.
Sitting off to the side, she finally had a mont to glance at the person in the hospital bed.
But that one glance made her eyes go wide with shock. She looked again, more carefully this ti.
The person in the bed was wearing a nasal cannula, and her complexion was an unhealthy, sallow color. But her eyes were bright and held a smile—a smile that Mrs. Creed knew all too well.
"Adria—" She started to speak, but before the na could fully escape her lips, the woman in the bed knitted her brows slightly and gave a small shake of her head.
Mrs. Creed imdiately fell silent. They looked at each other from across the room, both of their thoughts turning to the one who had passed away.
The corners of Mrs. Creed’s eyes grew red, and she felt a sting in her nose.
Miss Adriana, her late mistress’s dearest friend.
During the final days of her mistress’s life, it was Miss Adriana who had been by her side the most.
She never imagined that twenty-three years after her mistress’s passing, she would have the chance to see her friend again.
Co to think of it, Miss Adriana had also disappeared for twenty-three years.
No wonder she’d always felt the Young Madam was kind and gentle, with a soft-spoken manner that seed so familiar. She was Miss Adriana’s daughter.
After all the twists and turns, the bond between the mothers was now continuing through their children.
Mrs. Creed had so much she wanted to say to Miss Adriana, but now was not the ti. She could only suppress her feelings and act as if everything were normal.
Blaze Fairchild ate quickly. Putting down his empty bowl, he said, "I have a eting this afternoon. I’m heading to the office."
"Okay." Luna Axton forced herself to swallow the "thank you" that almost escaped her lips.
She rembered Blaze Fairchild’s words. ’He’s only doing all this for the baby.’
Luna Axton finished every last bite of the food in front of her.
For her, eating was no longer about enjoynt; it was about keeping her body healthy to nourish the baby.
"Mrs. Creed, I’m finished. You can pack up now. Thank you for making the trip."
"You’re too kind, Young Madam."
"About the caregiver Mr. Fairchild ntioned, please find soone very responsible. We’ll just need them for these three days."
She had originally intended to stay with her mother herself. In the past, when her mother’s condition was critical, she had been the one to watch over her night after night.
But she knew that Blaze Fairchild would never allow her to do that.
"Young Madam, it’s getting late. Why don’t I have the driver take you to school first? I can stay here with Mrs. Axton until the caregiver arrives."
Luna Axton checked the ti. She really did need to get to school.
She had co over with Blaze Fairchild that morning, so Caleb hadn’t co with them.
"Okay, I’ll head to class then."
Luna Axton said a few more words to Jenna Axton, reluctant to leave.
"Mrs. Creed, if anything happens, you have to call right away."
"Of course. Don’t worry, Young Madam. I’ll watch over Mrs. Axton personally."
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