“She’ll be fine. She just passed out”Doctor Charles said to the restless Liam who hadn’t stopped pacing back and forth since he brought Isabelle to the hospital, all the way from the landing zone.
“It’s been hours now and she hasn’t shown any sign of waking up”Liam halted for a moment and uttered with a troubled expression on his face. “How is that okay?”
“You know sometimes, people’s bodies react to the same things in different ways. She must have been overwhelmed by the whole occurrence. You need to be patient, she’ll wake up” Dr. Charles explained to put Liam’s mind at rest.
The talking ceased at the moment a light tap on the door echoed in the room
“Come in” Dr. Charles voiced out and Immediately the door opened to Rachael who was informed about the news of Isabelle’s successful rescue by William.
“Hello, Mr. Callahan, Doctor” Rachael greeted with a slight now and rushed towards the sleeping Isabelle’s bedside, asking. “How is she?”
The doctor went through the stress of repeating the same thing he had said to Liam.
“So, we just have to wait, right?” Rachael asked with a worrisome expression on her face.
“Exactly,” Dr. Charles remarked with a sigh. At least, someone who understands me. “I’ll take my leave now. Please, try not to disturb the patient”
“Thanks, doctor”Liam and Rachael muttered in unison, their gaze locking with each other as they recalled they had a pending discussion to conclude.
Liam was the first to break the awkward silence.
“What about Penelope? How is she doing?”Liam asked with a stern yet concerned tone in his voice.
“Oh! She’s doing fine. She has even agreed to help us take Mr. Russo and Gina down”Rachael blurted out in excitement but suddenly realized something was wrong when she saw Liam’s brow arched in confusion. “Erm… Did I say something wrong?”
“You mentioned Gina,” Liam asked, his forehead squeezed into a frown. “Which Gina?… The only Gina I know is Isabelle’s mother or is there another one that I do not know about?”
Rachael felt the urge to hide under something to escape the scrutinizing gaze of Liam which overwhelmed her. She had mistakenly mentioned Gina’s name out of excitement. It wasn’t the right time yet as she wanted Penelope to be there to support her. Her gaze darted around searching for impossible ways to escape Liam’s question and luck seemed to shine on her at that moment.
A soft groan from Isabelle broke the tension in the room as the two people focused their gaze on her, watching as her eyes blinked repeatedly.
“Isabelle” Rachael called her name, her voice soft and gentle with her eyes welled up in tears. She held her bandaged hands which was a result of the rope used to tie her hands to the tree.
She sniffed in her tears before saying, “I missed you so much… I was scared when I couldn’t find you again that night”
Isabelle massaged her throbbing and quickly understood her present situation.
“I missed you too, and I’m sorry. I was not expecting something like that to happen” she replied with a hoarse voice, her gaze tearing up as she recalled the incident that had occurred before she fainted. The image of a man popped up in her head as she gripped Rachael’s hand tightly.
“What is it, Isabelle?… You look….”
“Where’s Liam?”Isabelle cut her off, her eyes flashing with great trepidation and worry as she searched Rachael’s eyes for an answer. “Please, where is he?.. I need to speak with him”
“Calm down, Isabelle. I understand how you feel.” Rachael held her down in a bid to keep her calm before responding to her question. “He’s standing right…..”
Rachael was stunned when she couldn’t find the man she had spoken to some minutes ago.
“He was standing right there?”Rachael pointed to Liam’s previous spot with a confused look on her face as she began to wonder, “Where did he go?”
Isabelle’s anxious expression turned solemn as she could understand what was going on.
She patted Rachael’s hand, jolting her out of her thoughts. “It’s fine, Rachael. I know he doesn’t want to see me which is not a shocker after everything that has happened”
“It’s alright, Isabelle. I’m sure he’ll come around. He just needs some time, after all that has happened”Rachael uttered with a soothing voice while hinting at something.
Isabelle did not fail to sense the underlying meaning in Rachael’s words. “What exactly is happening?”
Rachael took a deep breath before responding. “Liam’s company is on the verge of collapsing, and we’ve gotten no solution to the problem yet” Her voice was serious, telling the severity of the situation. “Pressure is coming in from different companies and social media, telling him to shut the company down, but Liam hasn’t responded to any of the drama yet”
Tears trickled down Isabelle’s eyes as Rachael explained the whole happening to her. From her kidnapping to her confession, then to Liam himself.
“There was no form of communication on that island so I couldn’t figure out what exactly was going on in the city” Isabelle explained. Her voice cracked with tears, her eyes flashing with intense guilt as she stared blankly at the space.
“I understand your predicament. Just like I said earlier, you have to give him time to come around. He definitely will”
“Alright,” Isabelle gave in as Rachael pulled her in for a hug.
“Um.. that reminds me… Penelope has woken up. It’s been over a day now” Rachael revealed with a nonchalant expression which was quite different from the bewildered expression on Isabelle’s face.
“Are you kidding me? Did you just say Penelope is awake?” Isabelle asked again to confirm. “That’s great news. What about her daughter?”
“Oh! I guess she’s fine.” Rachael replied absentmindedly as his mind wandered off to nowhere.
Isabelle noticed the sudden distance and couldn’t help but ask, “Is everything alright with you?”
“Yes,” Rachael’s reply was curt. “I’m fine. Trust me”
Isabelle pondered on it for a while before settling on an assumption. “Is it William?” She asked with a raised brow, her voice laced with curiosity. She confirmed her question when she noticed the hesitation in Rachael’s action.