“What have you done?!” Ariel shrieked in terror as she rushed to grab Trevor’s nearly empty plate.
“Why didn’t you eat the pasta, Trevor? I specifically asked them to prepare it for you. So why did you go for the salad and chicken instead?” Ariel sobbed and carelessly flung the plate away.
Leilani was perplexed and about to ask Ariel why she was causing such a commotion when Trevor suddenly coughed up blood.
“TREVOR!” both Leilani and Ariel exclaimed at once.
Leilani swiftly pushed her chair away and flew across the table to where Trevor was being held by his mother.
“Oh, Jesus. My stomach,” Trevor whimpered, holding his mouth and curling into a ball while clutching his belly with his other hand.
“No, Trevor. I didn’t mean to hurt you,” Ariel cried.
“We need to get him to the hospital,” Leilani wailed as she grabbed her phone, but her trembling hands prevented her from dialing for help.
The phone fell from her grasp as she rushed to pick up Trevor in her arms.
“Call someone already!” she shouted as she headed out of the house.
“What’s going on here?” Susan’s voice echoed in Leilani’s ear, but she had already left the house.
“Please, tell me you’re okay, Trevor,” Leilani’s voice cracked as she stole a glance at him while carrying him in her arms and running towards the parking lot.
Crying, Ariel had already run ahead and opened one of the cars for Leilani to put Trevor in. As soon as she did, Ariel got behind the wheel and drove out of the premises at top speed.
More than half an hour passed, but there was still no word from the doctors in the operating room regarding Trevor’s condition.
Both Ariel and Leilani were inconsolable since they arrived at the hospital. Leilani could be seen pacing back and forth, while Ariel sat with her face soaked in tears.
At that moment, Nelson rushed in and Leilani immediately ran into his arms, breaking down into sobs.
“I am here now, my love,” Nelson uttered tenderly, enveloping her in a warm embrace.
Barely disengaging from the hug, Leilani began to reveal the details of the incident.
“The cook served me chicken and salad, and Trevor was given pasta. I craved the pasta while Trevor wanted my salad, so we traded our meals. But then, out of nowhere, Ariel appeared and questioned why Trevor received the chicken. Right then, Trevor started coughing up blood,” Leilani recounted, her words tumbling out with tears and tremors.
Nelson embraced her once again, offering gentle words of comfort, but Leilani could not stop weeping.
“Don’t worry, my dear. Trevor will be fine,” Nelson reassured her, though his anxiety was evident.
Meanwhile, Ariel was weeping inconsolably, as if her life was on the line.
At that moment, the doctor and nurses arrived, and Ariel quickly sprang to her feet, while Leilani and Nelson hurried towards them.
“Who are the parents?” the doctor inquired with a heavy sigh, a tinge of sadness in his demeanor.
“I am the mother,” Ariel spoke up, emphatically patting her chest.
“I am the father, Doctor. Please tell me, what is wrong with my son?” Nelson asked softly.
The doctor studied both Nelson and Ariel for a moment before speaking again, “Where were you when the child’s meal was poisoned?”
“Poisoned?” Nelson and Leilani echoed in shock, while Ariel burst into tears and slowly sunk to her knees.
“It is all my fault, Doctor,” she wept sorrowfully, “The poisoned food was meant for someone else, but my son consumed it instead. Please, I beg of you, save my son.”
“What?!” Leilani exclaimed in disbelief, as Nelson angrily pulled her to her feet.
“So the poison was meant for me or Lani?!” Nelson’s anger and malice were evident in his distorted expression and tight fists.
With tears streaming down her face, Leilani sobbed, “No, the poison was intended for me. She wanted to get rid of me so badly, but instead she has harmed this poor boy.”
The doctor could only shake his head in pity, “I do not know the circumstances, but unfortunately, ma’am, your son has passed. The poison was corrosive acid, and it has ravaged his body.”
“No, doctor, no!” Ariel threw herself from Nelson’s grasp and begged, “Please, save my son, please!”
“I am sorry,” the doctor replied simply before walking away.
Tears welled up in Nelson’s eyes as he stepped aside and made a phone call.
Meanwhile, Leilani burst into the operating room and saw a nurse pushing out a stretcher carrying a lifeless body.
Leilani halted the nurse and, with her hand trembling uncontrollably, slowly revealed the body. There, lying lifeless, was Trevor’s cold body.
“Trevor!” Leilani screamed, breaking down in tears. “No, Trevor, you cannot leave us like this. You cannot leave me like this! Open your eyes, honey. Do you no longer want Nike sneakers? What about our matching outfits and family outings?”
Tears continued to rain down Leilani’s face as she grasped Trevor’s head and shook it desperately, hoping for a sign of life.
Nelson entered at that moment, and he could no longer contain his tears. Collapsing to the floor, his face soaked with tears, he muttered in a trembling voice, “Trevor.”
The nurse felt compassion for Leilani, but the body needed to be taken to the morgue. So she returned to the stretcher and began to move it slowly, but Leilani would not stop following.
“Please wake him up, nurse. Trevor cannot leave me like this. He is my treasure,” she wailed as she chased after the stretcher.
Ariel, who was huddled on the floor, crying her heart out, watched as her son’s lifeless body was brought out.
“Forgive me, Trevor,” she wept, holding his cold hand and kissing it. “Open your eyes, Trevor, please.”
At that moment, four police officers entered the place. Amidst his sobs, Nelson tearfully directed his finger at Ariel, who was still chasing after the nurse.
“That is the culprit, officers. Please arrest her immediately,” Nelson demanded through his sorrow.
Two officers managed to catch up with Ariel, but she was unyielding. “Release me. Let me bid farewell to my son first, I beg you.”
“You are under arrest for the homicide of Trevor Carter,” one of the officers stated as they restrained her with handcuffs.
Ariel wept, wailed, and pleaded, but she was still forcefully escorted out of the hospital by the officers.
Shortly after, Nelson had shed his tears, he slowly made his way to where Leilani had been seated, ever since Trevor had been taken away.
“It’s alright, Lani. Please stop crying now,” Nelson softly begged, his eyes welling up.
“I want my lovely Trevor back, Nelson. Tell them to return my son!” Leilani erupted into another gush of tears, and Nelson gently enveloped her in his embrace.
“I need my child back,”
“Return my Trevor to me,”
“I want my son’s return,”
Leilani repeatedly implored until she eventually surrendered to unconsciousness.
“Lani! Doctor!”