A loud sound suddenly broke from a distance, and the arguing youngsters were all startled.
“What the heck was that?” Cody turned to look upstream.
“Great,” Candace pulled a straight face, “You just woke up the monster under the lake, Scientist.”
“The lake is downstream, you silly,” Cody frowned.
“Oh, so you admitted the bedtime story is true?” Candace quipped.
Cody frowned at the upstream, trying to figure out what just happened. That sound was sudden and weird.
Thunder? It could only be thunder. Cody looked up and saw the blue sky above his head.
No… It didn’t look like it was gonna rain today.
But there would always be regional precipitation in mountains and valleys, especially in this season.
Was upstream raining right now?
Shit!
They were in a valley, and there would be a flood soon! Cody realized in raw horror.
They need to leave the river bank as soon as possible. “Demi! Give me your hand!” Cody yelled.
Demi was scared, “Why? What’s wrong, Cody?”
“Stop asking! Give me your hand!” Cody shouted in fear.
However, things were too late as a huge boa of stream roared its way down the river from upstream. Demi screamed in horror as her wide green eyes mirrored the huge wall of foamed water before her.
“NO! DEMI!” Cody cried as Linford dashed forward and took him and his sister in his arms.
“WILLY!” Demi screamed amid the violent current, which snatched her little body away in the blink of an eye.
Her head hit a rock in the current, and she just passed out.
****
Fifteen years later.
Zoey opened the door when she heard the gentle knock. The woman revealed behind the door was in her 30s. Her hair was cut short, and she wore a gigantic pair of glasses. Her face was wrinkled and seasoned. She was definitely not one of those well-maintained Misses Metropolis who always came to apply for this job.
Zoey arched an eyebrow as she scanned the new woman from head to toe. She wondered how long this one would survive Mr. Bradley’s tyranny this time.
The woman who stood before Zoey was called Thea, a new nurse hired to take care of Mr. Bradley.
Mr. Bradley had been sitting in a wheelchair for a couple of months, and he needed constant watch and company.
The woman didn’t look pretty, but she was clearly the reliable type of person. Zoey couldn’t pick any faults from her, so she decided to sign a one-year contract with this girl.
Thea seemed like she was desperately in need of this job. She couldn’t stop smiling after they signed the contract, “Thank you, Zoey. I swear I will take care of Mr. Bradley very well.”
Zoey nodded back politely. She took Thea to her room first. The decoration in the room was pretty simple, but she had got everything she needed, “You can come back here to take a rest when your company isn’t needed. Mr. Bradley enjoys spending some time alone quite a lot. But when you’re asked to leave, you need to ensure his blood pressure is normal and he has taken his meds.”
“Of course,” Thea nodded.
“Oh, and one thing, it’s pretty weird, actually.” Zoey smiled awkwardly, “You can’t fall asleep before Mr. Bradley does every night. It’s the rule… you know, just in case of any emergency.”
“Sure,” Thea nodded and smiled at her.
“And this phone,” Zoey pointed at a phone mounted on the wall. “This line connected Mr. Bradley’s room directly. He will call you whenever he needs you. But you can’t make any calls to him, do you understand?”
Thea nodded, losing her patience a bit.
This Mr. Bradley sounded like such a pain in the ass. She wondered if she could get along with him.
“Now, you can drop your things here and follow me,” Zoey turned around and took the lead.
When they went upstairs, Lily showed up and led Thea to Cody’s room.
A handsome young man was sitting in a wheelchair, staring out of the window blankly. “Cody, I’ve brought the new nurse here,” Lily said carefully.
Cody’s shoulder moved a fraction as if he was pulled back from his reverie. He whirled the chair around to face Thea. Thea forgot how to breathe the minute she met his striking blue eyes. The handsome man skimmed Thea up from head to toe, his voice was cold and deep as he asked, “You’re the new Amanda?”
“Huh?” Thea’s mouth dropped confusingly.
“Amanda is our last nurse,” Lily reminded Thea with a hushed voice, “She was just fired a couple of days ago.”
“Oh…” Thea blinked as she turned to look at Cody again, “I’m me, sir. You can call me Thea.”
“Thea?” Cody arched an eyebrow,” You’re 201 from now on.”
“201?” Thea was confused again, glancing at Lily slightly to hear the explanation.
“You’re the 201st person who applied for this job.” Lily cleared her throat.
Was this man treating her like a dog? Thea suddenly felt embarrassed.
“Sir, don’t you think there are too many syllables in that nickname? I prefer Thea,” Thea tried to negotiate as she didn’t like the nickname given to her.
“I will call you 201.” Cody coldly answered before turning around to face the window. The offer was final.
Thea realized that they had been dismissed. She was still annoyed after leaving the room. Great! Her new boss was a bastard.
“I apologize for that, Thea,” Lily smiled, “Cody’s not always like that. He had been shot in his waist a couple of months ago while on a mission. The doctors said the bullets hurt his spine, and he couldn’t walk after that. I’m sure you will understand his behavior.”
Thea shrugged and smiled. This old lady seemed nice.
“Have you had any lunch yet?” Lily asked, “I made some sandwiches this morning. Why don’t you go to the kitchen with me and enjoy some really good beef sandwiches? I’d like to know more about you.”
“That would be really nice, thank you, Lily.”
Thea was summoned to Cody’s room that night to do a massage for him. She had learned a lot from the conversation with Lily this noon, including that Mr. Bradley didn’t like a noisy environment. Most people in this house normally work silently and observe strict rules.
Thea was massaging his legs as the TV played a piece of news about the famous actress Paris Dunn. Paris just won an academy award. Tears streamed down her beautiful face as she gave her speech to the camera. Thea felt a bit sick.