Niamh fell into a violent and uncomfortable coughing fit when she suddenly heard a violent crash outside.
It was followed by the main doors being kicked open with a bang.
Kendrick kicked down the door and was shocked when he was met with a strong scent of blazing black smoke once he walked through.
“Is it you, Kendrick? Kendrick! Cough, cough, cough…” Niamh shouted at the door. Her senses told her that Kendrick had arrived, and the irregular rhythm of her heartbeat never deceived her.
Kendrick covered his mouth and walked along the entrance to the outside of the room where Niamh and Eloise were trapped in.
“Nia!”
Through the heavy black smoke, Kendrick’s half-squinted peach blossom eyes caught sight of Niamh and Eloise’s figures.
“Don’t worry, Nia. I’ll come in and bring you and Mom out right now!”
“Don’t! Don’t come in, cough! It’s still somewhat safe in here. Ensure your own safety before you come and save me and Mom, Kendrick! Do you hear me?”
Niamh persuaded him to stop, even though she wanted nothing more than to bury herself in Kendrick’s arms where it would feel safe like no other place. Still, him entering the room rashly would not do anything to help them.
“Fire! What a big fire!”
Eloise suddenly screamed.
“Eveline’s still in the fire! It’s all gone! The fire has burned everything away!”
“Mom?”
“Eveline! I have to save Eveline!” Eloise murmured to herself before she suddenly pushed Niamh’s hand away and ran toward the flames.
Niamh pulled Eloise back. “Eveline’s right here, Mom. I’m right here!”
“No. You’re not Eveline, you’re not my Eveline! My darling daughter, Eveline Montgomery, is still inside! She’ll be burned to death! It’s Lana, she’s the vile witch who wants to kill our entire family!
“Eveline, my child. Mom knows she has never taken good care of you or protected you but won’t you forgive Mom? Please? Come back to me,” Eloise rambled, her expression especially solemn under her dust-covered face.
She seemed to have remembered the day Montgomery Manor was burned to ruins for she kept repeating about how she needed to save Niamh.
Niamh’s heart tightened as if something had taken hold of it. She had no idea if her eyes were burning from the smoke or something else but she could not seem to stop the tears from flowing.
“Eveline is safe, Mom! She’s standing right in front of you!”
“No, no, my Eveline is still in the fire! I have to save her! Let go of me!”
Eloise pushed Niamh away again and rushed desperately toward the raging flames before her.
She had only one thought and it was to save Niamh.
Niamh did not expect Eloise’s strength to grow so exponentially either in order to save ‘her’.
She ended up staggering two steps backward before she knocked into the bookshelf beside her.
The bookshelf swayed twice as if it was about to fall.
Knocking into it hurt slightly, but Niamh did not have the time to worry about herself as she saw Eloise already stepping into the fire.
“Mom!” she exclaimed and ran over to embrace Eloise as tears fell freely from her burning eyes.
“Look at me, Mom. I really am your Eveline!” Niamh hugged Eloise and stressed the words.
“My Eveline…” Eloise was stunned for two seconds as she stared blankly at Niamh’s face. Her eyes were filled with doubt and question. “No, you’re not. Eveline would never talk to me. She hates me. You’re not… Cough cough, you’re not…”
Niamh tightened her arms around Eloise. “Eveline stopped hating you a long time ago, Mom. I know you didn’t hurt me on purpose. Eveline doesn’t blame you anymore.”
“Eveline doesn’t blame me anymore?” Niamh’s words seemed to have gotten through to Eloise who raised her hand to touch Niamh’s teary cheeks. Her delicate brows became furrowed. “Do you truly not blame me anymore, Eveline?”
Niamh nodded and squeezed Eloise’s hand. “Truly. Eveline doesn’t blame her mother. Eveline loves her mother. Cough cough.”
Eloise seemed to have understood Niamh and gave a relieved smile. “Will you come home with me then, Eveline?”
“Yeah! I’ll go home with Mom! Our family won’t be separated anymore!”
“Okay.” A loving smile broke on Eloise’s face. She raised her hand to caress Niamh’s head, but a look of horror suddenly tinted her kind gaze.
Niamh had no idea what was going on, but she saw Eloise suddenly rush behind her.
The swaying bookshelf lost its center of gravity and fell with a bang, crushing Eloise, who had run over to protect Niamh, to the ground.
It then dawned on Niamh that Eloise had suddenly run behind her to protect her.
“Mom!” Niamh screamed and hurried over to Eloise.
“Mom, cough cough…” Feeling unwell, Niamh fell into another coughing fit. The pile of garbage around the room had given the thick smoke an abnormal smell that attacked her nose.
“Nia! Can you hear me, Nia?” Kendrick’s anxious tone crept closer.
“Kendrick…” Niamh tried to shout back in response but something seemed to be stuck in her throat. It threw all her efforts to waste.
Her vision began to blur and even breathing became more difficult.
“Nia! Nia!” Niamh heard Kendrick shouting heart-wrenchingly before her senses were overwhelmed by the scorching high temperature that enveloped her.
Amidst the confusion, she thought she felt a cool gust of air blow over her. It was accompanied by a scent and a familiar sense of security that slowly calmed her inner anxiety and fear.
“Kendrick…” Niamh murmured, seeing Kendrick’s face appearing vaguely in her blurred vision before everything in front of her eyes turned black.
She began to have nightmares about Eloise still crushed under the bookshelf and covered in blood.
She kept screaming ‘Mom, Mom’ but Eloise never woke up.
“Nia. Nia, are you awake?”
The man’s magnetic, gentle baritone voice drifted into her ears and Niamh’s eyes shot open. When she sat up, her eyes were filled with confusion. “Mom! Kendrick!”
“I’m right here, Nia.” Kendrick sat down on the bed and wrapped his arms around Niamh’s shoulder to comfort her. “Everything’s alright now, Nia. It’s okay, calm down.”
Niamh’s nervous heartbeat gradually settled when she felt the man’s familiar warmth engulf her.
Thinking back to what happened before she fell unconscious, she clenched her fingers through the aftershock as her beautiful pupils shone with unease.
“The bookshelf fell and Mom got crushed under it to save me.” Niamh threw off the covers and got off the bed.
Kendrick rushed forward to hold Niamh. “Where are you going, Nia? You haven’t fully recovered yet.”
“I know Mom is in the hospital as well! Bring me there, Kendrick. I need to know how Mom is doing.” Her expression was frantic as her eyes became swirled with panic and fear.
Kendrick’s sharp brows were knitted together. “Mom’s alright, Nia. Be good and rest, okay?”
“I’ll rest, I promise, but I need to know how Mom is doing first.” Niamh was persistent as she took Kendrick’s hand with a stern expression. “Just bring me there, Kendrick.”
Even so, Kendrick hesitated as if taking the step was a difficult feat to accomplish.
Niamh had a foreboding thought that something was wrong. Her expression shifted as she let go of his hand. “Mom is in bad condition, isn’t she?”
“Nonsense. She’s fine, Nia. You’re overthinking it.” Kendrick comforted, trying to pull Niamh back before she broke down.
Niamh regulated her emotions and nodded calmly. “I won’t overthink it. I’ll just ask the doctor, then!”
Niamh moved quickly and immediately ran to the nurse’s station to ask if there was an Eloise Patton who was also hospitalized here.
The nurse did a quick search and affirmed it. “We do have a lady by the name Eloise Patton who was just admitted to the hospital. She’s in the VIP ward in front.”
Hearing this, Niamh felt her heartstrings tighten suddenly. “Can you tell me how my mother is doing?”
Understanding that Niamh was the patient’s daughter, the nurse told her everything she knew.
“The patient is in a rather critical state. She was crushed by a heavy object and broke two of her ribs in the process, one of which had pierced her lung and caused massive internal bleeding. The situation was urgent when she first arrived at the hospital, but she’s no longer in life-threatening danger. She’ll be alright with enough rest and recovery,” the young nurse explained with a smile before she ended with words of comfort.
“Don’t worry too much. Your mother is not in life-threatening danger.”
Still, Niamh remained dazed. “Thank you.”
She then turned to see Kendrick walking over to her.
“Nia.”
Niamh looked at the man despondently. “I want to see Mom.”
Kendrick knew that Niamh had come to know of Eloise’s situation and took her hand gently. “I’ll come with you.”
“Hmm.” Niamh hummed softly in response and followed Kendrick to Eloise’s room.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.