Life Without You

Chapter 73 - Andy's Recovery

The paparazzi could not stop clicking their cameras away when they saw Leon come out with Ariel from her house as they followed the medics who hurriedly wheeled Andy into the ambulance. Once they were inside the ambulance, it gave both of them temporary relief to escape from the flashing lights and obtrusive questions thrown at them. Without any bodyguard around, they were left to fend for themselves.

Once in the emergency ward of the hospital, the doctors were hard at work in treating Andy who was now unconscious and feverish. The nosy paparazzi were forbidden by the hospital to enter, so they gathered outside.

Ariel could only wait, helpless and worried and fearing the worse. Leon held her tight as she sunk in his chest.

"He's a brave boy, he'll be fine," he comforted her.

"Leon, Ariel!"

Leon and Ariel looked up and saw Beth approaching them.

"I'm so sorry what happened. Rita told me everything," she shook her head in disbelief.

"Losing my son is scarier than being kidnapped," Ariel remarked through muffled tears.

"Miss Beautiful, if your Andy is brave enough to rescue y'all, don't you think he'll be brave enough to pull through this?" Beth tried to cheer her up.

Ariel nodded, "I pray so."

"By the way, Beth. How's Evan and all the other bodyguards doing?" asked Leon.

"They were sedated with crushed sleeping pills mixed in their ice creams. Thank the good Lord that a passer-by had called for help when he saw one of Ariel's bodyguards lying unconscious on the street. Nothing too serious so they'll be fine. Evan has Rita by his side," assured Beth.

"That's good to know, though I feel naked without the bodyguards," said Leon as he noticed some patients staring at them from a distance, but Ariel did not care. All she could think about was Andy.

Less than an hour later, Andy was wheeled out. The emergency was finally over.

"How's he, doctor?" Ariel asked.

"The symptoms from his arrhythmia acted up due to last night's trauma that you described. We managed to normalise his heartbeat with cardioversion and bring his fever down, but he will need to stay in the hospital for a few days to be monitored," the doctor explained.

"Thank you, doctor," said Leon. They were relieved that Andy's condition was stabilised. Ariel and Leon stayed watch over Andy at an exclusive private ward. After knowing what had happened, Mr Fujita sent temporary bodyguards to protect them.

News broke out of what happened last night and pictures of Leon leaving Ariel's house with Andy on a stretcher circulated on social media.

"I'm fine...yes, mum, yes!" Leon assured for the hundredth time to his worried, weeping mother who called him on the phone. "Don't worry. I'm in the hospital looking after Andy with Ariel."

Just then, Mr Fujita dropped by to visit.

"Fujita-san," Ariel greeted him with a bow. Leon stood up and quickly bowed to his former client.

"Hiroshi told me what happened last night," Mr Fujita was visibly upset. "It's so terrible! I cannot imagine the horror that my daughter and son went through, because of you." He looked at Leon.

"Fujita-san, it's not Leon's fault," said Ariel.

"The kidnapper is someone from his past, isn't it? An ex-girlfriend, if I'm not wrong?"

"Fujita-san," Leon took a deep breath. "I can explain..."

Mr Fujita raised his palm to stop Leon from speaking. He pressed his eyelids shut and let out a long sigh, "I'm an old man who's gone through so much in life. Losing my wife was painful enough, but losing my kids would be unimaginable." He rested his right hand on the rail of Andy's bed and he looked at the poor little boy with cardioversion pads on his chest and tubes running from his nostrils to an oxygen tank.