Thud.
It felt as though Kayla's heart had suddenly stopped. She stood frozen, her thoughts in turmoil. What if Emeli couldn't recover?
"But Emeli experienced the same thing last month and managed to recover. Let's just pray it will be the same this time, even though a chance like that is incredibly rare."
The doctor's words only left Kayla more discouraged. Now it wasn't just Emeli's muscles going limp—it seemed Kayla's were, too. The woman crumpled to the floor and fainted as well.
The doctor called the nurses and told them to take care of Kayla while he immediately called Arshaka.
Arshaka had just met with a businessman when he frowned upon receiving a call from the doctor who usually treated Emeli. This was unusual. The doctor had never called unless Arshaka contacted him first.
"Yes, Doctor? What is it?"
"Emeli's disease has flared up again."
The doctor's information made Arshaka's body tremble. His thoughts immediately took a turn for the worse.
"What happened, Shaka?" his companion asked when Arshaka's face suddenly turned pale.
"We'll continue our discussion another time. My daughter has been hospitalized again."
"Hmm, all right. I hope she gets well soon."
Arshaka nodded, then rose from his seat and walked out of the office. His body felt as if it were floating, his feet barely touching the ground. His will to live vanished in an instant. To him, Emeli was his life.
Everything he did was for his daughter. If he didn't have Emeli, he wouldn't have fought tooth and nail to restore the company's fortunes, much less neglected his daughter's condition until something this terrible happened. He should have spent today taking Emeli out instead of running around looking for help. If he had known Kayla was new, he would have realized she couldn't possibly know what Emeli's illness was really like.
"What did you do to make Emeli end up like this, Kayla?" Arshaka asked when he saw Kayla beside him.
When he reached the car, he immediately sped toward the hospital.
"Emeli!" Arshaka ran toward his daughter's bed.
This time, Emeli was conscious, but she was incapable of doing anything. She couldn't even answer her father's call. She looked like a stroke victim struggling to move her lips. Drool dripped from her mouth like that of a disabled child.
Arshaka hugged his daughter tightly. His tears fell uncontrollably. The incident from a month ago had happened all over again. What hurt Arshaka even more was realizing that his circumstances were no longer what they had once been. Back then, he could take his daughter everywhere for treatment. He had even tried alternative treatments, visiting not just one or two practitioners.
"Where's Kayla?" Arshaka looked around in every direction, but the woman was nowhere to be seen.
"Who are you looking for, Mr. Arshaka?" the nurse asked, realizing that Arshaka was searching for someone.
"My daughter's caregiver, ma'am."
"Oh, she fainted earlier, so we treated her in the room next door."
"Allah, what other trial is this?" Arshaka massaged his throbbing temple. His head felt heavy, but he couldn't allow himself to grow weak and collapse.
Arshaka stood and walked to the next room, only to find that Kayla still hadn't regained consciousness.
"What happened to them?" he murmured.
A nurse who had treated Kayla told him what had happened at the mall. She had gotten the story from the man who brought Emeli to the hospital.
"What does Elena want now? Does she want me dead?" Arshaka clenched his fists. Even without being told the woman's name, he had already guessed.
Arshaka was about to leave, but stopped when he saw Kayla's hand move.
"She's awake," the nurse said.
Arshaka nodded. Kayla opened her eyes. She lowered her head and sat up. She bowed her head when she saw Arshaka in front of her.
"Forgive me, Sir. Emeli ended up like this because of me. I—"
"I already know everything. It's all right. I won't blame you."
Kayla's eyes widened, and she finally breathed a sigh of relief. Arshaka returned to Emeli's room, and Kayla followed behind him.
A month passed with Emeli in the hospital, and there was no improvement at all. Arshaka decided to take her home and care for her there. As usual, he continued taking his daughter to alternative practitioners for treatment.
Kayla remained devoted to caring for Emeli because she had already grown deeply attached to the little girl. She also accompanied them every time Arshaka took Emeli anywhere for treatment.
Arshaka hadn't expected Kayla to be so diligent in caring for Emeli—she had even exceeded his expectations of her. He never once heard her complain.
"Kayla, I want to talk," Arshaka said one night after the two of them made sure Emeli was asleep.
Kayla nodded, and they both left Emeli's room. Arshaka invited Kayla to sit in the family room. Before speaking, he let out a long sigh.
"You know how the company has been doing lately, right?"
Kayla nodded.
"And Emeli's treatment costs are quite high."
Kayla nodded again.
"That's why I can't pay you as much as I used to. If you want to quit, go ahead. I won't force you to stay here."
"I don't mind even if I don't get paid. Having a roof over my head and enough food is already more than enough for me. I don't want to leave Emeli. I don't want to be away from her. To me, she's like my own daughter."
"Kayla." Arshaka's eyes glistened with tears. Kayla was truly a sincere woman.
The bright morning did nothing to brighten the faces of the residents of one of the multistory homes in Jakarta. Kayla was adjusting the IV bag beside Emeli's bed and then trying to feed the girl, while Arshaka had left before dawn in a hurry because of an urgent matter.
Emeli had difficulty swallowing food, so she had to be given IV fluids to prevent dehydration. Even so, Kayla continued trying to get Emeli to swallow so her body could recover quickly. That morning, Kayla was feeding Emeli porridge.
"Eat, even if it's only a little, sweetheart, so you can get better soon," Kayla said when Emeli refused to open her mouth. She stroked Emeli's white hair.
"Emeli has to eat so Dad will be happy," Kayla said again as she brought a spoonful of porridge to the girl's mouth.
Emeli didn't answer—or rather, she couldn't answer in her current condition. However, tears pooled in the corners of both her eyes.
"Don't cry! Auntie knows Emeli will get better. Dad said you've been through this phase before, right? So just believe that you can overcome this again and get healthy like you were before. The key is to stay strong and be willing to eat. Dad and Auntie will do everything we can about the treatment. Emeli is a strong girl, which is why Allah has given you such a difficult trial. You have to know that Dad and Auntie love you very much."
Kayla forced a smile so Emeli wouldn't sink deeper into sadness. The girl needed encouragement so she wouldn't become even more discouraged.
The corners of Emeli's lips lifted. She wanted to smile, but her lips were too stiff, so Kayla couldn't see the curve of that smile.
"Eat, sweetheart!" Kayla fed Emeli, and the girl obeyed. However, the porridge dribbled from the corner of her mouth. Kayla reacted quickly, wiping it away with a tissue before patiently continuing to feed her until some of the porridge reached Emeli's stomach.
Crash!
Just as Kayla was concentrating on feeding Emeli, the bedroom door was kicked open from the outside. It nearly gave Kayla a heart attack, while Emeli didn't react at all.
To be continued.