Chapter 2: Chapter Two
Malcolm had just landed at the airport from a business trip, two men in black suits and black sunglasses trailing behind him. He buttoned up his brown jacket, causing it to hug tightly around his upper body, highlighting his built physique.
The thought of his daughter suddenly came to his mind and he turned to one of the men following him. "Phone," he commanded, stretching out his right hand.
In an instant, the man placed Malcolm's phone in his hand. He dialled a number and placed the phone on his ear.
"Yes, sir?" A middle-aged woman's voice was heard on the other end of the call.
"How's my daughter?" He inquired.
"She's with me, sir. She insisted on taking her puppy on a walk and that's what I'm taking care of as we speak." She replied, glancing over at the little girl beside her.
The girl was skipping and humming away as they walked, tugging on a leash connected to the puppy who was also trailing along in front of them.
"I've just landed at the airport. I've got business to attend to so ensure that she's back home in an hour as I would like to see her when I get back." He instructed sternly.
"Will do sir." The woman replied, and a tone was heard to signify the end of the call.
The woman sighed heavily as she had been holding her breath due to how intimidating Malcolm was and looked beside her to see that the little girl wasn't there anymore.
She gasped in fear and looked in front of her to see the girl running away.
"Look, auntie! Pretty flowers!" The girl squealed loudly with excitement, her grey eyes gleaming with excitement as she releases herself from the hand of the woman she was walking with and her puppy.
She ran towards a flower shop up the sidewalk of the street they were walking on.
"No, Annie!? Where are you going!? Stop!!" The woman screamed after the girl.
Annie paused in front of a pile of all sorts of flowers beautifully arranged in front of the large window of the flower shop.
The woman managed to catch up to her, holding on to her chest while trying to catch her breath, her brows suddenly furrowing to form a frown.
"Why would you run off like that, Annie!? What if something had happened to you? What would I tell your father?!" she scolded, holding onto the girl's hand.
"But I'm fine see? Can I please have flowers? I wanna give them to mummy!" Annie cooed pulling on the woman's hand. The woman sighed in defeat.
Their conversation became indistinct and the puppy was seen running across the road with its leash pulling along with it. The woman had gotten so distracted that she lost the puppy.
It howled in the excitement of his found freedom. Running down another street and into the city's Central Park, the cool afternoon breeze blowing against its thick white fur.
It barked and panted while wagging its tail at all the clean trees. It got distracted by a butterfly and began to chase after it. It ran through the trees and over a bridge while biting at the butterfly in an attempt to catch it in its mouth.
Too distracted to watch where it was going, it fell into a semi-deep pond right in the middle of the park. It floated back to the top of the water and its collar which was connected to its leash got loose but the puppy was already too far from the shore of the pond.
It started to struggle to stay afloat, wildly paddling its paws and whimpering in an attempt to avoid drowning in the depths of the pond. It whined as loudly as it could as though it wanted someone to hear its calling, but it was all to no avail.
Passersby walked past the pond with straight faces, giggling and chattering amongst themselves, heeding no notice to the puppy that kept struggling for its life in the deep pond.
A sad and brooding Hazel who had left the hospital to take a breather in the park was seated on a park bench right next to the pond, holding on to a corndog.
She took her first bite out of the corndog when suddenly water splashed on her shoes. She ignored it and took another bite. Water splashed again and she glanced over at the pond, cheeks filled with food.
A white and furry puppy was drowning. It was struggling to stay afloat by paddling its paws wildly, all to no avail.
Hazel's eyes shot wide open and she rushed from the bench and toward the puppy, as a result, her corn dog fell to the ground but she took no notice.
She slowly stretched her arm forward to pull the puppy out but instead, it got frightened and tried to paddle away from her. It wasn't doing a good job so she chuckled at the sight.
"It's okay, little guy. I'm trying to help you." She said smiling warmly. This calmed the puppy down and it let her get a hold of it. She carried it out of the water and sat it down on the grass next to her.
The puppy shook its body to dry off the water. "Hey!" Hazel exclaimed while laughing and covering her face to avoid getting wet.
She ran to her bag and brought out a scarf she normally carried around in case it got cold, and wrapped the puppy in it. Then she picked up her bag and placed the puppy in the basket on her bicycle.
She rode out of the park and into the street that'll lead to her house, townsfolk greeting her as she cycled by.
She pulled up at her house, parked her bicycle in the garage and unlocked the house door with a spare key she carried around with her.
She walked into the house, puppy in hand and forgot to pull off her dirty shoes, staining the floor with dirt from the park in the process. She clicked her tongue in annoyance and took off her shoes by the stairs.
When she got to her room, she carefully placed the puppy on her bed and it let out a tiny little sneeze and slipped from inside the scarf and went under her blanket for warmth.
"Such a smart little guy" Hazel commented with an eyebrow raised in surprise.
She walked out of the room and went down into the kitchen to fix some food for her mom. She planned on taking it to the hospital once she was done.
Hazel suddenly remembered college and the realization hit her that she won't be able to do all this on her own. She picked up her phone from her back pocket and dialled her aunt's number.
She was her mother's younger sister.
"Hey, Hazey. What's up?" Her aunt's bubbly voice from the other end of the call greeted.
"Aunt…" Hazel called out to her, voice croaking as she tried to hold back tears.
"What's wrong, darling?" Her aunt questioned, her voice immediately switching from happy to worried in an instant.
"It's mom…she's in the hospital…" Hazel announced sniffling.
"What?? What happened?"
Hazel explained everything just as it had happened to her. "I don't think I'll be able to go through this alone… please I need your help.."
"I'll be there right away." Her aunt assured. "But please stop crying. Your mom wouldn't like that" she advised.
"Yes, you're right…" Hazel replied. "See you soon." She said, hanging up the call.
She heaved a sigh and went on to cook for her mother.
About 45 minutes later the doorbell rang, Hazel who was just packing her mother's food in her old lunchbox wiped her hands on the apron she was wearing and ran to answer the door.
Her aunt stood outside the door holding a little suitcase, her eyes possessed a soft consoling glow as her they met Hazel's.
Hazel jumps on her hugging her tightly, hot tears streaming down her cheeks "Aunt Mabel…" she whispered shakily, her hold getting tighter.
"It's okay…" said Aunt Mabel, slowly rubbing Hazel's back to comfort her. Her aunt was about 10 years older than her.
Hazel releases her from the hug and wipes her tears. "How're you doing, Aunt?" she asked, sniffing.
"Oh y'know, work's been something else but fuck them. My family needs me." Aunt Mabel replied jokingly in an attempt to lighten the mood.
Hazel laughed taking Aunt Mabel's bag from her and welcoming her in. She put the bag next to the stairs and walked back into the kitchen while Aunt Mabel plopped down on a couch in the living room catching her breath.
"I just made food for mom. There's some left, would you like some?" Hazel offered, motioning to pick up a plate from the cupboard. There's a window in the kitchen enabling the living room to be seen from inside it.
"Oh no dear I'm alright. I had a big lunch." Aunt Mabel smiled at her through the window.
Hazel nodded smiling back and took off the apron. She picked up the lunchbox and walked out of the kitchen and into the living room.
"Well, I'm going back to the hospital. Wanna come with?" Hazel asked.
"Is that even a question? Of course, I'm coming with you." Aunt Mabel scoffed at the ridiculous question and got up "I brought my car with me. Let's go."
She opened the door for Hazel to walk through. Hazel smiled at her aunt and walked to the door while stealing a glance up the stairs. She remembered the puppy and hoped he'd be fine till she was back.
Aunt Mabel unlocked the doors to her car and Hazel sat in the passenger seat. She put on her seatbelt and Mabel started the car and drove out of the driveway.
They got to the hospital and Hazel's mom's eyes widened in surprise at the sight of her younger sister who stood behind Hazel.
"Mabel? What are you doing here?" Hazel's mom questioned both in shock and delight.
"Maddie look at you. You don't look a day over 40." Mabel commented causing Hazel's mother to laugh. They hadn't seen each other in months.
"Oh please. I'm in a hospital bed and you're cracking jokes." Hazel's mother said, coughing at every word she tried to mutter.
"Well if I don't make you smile, who will? No offence, Hazel." Mabel said giggling.
Hazel just stood by the table next to her mother's bed. The sight of her laughing mother filled her heart with joy, she couldn't be offended by any comment Mabel made. It was in her nature to crack jokes anyway.
Hazel served a bowl of chicken noodle soup to her mother. Mabel took the bowl and offered to feed it to her. Hazel happily agreed. Her mother and her aunt Mabel shared a lovely relationship as the story her mother used to tell her went.
At that moment, a nurse came in to share some news. "Hello, you're back." She said to Hazel "I came to let you know that your mom can be discharged earlier than you were told earlier."
"Oh, that's great!" Hazel exclaimed. "Can she be discharged tomorrow?" She asked
"Yes if you wish. Her condition has been stabilized for now." The nurse answered.
"Thank you so much," Hazel said, smiling like an excited little child. This warmed the nurse's heart and she nodded and smiled back before closing the door behind her.
'Finally some good news. But how am I going to get 2 million dollars? I should get a job….' Hazel thought to herself.
She glanced over at her smiling mother and settled it in her mind that no matter what it took, she had to save her mother.
It was a huge problem she had on her hands with no idea where to start from.
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Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone