TRUTH OF THE PAST IV

Ivan sat in silence with his parents or should we say, auntie and uncle. His parents looked at him to see if he's angry or not. Anybody would understand if he would get mad. He was taken away from his real mother after all.

"Why didn't she take me back?" Ivan asked Grace. He was confused about what he found out and he wanted to know everything. His mother had many chances to get him back from them but she didn't.

"She tried to take you back. She tried a couple of times but..."

"Grace! Come out now! I want my son back!" Yvonne was shouting her lungs out. She was fuming in rage and she wanted to ruin everything. She took a flight and came home to get her son back.

"Yve. Why are you shouting? I can hear you okay. Calm down. Can you let me explain first?" Grace was walking down the stairs towards the living room where her younger sister was standing in rage.

"What's there to explain? It's very clear to me that I was betrayed by my family! Just give me back my son. Please. I'm begging you." Yvonne sobbed. She didn't know what to do. Her mind was a mess and she can't think clearly. All she wanted to do is get her son.

"This...I...can't...I"

"What do you mean you can't? Grace, you..." She stared at her sister. Tears streaming down her face. She plopped on the ground weakly.

"Mommy." A small voice calling from the kitchen was heard in the middle of their confrontation. Ivan was was walking towards the two woman.

Yvonne was so happy to see her son, but the next thing broke her heart into millions of pieces.

To Yvonne's horror, Ivan walked directly to Grace and hugged her legs. "Mommy, why is auntie shouting at you? Did you do something?"

"I'm just talking to your auntie. There is a misunderstanding. Go to your room first." Grace consoled the child softly. Ivan blinked his eyes at them before she turned back and ran to his room upstairs.

Yvonne was still crying silently. She wanted to call her child so much but she didn't want him to hate her. She didn't want him to think she's breaking his world.

Yvonne stood up, took her bag and walked out of the house.

"Yve, can we talk for a while. There's something you need to know." Grace attempted to reach out on her sister again. She didn't want to hide the truth from her.

Yvonne stopped on her track but she didn't face her sister. A tear fell from her eyes from too much heart break. "Give me a break Grace. I don't think I'd believe anything you'll say at this point." She then left and walked aimlessly.

Her heart was tired. Her mind was a mess and she was getting dizzy from the sun's heat. She hasn't taken any food for two days already. She looked pale and people who came across her looked at her strangely.

"Ivan. My son. Why did you leave your mom? Ivan. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm..." Yvonne fainted on the street from exhaustion. The people who saw her was in panic.

"Call an ambulance faster!" an elder woman called who took Yvonne's pulse.

"I'm a doctor. Let me check on her." A man who was walking towards his car across the road saw what happened so he ran towards them to check on the incident.

He checked her pulse that was beating faintly. "She fainted from exhaustion. I'll bring her directly to the hospital. Is there any family members with her?" He looked around but no one claimed to be relative of the girl. Without letting more time to pass, he picked up her bag and carried her towards his car.

He drove directly to the nearest hospital to have her checked.

"Dr. Hue, the patient was alright. No complications in her body. She just needs to rest and eat properly." the attending doctor told him after checking Yvonne.

"Thank you Dr. Martin." After he expressed his gratitude, he went inside to see the woman. "We've met again, Yvonne."

When Yvonne woke up, she stared at the white ceiling, then to the white curtains and to the IV drip attached to her. "I'm in a hospital. What happened to me?" she was mumbling to herself when a man came with a lunch box.

"I'm glad you're awake. I brought chicken soup for you, boiled eggs and dumplings. You can't eat too much hard food it won't be good for you." he placed the food on the table and spoke to her like old friends.

Yvonne watched him carefully before it registered to him who the person is.

"Chadwick Hue? Oh my god! How come you're here?"

"I'm glad you still remember me. I saw you fainted earlier. I brought you here. This is where I work but it's my off today." Chadwick told her which gave Yvonne a reddish face from embarrassment.

"I couldn't believe we met during such embarrassing moment. How have you been? It's been...how long has it been? 7 years?" Yvonne was glad to find someone familiar to divert the pain lingering in her heart.

"It's been 7 years and 4 months. What happened to you? You're a doctor as well, even if you're not a physician, you must know how to take care of your body." Chadwick opened the lid of the lunch box and the steaming chicken soup permeated in the air.

He took a chair and sat beside her bed holding the food.

"I can eat it myself." Yvonne blushed from the thought of being fed by her former classmate.

"You're too weak. Let me help you." Chadwick took a spoonful of soup and blew it before feeding her. "After you eat, I'll ask the doctor if you can be discharge and recuperate at home."

"Thanks Chad." Yvonne called him using the nickname she used to call him before.

"No biggie." Chad grinned at her before taking another spoonful of soup to feed her. "I'm glad I found you."