BREAKING NEWS

     Nora heard people discussing and she started taking note of her environment. She slowly opened her eyes and realised she was in a private room at the hospital where she works, not as a nurse, but as a patient. She saw Danny standing there with Dr Herbert. Danny was wearing a white suit. Her head hurt and she listened to them. 

      "She is okay, now nothing to be worried about..." 

    Nora sighed as she tried to sit up. Both men turned to her. 

     "Babe, you are awake," Danny said, sounding relieved. 

     Dr Herbert, an older man with a few strands of grey hairs, by the corners of his hair, handsome despite the wrinkles came over to her bed. "Hello, Mrs Kings, congratulations and congratulations again." 

   Nora was confused and she squeezed her face as she rested it on the headboard. "What happened?" she asked. 

     "You passed out," Danny replied. 

     "Your blood pressure hitched, but you are fine now, it's back to normal," Dr Herbert replied with a smile. He was very fond of Nora. 

     Nora wanted to ask why she passed out, but the events of the previous night all came back to her. It was her wedding yesterday. Faith had been shot, her eyes widened as she stared at Danny. "Where is, Faith?" she asked. 

      "Calm down, babe," Danny said. 

      "No! That cop said she was shot dead is that true?" 

       "Mrs Kings, you need to rest, you just recovered from the shock, don't bother yourself so that you won't go into it again." 

       "Dr Herbert, she is pregnant! She is carrying a child! Oh, Jesus!" Nora began to weep, bent her head and covered it with her palms. 

     Danny sat down beside her. The doctor left the room. Danny held Nora in his arms. "Shh?" 

     "Have you called Ethan yet?" Nora asked raising her head. 

     "Yes, but he is not answering his phone." 

     "That means it's true. She is dead." 

       "No, if she was, we would have heard it in the news." 

     "Right, the news! Turn on the TV, I want to see the news!" 

     "Are you sure?" 

     "Yes, please. Something must be up since last night." 

  Danny went over and turned the TV on, went back and sat down. Nora was quivering. 

      "What of mom and dad?" 

      "They have been here since last night, they went to change their clothes." 

       "Dear God, please, let her be okay, dear God, please let her be okay," Nora kept whispering to herself as she looked at the TV, while Danny tried to search for the news station. "Charlie would know where they are." 

     Charlie went inside the room and saw Ethan seated by the bed, holding Faith's hand and watching her she breathed through the nasal cannula and different wires were fixed on her body. The bloody dress had been removed from her and a hospital gown was worn on her. She was taking a pint of blood and the only sound in the room was the sound of the monitor, where her heart rate moved slow and steady. 

      Douglas was seated on the couch in the room, his arms folded across his chest. He was still wearing that blood-stained white shirt, the same as Ethan's. Charlie had gone home that night, washed up and had a change of clothes. Ethan and Douglas have refused to go home. Charlie was sure they never slept that night, they had been awake watching Faith. 

      He went over to Douglas and pecked him on the cheeks and sat beside him. "You need to go home shower and change your clothes," Charlie whispered. 

       "I don't want to. What if something happens when I'm not here?" 

       "Something can still happen when you are not here. Come on, how do you think she would feel when wakes up and sees you both all bloody, she might freak out or get a heart attack."

        "He is right," Ethan put in. "We won't want to freak her out if she eventually wakes." 

       "Besides, she is still unconscious and is likely to wake in the evening, tomorrow, one week time or a month time," Charlie continued. Both men turned to look at him. He raised his hands. "Easy, men. I am just trying to get you two to go and wash up." 

      "Your attempt to be humorous in the midst of chaos is elevating," Ethan said and slowly kept Faith's hand on the bed and stood up. 

     "Here," Charlie tossed him his car keys. "I brought it for you this morning."

      Ethan caught it. "Thank you." He left the room. 

   Douglas stood up and followed him. "What of my car?" he asked. 

      "I brought it last night, we came in the same car didn't we?" 

        "I will be right back, take good care of her." 

        "You don't have to worry, I am in the medical line, I am the safest person she could be with among the three of us." 

       Douglas smirked and left. 

       Marilyn had been calling Faith and Ethan's phones since the previous night but she wasn't getting any answer and she became worried. She called in sick at the orphanage the next morning and kept calling Faith's number. Faith had told her that she was going to make up with Ethan that night and would call her immediately to know how it went, but she wasn't getting Faith. 

      That morning, she was still restless. She made herself some breakfast and realised she couldn't even eat. She dropped her spoon and went out of the kitchen to the living room. She picked up her phone and wondered at her sudden restlessness. 

       She sat down and dialled Ethan again, she was relieved when he answered. "Oh, my God, Ethan I have been worried sick since last night, what happened?" 

      "Hi, Ms Childress. How are you doing?" Ethan's voice sounded hoarse from the other end. 

     Marilyn thought she heard him sniff. "Ethan, are you okay? Are you crying? What happened? Where is Faith?" There was silence at the other end. "Talk to me! Where is my daughter?" 

       "I'm sorry." 

       "Why are you sorry?" 

     "Are you sitting down?" Ethan asked. 

    "Sure. I am seated. What happened?" 

     "You might need to come over to LA," Ethan said. 

                            BREAKING NEWS! 

         "Faith Prescott, Ethan Floyd's fiancée was shot last night in the playground of a park where her best friend had her wedding reception. A video has emerged showing the police and paramedics trying to salvage the situation. The gunman is said to one Mr Noah Bucks, who was Miss Prescott's ex who was also present at the wedding and had confessed to only trying to shoot Ethan Floyd when his fiancée dashed in front of the gun and took the bullet instead. 

      His intention for trying to shoot Ethan Floyd, the CEO of Floyd Empires and a philanthropist is not yet known, at the moment. Miss Prescott is still receiving treatment at an undisclosed hospital at the moment, the state of her health is not known yet and Mr Noah Bucks has been detained. The police would release another statement as they dive further into the investigation..."

      Mrs Dolores Floyd clutched her chest. "Oh, my God! Oh, my God! My heart. What is this?" 

      It was the chief staff that went and brought her, her drugs and a glass of water to calm her pressure. She took it, swallowed the pill and took a glass of water. Then she relaxed on the backrest and placed her hand on her head. 

     "Get Ethan on the phone for me, please." 

      "Yes ma'am," the woman said and quickly went up the stairs. 

      The home phone rang, making Mrs Floyd jump. She knew it. She was going to get tons of phone calls today from different people. She was not ready to talk to anyone right at that moment. The staff came down with her two phones in hand. 

       "Ma'am, the CEO of Tech wants to know if the news is true..." 

       "I am not available, right now, please tell that to anyone that calls, I am not available." 

       "Alright, ma'am." 

         "Just get me Ethan on the phone." 

    The staff dialled the number and handed her the phone once Ethan answered. "Here, ma'am." 

        Ethan answered at the third ring. "Hello, mom." 

       "Oh, my world. Is she okay? Is she stable now?" 

       "Mom, she won't be okay when she wakes up, she won't." 

       "Why? Would she not walk again what is the problem?" 

      "Mom, she lost our baby and she is going to blame me for the rest of her life." 

        "What?! She was pregnant?!" 

       "Yeah, we just found out a few days ago. I messed it all up mom," Ethan cried. 

       "I will be on my way to Los Angeles right now. Oh, my God." Dolores stood up and handed the staff the phone. 

          "I guess there is a God that still answers prayers," Mr Childress bellowed after watching the news. 

       His wife glanced at him. "What do you mean?" 

       "Funny how they address him as a philanthropist." He chuckled. "If she dies, that means the game is still on." 

      His wife looked sharply at him. "You want her to die? She has done nothing wrong. She is not your father that gave the company over to his third son, he is not Ethan that sent you to start from scratch in San Diego." 

       "It was because of her, I lost this fight." 

        "It was a fair fight, James. You should be thanking your stars that he was kind enough to send you to another company to start afresh, really." 

     Mr Childress shot his wife a sharp look. "Whose side are you on?" 

       "You know I have always been on the side of the truth. The little advice I have for you is to pick up, prove to him that you are capable, build up that San Diego brach, no one is stopping you from becoming successful, this is your opportunity now. Who knows, the one in San Diego might be greater, that's what the hate and the bitterness in your heart won't let you see. He and his father built that company from scratch, it was never fair that you wanted to take it away from him. Learn to stop reaping from where you didn't sow."

      Mr Childress stared at his wife dumbfounded for a while. "You might be right, you know."