Chapter 169 You’re Not Fit to Be His Mother
The moment he said that, the fire inside the kitchen grew even more violent. Without a second thought, Courtney dashed right in and did not give the people around her a chance to pull her back.
“Miss Hunter!”
Bracing the thick smoke inside, Courtney yelled, “Tina!”
The kitchen was a big mess with pots and pans scattered all over the ground. It looked like the fire first broke out in the storage room and had instantly spread to the food preparation area between the two rows of stoves. All the smoke in the room was making Courtney cough uncontrollably.
Across from the fire, she spotted a pink figure lying in the corner and ran toward it in a heartbeat. Taking off her outer coat, she wrapped Tina in it tightly and carried her out right away.
As the blaze erupted even further, it seemed like it was going to swallow them in its flames. Courtney could only feel her face going numb from the scorching heat.
When she finally stepped out of the kitchen, she felt like she had just escaped death by a whisker.
The voices of people talking all at once outside did not register in her mind.
“They’re out.”
“Miss Hunter, the ambulance is here.”
With Tina in her arms, she was too occupied to respond to anyone else and simply followed in the direction one of the attendants was pointing toward the ambulance. As she walked past the crowd, she saw a familiar figure from the corner of her eye. The person was filled with terror and was cowering in fear—it was unlike the demeanor she was familiar with.
Pressed for time, she did not ponder on it and quickly rushed Tina to the hospital.
After waiting anxiously for some time, the head doctor came out of the emergency room and reassured, “Tina didn’t suffer any serious injuries, but she has inhaled a lot of smoke. We will have to observe her at the hospital for a few days.”
Finally, Courtney was able to let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you, doctor.”
“You should go in and see her. She’s already awake.”
“Okay.”
Once the doctor left, Courtney pulled aside the curtain divider and saw Tina’s small body under the white covers with only her ash-covered face poking out. She looked like a kitten staring at Courtney with a dazed look.
“Mommy…”
Her eyes cleared up when she saw Courtney, but her voice was still hoarse, and she began coughing as soon as she spoke.
“Mommy’s here. Mr. Doctor says you have to rest for a bit. You don’t have to speak if it’s too difficult.”
Courtney sat on the side of the bed and grabbed her hand.
Tina nodded. Looking behind Courtney, she paused for a moment then asked through a scratchy voice, “Where’s Jordan?”
“At the hotel. The lady supervisor said Jordan went off to the bathroom. I didn’t have time to inform him before rushing you to the hospital.”
Suddenly, Tina’s eyes widened. It seemed like she was trying to say something, but she only started coughing violently.
“What’s wrong?” Courtney was in a bit of a panic as she patted Tina on the shoulder. “Take it easy, Tina.”
“Mommy…” Tina heaved between fits of coughing. “Jordan… Jordan is in the kitchen. The big fire…”
“What did you say? Where did you say Jordan was?” A moment of horror sank in. “In the kitchen?”
Tina nodded. Tears began to well up in her eyes as she nudged Courtney. “Hurry, Mommy. Save Jordan.”
Courtney was about to lose her mind. Two hours had passed since she saved Tina from the fire. She did not dare fathom the state Jordan was in now if he had been in the kitchen this whole time and no one discovered him.
Getting out of the cab, Courtney ran as fast as she could toward the hotel. The firefighters were already tidying up the scene while a crowd of guests and hotel staff was gathered at the entrance. From a distance, she spotted Addie and went to grab a hold of him immediately. “Where’s Jordan?”
Addie was startled by her frantic appearance. After taking some time to come back to his senses, he stammered, “A-At the hospital.”
“Which hospital?” Tears were streaming down her face. Her disorderly appearance garnered the attention of people around them. In their eyes, she looked like a madwoman pressing Addie for answers.
In a flustered state, he explained, “Don’t panic, Courtney. He’s fine. Little Master hid in the cold storage of the kitchen. He’s only at the hospital for an examination. I… I tried calling you, but you didn’t pick up. After you carried Tina away, Vivian ran into the fire suddenly and brought Little Master out.”
Vivian?
All of a sudden, Courtney remembered seeing a terrified face in the crowd while she was carrying Tina away.
“Courtney, I’m very sure that Little Master is fine.” Addie assumed that she was in shock and kept emphasizing the state that Jordan was in when he came out of the kitchen. “Aside from his hands and feet being cold, he was completely okay. They brought him to the hospital just in case he develops a fever or catches a cold.”
When the large weight was finally lifted off of her chest, her legs gave out, and she crumbled to the ground—she relied on one breath to keep herself together.
After she collected herself, she heard a brief recount of how they managed to put out the fire from Addie.
It was a good thing that they had discovered the fire in time and none of the employees were injured or killed.
The only concern they had now was the criticism and backlash they would face as a consequence of this safety hazard.
“Mr. Elliott has gone to make a report at the headquarters. What should we do next?”
Courtney pulled her brows together. “Let’s first try to control the online media. Assemble a meeting with the PR department.”
The meeting lasted the whole afternoon. For the time being, they had settled on a preliminary plan to control and lead public opinion. When the meeting was over, it was already dark outside.
“You should all get something to eat. Let’s work hard tonight to suppress public opinion. I’m going to step out for a bit.”
Closing her laptop, Courtney took her purse and went straight to the hospital.
Cameron had gone over to look after Tina. The person Courtney was truly worried about was Jordan. Even though Addie had assured her that he was fine, she could not feel at ease until she saw him with her own eyes.
“The second room after turning right.”
Courtney made her way to the hospital room with haste after inquiring about it at the information desk.
As soon as she arrived at the door of the hospital room, however, someone opened it from inside. Courtney was stunned to see who it was. “When did you get back?”
Alexander’s tall stature stood in the way of the light source behind him. He looked like a big sculpture casting an icy shadow upon her.
“I should be the one to ask you what are you doing here?”
Her facial expression stiffened. “I just came from an emergency meeting at the hotel to see Jordan. What’s up with you?”
She had only just asked him when she spotted a frail and thin figure inside the room from the corner of her eye. A realization dawned upon her, but she simply curled her hands into fists in denial of it.
Alexander scorned. “Where were you when Jordan was trapped in that fire?”
“I didn’t know he was in there,” she said patiently with eyebrows furrowed together.
Courtney feared that Mikayla had distorted the truth in front of him before he could first hear it from her. Inclined to believe the first story he heard, in addition to his love for Jordan, Alexander’s reaction was not out of the ordinary.
“Please calm down. If I had known that Jordan was in there, how could I not have saved him? I—”
“That’s enough,” he cut in with a hostile attitude. “You’re Tina’s biological mother. It was instinctual for you to save her in that situation, but you shouldn’t have abandoned Jordan. I made a mistake. Now, it doesn’t look like you’re fit to be Jordan’s mother.”
