Chapter 492 Let’s Keep Him Under Our Care, Alright?
In the hospital, as the nurse came over to register the patient’s details, five-year-old little Josephine spoke up in a childish but insistent voice. She confirmed the patient’s name with the nurse. “Jimmy. J for jam.”
She hesitated between ‘Timmy’ and ‘Jimmy’ for a moment, but shortly after that, she decisively chose the name that she preferred out of the two.
Once the operation was over, Jimmy was wheeled out of the operation theater and back to the wards. He looked quite weak and his face was still as pale as a white sheet. The doctor explained his condition to Courtney, who was waiting patiently outside. “It wasn’t a case of poisoning. He merely had an allergic reaction to chocolate, and we’ve already cleared the remains of chocolate from his stomach. However, there is something that we find quite surprising—”
“What is it?”
The doctor hesitated for a moment before speaking up with a complicated look on his face, saying, “Besides chocolate, we also found plasticware and foreign objects like clothes in his stomach. It’s quite fortunate that we did this surgery; otherwise, the accumulation of these items in his stomach over time would be disastrous.”
As soon as Courtney heard that, she frowned slightly and turned to look at the child, who had deathly pale lips.
“How’s he doing now?”
“He’s no longer in a critical condition, but we still have to monitor him because it’s quite serious. The nurse will pop in to place a drip on him, and he will need to stay in the hospital at least for the next three days.”
She nodded in response and sat down by Jimmy’s side. As for Josephine, she clambered up on Courtney’s body upon seeing Courtney seated in the chair and clung to Courtney’s neck while looking in the same direction at the kid on the bed.
“Does this mean that Jimmy wasn’t adopted by a kind couple? He might have sneaked out by himself then.”
Josephine came to that conclusion as she spoke in a childish voice. Just then, Courtney glanced at her, and there was a pained look that flashed across Courtney’s eyes.
“Do you mean that he’s been mistreated, so he sneaked out?”
However, Josephine smacked Courtney’s forehead in disagreement. “Mommy, you’re so silly!”
“Josephine! What do you mean by that—” Courtney clenched her teeth and forcefully came up with these words.
“Great-Aunt Alicia told me before that all of the orphanages are under the state’s care, so basically, there wouldn’t be any cases of mistreatment of children. Besides, World Vision Orphanage just recently won the best in the district award. They’re famous for being kind and patient with the kids in their care.”
At that point, Courtney’s indignant look gradually dissipated as she listened to Josephine’s eloquent explanation. She turned to stare incredulously at her daughter. “Josie, how did you know all of this?”
“Great-Aunt Alicia talks about this at the dining table every day. Mommy, you should watch the news more often in your spare time.”
“So, do you mean to say that Jimmy sneaked out of the orphanage and ate all of this random plasticware and clothes outside?”
“I think so.” Josephine nodded.
“Since that’s the case, then we have to send him back.”
As Courtney spoke, she removed Josephine from her lap and took out her cell phone to search for the contact number of World Vision Orphanage. Although she was doubtful of Raymond’s intentions and motives, she did not think that he would resort to making use of a child to gain anything.
“Hey, I’ve found it—” Courtney instantly dialed the number she found on the internet.
“Where’s Jimmy? It’s time for his drip.”
Suddenly, a nurse’s voice rang out from the side, and Josephine hurriedly lifted her little hand. “We’re here, Miss.”
Ring! Ring!
The nurse came toward them after hearing Josephine’s voice. As for Courtney, she was waiting for the phone call to be connected, so she moved backward slightly. She looked at the nurse injecting the medication into the bottle before inserting the infusion line. Subsequently, she removed the cap on the needle tip and reached out for the back of Jimmy’s hand. After some hesitation, she finally decided to search for another vein on his feet that could be easier to handle.
As soon as the nurse lifted the hem of Jimmy’s pants, Courtney’s phone call was put through at the same time. “Hi there, this is World Vision Orphanage. How can I help?”
Courtney remained silent as she stared wide-eyed at Jimmy’s ankle. There was a cold look that flashed across her eyes, and the loud buzzing noise in her ears suddenly caused her head to spin. She lost her grip on the phone in her hands, after which the phone fell to the ground with a resounding bang.
“Hello… Hello… You’re crazy!”
The woman on the other end waited for quite some time, but she did not get a response at all, so she finally hung up the phone after her patience wore out.
Meanwhile, Josephine suddenly turned her head around upon hearing the commotion. She noticed Courtney’s pale face and the beads of perspiration that appeared on Courtney’s forehead. She also saw Courtney’s slightly trembling body.
“Mommy…”
“Josie, we’ll keep Jimmy under our care for the time being, alright?”
Courtney tried hard to speak in a calm voice as she kept herself upright by holding onto a chair desperately before taking a seat shakily.
“Okay.”
Although Josephine wasn’t aware of what was going on, she gladly accepted Courtney’s suggestion and went along with it.
Josephine followed the direction of Courtney’s intent gaze and also noticed that there was a strange design on Jimmy’s ankle.
It was two young leaves wrapped around a young stalk, and there should have been a crescent on the stalk, but the design on his ankle was devoid of it.
At that point, Courtney calmed herself down and she suddenly recalled Josephine’s inadvertent words before they came to the hospital. Just then, something suddenly dawned on her.
“Josie, did you mention that Jimmy was of mixed Otharian and Vietnamese descent?”
“Yeah. The director of the orphanage said so.”
“Could you help me pick up my phone on the ground, please?”
“Sure.” Josephine nodded and picked up the phone before handing it over to Courtney. As soon as Josephine’s soft, tiny hands touched Courtney’s palms, she could feel a wet and greasy sensation. At that point, she contemplated to herself, Mommy’s behaving quite abnormally.
Courtney sat up straight and focused the camera on Jimmy’s ankle as she took a photo. Subsequently, she sent the photo to Oliver, followed by a text message. ‘Is that what it looks like?’
After quite some time, her cell phone screen lit up. ‘Yeah.’
On the other end, Oliver could not help frowning upon seeing the photo. He deduced from the photo that the person in question was a child, and from the clothes, he also deduced that this photo was taken in the hospital. As such, he instantly made his way downstairs to his car, and he sent off a text message right before he started the car ignition.
‘I’ll be there shortly.’
In less than half an hour, he arrived at the hospital, and the two of them sat facing each other in the hospital cafeteria. Both of them had solemn expressions on their faces. Oliver placed the photo sent over by Courtney side-by-side with the sketch of the tattoo that he had prepared previously.
“Besides the missing upper portion, the remaining parts of the sketch are a complete match with the photo. We can’t be mistaken. Who’s the kid?”
Meanwhile, Courtney pointed at the building behind her. “The kid is currently upstairs receiving an infusion. Josie met him before at World Vision Orphanage. This kid is of mixed Otharian and Vietnamese descent. He was originally supposed to be adopted by a Vietnamese family, but in the end, for some unknown reason, he was brought over to Melrose City and abandoned.”
As soon as Courtney mentioned this, she suddenly realized something. “Could it be that guy who brought him here?”
Oliver did not express his comments, but his usually calm features were distorted at the moment. He contemplated the situation in his mind and felt that there were plenty of details worth figuring out, but he did not dare to jump to any conclusions.
“I’ll investigate this point, but you must keep this child by your side for the time being. I think it’ll work out best if you bring him home with you as soon as possible and keep him out of the public eye as much as possible.” Oliver somehow sensed that this kid played a crucial role.
She nodded and took the two photos in front of her to place into her bag. “I’ll have this then. I need it for something.”
In response, Oliver nodded and stood up to leave. However, he suddenly recalled something, and he reminded, “We have to continue investigating the lead on Walter too. Hopefully, we’ll be able to find this guy. I know that he probably doesn’t know too much, but surely he would have information that’s useful for us.”
As soon as Courtney heard his words, her expression darkened significantly. She nodded and bade farewell to Oliver before walking off hastily in the direction of the wards.
