As morning broke, Carla was still slumbering away. Venus barged into the room and leaped into her arms.
"Venus!" Carla awoke with a shock. Before she could react, Venus cupped her face and peppered it with kisses. Carla's face dripped with saliva as Venus exclaimed, "I missed you so much, Mommy!"
"I missed you too! My good girl, I won't leave you again." Carla hugged Venus tightly.
"Boohoo, you must keep your promise, Mommy." Venus's mouth puckered into a pout as tears filled her eyes. "If you leave me again, I will ignore you."
"I didn't leave you. I was just late and didn't manage to fetch you." Carla cradled Venus's chubby cheeks as she anxiously explained, "I'm sorry. Please don't be angry with me, okay?""Hmph!" Venus turned her head away and went on pouting. "I'll only forgive you if you make me bread!"
"Sure, I'll go and make your bread now." Carla quickly climbed out of bed.
"Mommy, Mommy…" In the opposite room, Josh's urgent voice called out, "Take me to see Mommy, Randy!"
"Give me a second. The doorbell rang. Let me see who's here."
Randy put on his shoes and went to open the door.
"Venus, how about we go see Josh?" Carla lifted Venus and strode out the door barefooted.
One of Venus's arms circled Carla's neck, while the other arm gestured towards Josh. "We're coming, Josh!"
"Mommy…" Josh spread his arms and screamed for Carla.
"Mommy! Dr. Howard and the nurses are here!" Randy yelled from the living room.
"Good morning!" the doctor and nurses greeted Carla.
"Good morning, please come in." Carla greeted them in return.
"Oh, come down Venus. Your Mommy's waist is injured. She can't carry anything heavy, " said the doctor anxiously when he saw Carla holding Venus.
One of the nurses rushed up to carry Venus. "Good girl, Venus. Your Mommy's waist is hurting. I'll take care of you for the next few days, okay?" the nurse soothed Venus kindly.
"Okay." Venus nodded obediently. She cocked her head toward Venus and said, "What happened to your waist, Mommy?"
"I just have a small injury. It's nothing serious. I'll be fine in a few days." Carla pulled Dr. Howard aside and asked, "How do you know that my waist is injured?"
"I heard from Mr. Benard. He said your waist is injured and that you can't do heavy labor. He reminded us to be careful and said that he'll arrange for a doctor to come and treat your injury today."
Mrs. Borah's agitated voice sounded out from outside. "Are the children back? Randy, Josh, Venus…"
"Mrs. Borah…" Randy and Venus dashed out when they heard her voice.
Venus tunneled into Mrs. Borah's embrace. She hugged Mrs. Borah's neck as she said, "We missed you so much, Mrs. Borah!"
"My darlings. I missed you too." Mrs. Borah could not hold back the tears that welled up in her eyes. She carefully scanned Venus and Randy. "Let me see if you're alright. Did anyone bully you?"
"No. We're fine." Randy immediately noticed the needle marks and bandages on Mrs. Borah's wound site. "What happened, Mrs. Borah? Are you sick?"
"I'm fine. I feel fine as long as I get to see you." Mrs. Borah cried as she had one arm around Venus while the other was around Randy. "Where's Josh?"
"Josh is in the room. His leg is injured, so he can't get out of bed, " said Venus as she pointed towards the bedroom.
"What? What happened to Josh?" Mrs. Borah started to panic. "Take me to him now."
"It's just a minor injury. You don't need to worry." Carla walked over with tears brimming in her eyes, and she pulled Mrs. Borah away to say, "What brings you here? I thought you were hospitalized?"
"Dr. Goman brought me here." Mrs. Borah pointed at Naya and the two attendants behind her.
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