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But then she remembered how stubborn her friends were. One was crying on her shoulder, and the other was wailing behind a pillar outside. She focused on them instead of her hungry thoughts.
“Thanks, Damien,” she said with a shaky grin and a feeble slap on his rigid back. “Thanks,” she said again in a whisper.
She had to get herself together and her pals and do something about all the crying.
He and Lola continued saving her more than just physically, and they did it every day. She would be forever grateful to these two.
******
Kellen stood still, looking through the oval glass at the entrance.
Pain, anger, and jealousy all came back to him. He was shocked that he could still suffer so much, even though he knew Lena’s reality and how she had betrayed him. It was far worse than the last time.
He wanted to take Damien off of Lena and kill that rascal right then and there. His fists were clenched at his sides, and the next second, he turned around and let out a painful groan.
When would his heart stop loving her? When? Because it had become torment that he could not stand any longer.
He raced down the hallway and out of the hospital, breathing heavily. He stopped in front of his vehicle in the parking lot and leaned on the sleek roof for support. His shoulders drooped in defeat.
Kellen wanted to turn around and go find the doctor to ask about Lena’s health, but it was clear that Damien was taking good care of her. She didn’t need him. Whatever had happened to her, whether it was a bad fever, the flu, or high blood pressure, Kellen decided to look into it indirectly and later, just like he had done with Lena’s whereabouts in the city.
He didn’t need to make a fool of himself anymore by demonstrating he still cared.
But didn’t he already make a fool of himself by coming down here as soon as he heard she was in the hospital?
It was a mistake to come here.
But Lena is still his wife!
Kellen’s wife is always in the arms of another man, and Kellen has never been bloody enough for her.
He quickly pulled his phone out of his coat pocket, which wasn’t a good idea, and called his lawyer.
When the phone was answered, Kellen’s eyes were crimson. It might have been pain, rage, or both. But he didn’t want to figure it out. He just wanted it to be over.
“I want you to write a divorce petition,” he said, his eyes watering with pain.
*****
Ryan sat in his car a few feet away, in the same parking lot as the hospital. His eyes hardened with anger, but his lips curled into a sarcastic sneer as he observed and listened to that miserable man’s stupidity.
There was no doubt that Kellen loved Lena. But love is nothing without trust.
And Ryan would make sure to tell the sad guy in great detail how accurate that was.
Ryan’s phone rang, which brought him back to reality. He sighed and blinked his eyes as he raised the phone to his ear.
“Sir, it was Selene Arthur’s car,” a person on the other end said excitedly. “You were right about it.” It was Miss.  Arthur, who had hit your pal that night?
He finally had proof. Now justice was close at hand.
Ryan caught his breath. His eyes were angry and impatient. But he knew he had to be patient. The clever witch needed to be encircled on all sides so that she couldn’t get away.
Lena, wait just a little bit longer.
Lola came back to Lena’s room late yesterday night with a puffy face and a set of eyes that were a little red. She cried again when she saw Lena, and Lena hugged her like a bear. Damien jumped in right away and made it a group embrace.
The three of them comforted each other through the night, feeling the terrifying jolts of the storm they were confronting in their bones.
When dawn came and the doctor came back, Lena was finally told she could leave the hospital.
“I’m going to put you in touch with Dr. Robert Blake, who is an expert in brain tumors. The doctor told Lena, who was sitting up in bed with Damien and Lola on either side of her, “For now, I’m going to give you some medicine to help with the symptoms of your tumor and its cancerous cells.” “From now on, Dr. Robert will decide how to treat you to cure you.”
They were all looking at the doctor quite closely and listening to him very carefully.
“So, when can we see Dr. Robert now?” “Damien asked.
“It’s the weekend, and he’s out of town for a conference, but I’ll put Lena as an urgent case in his appointments so you can meet him right after he gets to the hospital tomorrow night,” the doctor said.
The doctor departed after addressing more of Damien and Lola’s questions regarding Lena’s sickness and what they should and shouldn’t do. Lena had been silent the whole time, simply listening and feeling sick about it all.
After that, Damien proceeded to get Lena’s discharge papers ready.
Lola stayed behind to assist Lena in changing out of her hospital gown and into a normal outfit.
“Please, Lola, don’t be so quiet now,” Lena said with a sigh as Lola zipped up the back of her dress. “This silence isn’t good for you.”
Lena grabbed Selene’s wrist and told her to move around till she was standing in front of her.
Lola bit her lip. “I’m scared, Lena, and I’m shocked.” How can you, a lady with such a big heart, have to go through all this pain and loss? “You’re the best person I’ve ever met,” she said, throwing her hands up in frustration. “You don’t even kick my a*s when I go crazy sometimes. Why does it have to be you who always has to deal with this awful stuff?” It makes me think that God is actually simply sitting up there over the clouds, blind and looking gorgeous, while decent people keep suffering below! “
People lose religion for purely rational reasons, not because of the greatly overrated faith.
Lena didn’t know what to say to Lola’s outburst. These were the same questions she had been asking herself every minute of every day!
“I’m never going to church again until—” Lola said with determination. “Until you are well again, Lena, I swear to everything holy.”
But faith is still powerful, always having the strength to seduce those who have fallen and offer them miracles.
Kellen was furious in his room.
The investigator he hired just told him that Lena’s doctor wouldn’t give out any information about her patients without their permission. And that bad doctor wouldn’t even take Kellen’s money, even though Kellen didn’t give much. It seems that he couldn’t achieve it, no matter how much he wanted to.
His businesses were going down, which meant that thousands of people who worked for them were losing their jobs. He couldn’t afford to pay off a dishonest doctor just now.
It was strange and unsettling. He knew that the authority and money he had taken for granted and bragged about for so long were very near to being gone.
Kellen groaned and fell back onto the chilly bed, his eyes looking blankly at the white ceiling. He knew what he had to do. It wasn’t about him; it was about the companies his father had founded and trusted him with. It was about his mother waiting for him at home and the folks who worked for him.
Kellen decided it was time to call Arthur and accept his ridiculous offer, even though he was already feeling angry. But he knew it made sense. Selene looked like the only way out for now, maybe to give him some time to think of something else.
******
Lena went back to the store two days later. She was still feeling a little weak, but she decided to ignore it and get to work. It seemed better to be active than to let her head rot at home, where she would have all kinds of depressing ideas.
Damien and Lola had strongly opposed her going to work, but they gave in when Lena looked at them with puppy dog eyes. She learned something useful from the kids at the orphanage. Speaking of kids in orphanages…  She had to see them soon, especially Dave. Lena also had to deal with the adoption issue, and she hoped for a miracle that would make it work out, even though she knew deep down that it would definitely be a failure and, of course, another layer of misery.
She had asked Damien and Lola to keep her condition a secret for the time being. She didn’t want everyone around her to look at her with pity and say things to make her feel better. She wants to live like a normal, everyday person for as long as she can.
She sensed that the Grim Reaper was already on his way to her. But not every single person around her needed to know about it.