Ryu looked at his son carefully and then seeing the doctor out a.s.sured him that they will make arrangements for the child quickly.Back in the room,Ru had begun crying and was now trying to convince Alicia to make arrangements for his friend at home and not take him to the hospital.Alicia was trying to convince him the opposite but he refused to listen.Just then the baby who had finished her milk only now,let out a small cry when she saw no one paying attention to her.Before Alicia could react,Ru went to the baby and picking her up,he put her on his shoulder to burp her as he rubbed her back.Alicia was amazed at this.Her son had never been around any babies then how did he know this..Just how long had they been living here?She remembered that since the last ten days.Ru had always wanted to spend all his time in the treehouse so they were mostly living there for atleast that many days.
Seeing his son like this Ryu signalled Alicia to come out with Ru.Alicia softly called out to her son and followed his mother to the opposite room.There Ru was once again pleading with his parents to make arrangements at home.Finally,exasperated ove rthe mindless pleading,Ryu gave his son an ultimatum,"If you want me to make arrangements at home then you have to tell me the entire truth."
Ru stared at his father mutinuously and said,"I promised him I won"t tell."
"Then we are taking him to the hospital.Ru,I always support you to keep a promise but this is a matter of life.You have to tell me."
Ru finally nodded and hugging the baby tightly said,"Father,make arrangements.I will tell you everything."
Ryu picked up his phone and made a call,"I want all equipments and medicines related to pneumonia here in my house within 15 minutes along with an experienced doctor and two nurses."
Seeing that his father had done what he said,Ru took a deep breath and started,"Father,he is my friend from school.His name is Zhao Min and this baby is his little sister Zhao Xin.About two months back,we were told by our teacher that Zhao Min lost his parents and so we must pray for them and their well being ad that he was currently being cared for by his uncle."
"About a fortnight ago,he started coming to school again but he wouldn"t talk to any of us and always just sat quietly in the cla.s.s.Then one day I saw him crying in the boy"s bathroom and asked him what was wrong.He said that his uncle was a very bad man and that he was going to run away from home to save himself from his uncle but he would have to leave his sister behind as he did not know where to go.I told him if he was worried about his sister,he should just come here alongwith her.But he refused and told me that he had run earlier as well but some adults had caught him and handed him back to his uncle who had then been even more angrier.So I told him he could come and stay in my tree house and n.o.body would know he was there.He came here some days back and ever since then I have been helping him care for her.When you are in office,I ask Ms housekeeper to give me some milk and food in the treehouse itself.."
Ru"s head was bowed as he finished his explanation and waited for his parents" anger.But they looked at each other in worry.Children could at times exaggerate sometimes misunderstand.Whether what the child had said was true or not,there were chanced of kidnapping allegations and what not.Plus if the child was grieving and had misunderstood the adult then that person would be out of his mind with worry now.
When silence reigned in the small room and only the sounds of a baby"s gurgles could be heard,Ru looked up and saw his parents" thoughtful faces.Immediately understanding that they were thinking of informing Zhao Min"s uncle,he shook his head wildly and said,"Father please don"t inform him.Please.Let Zhao Min get well and then he will tell you everything!"
Agreeing with Ru,they let him and the baby leave the room to sit next to Zhao Min.
Ru was unaware of the dilemma he had left his parents in. Alicia was going to get busier with her preparations for An Jui"s downfall and would not have time to handle 2 other children and Ryu did not wish toinvite trouble.but if the boy really was suffering then they could not in good conscious let him go back to a dangerous situation.
In tandem,Ryu asked for his man to investigate the truth behind Zhao Min and Alicia agreed to go see Mi Rae in order to find out more about the legal end of such a situation.
The doctors and nurses soon arrived and Ru and baby Zhao Xin were sent out.Alicia had prepared a porridge for Ruining and had convinced him to handover Zhao Xin to her. the baby was sleepy and uncomfortable in Ru"s small arms and immediately fell asleep in Alicia"s arms.
As Alicia laid the baby in a makes.h.i.+ft bedding on the floor of the living room,(Ru did not want to let her out of sight..),one of the nurses came to her rather hesitantly and whispered, "Madam, we were changing the boy"s clothes and found something worrisome. Please come and see.Alicia had a premonition of something bad after seeing the nurse"s expression but after glancing at Ru and seeing that he was eating quietly followed the nurse into the room.
The boy Zhao Min was still sleeping but covered with a blanket only his face being visible. The doctor looked at Alicia"s curious expression and then slowly pulled away the blankets so that only the arm was visible.Alicia sucked in a harsh breathing at the sight and turned around straight into the arms of Ryu.