Chapter 5 Psychological Shadow

The second Derek got into the car, he heard Sara crying. After all, it was Wendy's head that got injured. He opened the back door right away, held Wendy up, and ran back to the hospital.

Wendy felt so nauseous that she ended up throwing up all over Derek.

Seeing how pale Wendy's face had gotten, Sara was so worried that tears were running down her cheeks. In a state of nerves, she asked, "Wasn't she all right? What's wrong with her?"

As soon as he heard the news, the doctor ran a series of tests to check on Wendy. Noticing the stains on Derek's clothes, Sara apologized profusely, "Sorry, your clothes got stained because of Wendy. Take off your suit jacket. Let me wash it for you."

"It's okay. I don't mind." With that, Derek simply took off his suit jacket and held it in his hand.

"Give it to me. I'll clean it for you."

Considering how insistent Sara was, Derek thought that he could have an excuse to come over if his clothes were at her place.

Realizing this, Derek nodded his head in agreement with a smile and handed the clothes over to Sara.

The waiting process was quite exhausting. A few hours after the series of tests were done, Wendy's face was no longer as pale as it was before.

Still feeling uneasy, Sara asked, "Doctor, how is my child? The wound on her head has already healed, but why was she still trembling. She even vomited!"

Shaking his head, the doctor said, "We're going to do another check-up. Although it's true that the injury on the patient's head has fully healed, we're not sure what causes her trembling and why she's vomiting. Perhaps you should go to the hospital in the city instead."

Hearing this, Derek nodded his head and said, "The hospitals in the city have better facilities compared to those in the town. We'll take Wendy there to do a comprehensive examination."

"Okay, thank you so much, Derek," Sara said, feeling so grateful toward him.

Just the thought of riding the ambulance was enough to make Wendy feel sick. She took a deep breath and tried to hold back the urge to throw up. Then, she shook her head and said, "I'm fine. I don't need to go to the hospital in the city."

"My dear, you don't seem fine at all..."

Trying her best to put on a smile, Wendy shook her head again and insisted, "Mom, I'm okay, really. I just got a bit carsick, that's all."

"Carsick?" Completely taken aback, Sara looked at her and asked, "But, you've never been carsick before!"

That was because... Wendy closed her eyes in agony, trying so hard not to recall the horrible scene.

"I don't know why I felt dizzy as soon as I sat in the car. Mom, I'm really okay. You don't need to take me to the hospital in the city." Wendy persistently shook her head to show that she was perfectly fine.

The doctor then chimed in, "Her previous symptoms were indeed like motion sickness. Why don't you go home for now and observe for a few days? If she still trembles and feels nauseous from time to time, then you should take her to the city hospital to have her further examined."

"Well, all right. Let's just go home for now and see how it goes."

As she looked at Derek's car at the entrance of the hospital, Wendy couldn't help trembling again.

Seeing the condition her daughter was in, Sara didn't know what to do at all. So, she asked, "What are we supposed to do, Derek? Wendy is already trembling in fear before she sits in the car."

Derek then lovingly replied, "Your home is a bit of a distance away. Let me drive you there. I'm going to stop by a nearby store to buy a few plastic bags. Wendy would have to bear with it for now."

"Thank you, Derek." That was all that Sara could say, nodding gratefully.

With that, Derek stepped on the gas hard and the car sped on the countryside road.

As she sat in the back seat, Wendy kept vomiting uncontrollably. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't hold it in. It even came to the point where she already felt too weak to vomit any more.

Feeling so sorry for her daughter, Sara grabbed a tissue and wiped the corners of Wendy's mouth. As she gently patted her back, she said, "We're almost home. Please bear with it just a little longer, Wendy."

Hearing this, Wendy leaned back against the seat, clutching her arms in pain.

After a long time, the car finally pulled over. Sara lifted Wendy up and carried her into the house.

When she finally got out of the car, Wendy was able to breathe a sigh of relief and felt much better.

As she put her down on the bed, Sara worriedly asked, "Wendy, are you feeling any better?"

"Yes. Yes, I am," Wendy nodded her head feebly.

"Have a sleep and make sure to let me know if you feel uncomfortable, okay?"

"Okay."

After that, Sara walked out and slowly closed the bedroom door. When he saw her, Derek anxiously asked, "How is Wendy?"

"She looked much better once she got out of the car. Maybe she was really just a bit carsick."

"Well, she threw up quite a bit. How is she supposed to go to school like this?" Derek said, then he added, "How about I buy you an apartment that's close to the school?"

"No, no. No, thank you. You've already helped us a lot," Sara adamantly refused.

Derek replied, "Sara, why do you always have to act so civil around me? I..."

"There's no need for you to do that. I'll just buy a bike for Wendy. It's not that far away. Besides she'll be able to get some exercise by going on a bike every day. You don't have to buy an apartment for us." Sara said this in a rather firm tone.

Knowing full well what kind of person Sara was, Derek helplessly sighed and said, "Okay, just call me if anything happens."

"Okay."

After Wendy got discharged from the hospital, she had to stay at home to rest for two weeks. Sara carefully observed how she was doing until she was certain that there was nothing wrong with her, then she allowed her to go back to school.

"Wendy, how's the wound on your head? I have my hands full with my study, so I couldn't come to the hospital to visit you." Bess Du excitedly trotted toward Wendy.

In the past, Bess and Wendy were the best of friends. But, at some point, Wendy moved overseas and pursued a career in racing. They never really got the chance to get in touch with each other since then.

Wendy felt so happy to be able to see Bess again. With a smile on her face, she said, "It's all right now."

"Hey? Why did you get here so early today?" Somewhat curious, Bess looked at Wendy's bike and asked, "Eh? Did you come here on a bike?"

"Yes. I can get some exercise by riding a bike. I have been away from school for some time, so I've got a lot of catching up to do. Can I take a look at your notes?" Wendy asked, looking at Bess with a big smile on her face.

Clueless as Bess was, she didn't notice anything wrong with Wendy at all. The latter seemed so distressed as she held her textbook. After all, it had been so long since she graduated that she had already forgotten most of the things she learned in school. Since she didn't want to get a much lower score than she usually did in her exams, she knew she had to study hard to make up for her absences.

Wendy and Bess were the first ones to arrive at the classroom. Wendy caught a glimpse of one of the chairs. Then, she turned around and asked, "Have you had anything for breakfast today?"

"I haven't eaten yet. How about you, Wendy? Have you already eaten?" Bess asked.

"I've had something to eat, but I'm not feeling full yet. Can you please buy me some steamed stuffed buns?"

"No problem! Just give me a second!" Bess giggled and hurriedly ran out of the classroom.

As soon as Bess left, Wendy turned around and curled her lip.

As the saying went, "A fox may turn gray, but never kind."

By the time Wendy had fully recovered and went back to school, Shelly had already forgotten that her father had warned her not to stir up trouble with her.