Nora, who had seen family members of patients that were even more unreasonable, wasn’t bothered. Instead, she wrote: ‘Jimmy is likely suffering from encephalitis.’
She was about to send the message after drafting it when she suddenly saw a message prompt:
‘You have been kicked out of the group chat by the administrator.’
Nora, “?”
She raised her eyebrows and stared at her phone for a while. A brief moment later, she scoffed and opened Cherry’s chat window. Then, she sent a message to Pete: ‘He is likely suffering from encephalitis. Have his father take him to the hospital for a checkup.’
Doctors should be benevolent.
The child was still so young. She didn’t want to let the matter go unchecked.
Neither would she lower herself to his parent’s level.
After sending the message, she lay down and got ready to sleep.
—
At the kindergarten.
Pete walked over to Jimmy after reading Nora’s message and relayed her words to him.
Jimmy was so frightened that he burst into tears at once. “Sob! I have encephalitis! Am I going to die?!”
Ms. Lynn was dumbfounded when Jimmy burst into tears. She tried to coax him, but he cried and asked for his mother instead.
As a result, Ms. Lynn could only give Jimmy’s mother a call.
Jimmy’s mother was a hot-tempered and straightforward woman. After receiving the teacher’s call, she went straight to the school swiftly and resolutely.
She spotted Jimmy, who was crying so hard that he couldn’t breathe, right away.
Jimmy’s mother panicked at once. “What’s wrong? Did your classmates bully you?”
A sobbing Jimmy replied, “Mommy, I’m dying. I have a very serious illness. Sob…”
His mother frowned and asked, “Who told you that?”
“Cherry did.”
Jimmy’s mother became furious at once. She shouted at Ms. Lynn, “Who is Cherry?!”
Ms. Lynn wanted to stop her, but Jimmy’s mother, who was a tall and thick woman, was simply too strong. She pushed Ms. Lynn away, entered the classroom, and demanded, “Where is Cherry?”
Pete stood up leisurely and frowned.
At the sight of him, Jimmy’s mother immediately broke into a rant. She said, “Why did you say such nonsense to Jimmy? Don’t you know that it’s not right to scare kids?! Apologize to Jimmy at once!”
Jimmy was holding his mother’s hand. The five-year-old boy looked confused—obviously, he didn’t know what was going on.
He shook his mother’s hand and said, “Mommy, Cherry wasn’t trying to scare me. My head hurts. I really am sick…”
“What do you mean you’re sick?” Jimmy’s mother’s expression turned cold and she said, “It’s normal for a child to experience headaches and fevers. Besides, your head always stops hurting every time you get home. Moreover, people in our family are all in good health. What kind of sickness can you possibly be down with? What kind of nonsense are you saying?”
It wasn’t that Jimmy’s mother didn’t care about her son. It was just that every time she took Jimmy home during the last few incidents, his head would always stop hurting whenever they were about to go to the hospital.
After this happened several times, it was inevitable that Jimmy’s mother would suspect that he was just pretending to be sick.
Otherwise, why would his head only hurt in the kindergarten and never at home?
Jimmy’s mother pointed at Pete and sneered, “Fine, you’re a kid, so I won’t lower myself to your level. I’ll look for your mother instead!”
She looked at Ms. Lynn and said, “Tell Cherry’s mother to come to the kindergarten! Otherwise, I won’t let this matter rest today! How can I let my little Jimmy be bullied in school?”
Ms. Lynn breathed a sigh of relief.
Although Jimmy’s mother was bad-tempered, she was reasonable and hadn’t raised her hand against the child. She was a much more decent person than Whitney Lowe.
Ms. Lynn hurriedly called Nora.
Pete sat in his seat while Jimmy’s mother waited with her son in Ms. Lynn’s office.
Next to him, Mia was terribly nervous. She tugged Pete’s sleeve and whispered, “Cherry, I heard that Jimmy’s parents are prominent figures in the underworld. Whoever offends Jimmy will be…”
She held her hand up, drew it across her neck, and added, “… killed off secretly!”
Pete, “?”
Mia was so frightened that she shrank back after she spoke. “My mommy also told me not to offend Jimmy when I first came to school. Jimmy’s mother looked so scary just now!”
The other children were also discussing the matter quietly among themselves.
“Will Cherry stop coming to school tomorrow?”
“I heard that Jimmy’s father has a big pet tiger that only eats children! Will Cherry be eaten on her way home?”
“You mustn’t die, Cherry!”
“Sob, Cherry, I really like you…”
A child’s world was very simple and innocent, especially when Cherry the charmer had already become their favorite person in the class.
As a result, Pete was surrounded by the children. Their eyes were all red as they said their goodbyes to him.
“Cherry, I like you the most. You have to come to school alive tomorrow, okay?!”
“Cherry, why don’t you go and buy a piece of meat after school? This way, even if you encounter the big tiger, you can let it eat the meat so that it won’t eat you…”
“Here, Cherry, this is for you. It’s a little hammer that my mommy gave me. She said that I can use it to hammer anyone that bullies me. Why don’t you take this and beat the tiger with it?”
“…”
Pete, “…”
He couldn’t help rolling his eyes. These children were so silly… that they were so cute.
The feeling of loneliness that had been hidden in the depths of his heart ever since he was born seemed to have unknowingly faded away a lot during his days in kindergarten.
Mia became even more frightened. Her eyes reddened as she said, “How about letting Daddy send you home after school today?!”
To Mia, her father was the most powerful person ever!
“… No, it’s fine,” replied Pete.
As a result, when a displeased Nora rushed over to the kindergarten after being woken up, she immediately saw her son being surrounded and sent off by a crying crowd.
Nora, “…”
However, before she could even say anything, Jimmy’s mother rushed up to her. She jabbed her finger in her face and said angrily, “Never mind that you were talking nonsense in the group, but how can you also say such nonsense to a child? Look at how pale Jimmy has become because of you!”
Jimmy was following his mother at the back. The little boy was trembling all over, and he looked as if he was about to have a fit because he was crying so hard.
Nora frowned and said, “Now’s not the time to be quarreling. I’d suggest that you take your son to the hospital for a checkup right away.”
“To hell with the checkup!” Jimmy’s mother shouted angrily, “We’re already meeting in person, yet you’re still so full of hot air! It’s all because your daughter scared him that my son has become like this! Encephalitis? … Would anyone need a lumbar puncture because of encephalitis? This is the first time I’ve ever heard about it! Aren’t lumbar punctures related to leukemia or something? Are you sure you know what you’re saying or not?!”
Nora, “…”
Jimmy’s mother rolled up her sleeves as if she was about to hit someone. She demanded, “I want you to apologize to my son right away! Tell your daughter to apologize to my son, too! Take back what you said just now and tell him that all of that was just a joke!”
However, as soon as she said that, Jimmy suddenly held his head with his hands and threw up.
