As soon as he heard the mind-blowing news, Tristan rushed out of the conference room. He even pushed Jacob out of his way.
As they are only on the fourth floor, he didn’t even bother waiting for the elevator. He ran straight to the stairs, straight to the parking lot.
Joyce, on the other hand, went out of the clinic as soon as her wounds were dressed. Waiting for a cab, she dialed Vernice’s number.
“I deliberately bumped into Belle’s car, monitor her status. I’m hoping she’s dead but we’d want to be sure,” ending the call after giving her instructions.
She went straight home to rest, leaving her phone on the side table so she can hear it when she gets a call. She needs to know what happened to the woman.
When she closed her eyes, she was again reminded of how Tristan looked at her after she tried stabbing Belle. This ignited the fury inside her.
Vernice immediately rushed to the hospital after receiving Joyce's call. She, too, is hoping that the woman she loathes is dead.
Meanwhile, Vernice got to the hospital at the same time as Tristan and Jacob. She stopped in her tracks and hid behind a pillar to prevent the men from seeing her.
Stealthily following both men, Vernice saw them get inside a private room. This was a clear indication that Belle was indeed alive and again, they failed.
She turned on her heel and retreated before she gets caught. When she’s out of the hospital, she called Joyce to let her know of Belle’s current status. She also informed her that Tristan and Jacob were there to visit the woman.
Joyce’s hands trembled in rage. She quickly ended the call with Vernice and contacted her friend who is a nurse at the same hospital. She will need her friend’s help to get something done.
At the hospital, Tristan who has been nervous since he heard the news went straight to Belle’s bed, where she’s lying pale and unconscious. He held her hand and tucked the stray hairs from her face behind her ear.
According to the doctor, she received twelve stitches on her forehead, very close to her hairline. She also sustained cuts on her face caused by the broken glasses.
Her left arm was dislocated as it was caught between the car seat and door. Fortunately, all these injuries can be considered minor.
However, they still need to confine her for further observation. They need to look out for possible internal bleeding or other internal injuries she might have sustained.
Nathalie was the last to arrive and visit Belle. When she went inside, Tristan and Jacob are still there, looking after her friend.
“What happened to her?” Nathalie asked no one in specific.
Jacob reached out for her hand and pulled her down to sit. “We don’t know the details yet. But it seems like it’s a case of drunk driving,” he told her.
Nathalie’s cry grew louder as she never expected something as scary as this to happen to her friend. She’s been very unlucky ever since she came to Bree.
It was a kidnapping incident at first, almost got stabbed, slandered, slapped, and accused of things she never did, now a car accident. What would be next for her?
“We need to go back to the office, you have to prepare for a meeting in an hour,” Jacob reminded Tristan who is still next to Belle, quietly combing her hair with his fingers.
He nodded without looking at his assistant then he let out a long sigh. He turned around to face Nathalie who is still crying over her friend’s incident.
“Can you please look after her while we’re away? I’ll come back after my last meeting,” informing Nathalie and asking her for a favor at the same time.
Taking one last look at Belle, he planted a soft kiss on her forehead before turning around to leave her ward. Nathalie then moved to where Tristan was seated before.
She was shocked when Belle suddenly opened her eyes. “You’re awake?” she asked, confused as to what is happening.
Belle nodded slowly, still dizzy and in pain, “Talk to my attending physician, tell him I want to move to a hospital in Dale,” she told her and although confused, Nathalie immediately did as her friend instructed.
After the necessary documents were prepared, Belle was boarded into an ambulance that will take them to Bree Port. From there, she will be moved to an emergency boat to Dale Port where she will be picked up by an ambulance again to move her to the nearest hospital.
“Are you sure about this?” Nathalie asked. Belle nodded slowly at her before displaying a faint smile.
“I need some time away from all these people. Otherwise, I’d lose a lot of sleep and I won’t be able to function properly at work from all the trauma.”
“What happened to you exactly?” Nathalie pried. Drunk driving is a rare case in Bree so even Nathalie wonders how unlucky Belle is to be victimized.
“The cab that bumped into my car has been following me since I left the office,” she narrated. Goosebumps crept all over Nathalie’s body when she heard that.
“You mean, it was intentional?”
“I don’t want to think that, but I guess it was. It trailed me from the office until we reached Chesapeake, you know how dark that area is,” Nathalie nodded. “I already saw it accelerating towards my car, I don’t know what happened that I can’t unlock my seatbelt.”
“It’s actually a good thing that you have your seatbelt on, otherwise, who knows what could’ve happened.” Nathalie did a sign of a cross as a gesture of thanks that nothing awfully bad happened to her friend.
“I think so too. Also…” Belle trailed. She peeked behind Nathalie to make sure no one, not even a nurse, is there with them. “I think the driver is rather familiar, I saw her from my rearview mirror.”
Nathalie tried to rub her goosebumps off, “You saw her? It’s a girl?” Belle nodded, her lips turning into a deep frown. “But they saw the driver on the backseat, he was drenched in blood too and there’s a broken bottle of vodka.”
“Are you sure?” Nathalie nodded immediately.
“That was what’s reported to Jacob earlier,” informing her friend of what she heard earlier when the police arrived.
“I was pretty sure it was her, I mean, I don’t want to make false accusations but I tried looking at least three times, and it was clear to my eyes, it was her, it was definitely her,” she argued.
“Who?”
Belle stared at Nathalie’s eyes, not sure whether she should tell her or not. Despite what happened, she doesn’t want to let anyone know yet, as she’s afraid it would trigger the culprit.
She might end up doing something even more horrible than what she’s already done. She might even kill her, she already threatened her once.
“I’m not sure yet,” trying to dismiss her friend’s question. She can’t risk it. Nathalie might slip and tell Jacob about it. For sure, this loyal assistant will let Tristan know. He’ll be heartbroken, she can’t let that happen.
Even if she love-hate him, she still can’t let him get hurt, knowing the woman he loves is a criminal. As long as she can deal with it on her own, she would.
In less than two hours, they finally arrived in a hospital in Dale. In about thirty minutes, her parents arrived, both dead worried for their only child.
“What happened to you?” Lydia’s almost ready to freak out after seeing her daughter’s condition. Her hands are shaking and tears won’t stop flowing from her eyes.
“Mom, calm down, I’m fine,” Belle said sweetly, trying her best to smile to show her mom she was indeed alright. “It was just a small accident, stop crying.”
Raymond pulled his wife away from her daughter, “Sit here,” he told her before looking at Belle. “Are you sure you’re ok?” he asked again and Belle nodded.
“I shouldn’t have let you go to Bree, this wouldn’t have happened if you were here with us,” Lydia still can’t stop crying. Her heart is aching for her daughter, as nothing this bad happened to her before, except for her drowning incident.