When Jacob came back to the hospital, she saw Belle leaning on a chair in the waiting area and dozed off. She tapped her lightly on the arm to wake her up.
“How was he?” Belle asked as soon as she opened her eyes and saw that it was Jacob.
“Good thing he took the news calmly. He was glad that you’re here to look after Tristan,” Jacob smiled.
Belle smiled lazily at him before turning to look at the glass wall in front of them. She stood up to peek inside, looking at the tubes connected to the unconscious man on the hospital bed.
“How did this happen?” she muttered.
“I don’t have any idea too,” Jacob answered. “All I know is that, whoever did this, hates him to the bone.”
Belle slowly turned her head to look at Jacob. She thought it was an accident. “W-What do you mean Jacob?” she asked, her voice trembling as she can’t believe what she just heard.
“I can’t recall if I mentioned it to you or not, but the car accelerated right before he reached the car,” Belle shook her head at him. “No other cars are passing by and no other pedestrians. It was only Tristan, if it wasn’t intentional, the driver could have slowed down to let him pass. He was on the pedestrian lane anyway and the stoplights were on red.”
Belle started bawling, she felt her heart constricted in anger. She doesn’t know who did this but she knew she was mad at whoever that was. Tristan could have died.
“The car even stopped at the corner, I didn’t see the driver but if it wasn’t intentional, whoever’s driving could have come out and checked on him. But when the driver saw me looking, he sped away.”
“This is a bit over the top. I can’t even wrap my head around it. Why? Why would anyone do this to him?”
Jacob placed a hand over her shoulder and lightly tapped it to calm her down, “Don’t worry too much. I already contacted an investigator. I got the plate number of the car so I had it checked. We will soon find out who did this to him.”
When he looked at Tristan, the man’s finger slightly moved. Rattled, he suddenly took his hands off of Belle’s shoulder. ‘Was I seeing things or does he know I’m too close to Belle?’
Jacob finds his thought a bit absurd. He shook his head to dismiss it and decided to just sit down. He felt like Tristan will stand up and strangle him at any time.
After a while, Jacob decided to go back to the office first. He needed to assign a couple of contracts to some of their department heads so they can take care of it in Tristan’s absence.
It took him an hour and a half to come back and when he did, it was already past ten in the evening. When he got to the hospital, Tristan was still unconscious while Belle was dozed off on the chair again.
“Belle…” he lightly tapped her arm to wake her up. “Belle, I think you should go home and rest for now.”
The woman straightened up after she rubbed her eyes. “I don’t think I can sleep while he’s still there,” she gestured towards the ICU and frowned at Jacob.
“Go home, you look very tired. At least get some rest, I promise I’ll call you, even at dawn, as soon as he wakes up.”
“Swear it,” Belle ordered him and he quickly nodded.
When Belle stood up, he looked at Tristan again thru the glass window. She spent a couple of minutes staring at him before she headed toward the hospital’s exit.
Jacob followed and took the initiative to hail a cab for her. “Take care!” he reminded her as she got into the car. Belle nodded and waved him goodbye.
When Belle got home, Natalie welcomed her with a worried face. “How is he?” she asked. “Jacob called me earlier and told me that Tristan was rushed to the hospital. But he didn’t give me any details.”
Belle smiled faintly at her friend, “He’s out of danger now,” she told her. However, before she can take another step, her sight dimmed and she fainted.
“Belle! Belle!” Natalie yelled and she tried to pull her friend up.
“What happened?” Fely asked, running over to them, Nelson trailed behind her.
“S-She just fainted,” Natalie told her aunt.
“Nelson, quick. Carry her to her room!” Fely ordered of her husband and the man was quick to follow.
He scooped Belle up and took her straight to her bedroom. Natalie covered her friend with a blanket after Nelson laid her down on the bed.
“What happened to her?” Fely pried.
Natalie looked at her friend, saddened by everything she was going thru. “Her boyfriend got into an accident, he’s still in the ICU,” she told her aunt.
Fely and Nelson sighed, feeling sympathetic for the woman. Belle’s nothing but kind to them so they can’t help but feel pity for her.
“Go to sleep auntie. I’ll stay with her,” Natalie told her.
Fely was a bit hesitant but there’s nothing they can do for Belle at the moment. “Call us if you need anything,” she told her niece and when Natalie nodded, the couple turned to leave.
When the couple left, Natalie turned her attention to her friend. She combed her hair and fixed the blanket over her.
“Tristan…” Belle called in her sleep then a tear escaped her eye. Heartbroken for her friend, Natalie started tearing too.
She looked closely at Belle and noticed that her lips regained their color. She wasn’t pale anymore and Natalie was relieved to see that.
She stepped out of her room in the meantime and called Jacob. “She fainted,” she told him and Jacob sounded anxious when he asked how Belle was doing.
Natalie told him that she was resting and he asked her to look after Belle. Even if Jacob doesn’t tell her, that’s what she’s planning to do anyway, to look after her friend.
She too was thankful for having Belle in her life. Her friend has helped her tons of times in the past and she can’t forget that, she never will.
And now that she’s going thru tough times, she made it a mission to stay with her no matter what. Not just to repay Belle for everything, but to show her that she appreciates her and cares for her just the same.