Chapter 60
“What’s wrong?” Ivy asked in a faint voice.
Outside, Edna heard voices from within the room and her expression shifted. She pushed the door open a little further.
“Miss Ivy, are you… are you alright? Mrs. Windsor wanted to know if you need us to call an ambulance,” Edna said softly, taking in Ivy’s pale, drawn features.
“No, thank you. Would you please bring me a glass of water?”
“Oh, of course!”
Edna closed the door and hurried off to fetch some water.
Passing through the living room, she was stopped by Rosetta, who asked for an update. Edna replied, “Miss Ivy looks very weak. She doesn’t want to go to the hospital – just asked for some water.”
Emma frowned and muttered under her breath, “She’d rather drop dead at home than let anyone help…”
Rosetta’s face tightened with worry. After a moment’s thought, she said, “Tell her she really should go to the hospital, for her own good.”
“Alright.” Edna poured the water and set the glass outside Ivy’s door, not daring to go in. She knocked lightly and said in a low voice, “Miss Ivy, please, you really should go to the hospital. Mrs. Windsor is very worried about you.”
Bracing herself, Ivy slowly sat up and replied with a bitter edge, “She’s just afraid I’ll die in the house and bring bad luck.”
Edna bit her lip, unsure how to respond, and quickly stepped aside as Ivy came to the door for the water.
After drinking, Ivy swallowed her last painkiller. Suddenly, she felt a warm rush between her legs. She set the glass down and hurried out of her room.
Rosetta was on the phone with Adkins, updating him about Ivy’s condition. The sight of Ivy suddenly appearing in the hallway made Rosetta freeze mid-sentence, as if she’d seen a ghost. Without a word, Ivy headed for the bathroom. When she saw the blood on her underwear, she frowned deeply.
She didn’t have any sanitary pads, and she refused to ask Emma for help. Instead, she folded up several layers of toilet paper, making a thick, makeshift pad, and placed it inside her underwear.
After she left the bathroom, Ivy returned to her room, grabbed her car keys, and headed for the door, intent on driving to the store.
Rosetta stood up. “Ivy, you’re in no shape to go out! I just spoke to your father – he agrees you should be admitted to the hospital.”
Ivy paused at the doorway, glancing over her shoulder. “You all just want me out of the house, don’t you?”
“Come on, Ivy! Mom’s just worried about you, why do you always have to twist her intentions?” Emma protested, her voice full of annoyance.
Ivy offered a cold, dismissive smile, then left without another word.
She drove to the nearest supermarket, bought a pack of pads, and immediately found the restroom to put one on.
The painkiller hadn’t helped much. The ache in her lower abdomen only grew sharper, her legs felt weak and shaky, and her knees threatened to buckle beneath her. Every step took effort, as if her body were coming apart at the seams.
She somehow made it back to her car and dropped the shopping bag inside. Pulling out her phone, she tried to call Katrina, but before she could dial, a wave of dizziness overtook her.
Just before she lost consciousness, she saw someone rushing toward her, catching her as she collapsed-
“Ivy! Ivy!”
Micah held her, calling her name in a panic.
Ivy drifted back to awareness, but the world spun around her. Micah’s worried face hovered above her.
“Ivy, what happened? Are you alright?” he asked, voice tight with concern.
Seeing Micah’s face brought a fresh surge of resentment, but all Ivy managed was a weak, “I’m fine…” as she pushed him away, trying to get up on her own.
Her body betrayed her – she just couldn’t muster the strength.
Micah was torn. He’d heard from Emma that Ivy had grown so ill she could barely get out of bed. Earlier, he’d been on his way to the Windsor house – partly, he admitted to himself, to check on Ivy. As he’d pulled up near the estate, he’d seen her car leaving and, on impulse, followed her.
He knew Ivy was HIV-positive, and her symptoms had gotten much worse. The thought made his skin crawl, and as he held her now, his arms were stiff and awkward.
But watching her stubbornness broke his heart.
“Emma said you don’t want to go to the hospital. I get it. But let me take you somewhere else – someplace you can rest, away from everyone else, okay?”
He assumed Ivy didn’t want to face the stigma she’d meet in a hospital.
Before Ivy could answer, Micah helped her into the back seat of his Bentley.
As they drove, Ivy managed to catch her breath. In a faint voice, she asked, “Aren’t you afraid Emma will find out and give you hell?”
“She won’t know.”
Micah said it simply, then made a quick call.
“Uncle James… Could you come over? I need your help. No, it’s not me – it’s Emma’s sister, you’ve met her before… She’s really sick, and I don’t know who else to call. Please, Uncle James, just come take a look at her. I’m begging you…”
From the back seat, Ivy heard the conversation and frowned. “I don’t need a doctor… I’ll be fine in a few days, just let me be…”
Micah ignored her, still pleading with his uncle on the phone.
After hanging up, he glanced at the rearview mirror and tried to reassure her. “Ivy, my uncle’s not like everyone else. He won’t judge you.”
Ivy said nothing.
Another spasm of pain hit, and she slumped across the back seat, her mind drifting in and out of consciousness.
James had just gotten off a night shift and was resting at home when his nephew’s desperate call dragged him out. He arrived in a foul mood.
Micah waited anxiously by the car. When James got out and strode briskly over, Micah rushed to meet him, voice trembling. “Uncle James, please – hurry, she’s passed out again!”