Chapter 1450 - 1390: The Little Daughter Has a Secret

In the middle of the night, Adrian Desmond had just fallen asleep when painful moans suddenly came through the monitor, prompting him to wake up instantly.

Curly?

Adrian thought he might have imagined it, but upon opening his eyes, he indeed heard sounds from the monitor.

"Mom..."

"Curly, what’s wrong?" Adrian asked through the intercom.

"Mom, my stomach hurts, it hurts so much... Mom..." Curly weakly whimpered, sounding like a poor little kitten.

"Mom, Mom..."

Adrian heard vomiting sounds again and immediately sat up. Sienna Johnson, exhausted, was still deeply asleep beside him.

Not wanting to wake her, Adrian quickly put on his robe and went to his daughter’s room.

He didn’t know what was wrong. She seemed fine earlier and had eaten a lot; he had even played with her for a while.

"Curly, hold on, I’m coming right over."

Entering his daughter’s room, he turned on the light and saw Curly vomiting by the bedside. Adrian was startled and rushed over, picking her up, "What’s wrong?"

"Dad, I’m nauseous, and my stomach still hurts..." Curly said in pain.

"Don’t be scared, let Mom have a look."

Adrian wrapped his daughter in a blanket, picked her up, and went back to their room.

Sienna Johnson is a doctor, so Adrian, seeing his daughter in such pain, decided not to rush to the hospital immediately. He planned to have Sienna look at her first, and if necessary, then go to the hospital.

"Dad, I..." Curly vomited again.

Sienna also heard the commotion, rushing over to find the bedside covered in Curly’s vomit.

"Curly, what’s wrong?"

"Mom, my stomach hurts, I’m nauseous and dizzy... I feel like I’m going to die." Curly weakly said.

"Don’t say that, it’s not that serious."

Curly started to cry, "Really, I feel so bad, I’m going to die from the pain. Mom, hold me."

Adrian urged, "Quickly, check her out. What’s going on? Should we take her to the hospital?"

Sienna placed her hand on Curly’s forehead to check her temperature; she wasn’t running a fever. "Put her on the bed; I’ll examine her."

Adrian laid Curly flat on the bed. Curly continuously clutched her stomach, crying out in pain, appearing as if she had eaten something bad.

Sienna pressed her lower abdomen, asking, "Does it hurt here?"

"Don’t press, don’t press, it all hurts, everything hurts." Curly cried out in pain.

"Stick out your tongue."

Curly obediently stuck out her tongue, which had a thick coating. Sienna examined it carefully and said, "It should be gastroenteritis. Let’s go to the hospital."

"Okay."

The two quickly changed clothes, not bothering to change Curly’s clothes, only wrapped her in a thick blanket. Adrian drove her to the Children’s Hospital.

...

At three a.m., in the emergency room of the Children’s Hospital,

The emergency doctor examined Curly and confirmed it was gastroenteritis. Likely, she had eaten too much crab roe buns at dinner and upset her stomach.

Curly took medicine, but her stomach still ached faintly. Sienna soothed her abdomen with massage. After a tumultuous night, by morning, she finally calmed down.

Sienna self-reproachfully said, "It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have let her eat so much tonight."

"Who would’ve thought eating too much could cause gastroenteritis," Adrian assumed it’d just cause fullness and perhaps some bloating.

"Children have weak stomachs and can easily upset them. We need to be more careful in the future."

"Hmm, understood."

The two hadn’t slept the entire night; Sienna was exhausted while Adrian was still relatively alert.

"You should go back; I’ll stay here with her." Adrian said tenderly, seeing how tired Sienna was.

"If she wakes up and doesn’t see me, she’ll start crying."

Kids are most attached to their mothers, especially when sick and vulnerable. Sienna couldn’t leave just yet. She wanted to be there when her daughter opened her eyes.

"Then lie down on the bed next to her."

"Alright."

Sienna laid down on the empty bed beside her, and Adrian placed his coat over her. Exhausted, she quickly fell asleep.

Adrian sat between the two, alternately looking at Sienna and Curly, without a hint of sleepiness.

...

At dawn, Pauline Briggs received the news and hurried over early in the morning.

Curly had just woken up, looking sick and not wanting to speak.

Pauline compassionately said, "Curly, it’s Grandma’s fault. I made you eat too much, and now you’re sick."

Curly weakly replied, "Grandma, I’m fine, let’s just say it’s for weight loss."

Adrian said, "Mom, she ate too much, that’s why her stomach got upset, not the food itself."

Curly upset her stomach because she was too hungry, ate too fast, and consumed too much, resulting in her stomach issues.

"Ugh, no more late dinners for her anymore." Pauline said, "Curly, are you feeling better now?"

"Much better, my stomach doesn’t hurt anymore, just feel weak all over."

"You’re sick, so obviously you’re weak. Rest, and you’ll be fine. I’ll call your teacher later to let you skip school today. You can go back once you’re well."

"No, I have to go to school."

Adrian frowned, "You’re in this condition, how can you go to school?"

"I’m okay now, my stomach doesn’t hurt anymore." Curly fibbed, "What time is it? I should be going to school, Dad, take me home please."

Adrian knew his daughter well; Curly was never too keen on studies. If she was eager to go to school, there must be something else going on.

"Tell me, why are you so keen on going to school?"

"I just want to go to school!"

Adrian’s expression suddenly turned stern, "Jayce, don’t treat your father like a fool!"

Seeing her usually kind father suddenly lose his temper, Curly shivered and hid closer to Pauline.

Pauline also said, "Curly, you’re sick. Only when you’re better can you go to school. If you’re worried about falling behind on your studies, let Dylan tutor you, alright?"

Curly’s eyes shifted, "Okay, I won’t go to school, but I want to call Dylan."

"Fine, as long as you obediently stay in the hospital, you can do whatever."

Curly took her phone and insisted on going to the bathroom to make her call.

With the bathroom door closing, Curly suddenly reopened it, "Don’t eavesdrop, okay?"

Pauline kindly said, "No one’s eavesdropping, go call Dylan."

"Dad, you can’t eavesdrop either."

Adrian gazed sharply at her. She was so young, having secrets already, leaving her father feeling deeply hurt.

"Got it."

Only then did Curly go into the bathroom, and Adrian heard the click of the lock, feeling even more dejected.