SHIMMER'S POV
I was taking rest, sleeping on a couch. I had adamantly refused to sleep on a bed or to go to the hotel. The best place to be at, at that moment, was inside the hospital. Why? Because I knew that once they managed to find my son, dead or alive, they were going to bring him to the hospital. I needed to be ready to receive the news.
Sitting next to me was Iris, wiping off the beads of sweat that kept forming on my forehead. Judging from the way she looked at me, she must have been feeling very sorry for me. I did not worry much about how I looked or what she thought about me. In my heart, I was saying a silent prayer. It was a prayer for Dylan to be found. He had to be found alive. There was a possibility of finding him dead, a possibility that none of us wanted to talk about.
The door was violently pushed open and it made a loud noise which startled both me and Iris.
"What is it!" I asked in a fearful voice, sitting up.
"We found him! We found him, Mrs de Milo!!" Pete screamed at the top of his lungs, before he snatched my hand and pulled me out of the room.
Although I was barefooted, I jumped up and without saying a word, I ran down the hallway following Pete. Iris was also running with us. We got into the elevator headed towards the VIP floor.
"He's alive, isn't he? He's alive, huh Pete? He's alive?" I cried.
Concentrating on running, Pete did not say a word to me. Just then the elevator door opened and Roderick was standing right at the entrance, as if he was waiting for us. Instinctively I threw myself into his arms, and I cried even harder and louder.
"Where is he? He's alive? Our son is alive? Tell me. Roderick? Pete? He's alive, isn't he?"
Roderick gently rubbed my back and smiled, "Indeed, our son is alive."
Failing to control my relief and joy, I burst into loud sobs and even wailed out loud.
"Take me to my son!!" I screamed in great joy.
We soon arrived in the ward in which Dylan was. Lying motionlessly on a bed, with a number of medical personnel attending to him, my son looked pale, thin and dehydrated. His hair, face and clothes were dirty.
I moved closer and kissed my only son on the forehead, as the tears rolled freely.
"My son, my son I almost lost you!" I cried.
Iris moved closer and held Dylan's hand, "you're alive, sir Dylan!", the elderly woman whispered as her eyes instantly became tearful.
I could not stop talking to Dylan. Whether he was hearing me or not was something else, I just had to keep talking; "I am happy that you are alive! How would I have lived if you had left me, oh Dylan, please don't ever do that to me again! Dylan! Never do that to me again! Do you know that I almost died? I was ready to die! I was ready to die when I thought you had left me, Dylan! Do you know how painful it was to watch the news daily, seeing them talking about you daily, and knowing that I might never see you again!! Dylan ohhhh my son, my dear son!"
"Shh, Shimmer. It's all ok now. He's fine. Our son is fine!", Roderick comforted me before adding, "we're now planning to fly them over to the capital city."
I opened my eyes widely and asked, "Now? Just now? Are we flying to Southrain now?"
"Once they're done checking the patients, we can go", Roderick gave a nod to the staff who were in the ward.
"The patients? How many are they?" I could not help but ask, seeing that Roderick kept referring to the patients as "they". It was Dylan and who else?
"There were three of them held hostage by that lunatic…." Pete explained.
"Four actually, including the baby," Carl said, and for the first time I noticed his presence in the room.
I looked at him with a smile and he smiled back. "Ma'am de Milo, congratulations, sir Dylan has been found alive."
"Oh Carl, I thank you all for your efforts," I smiled at him.
"Yes there were four people kidnapped by that man. I had forgotten the poor child." Roderick corrected himself.
"Who was that person; the kidnapper? Why did he want all four of them?" I failed to imagine how and why on earth someone would kidnap four people!! A child included? Why?
"His name is Israel. We still don't know much about him and his motives." Pete sighed.
"Who were the four people? I mean, who are the other three?" I could not hide my curiosity.
"There was an old man, a young lady, the baby and sir Dylan." Carl responded to my questions
"An old man? Who was he?" I continued asking questions.
"The pastor. Pastor Noel Everdeen!" Pete sighed.
"Oh, such an old man! Why would anyone kidnap him? How is he?" I asked as I remembered seeing the old man's pictures all over the news. Who on earth would want to kidnap him, and why?
Pete sighed again before saying, "he's hanging in there."
There was silence for a moment, and I could not help but shake my head sadly.
"Who else was kidnapped?" I was looking at Roderick.
"There was a young lady and the child. The boy is the son of Lucas la..."
"Lucas la Martina of Double L Waste Management?" I asked, trying hard in my mind to connect these people.
My son, the pastor, Lucas' son, and a young lady?
Oh no!! It could not be!! Could it be…the young lady….was it…could it be….was it….
"Was the young lady the child's babysitter, Anisha Meyerton?" my voice, no matter how hard I tried to steady it, shook as I spoke.
I wanted them to shake their hands and say no. It could not be Anisha. How?
"Yes it is," Pete said.
At once I became grimly angry. A sheet of rage covered me, and I wanted to burst. Too many questions came to my mind, but there was no one to answer them, for the questions that I had could have been answered by either my son or that girl Anisha.
"Were they in the same room?" I could not help but ask.
"They were in the same room, all of them except for the baby", Roderick answered casually, since he had not managed to pick that my demeanor had suddenly changed.
"In the same room, you say?" Sorry but I needed confirmation.
"In the same room. All three of them." Pete stated firmly.
Everyone remained silent. Roderick hugged and pulled me closer to him.
I looked at Iris, only to see that she too was looking at me, examining my face. The woman knew me too well. She slowly lowered her head.
"OK ladies. Go wait for me at the hotel. Iris, make sure everything is packed, we'll be leaving soon. Pete, come closer, let's take a look at your friend here." Roderick kissed me on the cheek, and we left the room.
A limousine was waiting for us downstairs, to take us to our hotel suite to pack. I did not say anything on the way to the hotel. Upon arrival, I quickly asked the bodyguards to excuse us, closed the door behind Iris and I, and I let it out. I fumed in anger.
"She is back in his life, Iris! That woman is back in my son's life!" I swept my hand over the small table which held a lamp, a TV remote control and some notepads. The items went flying on to the floor.
"Calm down, ma'am", Iris tried to hold me but I dodged her hand and marched towards the bedroom. Throwing myself on the bed, I picked a pillow and cried into it. I totally failed to control myself.
Why did she have to be there to make me sad? It was a great day; a day that I finally found my missing son, and Anisha just had to appear? Oh no!
"I hate her! I hate her so much!" I cried to myself, for indeed, I hated her.
Iris, seemingly lost and not knowing what to say or do, moved closer to the bed and she sat on the edge.
"Probably sir Dylan is over his crush now. Don't think much about it, ma'am de Milo!", she tried to comfort me.
"Over his crush? Are you even hearing yourself right now? That boy is literally obsessed with that orphan child! Oh how I hate that Anisha! I never knew such a useless thing would one day creep back into our lives and cause me such a headache!"
Iris did not respond. Sitting up straight, I faced her and fired my many questions at her;
"How did they end up getting kidnapped by the same person, anyway? Do you think they have been secretly meeting before this? I thought that silly orphan was out of our lives now! How did they end up together! And she's a kidnapper, for crying out loud! She kidnapped that la Martina baby!"
"She was cleared, ma'am. She was also a victim. She did not kidnap…."
"Who cares? She already has a terrible record! The whole country knows her as the babysitter who kidnapped a child! She is a nobody who rose to fame for all the wrong reasons. A stupid babysitter on the run for kidnapping a child; and only heaven knows how my son ended up involved in her mess! It's all her fault! Who cares about her being innocent? I want her out of our lives, do you hear me, Iris? I want her out of Dylan's life! Do you hear me Iris? Answer me! Do you hear me?"
"I hear you, ma'am", Iris nodded in fear.
Subconsciously, my fists clenched in great fury, and I raised my eyes to look at Iris. Our gazes locked, and without asking anything, I knew that she knew. Yes she knew how bitter I was. She knew the amount of my hatred. She knew that I was not going to lie back and watch my only son falling into the trap of the woman.
Just to think that for one solid month the two of them were locked in a room together…my own son, locked in a room with the person that I hated the most! I shook my head as a cold chill ran through my body, and I promised myself to do something about it.