Chapter 199: Chapter 200: A Bad Feeling
A game is a game; when you gamble, you accept the loss.
Since that’s the case, Thea Lynch didn’t hide anything and spoke frankly.
"Damn," Silas Cheney’s expression shifted from astonishment to delight. He leaned in curiously, asking, "Third Brother?"
Seventeen-year-old Thea Lynch, her only companion was Ian Preston.
Thea glanced at him, "Why are you so gossipy?"
"If it were someone else, I wouldn’t ask. But you, that’s different."
Thea ignored him, turned her head and placed the juice back on the table, "Let’s continue."
She had answered everything that needed to be answered.
Foreman Chandler lightly coughed, taking charge of the situation, "Come on, let’s continue."
Silas was about to spin the pointer, but before he could, Thea held him back, "Get out of the way."
"Alright, alright, whoever finished answering gets to spin. Your turn." Silas laughed and let her take over.
Without Silas’s interference, no one else managed to spin it to land on Thea again.
Once it finished, everyone got up to head upstairs.
Silas caught up to Thea in a few steps, "Did Third Brother say when he’s coming back?"
"Possibly before the Little New Year."
"Then we’ll finally be able to celebrate together properly this year. I got people to hang up all the colorful lights today. It’ll look beautiful when we turn them on for the Spring Festival."
"The swing in your yard, I’ve fixed it up for you."
"Mm." Thea nodded, and perhaps influenced by Silas’s words, she began to look forward to the arrival of the Spring Festival.
Previously, abroad, she hadn’t felt this strongly about it.
It was her first Spring Festival at home since returning to the country.
Originally, she thought it would be lively this year, but two days before the Little New Year, Grandpa Lynch suddenly fell ill and was rushed to the hospital overnight.
That day, Silas was staying at the estate, and he was the first of the juniors to know about it.
It was still late at night; the adults hadn’t thought to notify Thea yet.
Silas hesitated for a few seconds but still decided to call her.
During New Year’s Day last time, Thea visited Westmere; Grandma said her health was too weak and prescribed a ton of medicine, along with various supplements.
Perhaps because these medicines were working, she had been sleeping well recently, so she missed Silas’s earlier calls entirely.
Just as Silas reached her building, Thea, half-asleep, answered the phone.
"Fourth Brother?"
Why call her so late?
Suddenly, Thea had a bad premonition.
Silas knew she had trouble sleeping, and it was three in the morning, so ordinarily, he wouldn’t call her except if there was an emergency...
"Did something happen?"
"I’m almost downstairs now. Get dressed and come down, we’ll talk while walking."
Silas didn’t explain over the phone, afraid her emotions would collapse.
"...Okay, I’ll be ready soon."
Though unsure of what had happened, Thea followed instructions.
She hurriedly changed clothes, grabbed her phone, and headed out. It was then she realized she had forgotten to put on her jacket.
Silas arrived just in time and told her to get in the car.
"Why aren’t you wearing a down jacket?" Silas adjusted the car’s temperature higher.
Thea fumbled with the seatbelt, managing after several attempts, "What happened?"
"The old man got up in the night and fell."
"..."
Thea’s mind went blank, and she sat still for a full minute, staring at Silas with a dazed expression.
Silas kept driving, watching her from the corner of his eye, trying to reassure her, "He’s been taken to the hospital. We don’t know the situation yet, so don’t panic."
The situation erupted suddenly; he had been sleeping soundly and was woken by the commotion.
Only then did he learn there was something going on with the Lynch Family.
Oldest Uncle and others had gone to the hospital; everyone’s attention was on Grandpa.
No one had thought to reach out to Thea.
Especially since no results were available yet...
Although he knew it wasn’t the best idea, given Aaron’s past condition, he secretly decided to find Thea.
"Uncle and everyone are at the hospital now. I came to find you as soon as I received the news."
"Don’t be afraid."
Silas comforted Thea’s emotions while driving.
Thea showed no response; even crying would be better. But she didn’t. She was silent throughout, tightly clutching the seatbelt, sitting straight.
That’s precisely why Silas was worried.
——
Outside the emergency room, Uncle was momentarily stunned when he saw Thea run in.
Turning his head to spot Silas following behind, he understood everything.
"How’s Grandpa?"
"He hit his head; we still don’t know the specifics yet."
Aunt held Thea’s icy hand, "Thea, it’ll be okay. The doctors have gone in; it’ll be fine."
Thea’s hands were freezing, and she looked up at the tightly shut emergency room door, her breathing weakened.
Silas took off his down jacket and put it on her, "Sit and wait."
Thea shook her head.
Grandpa was old, his health had always been poor, and this time he hit his head... Thea dared not think further.
Her legs felt weak, and she slowly slid down, crouching in front of the door.
Around seven in the morning, the emergency room door finally opened. The doctor said he was temporarily out of danger and needed to be transferred to the ICU for observation.
Thea breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank you."
When she stood up, she was physically drained, and Silas helped her get up.
Seeing Grandpa lying in the ward with his eyes closed, Thea couldn’t hold back and felt her eyes sting. Aunt who initially came to comfort her, couldn’t get the words out and started sobbing first.
Aunt tightly embraced Thea, crying even harder than Thea.
Part of it was because Grandpa was safe, and another part was because she genuinely felt for Thea.
Silas went to communicate with the hospital, leaving Uncle there to calm the two women.
"Alright, alright, it’s okay now. Why are you two still crying?"
"Come on, stop crying."
"The more you talk, the more emotional you get."
Uncle was usually rough and lacked tenderness, without even a tissue, so he simply pulled his sleeve over to wipe their tears.
Others in the estate, having received the news during the day, came over.
Everyone gazed from a distance at the Lynch family’s Grandpa, their emotions growing increasingly complex.
Thea hadn’t eaten breakfast, nor touched lunch, only had some water.
Second Brother thought this wouldn’t do, and tried to take her out to eat.
"I don’t want to go." Thea didn’t move.
Silas gestured to her, "Go ahead, go ahead, both Sean and I are here; aren’t you reassured?"
Thea remained silent.
Seeing this, Sean got up, "I’ll take her to eat; let Second Brother stay here."
Comparatively, Second Brother seemed more trustworthy.
"Hurry, let’s go." Sean wasn’t as patient or gentle as Julian Zimmerman.
Seeing Thea unmoving, he went up and directly tugged her to stand.
His movements were a bit rough, making Julian frown.
Just as Julian was about to intervene, Silas held him back, "Hey, don’t worry; Sean knows what he’s doing now."
Grandpa woke up the next afternoon.
When Thea went in, the old man seemed to recognize her, his fingers twitching slightly.
Seeing this, Thea cried again.
