Chapter 42 Busy, Not Available
"Fiona! Dinner's ready!" Burl's voice echoed from behind.
Fiona tore her eyes away from Sally's phone. "On my way!"
Burl was already 19 now.
He was nothing like the scrawny, short kid Fiona met four years ago.
"Fiona, I'm almost 6'1" now. Pretty cool, huh?" Burl boasted as soon as Fiona sat down.
"Big deal. Mr. Allmond's the real MVP." Fiona glanced at the kind-hearted Dwayne.
Dwayne had been seriously ill a few years back.
He still hadn't fully bounced back.
He was still pretty thin and didn't look too healthy.
But maybe because Burl had grown up a bit, Dwayne was in good spirits, always cheerful and carefree. "Fiona, this big drumstick's for you. You've lost a ton of weight since I last saw you."
"Exactly, I've been telling her, but she won't admit it," Sally chimed in.
"Now that you're here, eat up and put some meat on those bones!" Dwayne plopped the drumstick into Fiona's bowl.
His cooking was bomb, just like Fiona's grandpa's.
Fiona chowed down like there was no tomorrow.
Seeing her eat so heartily made Dwayne's eyes crinkle with joy.
After dinner, Sally had to bounce.
She called a car and headed to the airport.
The old town was super quiet after dark.
But it was kinda chilly.
Dwayne hit the sack early, and Fiona and Burl sat around a small stove, roasting nuts.
"Fiona, it's good you're not working at Atlas Group anymore. I always thought your boss was sketchy." Burl peeled a fat nut and placed it on the plate in front of Fiona.
Fiona cleared her throat.
Burl had only seen Darwin with her once.
And he had made up his mind.
In his words, it was a guy's intuition.
"He's getting engaged." Fiona shook her head. "His fiancée's drop-dead gorgeous."
"I saw her, she's not as pretty as you." Burl peeled a tiny, shriveled nut and popped it into his mouth.
Fiona laughed.
Burl never said stuff he didn't mean.
Fiona knew he was being real.
"Fiona, stick around a bit longer. No rush to find a job. I wrote some code recently and made bank, enough to support you!" Burl continued, "Plus, with the cash you've given me over the years, if you don't like this small house, we can go house hunting tomorrow and snag a bigger one!"
Fiona slowly finished a nut.
She did need a place to settle down and have her baby.
But Burl's place wasn't the best choice.
He had school, and Dwayne's health wasn't great.
"No, I want to go back to Serene City, be closer to family." Fiona shook her head.
Burl looked bummed.
Fiona didn't try to cheer him up.
After a bit, Burl switched topics.
He kept chatting until Fiona was yawning.
Then he let her go to bed, while he dove back into his room to keep coding.
He typed a few lines, then grabbed a notebook.
He picked up a pen and wrote: [Make a million bucks and buy a big house for Fiona in Serene City!]
Satisfied, he stuck it to the wall opposite, where he could see it every time he looked up.
Fiona only had a thin blanket, and she didn't sleep well.
She had a weird dream about Darwin giving flowers to Hathaway.
She dreamed of Hathaway taking the flowers.
They smiled and hugged all lovey-dovey.
Then, the bright flowers twisted and sprouted vines, creeping menacingly towards Fiona.
The vines wrapped around her, sprouting thorns that dug into her skin.
She was in agony, calling out for Darwin to save her.
In her vision, Darwin showed up.
She called out desperately.
He finally turned around, his handsome face cold and indifferent.
"Help me," Fiona pleaded.
But he turned away again, his back growing more distant.
Fiona's whole body ached like hell.
She wanted to chase after him.
But then, there was a loud crash.
She looked in shock.
She saw Mack, looking like a demon, holding a blood-covered, crying baby, smashing it against a car window.
Fiona was terrified.
She looked back towards Darwin.
But all she saw was a sealed car and flames rushing towards her.
Fiona woke up in extreme pain.
She stared at the unfamiliar ceiling, the emotions from the dream still lingering, her tears flowing uncontrollably.
Fiona thought, 'Why haven't you woken up? Why do you still hold hope for Darwin in your dreams? Why do you still expect him to save you?'
"Fiona?" Burl's voice came from outside.
Fiona composed herself and wiped away her tears. "What's up?"
"Are you crying?" Burl asked softly.
"No, just a nightmare. Go back to sleep, you gotta take me to breakfast early tomorrow."
"Okay." Burl scratched his messy hair.
He had clearly heard Fiona crying.
It sounded like she was calling someone's name.
Her voice was soft. He couldn't hear clearly.
Before leaving, Burl said, "Fiona, if something's wrong, you gotta tell me!"
If he didn't respect Fiona's privacy, he would've hacked into her phone by now.
He had grown up, and now he had to consider everything.
"Got it!" Fiona dragged out her words.
Burl mumbled as he went back to his room.
Fiona took a few deep breaths.
The emotions from the nightmare finally eased a bit.
Maybe it was because of the pregnancy, her emotions had been all over the place lately.
She thought when she got back to Serene City, she needed to see a therapist.
She couldn't afford to have prenatal depression.
Meanwhile, in Serene City.
"Mr. Solomon, this is Aishah Woods' case file."
Darwin took it with a cold face.
Aishah died in the early hours of April 24th.
The cause of death was multiple organ failure.
In the bottom right corner was Fiona's signature.
Her handwriting was beautiful.
She had once told him that her grandfather had taught her to write since she was a kid.
But the signature here was crooked.
Was she trembling at the time? Or crying?
Darwin remembered when he first ran into Fiona, she was sitting in the hospital corridor, crying pitifully and helplessly.
Back then, her grandmother was just sick.
When her grandmother passed away, she must have cried even harder.
Darwin felt his heart ache like it was about to break.
"The 24th," he murmured, immediately taking out his phone and scrolling through his chat history with Fiona.
At 1:15 AM on the 24th, Fiona had sent him a message: [Are you busy? Can I call you?]
He replied: [Busy, not available.]
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