The elderly woman was breathing and speaking with immense difficulty, her fragile frame shivering beneath the heavy blanket. Fati approached her slowly, her medical instinct kicking in as she examined her critical condition. She turned to the waiter and asked in a worried tone,
- Is she alright?
The young man replied, helplessness etched across his face,
- Yes... but she has been suffering from severe difficulty in breathing for days now.
Fati interrupted him with the sharp professionalism that had suddenly reawakened within her,
- What exactly is she suffering from? And did you take her to a hospital? What were the results of her recent medical tests?
She spoke as she stepped closer, gently reaching out to grasp the old woman's wrist, placing her thumb precisely to measure her failing pulse. At that exact moment, the waiter's choked voice pierced her ears as he muttered with sheer bitterness,
- Do we... do we even have the money for hospitals and medical tests, miss?
The young man's words echoed deeply within Fati's soul, and right then... she knew for certain! She became absolutely convinced that everything that had unfolded on this dark night was no mere coincidence. It hadn't happened just because of the rain or because the young man saw her as weak and broken. Rather, a grand divine will and a compassionate providence had driven this stranger to run after her in the freezing cold, prompting her to feel a profound peace with him and follow him to his home. Destiny had guided her to be the lifeline for this humble family, just as the young man had been the lifeline for her shattered soul moments before.
She refocused on the old woman's pulse, confirming her medical suspicion: the pulse was incredibly weak, nearly fading away. She looked up at the young man and asked decisively,
- Can you carry her right now?
His eyes widened in shock and panic, and he shot back,
- What?! It's pouring rain outside! Taking her out in this weather, in her condition, would mean killing her
Fati did not waste a single second arguing. With a swift movement, she pulled her phone from the pocket of her steel-gray shirt and dialed the hospital, requesting an immediate ambulance. She provided the address accurately, her eyes never leaving the elderly woman. Then, she turned to the panicked young man and said in a calm tone overflowing with confidence and safety,
- Rest assured... she won't be exposed to the rain. You will only carry her to the end of the alley where the ambulance will take her.
Exactly half an hour later, they were all inside the ambulance, cutting through the heavy night and the torrential rain. In a confident, authoritative tone, Fati began dictating precise instructions to the paramedic, telling him exactly which injection to administer to the elderly woman immediately, and specifying the proper medical apparatus to set up to save her failing lungs.
Once the situation had relatively stabilized, she sat beside the stunned waiter. Placing her gentle hand over the old woman's frail, weathered hand, she turned to him and asked softly,
- When you asked me to leave the café earlier... was it because you were in a hurry to get back to her?
The young man lowered his head in sheer embarrassment, overwhelmed with modesty as he whispered,
- Yes... yes, that was the reason.
A warm, grateful smile played on Fati's lips as she murmured,
- Good... because the entire scenario was perfectly orchestrated by divine decree from the very beginning. I was meant to walk out, to be exposed to the driving rain, and you were meant to pass by, see me, and rescue me... all so that I would come here and help you save her
The young man's eyes widened in disbelief, and he protested defensively,
- What?! I... I never intended to leave you out there to be battered by the freezing rain
She responded in a tone brimming with faith and serenity, "I know you didn't... but there is a merciful Lord who did, and who arranged it all. Praise be to God."
Fati fell silent, losing herself in her thoughts as she contemplated the absolute precision in the sequence of events. A profound sense of wonder washed over her as she whispered to her soul,
"What kind of divine majesty is this? My Lord sends me these signs at the absolute peak of my desolation, simply to remind me that He is watching over me. To remind me of those dark times when He pulled me out; when my acceptance letter to study in Germany arrived during the height of my poverty and betrayal by everyone around me, and when my late grandfather awoke to declare to the entire world that I was his granddaughter... everything in my life, every painful or joyful detail, God had arranged perfectly to shape me into who I am today."
She turned back to the young man, who was still gazing at the sudden aura of tranquility surrounding her, and said with a confident smile,
- You know... I haven't thanked you yet. I am Dr. Fati Jack Pike. I work as a specialist at the very hospital we are heading to right now... and do not worry about the expenses at all; I will personally take care of the full cost of her treatment.
Only then, for the first time on this rainy night, did the young man's tense features soften, and the pallor left his face. Looking at Fati with eyes overflowing with pure gratitude, he said with a hint of hesitant modesty,
- I... my name is Peter, and this is my grandmother, Matilda.
He spoke as his eyes locked onto Fati's with a newfound sense of profound relief. Deep within his heart, he had been carrying a crushing terror of a hospital bill that was bound to break his back and leave them destitute. But Fati's extended hand of benevolence had banished that nightmare in an instant.
At that exact same moment, Jaguar sat beside his grandfather, who was asleep in his bed, monitoring his condition with heavy, brooding eyes. Nothing in the room had changed; even the medical monitors connected to the old man's body remained completely still, their readings unchanged. He assured himself with absolute certainty,
"It seems Fati hasn't come here yet..."
The entirety of his mind and thoughts were anchored directly to her; he consoled himself with the false assumption that she was fast asleep in the apartment. He had deliberately chosen to return late from the company to avoid facing her tonight especially after he had bitterly overheard her from behind the closed door, speaking to herself and declaring in a resolute tone that she would never forgive him.
The silence of the room was shattered by a slight movement; the old man awoke and slowly opened his eyes, directing a sharp gaze toward Jaguar as he demanded,
- Where is my granddaughter? Where is Fati?
A bitter lump lodged itself in Jaguar's throat. Ever since his grandfather had emerged from his coma, he had not ceased asking about her and her alone, as if erasing the existence of everyone else but her. Swallowing the lump, Jaguar uttered with a calm, forced composure, trying to reassure him,
- She will be here soon, Grandfather... rest now, please.
But the old man knitted his brows, looking at him with a fragile reproach as he murmured,
- But she told me she needed time to think... and she hasn't returned since. Her thinking has taken far too long, Jaguar
Jaguar's entire body went rigid, and a wave of pure shock paralyzed him like an electric current as he processed his grandfather's words. His eyes widened in utter bewilderment and panic. Leaning over the bed, he asked in a stammering tone, desperately trying to mask his trembling voice,
- What?! What do you mean she said she would think?! Did... did you tell her that you are her grandfather, and did she truly say those words to you?
Jaguar bolted to his feet, rushing out of the suite to escape his grandfather's probing, suffocating questions. He stood in the cold hospital corridor, his mind racing with unanswerable queries: Why hadn't she embraced his grandfather upon discovering she was the long-lost granddaughter?! Why had she coldly stated that she needed time to think?! What on earth was she thinking about?!
He could find no justification for her behavior. She had been desperate, tearing the world apart with her tears and search to reach her mother Rose's family, and now that the truth was handed to her on a silver platter, she rejected it and said she would "think"?!
Unable to bear the stillness, he headed toward the elevator with stormy steps, descending to the main lobby with the sole intention of going to her apartment to confront her and wrench the answers from her lips. But... the moment his feet crossed the outer threshold, his limbs locked, and his entire movement was paralyzed by a sight that struck his manhood and crushed his pride.
Fati was standing there... under the clearing rain, accompanied by a strange young man. She wasn't terrified or broken; instead, she was gently patting his shoulder with a calm, peculiar look that overflowed with a tenderness and affection Jaguar had never once received from her. The young man, in turn, smiled at her deeply before she turned and entered the hospital through the emergency doors.
But far worse than those exchanged glances, and infinitely more fatal to Jaguar's heart, was what she was wearing! A loose, gray cotton T-shirt clearly a man's shirt that did not belong to her! Flames of pure rage ignited in his chest as his mind spun into madness:
"Has she been with this man all this time?! Is this why her thinking took so long?!"
The strange young man lingered for a moment before the hospital gates, his eyes gleaming with a strange brilliance, as though he had finally unearthed his lost purpose in this life through her. Then, he turned and headed inside with hurried steps, as if he couldn't bear for his beloved and sanctuary to step out of his sight for even a single second.