The Flower You Didn't See | Mystery

Chapter 29

Laksh glared at him. "Can I have your word?" He asked.

She hesitated as she took in a deep breath and then said through gritted teeth, "Fine".

After meeting with Lakshmi, John returned to his hotel room. He had called Mary and Alex and let them know of what Lakshmi had told him. They decided to meet around four that evening to decide what to do further.

The daily rates of the hotel was burning a hole in his pocket, almost and adding that to Ruby's hospital bills, was something John was worried about. He was developing a headache as his sleep had been irregular for the past few nights. Since it was past noon, John decided to rest for a bit.

He lay down on the bed, still fully clothed and let his mind wander. His eyelids started getting heavy. And he tried to fight it with all his might.

I don't want to sleep. I don't want to sleep. Wake up. Wake up.

"WAKE UP!"

He yelled, holding her limp body in his hand. An empty syringe rolled away on the floor and a baby wailed at the back. Suddenly her body turned into a rose that burst into flames. Somehow he knew that the baby would also catch fire. Frantically, he started to search for the baby. But no matter how much he searched, he could only hear her cry, he couldn't find her. He screamed in agony as he kept searching for the baby whose cry echoed loudly in his ears, but was nowhere to be seen.

His eyes shot open as he woke up, drenched in sweat. His heart was beating really fast, terrifying him of the possibility that it might stop abruptly. He took in deep breaths. Sitting up on the bed, he waited for it to calm down, then walked to the bathroom sink. He placed his head under running water.

He sat on the edge of his bed, mind wandering to the events of the past few days. He wondered if he'd actually be able to find what had happened to Ruby.

What if Ruby had actually taken the drugs on her own?

But that's not how John had brought her up. He had tried his best to let Ruby grow up in the best conditions, with the best education and facilities. But all the distractions he tried to keep away from her, turned out to be what she wanted to do with her life. He could understand why she hid it from him, but he feared what more could she have hidden.

Letting Ruby take decisions for herself was scary to him because he didn't want her to end up like her mother, as an addict. Even when the cops had asked him to let it be, he wanted to find the truth because he couldn't believe that despite his efforts, Ruby might actually turn out to be like her mother.

But he had never let Ruby know how Rose was. How Rose had neglected her as a baby because she couldn't stay away from her syringes. Even the sight of a syringe now gave John shudders.

He couldn't let Ruby end up like Rose. He couldn't save Rose, but he had to save Ruby.

John's stomach growled and he remembered that he had forgotten to have his breakfast and lunch again. He looked at the time. It was ten past three. He still had time.

He decided to call Dr. Wong and ask about Ruby's condition. With everything that had been going on, he had waited for Dr. Wong to call if there were any news.

He waited as he pressed the phone to his ears. It rang a full course but the doctor didn't pick it up. John tried once again. This time he attended the call.

"Yes?" Dr. Wong spoke.

"Doctor it's John. Ruby's father."

"John? John! Yes! Just give me a second."