Chapter 10
“A miscarriage?” Jonah repeated dumbly, feeling his blood turn to ice when he heard those two words.
The female student continued on with her righteous tirade, stating solemnly, “It seems that she got herself involved with an irresponsible scumbag. Not only did that guy neglect Pearl when she was pregnant, but he also didn’t bother visiting her even once after her accident.”
Each word coming out of her mouth felt like a slap to Jonah’s face.
A scene appeared in his mind’s eye. He recalled how he had bumped into Pearl at the hospital and how she had seemed so frail then. What had he been doing then? He had been busy accompanying Cecelia to her prenatal checkup.
To make matters worse, he didn’t even spare Pearl a glance when she collapsed to the ground and miscarried in the middle of the road. No, he had been too focused on stopping Cecelia from attempting suicide.
Pearl had been pregnant. She had then lost the baby. She had gone through all those things… and he hadn’t known a single one of them.
Jonah felt his heart twist in agony. He wished he could just go back in time and give himself a harsh slap across the face.
“Do you know which hospital Pearl is staying at, miss? I–I want to visit her.”
He held onto the last bit of hope he had left, thinking that he would use this opportunity to take good care of Pearl. He swore he would never abandon her for Cecelia ever again as long as she would take him back and forgive him.
Sadly, his hopes were dashed when the girl only shot him a pitying glance. “I’m afraid you’re too late. Pearl was discharged a while Nyora for aid work. In fact, she should be there by now.”
“What did you just say?” he blurted in shock.
The last thread holding his sanity together snapped upon hearing that.
ago.
She’s gone off to
Jonah went nuts as he pulled every string–every connection he could find–and used it just to get in touch with the coordinator of Northriver University’s Nyora aid project. When he did, he disregarded his assistant’s protests and showed up at the coordinator’s doorstep that very night. “I want to donate money to your charity project. I’ll donate 300,000 dollars to your medical team–no, make that a million dollars!” Jonah began desperately.
His eyes were bloodshot as he continued, “All I ask is for you to take me to where your medical team is located.”
He had never realized how much Pearl meant to him until now. Frankly, he couldn’t even bring himself to imagine just what his life would be like if he never saw her again.
Jonah’s wealth managed to work miracles. Once he had wired the deposit, the program coordinator wasted no time arranging a guide and a flight just for him.
The guide informed him that Pearl was stationed in Geona, which happened to be a small town in Nyora. Therefore, it would not only take them a 20- hour flight to get there, but they would also have to take the remaining trip on a local bus.
The journey to Geona took nearly a full day and night. Jonah barely slept a wink through the entire ordeal. He only had one thought in his mind, and that was to see Pearl, apologize to her, and bring her home.
Jonah didn’t even put his bag down when he arrived at the medical team’s base. Instead, he started asking urgently, “Where’s Pearl? Where is she?”
The person who had come to receive him was an elderly doctor. The doctor blinked at him dumbly before replying slowly, “I’m afraid we received the notice of your arrival a little too late. By the time we were informed, Pearl had already left for the clinic in a nearby tribal village.”
He had barely finished his sentence when a young man burst into the room, panting heavily.
“Dr. Herbert! Bad news! The bridge has collapsed. Our vehicle has been buried in the debris, and several of our doctors are currently accounted for!” he yelled urgently.
“What did you just say?” Jonah grabbed the man’s shoulders, demanding, “Was Pearl in that vehicle?”
”
Jonah’s hysterical reaction scared the poor man. Still, he was quick to respond, saying with certainty, “Are you talking about Dr. Hamilton? Yes, she was.
Jonal staggered upon hearing that awful confirmation, nearly losing balance in his despair.
He then asked for the location of the freak accident as he tried to keep his tremulous tone in check. When he received an answer, he immediately dashed out the door without a second thought.
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