Her other plans
The nurse came out and asked that only one person should go in to watch the patient. Cynthia was about to argue when both Nora and her father turned back to go to the ward where they stayed in before now. Their movements showed that they were not ready to drag the position of who would stay with her. She shrugged and walked in. The nurse advised Cynthia to not just stay there and watch her, but also talk to her at regular intervals to increase the speed of her recovery.
Ivy saw that there were so many gadgets in the room monitoring them and she still failed to decipher who it was.
She picked her phone.
"I will be right back" she said and went out.
"Where are you going to?" Nora asked.
"I'm coming" Ivy said and rushed downstairs.
Nora looked through the window and found out that Ivy was already downstairs.
The people from the base were now specifically watching Ivy.
She ran to meet the doctor that operated on Nora's mother who was about to go back home. She, at the same time sent a messages to someone. Her second action was inconspicuous.
The two interacted for a while and the doctor finally left.
When Ivy came back, she told Nora that she just went to greet a friend who seemed rather busy.
"You mean the doctor?" Nora asked.
"Yea, he was my classmate back then in high school."
Nora was surprised and did not hide it.
"Wow, he is actually someone I have been looking up to..
..like my role model in the profession." Nora said surprised that Ivy shared a close relationship with someone whom she took as a semi-god.
"He is just a normal human being like everybody else, there's nothing special about him." Ivy said.
"I know, I was just little surprised to find out that you knew him that much like.. as high school mates." Nora replied.
"Are you not hungry, come let's go out and buy food" Ivy changed the topic. Nora's stomach grumbled at the mention of food and she followed.
As they walked, Ivy decided to let Nora know that they were being monitored.
Just like the flash of a lightening, Nora suddenly remembered something and wanted to say something.
Coincidentally, Ivy whispered something to Nora.
Her words got struck in her throat.
She just followed like a Robot being controlled as many thoughts ran through her head.
'How did I suddenly forget about Annabel'
'I left her alone at home for two days now, how is she faring? This is the third time, I am forgetting about things that concern her, what would she think of me?'
'And about the people following us, who are they?'
'Ivy will not tell me that there were people following us if they were after her' are they following us because of Annabel?'
Inside the car, Ivy ignored her puzzled look and asked which restaurant they would be buying food from.
Nora randomly picked a restaurant. Ivy did not talk about the people following them even though they were in the protection of her car which meant that the car was also not a safe place to talk.
As they drove, Ivy noticed a car tailing them.
She did not attempt to throw the car off and continued moving as if she did not notice them.
Suddenly, their car broke down.
She put on the emergency lights and pulled off the road. They both came out and set up the triangle with reflector and then opened the engine to see what was wrong with it.
The car tailing them passed them and stopped at a mall along the street.
The person in the car went into the mall.
When Ivy saw that she could not fix the car, she borrowed Nora's phone and called the mechanic.
This, she did because she knew that they hacked Nora's phone and would be listening to their conversation. She actually had other plans.
They stood there while waiting for the mechanic to arrive.
An expensive sport car with tinted glass slowed down and stopped beside them and the glass was wound down.
"Looks like your car broke down?" The person in the car asked.
"Yea" they both replied in unison
"Mind if I give you a ride?" The handsome looking man said with a smile exposing his dimples.
Nora looked at Ivy and Ivy at Nora.
"We are waiting for the mechanic, thanks for your concern." Nora rejected with a smile even though she admired the car when it was in a distance and imagined herself sittting inside it.
"You can call roadside assistance to tow the car and worry about it later. I don't mind driving you around the city today." He persuaded.
"Okay" Ivy said and pulled Nora over.
Ivy sat on the co- pilot sit of the car while Nora stayed at the back.
When they finally got seated, Ivy opened up.
"You wanted to tell me something, what is it?"
Nora looked at the person driving and Ivy understood what she was scared of.
"He is no outsider, say what you wanted to say. This is the only chance we have to communicate. My car was equipped with audio devices with which whoever was monitoring would use to hear whatever we were saying."
Nora finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"I wanted to say that I found a missing child at the beach four days ago and I brought her to live with me. I only gave her instructions for yesterday and told her that I might come back late at night. I don't know how I completely forgot about her after I woke up this morning."
Ivy immediately remembered the child Nora talked about the day before yesterday. She didn't think about it then.
"You had only your mum in mind after waking up so its explainable. But wait, you mean you found a missing child and you did not take her to the police station, but instead brought her to live with you,
I don't know you as someone that would take such big risk knowing fully well that you can be charged to court for kidnapping if the child was found with you." Ivy scolded.
"The child said she was kidnapped and escaped, she insisted on not going to the police station claiming that they would hand her over to the people that kidnapped her" Nora said.
"That must be a child running from home, how old is she? Her parents must be the ones coming after you." Ivy said worried.
"She is seven and half and I don't think she ran away from home. She said her mother went missing before she got kidnapped. She also said she had once been kidnapped before now when she was five and she was kept in a midst of children her age and while interacting with the other children realised that one of them escaped into a police station when they carried her but was returned to the kidnappers with those policemen being fully aware that they were kidnappers." Nora explained why she believed the girl.
"How then did she escape in this your fairy tale."
"According to her, she did not escape, but was given an injection after which she was threatened not to tell her mom about the injection or abduction and was taken back home when she was unconscious. She told her mum later on and her mother took them away from that vicinity." Nora explained.
"How old did you say this child of yours is?" Ivy asked again to confirm.
"She's seven and half and looks just seven and half." Nora answered.
Ivy thought about the story just now and concluded that this is not a story a seven year old child would compose in other to run away from home. This fact alone proved the authenticity of the story.
"I am not saying that what you did was wrong, I will only tell you that when you hear stories like that, you should not keep the child. If this story is true, then it is not something you should get involved in if you want to stay alive." Ivy advised.