Chapter 472: Chapter 473: Not Your Godson

When Rachel returned to Joey’s ward, he had just woken up. His tiny body looked so frail against the headboard. When he turned and saw Rachel, his pale lips arched in a soft smile.

“Mommy.” Rachel could tell that he was still sad about what had happened in Victor’s ward.

“Are you hungry? Mr. Jimenez brought you some millet porridge. I’ll serve it for you, okay?” Rachel walked over and gently patted the hair on Joey’s forehead.

Joey nodded obediently as his eyes followed Rachel to the side.

“Mommy, where is Mr. Jimenez? Has he already left?” “Yes. He has something to deal with in the company and will probably be very busy from now on. He won’t be able to come here for the next few days.” Rachel paused and withdrew her hand. She bit her lip subconsciously when she noted the disappointment in Joey’s eyes.

“But he said he will come to pick you up when you leave the hospital.”

“Okay.”

Rachel adjusted the height of the bed to a comfortable angle for Joey. After making him lean properly against the pillow, she turned around and left to get the millet porridge.

After a while, she came back with a bowl in hand.

Joey held the spoon with his uninjured hand and drunk the porridge carefully, as he didn’t want to spill any.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Rachel thought for a while. How could she make her son understand the situation?

“Joey, Victor…”

“Mommy, is there any more left?” The porridge in Joey’s mouth muffled his words. When Rachel mentioned Victor, he interrupted her.

“This porridge is sweet. I want to have one more bowl, okay?”

It was the first time that Joey had eaten so much in one go.

Rachel smiled, looking at the unfinished bowl in Joey’s hand.

“Don’t worry. I’ll get you another one after you are done. But the doctor said that you need to take good care of your stomach. Although millet porridge is good for you, it won’t be so good if you eat too much at once.”

“Okay, I know.” Rachel ruffled Joey’s hair with a doting smile. Joey finished the rest of the millet porridge and held the empty bowl. After wiping Joey’s mouth, Rachel was about to take the bowl over and fill it again for him, but he moved it to the side as she reached out.

“Mommy, I think Mr. Jimenez is a good man.” Rachel’s hand froze mid-way. She blinked twice before her eyes met Joey’s.

“Joey, you like him?”

“Mr. Jimenez is very nice to me and you. Why wouldn’t I like him? I like everyone who is good to you.”

Joey’s eyes blinked, She pursed her lips, seeing where the conversation was heading.

“What about you?” Joey searched Rachel’s eyes.

“What?”

“Do you like Mr. Jimenez?”

Although his voice was always childishly soft, his tone was serious. Rachel’s eyes never left his as she fell into silence. She didn’t know how to answer his question even though she had caught on to what he was trying to imply. In her eyes, Roger had always been nothing more than her friend, and being with him had never even crossed her mind. But when she saw the eager look in Joey’s eyes, Rachel couldn’t get the words out of her throat.

“Joey, that’s a thing between us adults. But as a friend, I like Roger very much.” After saying that, Rachel stood up and reached out to take the bowl from Joey.

“Then do you want to marry him?” It seemed that Joey needed the answer to that question so much so that he had chosen to be blunt.

Rachel frowned as she looked down at him.

“What’s wrong, Joey?”

“Mommy, I…” with his eyelashes drooping, Joey pursed his lips as he avoided Rachel’s gaze.

“I just think Mr. Jimenez is a good man. It wouldn’t be too bad if he could be my stepfather.”

“Joey?”

With his head down. Joey scratched his fingernails and pouted.

“Victor doesn’t want me, anyway. But it doesn’t matter. I also don’t want him anymore.” Victor’s words ”Who are you?” rang in Joey’s mind, shattering his expectations along with his heart. He still couldn’t forget, no matter how hard he tried. Rachel put away the small table and sat down on the bed before picking up Joey. She held him gently in her arms.

“Joey, do you want to know the reason?”

“No, I don’t.” Joey buried his head in Rachel’s chest.

“I don’t want to hear it. Mommy, please don’t say it.”

“Okay, tell me when you are ready to hear everything.” Rachel knew that no matter what she said at that moment, Joey wouldn’t really listen to it. He might even think that it was a lie she specially made up to comfort him. It was better to let him calm down for now.

“As for the question about you wanting Mr. Jimenez to be your stepfather…” Rachel touched the back of Joey’s head before adding, “I will think about it.”

“Mommy, will you consider accepting Mr. Jimenez?” Joey raised his head and looked into his mother’s eyes.

After a moment of silence, she smiled a little.

“Maybe.”

Time passed quickly. Before they knew it, it was already winter. After staying in the hospital for a month and a half, Joey was finally getting discharged.

The cast on his arm would be removed later, but his other injuries had almost healed. That day, Joey woke up very early. He couldn’t wait to leave the ward. Seeing that Joey had been clamoring about changing back into his own clothes, Rachel smiled helplessly, but still let him do it on his own.

“The discharge formalities are almost done. We can go home after the doctor checks your arm.” With a pile of reports in his hand, Andy came in.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Joey swung his legs and said, “Finally, I can go out. I’m so bored here.”

Rachel flicked Joey on the forehead and pinched his cheek lightly. “Even if you are being discharged from the hospital, you still have to rest at home for some time. You can’t always be thinking about going out.”

“That’s way better than being in this hospital.”

Andy took out a gift box from his briefcase and handed it to Joey. “This is a gift for getting discharged.

Last week, I went to the Philipsburg for a business trip. I heard that there are wind bells specially used for praying there. They were very beautiful, so I went to ask for one.”

Joey opened the gift box with one hand and indeed there was an exquisite wind bell inside. Just as he picked it up, the wind blew in through the window, blowing around the piece of colorful paper held under the wind bell. Immediately, the silver bell made a pleasant tinkling sound.

“Thank you, Uncle Andy! I like this gift very much.”

“I’m glad you like it.”

Just then, there was a knock on the door. The doctor came in, followed by another person. Joey was smiling at first, but when he saw the person at the door, his smile froze before fading.

“I heard the wind bell from afar. It turns out it came from here.” Carson came in with a space model in his hand.

“Joey, this is a gift for you.” Glancing at the model, Joey suddenly remembered the one he had spent more than half a month to make and it hadn’t been sent out yet. He looked away and avoided any eye contact with Carson, as he silently put away the wind bell.

“You haven’t seen me for such a long time. You don’t look excited at all.” Carson raised his eyebrows, not sure what was wrong.

“Are you blaming me for not coming to see you? Well then, it’s really my fault. I apologize to you. So you can forgive me, your godfather, okay? I am just very busy.”

“I’m not your godson!” Joey suddenly raised his voice and shouted at Carson.