Chapter 16
Seymour and Ambi spent most of the day at the hospital with Mabel. After a work call, he didn’t pick up Ambi until evening.
They returned home at 8 PM.
Yvonne had just finished a card game with friends.
“Sey, Ambi! How’s Mabel’s foot?”
Seymour pressed his lips. “Fine.”
When he’d first heard about the “fall“, his hands had shaken on the wheel.
It turned out that Mabel had tripped on three small steps outside the villa.
Thankfully, it was only those steps. If she’d fallen down the actual stairs, the outcome would’ve been disastrous.
“Thank goodness it was her leg. Imagine if she’d hurt her hands!”
The family prized Mabel’s hands. After going missing at five, she’d been adopted by a cello teacher and trained rigorously.
Poverty had barred her from elite schools until the Pruitt family found her at eighteen.
Otherwise, a genius violoncellist would have gone unrewarded.
Seymour asked stiffly, “How was she today? Calmer?”
He meant his wife, who had just given birth.
Yvonne froze. “Oh… Mrs. Aykroyd called about a gathering with Mrs.
Stone. I… didn’t visit the hospital.”
“Did Bettie go?” Seymour startled.
His mother didn’t go, but sending the postpartum meals should have been enough.
“Well…”
Yvonne forgot to mention it. Bettie wouldn’t take the initiative to deliver the meals to Felicia.
Seymour’s face darkened. “So… none of you went?”
Yvonne glanced at the clock. “It’s 8 PM. If Felicia hadn’t eaten, she’d have called. No call means she found food. Hotels sell postpartum meals anyway.”
Seymour’s worry lingered, but his son’s whimper pulled his focus.
“Dad, I’m so itchy!”
Ambrose squirmed, tiny hands clawing at his clothes.
Seymour grabbed his wrists. “What did you eat?”
He lifted the boy’s shirt and found red rashes covering his stomach and back.
Yvonne gasped. “Ambi! What did you have? You’re allergic!”
Seymour narrowed his eyes. “The chocolate?”
Ambrose pouted. “Just a tiny bite, Dad!”
He was itchy all over, but Seymour wouldn’t let him scratch.
“Dad, itchy! It hurts!” Tears streamed down the boy’s face.
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“Bettie! First aid kit!”
Bettie scrambled. “Yes, Mr. Lucero!”
The Lucero family kept a well–stocked medical kit, always managed by Felicia.
Bettie hurried over with the first aid kit from the usual cabinet, then froze when she opened it.
Seymour frowned, losing patience. “Why are you standing there? Get the pintment for Ambi now!”
Bettie looked uneasy. “There are five allergy medications here, I don’t know which one to apply to him.”
Seymour took a deep breath. “Don’t you know which one he uses?”
Bettie hesitated. “Mr. Lucero, Mrs. Lucero always handled Ambi’s medications. She never let us touch them.”
This happened because a previous maid had administered the wrong medication. Felicia had since kept them away from the medications.
No one cared for the child like his mother.
Seymour’s face turned icy. “Call the driver. We’re going to the hospital. Now!”
He carried his son to the car, Yvonne trailing anxiously.
“My precious grandson must be okay!” she wondered.
At 10 PM, the nurse hooked Ambi to an IV drip, while the doctor eyed Seymour sternly.
“Mr. Lucero, I know you’re busy, but your son’s diet needs closer
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attention. He has severe allergies. Many foods are risky. I warned your wife too. For example, the chocolate you ate likely contains hidden allergens, which triggered his reaction.
“Allergies can turn deadly. Even gradual exposure to allergens requires a doctor’s supervision. Don’t gamble with this.
“Remember his near–fatal allergy at three? Carelessness kills.”
Seymour clenched his fists. “My wife just had our second child. We overlooked this. It won’t happen again.”
The doctor raised an eyebrow but left without further comment.
Incidents like today’s wouldn’t be the last. Felicia had just given birth. Even the fastest postpartum recovery took a month. Yet the entire Lucero family relied solely on his wife to know Ambi’s dietary restrictions.
Seymour turned to Bettie. “Call my wife. Get Ambi’s full allergy list and medication details.
“Now!”
Bettie trembled. “Y yes, Mr. Lucero.”
Felicia answered Bettie’s call after nursing Mina.
“Bettie? What’s wrong?”
“Mrs. Lucero, Ambi ate chocolate and had an allergic reaction. The hospital treated him. Mr. Lucero is furious. When will you return?”
Felicia frowned. “How did he get chocolate?”
It was strictly forbidden.
“His aunt gave it to him.”
Crupner 10
Mabel again?
And Seymour knew better that Ambrose was allergic to chocolate.
Why didn’t he stop it?
Her voice chilled. “How is Ambi now?”
“Stable. Mr. Lucero asked me to get a list of his dietary needs from you. Could you also note which medications in the kit treat specific
symptoms?”
Bettie felt uneasy. Felicia had just delivered her second child, yet the family sent a servant to handle this instead of visiting.
What a mess!
Felicia nodded. “I’ll send it later. Save and print the list for reference. Allergies can be deadly. Take them seriously. Understood?”
“Yes, Mrs. Lucero.”
Bettie wondered, “Why print it? Is Mrs. Lucero not planning to return
home?”
After hanging up, Felicia leaned back against the headboard, deep in thought.
She couldn’t abandon the child she’d carried for nine months.
As she opened her notes to send Ambi’s care details, a message from Mabel popped up.
“Felicia, I tripped on the stairs today. Seymour insisted on taking me to the hospital, so I couldn’t visit you.
“You’re not mad, right?”
