Saying Goodbye to My Troubles (Nydia and Mick)

Chapter 26

The caregivers soon arrived.

But Ted refused to let strangers take care of him. He wore the two caregivers down to exhaustion in just a few hours.

When Mick appeared, the caregivers immediately came forward to submit their resignations.

Meanwhile, Ted's incessant crying led to another spike in his fever. Mick quickly called in the favors, and two pediatric specialists soon arrived to examine Ted.

After a thorough check-up, they confirmed it was pneumonia.

"The illness will last one to two weeks. Avoid giving him fruits, meat, or cold foods during

this time."

Mick frowned. "Why is he crying so much then?"

"It's common for sick children to have strong emotional fluctuations."

Mick pressed further. "Why won't he let the caregivers look after him then?"

The specialist was utterly baffled. Why would Mick ask him that?

But he dared not offend Mick and pondered the question. Then, he replied, "When children are unwell, they tend to seek comfort from those they are most familiar with. Caregivers are strangers, who tend to make them feel insecure and trigger emotional outbursts." Then, a nurse entered to change Ted's needle. His piercing cries filled the room again and shook everyone's eardrums.

Mick couldn't take it anymore, but the specialist mentioned that children relied more on familiar caregivers when they were sick.

He pulled out his phone to dial Mona's number, but it rang for a long time and no one answered. She was probably busy with work.

She'd likely call him back after she was done with work.

Ted had cried himself to exhaustion after the nurse administered the IV. He lay sprawled on the bed and whimpered in a hoarse voice, "Dad, why haven't you fired that nurse yet? It hurts...I wanna go home...".

Mick massaged his temples. "Lie down for now. Let's finish the IV, and we'll talk about going home."

"You must be lying. The doctor said I need to stay for a whole week'

Ted was smart enough to realize that escape was impossible, so he started negotiating. "Dad, I Chapter 26

promise I'll obediently take my meds. Could you please let me go home?"

Mick asked, "You've always been obedient at taking your meds, haven't you?"

Ted was stunned by his question and momentarily forgot about his tears. He remembered he'd always needed Nydia to mollify him with reassurances or even a lullaby whenever he had to take his meds. Where was Nydia? For the first time, it hit him that he wasn't from a single-parent family. His swollen tear-streaked eyes searched the room as he called out, "Dad... Why hasn't Mom come to see me?"

Whenever he'd been hospitalized, Nydia had always stayed by his side. Now come to think of it, the needles hadn't hurt that much, and drawing blood hadn't seemed so scary when Nydia had been around.

Though he had a bad appetite, Nydia's home-cooked meals always managed to tempt him.

Now that she wasn't her

he felt like an empty battery.

"Does she not know I'm sick? Dad, I want Mom to take care of me!"

Mick chided him without a second thought. "Ms. Poole is still single, and don't address her as Mom.' It could ruin her reputation."

Ted was stunned into silence as he stared at Mick in disbelief. What had Mona got to do with this when he'd been talking about Nydia?

He felt utterly miserable as his body ached all over. He just wanted Nydia to hold him and massage his aching spots.

my mom!"

"I don't care! I want Mom! I want my

He didn't know how to express overwhelming feelings inside him, so he cried. He'd assumed that crying would work, but now he was in for disappointment.