?Chapter 1026:


    Hadley then stepped aside and dialed Eric’s number.


    “It’s me! Joy’s sick. She’s running a fever and we’re at the hospital now. You need toe immediately.”


    “Joy has a fever?” Eric’s voice grew tense. “I’m on my way!” He hung up and hurriedly left his current location.


    From her hospital bed nearby, Linda, undergoing her routine treatment, watched Eric’s abrupt departure.


    He left just like that? At a mere phone call?


    Who was on the other end? It must have been Hadley! Were they still in touch? Was Hadley still a part of his life?


    The chill in her stare deepened. No. That couldn’t happen. No, they couldn’t possibly be together! Eric was all she had left.


    Driven by a mix of pain and panic, Linda abruptly pulled the IV needle from her arm.


    The nurse, taken aback, rushed over. “Miss Harris?”


    Linda barely acknowledged the nurse, her voice icy. “Go get Eric back! I won’t continue the treatment unless he returns.”


    The nurse was taken aback by Linda’s sternmand, feeling a mix of confusion and fear. She nodded mechanically. “Alright… I’ll call him.”


    As Eric hurried away from the surgical building, his phone rang. It was the nurse, her voice tense with concern.


    “Mr. Flynn, you need toe back. Miss Harris is refusing to continue her treatment and seems… emotionally unstable. We’re worried she might harm herself.”


    Eric stopped in his tracks, tension forming behind his eyes.


    His phone rang again. This time it was Hadley. “Eric, where are you? Hurry up! Joy’s still crying!”


    He could hear Joy’s distressed cries through the phone.


    “Mommy, it hurts… I don’t feel well…”


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    Then Hadley’s voice came sharply. “Did you hear her? Do you need me to exin further?”


    Eric’s heart clenched. His grip on the phone tightened as he nced back at the building behind him. He didn’t hesitate any longer. “I heard you, Hadley. I’ming as fast as I can! Tell Joy I’m on my way!”


    He sprinted to the parking structure, jumped into his car, and took off toward the hospital where Hadley had taken Joy. His foot mmed the elerator, urgency pressing heavy on his chest.


    “No needles! I don’t want it!”


    As he arrived, he found Joy writhing in Hadley’s embrace, protesting. “I don’t want an injection!”


    “Joy!”


    “You came!” she sobbed. Her eyes, filled with tears, brightened slightly when she saw Eric, stretching her arms out toward him.


    “There, there!” Eric soothed as he reached them in a few quick strides, lifting her into his arms. “I’m here now. Don’t cry. Once you get the injection, you’ll start feeling better, I promise.”


    “Okay, then…” Joy clung to Eric’s chest, her sobsing in shaky bursts. “Don’t go. Stay with me.”


    “I’m not going anywhere,” Eric murmured soothingly, stroking her back as the nurse prepared the shot.


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