24 chapter

Dotty and the boys got off the bus that had taken them home, but instead of finding Amanda they saw Billy and Francine, Dotty got upset, why were these people at home, and above all where was Amanda over ?.

"Mrs. west," said Billy, it's Billy Melrose

his daughter's superior, and this is my colleague Francine Desmond, I am sorry to inform you that an accident has occurred and Amanda was injured "" what? My injured daughter ??? Ommiodio, what happened? "," Mrs. West, can we please come into the house for a moment? So we can explain to her better what happened, Dotty looked at Jamie and Philip who had tears in their eyes, "okay, Mr. Melrose, let's go in" .

They entered the house, but it was so empty, so dark without the scents and sounds that usually belonged to her, without Amanda cooking lunch, biscuits and cakes, or with her running busy here and there, it didn't even look the same where they had lived until now, the boys dropped their backpacks and Dotty did the same, with a voice broken by emotion Jamie said "what happened to my mom?"

Francine with the sweetest voice she could find said: "Amanda had left with her colleague, Lee Stetson to shoot a documentary for the US government, they had to make movies about the hunt, a very important documentary, which she would show at population, the impact of hunting on vegetation and territory, but unfortunately a hunter, who had not noticed them and thought it was an animal, shot at Amanda ".

Dotty let out a painful sob, Jamie and Philip began to cry, "how is my daughter now? And where is she?", "She is in the hospital followed by the best doctors, the government, since they were making a documentary for them, she put the best care is available "," how are you ???? !! " Dotty screamed, Billy said in a low voice "he's in a coma because he lost a lot of blood, now if you want I can take you to her, but I don't know if you can see her, we have to wait for the doctors to tell us when it's possible to enter her room.

Lee was next to Amanda, he had never left her, he was near her talking to her constantly and gently, he was telling her old stories, or about the last fool of Fred, who had done all he could to help him in any way , as soon as it would have been good, they would have invited him to dinner, now Lee considered him a friend and also a person he could trust.

He heard a knock at the door, Billy came in, "Lee brought the mother and the boys here, come and talk to them," he reluctantly left her, but before he left he whispered "honey I'll leave you for a moment, I'll come back right away, I love you" , as he left, he did not notice the small tear that fell on Amanda's cheek.

"Mrs. West, I'm Lee Stetson working with her daughter," "are you the person who calls at any time? The one Amanda travels often and suddenly? The same one that makes her do a lot of overtime and that brings her at parties and then never accompanies her to the door ?, Lee made a small smile turning red, how the hell does this woman know all these things and has to tell her all about one breath, that's who she took Amanda to think, "yes I am , I am his daughter's partner, that is his partner, ommiodio his colleague is here! "Lee said, very embarrassed.

Dotty studied the man, tall, athletic, very handsome with the face of a rogue, but with green eyes so deep, so sweet and sad, he immediately realized that Lee Stetson somehow, not only had a professional relationship with Amanda, he was suffering for her, you could see how he talked about it, and of course his eyes.

"Mr. Stetson, said Jamie in tears, how is your mother?" , Philip immediately scolded him, "how do you want me to be, hen's brain?", "Philip don't call your brother like that," said Dotty, "be good please, you will see that everything will be fine, mom is strong and soon will he wake up, but you must be strong, do you understand? " , Lee knelt beside Jamie and Philip, took each other's hand and said gently, "guys I know it's not easy, but I know your mom very well, she's brave, she's tough and she never gives up, you he loves so much and he will never give up, we must have a lot of patience and wait for him to be healthy enough to wake up and come back to us, but you also have to help, doing good with his grandmother, continuing to go to school and help at home, so when mom wakes up she will be happy with you and happy to come back to the family, okay? "And I hug them."

The boys were a little shocked by this embrace, who was this man who spoke of his mother so gently and who even now consoled them by embracing them, conveying so much confidence, looking at each other and pulling up a tear, Philip said " well Mr. Stetson, we will be good for our mother "," please guys call me Lee, and if you need something, anything, call me and I'll get to you right away ", moved the boys returned the hug, although they were really worried , they felt they could trust him.

Dotty followed the scene and she was moved too, never would she have expected so much sweetness from this man who seemed so authoritarian and virile, it would have been so perfect for their family, Oh Amanda darling, we hope everything goes well! And that Lee could become a habitual presence in our family, he thought with so much emotion in his heart.

Dr. Kelford arrived, who had been made aware of the story told to Dotty and the boys by Francine and Billy, "Mrs. West, I am Dr. Kelford, I take care of your daughter, her condition is stable, we have removed the drugs that they kept quiet, now we just have to wait until slowly he wakes up, if you want to see her, you can come in for a few minutes, but only by speaking softly ".

The boys nodded and prepared to enter Amanda's room with trepidation and fear, they clung to their grandmother and took each other's hands courageously.