A Call That Changed Her Entire Life

The secretary walked out of the door alone. As soon as she left, Emily's gaze turned to the files on the table, her mind blank.
Despite Estelle's mistakes in the past, she had been working diligently and twice as hard ever since she had come back to the
company. Why hadn't she shown up today?
Emily had no idea about what had happened. But she knew that she didn't have time to think too much, so she just returned to
work for the meantime. Buried in some paperwork and things to do in the office, she didn't think about Estelle again until lunch
time. Back in the day, Estelle had been very fond of Emily, so she had always accompanied her at work. But with Estelle absent,
Emily felt uncomfortable walking through the halls of the building. It was not the same as when she was with Estelle. She felt like
her heart had dropped to the ground and she was unable to pick it up. Not today. Not without Estelle.
In the middle of her lunch, Emily stopped eating as an idea came to her. She wasn't sure what she would get out of it but she just
wanted to do something. So, Emily took out her cell phone and decided to call Estelle. She did it several times, hearing nothing
but the dial tone and the operator saying that the number could not be reached. Defeated, she sighed. It did not make her feel
any better.
She stared at the phone screen, her thoughts still on Estelle. 'Could she be in trouble?' she wondered. As if a light suddenly
turned on in her mind, she instantly thought of something. Ethan. She fumbled through her phone and dialed Ethan's number.
She had to try him. He must know something.
With her mind racing and her heart beating fast, she waited for him to answer.
She drew a breath as soon as he picked up. “Ethan, thank God! Do you know where Estelle is? What happened to her? Why
didn't she come to work today? I'm worried about her,“ Emily said, going straight to the point directly. There was no reason to
sugarcoat anything. She needed information and she hoped that Ethan could help her.
“Wait. Who— Emily?“ Ethan asked, as he recognized Emily's voice a little late. “Yes, it's me. Do you know where Estelle is?“
Emily asked, her voice not faltering this time. She needed answers.
Suddenly remembering something, Ethan muttered a light curse and said, “Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot to ask for leave for Estelle.“
Ethan sighed and kept apologizing.
While Emily was a little relieved that Ethan knew where Estelle was, she was still worried. “What happened to her?“ she asked.
Ethan realized that he had to tell Emily the truth so that she would no longer worry. Emily deserved to know the truth since
Estelle was her friend too. “She's... She's in the hospital,“ he said.

Although Emily knew that something must have happened to her friend, it was still uncomfortable to hear that she was hurt.
“What?! She's injured? Why didn't you protect her?“ Emily wanted to scream at Ethan for not taking care of Estelle better. He
knuckles almost turned white and her face was a little red because of anger. But she realized that she had nothing to say to him
anymore, so before Ethan could make excuses, she hung up the phone.
After the call, she went back to gazing at nothing, her thoughts flying towards Estelle. She lost her appetite and didn't finish her
food. Emily went back to work in the afternoon but she kept spacing out, worried about Estelle and how she was doing.
As soon as her shift ended, she hastily packed her things up to leave the office. She rushed to the hospital, but not before buying
some fruit and milk to bring with her too. She had asked Ethan earlier in the afternoon what Estelle's ward number was. Feeling
bad for what happened, Ethan had immediately given it to her.
Emily opened the door of the ward slowly, careful not to make any noise in case Estelle was sleeping. But as she opened it, she
saw Estelle lying weakly on the bed, looking out the window.
Emily had yet to say her name but Estelle looked at her in surprise, perhaps sensing her presence. Her eyes widened, not
expecting to see Emily here. “E—Emily?“
'I thought Emily still hated me, ' Estelle though. While working in the company, although they spent a lot of time together, Estelle
could still feel Emily's indifference towards her. She felt like Emily was always trying to distance herself from her. So seeing Emily
standing in her room came as a surprise to her because as far as she knew, Emily didn't want to be close to her.
She couldn't help but ask, “Why are you here? Just now, when I saw you, I couldn't believe my eyes.“ Estelle was surprised. She
tried to get out of bed, but because she was still weak and full of medications the hospital was giving her, she couldn't even
move a little.
“I'm here to see you,“ Emily said gently, her voice soft and pleasant to the ear. She walked in and closed the door. Taking a step
towards the table, she put the things she bought on it, found a chair, and sat beside Estelle's bed.
Estelle looked at Emily slowly, her eyes watching her move, and felt a little embarrassed.
Emily wondered what Estelle could have been thinking. But to break the silence in the room, she looked around and asked, “Are
you alone? Is there no one taking care of you?“ Her brows furrowed in confusion. Surely Ethan should have been here to take
care of Estelle. But why was there no one with her right now?

“No, no, no,“ Estelle quickly denied. She lowered her head and blushed. “Ethan is here with me, but he has something to deal
with today. He just went out.“
“Okay, I see.“ Emily nodded to show her understanding and looked at Estelle. “Are you okay? I heard from Ethan that you were
injured, so I came to see you,“ she said. She wanted Estelle to know that she was here as a friend.
Despite herself, Estelle managed to smile a little. “Don't worry. I'm fine.“ Estelle didn't say anything more, and unconsciously
moved her eyes to her left arm. It had already been two or three days but the strength in her arm hadn't returned yet. It remained
numb and weak.
Following her gaze, Emily also saw her bandaged left arm. She remembered what Ethan had said during their phone call. And
now, looking at Estelle, she already knew what she was thinking.
Emily moved closer to Estelle, dragging the chair with her. She patted her on the right shoulder to comfort her gently and assure
her of everything. “I heard about your situation from Ethan. I called him earlier since I was worried about you. But hey, don't
worry. There are so many good doctors in our country. You will recover sooner or later. Just relax and have a good rest.“
Looking at Emily, Estelle felt lighter, like something heavy had been lifted off her chest. She was relieved. For a few minutes, she
forgot to think about the future because she was fine at the present.
Saying nothing at all and treasuring the moment, Estelle only stared at Emily. She was thankful of her being here with her,
knowing that she cared for her. Noticing Estelle's gaze, Emily felt a bit strange. She thought that there was something dirty on
her face so she touched her cheeks, trying to get it off. She asked, “What's wrong, Estelle? Is there anything on my face?“
Although she still felt weak, Estelle let out a chuckle with a bit of helplessness and loneliness. Slowly, Estelle said, “Emily, I know.
I'm sorry for what happened in the past...“
Knowing Estelle's trail of thought, Emily shook her head. “The past is the past. Let bygones be bygones,“ she said, interrupting
Estelle before she could finish her words. “I know that you were forced to do something in the past. And I know that you didn't
mean to do it,“ she added.
Emily held Estelle's right hand and continued sincerely, “But that's done. We have to live in the present, and the moment right in
front of us is the most important.“
Seeing the sincerity in Emily's eyes, Estelle couldn't help but burst into tears. She was very happy. The burden that she was
carrying was suddenly lifted. She had always thought that Emily was distancing herself from her, and disliked her. “Emily, thank

you...“ Estelle choked the words out, sobbing.
Emily squeezed Estelle's hand a bit, careful not to hurt her. “Why are you crying? Come on! Don't cry! It can be a real bad thing
for you to recover.“ Emily pretended to be angry, but she also raised her hand to wipe the tears on Estelle's cheeks. “But then
again, why is that Bill always staring at your Ethan?“
Emily couldn't help but ask. All of a sudden, she started asking questions especially since Ethan had somehow mentioned it
casually. She didn't know how Estelle had gotten hurt or what was even going on, so she wanted answers.
Curiosity fit Emily really well. Estelle found it a good look on Emily, so she chuckled. But eventually, she told Emily the things she
wanted to know. She told her everything, starting from the last time Bill had tried to force Ethan into giving up his forces all the
way up to now, when Bill had tried to hurt them both.
Bombarded with a lot of things at once, Emily tried to process every single detail slowly. “Ah, Really?“ she asked. Crunching her
face in a disdainful look, Emily teased Estelle, “Oh, my God! I still can't figure out why this old man named Bill is so abnormal and
disgusting...“
Estelle could not help but laugh out loud at Emily's words. “Well, if you look at it like that...it's true! That's exactly what he is.“
Emily's eyes widened as she pretended to be shocked. “Wow... then you have to be careful outside.“ She pouted again, but then
said seriously, “Stay away from that Bill. Just please have a good rest.“
Estelle was happy that Emily cared this much. She smiled and nodded. “Okay,“ she replied in a sweet voice, feeling as if the knot
in her heart had been removed all of a sudden.
For Estelle, what had happened in the past with Emily had always been an open wound that could not heal. And now that they
had somehow resolved this conflict, she felt truly happy. Despite her arm physically hurting, a heavy feeling in her heart had
gone away.
In the ward, the two girls were talking and laughing, sharing the stories they had missed. Their loud voices cheered up the other
people in the hospital as well.
The knot in the two girls' hearts that they had kept all this time was slowly untied by communication.
Estelle was hurt but Emily had found her anyway, and their friendship had never been better. Today seemed to be a good
day.