Then, there was silence. My heart skipped a beat.
I stood up abruptly, grabbed my bag and rushed out. I knew that a persistent high fever could lead to coma or even death.
I kept calling my daughter desperately, but there was no response. My worry grew and my eyes stung with tears. After hanging up, I called 911 and then called Stefan.
He kept rejecting my calls, but I was relentless. Finally, he picked up. I blurted out anxiously, "Stefan, Stefan, Ysabell has a fever! You have to go back and help her!"
Stefan scoffed dismissively, "She's faking it! Don't believe her! I have important things to do tonight. Don't use this as an excuse to bother me, Zelda."
He added, "Even if you're trying to compete for attention, there should be a limit. I'm just having a meal with Yolanda. Please don't use our daughter's illness to deceive me. It's disgraceful."
My anger flared and I couldn't help but say, "I would never joke about my daughter's life, Stefan."
"Oh! That's just perfect," he replied before hanging up on me abruptly.
A mother would never gamble with her child's life and a father should not take his child's illness lightly. Stefan had truly let me down.
I rushed home and their car was already parked outside when I arrived. However, they didn't have the keys and no one was home.
When I finally found the key and opened the door, I saw my daughter lying on the floor, frothing at the mouth. Her entire body was red as if she had been unconscious for a long time. The doctor quickly administered emergency care.
Once we reached the hospital, she was rushed into the emergency room. I paced back and forth outside, praying fervently while tears streaming down my face.
I turned on my phone and called Stefan again. As the father of our child, he shouldn't be absent at a time like this, especially since it was his negligence that had led to our daughter's severe condition.
Unfortunately, the phone rang endlessly without an answer. I swallowed my rising anger and called again. This time, the call got connected.
"What now? Didn't I tell you? Don't bother me unless it's important. Today is Yolanda's birthday and it is also New Year's Eve—a time for family reunion. Why do you always have to ruin it?"