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Chapter - 74

"Do you mind if I ask you something?" Amber spoke, hesitating whether or not to proceed with her question. She was worried that she might be prying too much into someone else\'s private affairs.

"You want to talk about Annie, right?" Claire figured. She smiled when she saw the frown on Amber\'s forehead deepen.

Alex had just reached the door of Claire\'s chamber. Getting himself freed from the clutches of that giant, manly nurse, Alex wanted to hurriedly walk in, but he stopped hearing their conversation. Alex was not the one to take interest in other people\'s matters, but Annie was someone special. He had formed a very close bond with her in no time.

"Yeah, I never heard her talking is she---?" Amber said, looking at Annie, who was sitting on the couch on the side, playing with Claire\'s phone. She wanted to put it as politely as possible.

"Mute?" Claire asked with her brows raised. Amber nodded with hesitation. Seeing Amber\'s nod, Claire shook her head, " No, she is not. She was able to speak well. In fact, she had a really melodious voice. But because of an incident, she lost her ability to speak," Claire told Amber.

"Was she involved in an accident?" Amber asked. It may be out of curiosity or concern, but Amber wanted to know more about Annie and her pain.

"It was not an accident, but more of an unfortunate incident," Claire told Amber. Claire had a helpless expression on her face, reminiscing about the past.

"Can\'t she be treated?" Amber asked.

"Yes, she can, but the chances of success are very slim. If it was just Aphasia, it could have been treated over time, but her vocal cord is also damaged," Claire told her, but when she saw the look of confusion on Amber\'s face, she knew she had to explain more.

"Aphasia?" Amber asked, confused.

"To put it simply, if it was just the brain injury affecting her vocal nerves, she could have been treated, but that\'s not the case," Claire told her. Amber could feel the sadness in her tone, "Her vocal cord has been damaged, and most of all, Annie has chosen this silence. She is not even trying to..." Claire had tears in her eyes by the time she finished.

"How did it happen?" Amber asked, "And from the conversation earlier. I collect you don\'t live with your husband? Is he the one who..." Amber said. She was trying to connect the dots and come to a conclusion. She was trying to imply that Claire is not living with her husband because he was abusive and is the reason behind Annie\'s injury.

"No, not him..." Claire said as she wiped her tears and sniffed.

"My husband was a good man... He loved us very much... Maybe way too much," Claire said. She had a smile on her face when she talked about her husband, "He loved Annie more than anything. He always said that Annie was his guiding star. Wherever he might be, he would always come back home to her," Claire talked about her husband as she looked at Annie.

"Then what happened to him?" Amber asked, "Why don\'t you live with him any longer?" Amber was confused. If they loved each other so much, why would they live apart? Away from their child?
"He is no longer in this world," Claire said as she looked at Amber, straight in her eyes, "He was murdered."

Amber gasped when she heard Claire. Nothing came out of her mouth. She was cursing herself for being so naive and a blabbermouth. Hearing Claire, Alex was also left stunned outside. He didn\'t know that beneath that sweet and kind smile, she was hiding such a deep wound.

"I am sorry," Amber finally said.

"It\'s alright. So much time has passed that remembering him doesn\'t hurt that much. And the memories we made were beautiful enough for me to live on with Annie," Claire said.

"You haven\'t tried to move on?" Amber asked.

"I have no intention to. My focus is to raise Annie the way he wanted to. Annie is my whole world now," Claire said as she pulled Annie in a hug.

"Well, I hope any recovers soon. There is nothing absolute in this world. I am sure there will soon be some treatment for her in the future. I would love to hear Annie\'s giggles," Amber said as she stood up from her chair and put her hand on Claire\'s shoulder, consoling her.

"I hope so," Claire said, looking with a smile at Amber.

Alex knew that this was the best time for him to walk inside. He knocked on the door, and after getting Claire\'s consent, entered the chamber.

As soon as Annie saw him, she jumped from her mother\'s lap and ran into Alex\'s embrace.

** Flashback ends

Seeing the photo of himself and Annie on his phone, Alex remembered the conversation between Amber and Claire. He was surprised by how fast and easily the ladies opened to one another. Claire shared with Amber, whom she met today only, the most private of her moments.

But Alex was glad she did. From the moment Alex met Annie, he felt an inexplicable bond between the two of them and in a few hours, he got accustomed to her presence around him. When he heard about her injury, he felt heaviness in his heart. How could God do something so cruel to such a small child? No, this is wrong, and if God\'s not going to do something, it\'s up to him to find a cure for Annie.

Alex spent the next couple of hours searching about Aphasia and any possible cure. He even made a mental note that he was going to talk about it with Martha and Rachel as soon as possible.

But before he knew, maybe due to the exhaustion from all that happened today, Alex fell asleep surfing through the internet.

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