Before Aselia could answer the door opened and Esma and Razian frantically rushed inside. Razain was holding a bouquet while Esma was carrying a massive lunchbox. They ignored Jaguar, their sole focus was on Aselia.

"Leia!" Esma hurried to her side and placing the lunchbox on the side table embraced Aselia in a tight hug.

"You scared us, how are you feeling?" Esma was on the verge of hyperventilating. Her eyes were puffy and Aselia could tell she had been crying.

"I am fine, it’s nothing. Just a dislocation and a small wound. Please don’t worry," Aselia gently squeezed her hand, trying to calm her down.

Razian placed the flowers near Aselia and said: "We arrived as soon as we heard. Esma has been crying since."

"Really it’s not a big deal, I have been in worst accidents and attacks," her words didn’t comfort Esma and she began to sob again. This unsettled Aselia, she didn’t want to be the cause of their pain. They had been through enough.

"Esma, please don’t cry. I am sorry, I have caused you pain," Aselia pleaded, not understanding what else to say.

Jaguar quietly got up and offered the tissue box to Esma. She shot him a sharp look but took the tissue from the box.

"Are you the one who was racing with her? How could you let this happen? Did you push her on purpose so she would lose?" Esma glared at him and threw accusations. Jaguar’s face flushed red with embarrassment while Razian and Aselia turned their faces to avoid laughing out loud.

"I apologise ma’am for not being able to keep White Falcon safe but I certainly didn’t push her," he respectfully stated.

"I don’t trust you," Esma scrutinized him from head to toe, clearly not liking the gangster appearance he had.

"Let’s give the gentleman a break. We are here to meet Leia," Razian intercepted, seeing Jaguar was uncomfortable under his wife’s gaze and she slightly nodded. Averting her eyes after one final disdainful look, she focused on Aselia.

"I will catch you later, White Falcon," Jaguar gave them a nod and hurriedly escaped the room before more accusations would be hurled his way.

"You scared the poor guy for no reason Esma," Razian slightly chided his wife. Aselia was still pursing her lips so as not to crack up.

"I didn’t like him besides he should have done a better job of keeping our Leia safe," Esma declared and picked up the lunchbox she had brought.

"I brought you soup with turmeric. It will help heal the wounds quickly," she opened it to extract a bowl and a spoon. She then added the soup to the bowl and offered a spoonful to Aselia.

"Thank you, Esma," Aselia quietly began to eat the soup from her. This somehow felt nostalgic as if someone had done this before, feed her soup while she was injured but there was no memory.

"How is the pain?" Razian inquired.

"They gave me pain meds, so for now I don’t have any pain just slight discomfort," Aselia answered while taking another spoonful from Esma.

The door opened again and Yurian entered with a food tray. He instantly smiled seeing his parents gathered around her like Papa and Mama bear. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

"I am being pampered," Aselia grinned at him while he approached them.

"I can see that," placing the tray on the table he hugged both his parents.

"We came as fast as we could after you called," Esma told him as she offered the last spoonful to Aselia.

"Thank you, this was delicious," Aselia offered her gratitude. Esma handed over the empty bowl to her husband who packed it back in the lunchbox.

Yurian handed the food tray to his mother and she scrunched her nose looking at the contents. She said:

"Hospital food is bland and full of germs, we are not feeding our Leia this trash," she handed the tray back to Yurian before saying:

"I was in a hurry so only made soup but I will head home and cook some healthy meal for her and will send it," with that, she got up and kissed Aselia’s forehead.

"Take care of yourself, I will send food. Don’t eat this," she instructed. Razian and Esma then hugged her again and left. Yurian had a cunning smile on his face as he asked:

"Did she overwhelm you? She is spirited and speaks her mind, just like you," Aselia had picked up the bouquet of white lilies and smelt them.

"Not at all. I yearned for such affection all my life why would I feel overwhelmed? But Jaguar got chided and blamed for my accident," Aselia finally chuckled, placing the bouquet in her lap.

"Ohh! Poor guy. Someone had to get the blame. Reminds me, he hid himself well from all of us."

"Yes, he said he did that to not come under the enemy radar. Certainly, no one can be trusted these days. Do we trust him? He did save my life though."

Aselia was apprehensive, Jaguar had more secrets, Aselia was sure of it and now she wanted to know them all. There was something dark and cryptic about him but Aselia couldn’t yet pinpoint what it was.

"We only trust each other. Always remember this," Yurian was trying to give Jaguar a chance for Aselia’s sake but he didn’t trust him.

"I know but I want to keep an eye on him, so I will be getting closer," Aselia declared.

"Just be careful though," he didn’t want another Xirsn episode to be repeated but he couldn’t say that openly to her.

"I will be, don’t worry," she had decided to go on that date with him. Give him what he wanted to understand if he turned out to be a friend or foe. As they say: "Keep your friends close but your enemies closer," and that’s exactly what Aselia was about to do and to hope he would be the former and not the latter.