Anderson was straightforward, "Mom, don't hide anything from me. I heard everything you and Dad talked about on the restaurant terrace. I had suspicions before, today just confirmed them. Dad has been poisoned, it's very dangerous, he's close to dying, right?"
Joyce was at a loss for words for a moment, Anderson was too young. To suddenly make him face such a harsh reality, she couldn't bring herself to say it.
"Anderson, it's not as serious as you think. Dad won't die. There will be a way, look, Mom has been trying her best," Joyce tried to explain.
"Mom, you don't need to explain. I've never seen you like this before, I know how serious it is. I must tell you, I've peeked at your computer. What are you looking for? Do you need to use a large database?" Anderson asked, "I want to help, let me help you. After I made changes to your program, the speed can improve a lot."
"Anderson, these are adult matters, it shouldn't be your concern. Trust Mom will find a way," Joyce didn't want Anderson to intervene, he was just a child. Children should be doing age-appropriate things.
"Mom, if you have a way, why are you looking so worried? Would you cry secretly? Mom, don't deceive me, even though I'm young, you can treat me like an adult. I understand everything," Anderson insisted, "Now that I know, I can't pretend not to know. We have to figure out what's going on. I want to help too."
Joyce couldn't say anything more, Anderson's mental age was different from others.
"Alright, I'll tell you."
In resignation, Joyce had to tell Anderson everything about Luther's poisoning, the efforts of the biology team to develop an antidote, including Athena's possession of a useless antidote. She told Anderson everything, without sugarcoating.
"In short, I'm still searching for the secret lab researchers who were harmed by Otis, the data they left behind, the web pages they visited, any information that could be related. I can't afford to miss anything," Joyce pointed to the thick stack of documents on the table, "These were given to me by Grandma. I searched for a long time, initially thinking that the two professors had successfully developed an antidote, I relaxed, took a break in the middle. Now I'm starting over, time is indeed running out."
"Does Dad have no taste?" Anderson asked.
Joyce was very surprised, "How do you know?"
"I observed, several times he misspoke. That's unlike Dad's character." Anderson's expression showed a rare seriousness, "Mom, I don't know if you noticed, Dad's vision might also be affected."
"How could that be!" Joyce stood up abruptly, she hadn't noticed, "How do you know?"
"Intuition. In the last two times, I saw Dad using the computer, he pressed the wrong keys. There's only one possibility, unless his vision has a double image, otherwise it's impossible," Anderson furrowed his small brow, "Mom, time is tight now, let me help you."
Joyce's nose tingled, her eyes moist, "Anderson, it's Mom's fault. Mom didn't expect things to turn out like this... In case, Mom is saying in case, Mom is really sorry to you and your sister."
"Mom, you have to pull yourself together. Just like before, when it was just the two of us together. You have never been defeated by anything, you could before, and you still can. In my eyes, you will always be the strongest Mom,"
Anderson spoke with shining eyes, with a determination beyond his age.
"Mom, let's work together. I don't believe fate will treat us like this. We finally reunited as a family, finally got rid of Athena, finally your daughter and us came together. I firmly believe it won't happen, there must be a way. We just haven't found it yet," Anderson nodded vigorously.
At that moment, Joyce was moved.
She never expected that in her weakest, saddest moment, the one who could inspire her would be her young son. She suddenly felt ashamed. Yes, how confident and assertive she used to be, never indulging in self-pity. Even in the most difficult times, gritting her teeth and solving one thing at a time, she always succeeded.
Now, she found herself frowning every day, burning with anxiety inside, how could she do things well?
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: You Hit My Heart