HEIRS OF THE HIDDEN FLAME

OLD MAN SMITH'S URGENCY

Emily intervened, saying, "Let Dr. Floyd examine Granddad and treat him. I think he knows what he's doing. He's more qualified than Nathan. I mean, Nathan couldn't even provide a license for his medical skills. How can we trust someone like that? Don't be stubborn, sis."

Another doctor standing next to Floyd added, "Yeah, Dr. Floyd is the best in all of Beloberg. He's more qualified. If you don't want anything bad to happen to your grandfather, let him treat him."

Gwen was torn, deep in thought, unsure of what to do. On one hand, she trusted that Nathan knew what he was doing, but on the other, she believed that Dr. Floyd was more qualified than Nathan. She struggled to make a decision.

As Gwen pondered her options, Floyd placed his hand on old man Smith, causing half of the formation Nathan had laid down to disappear. Gwen tried to stop him, but it was too late, and he removed the entire formation.

Floyd reassured her, "Don't worry, I'm more competent than that doctor you brought here. His formation was useless and wouldn't have saved your grandfather." Old man’s smith was still stable even after he removed the formation. Floyd was proud as he bent down, touched old man Smith's body, and said,

"I told you the magic circle was just to deceive people. Look, your grandfather’s body temperature is already so low. Without my intervention,

Suddenly, old man Smith began to twitch uncontrollably, bouncing on the bed as if having a seizure. Emily asked in fear, "What is happening, doctor?"

Thick black blood started flowing out of old man Smith’s mouth and nose. Floyd was taken aback, as he had never seen such a situation in his entire life. Gwen and Emily were like cats on hot bricks as they watched their grandfather’s reaction.

Floyd was in a tight spot, as he didn’t know what he was supposed to do. He cleaned up the blood coming out of his nose and mouth as he started doing mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, hoping that he could keep him breathing and alive. But after doing it repeatedly, old man Smith passed out in his arms; it was almost like he stopped breathing. He dropped him down with great regret in his eyes as he turned to look at Gwen and Emily, who were standing behind him.

“I am sorry, but I can’t save your grandfather; I don’t know what happened to him,” Floyd said, lowering his gaze at them.

Gwen and Emily’s eyes turned red. Gwen landed Floyd a hot slap on his cheek. “You caused this! Why did you have to scatter that formation?” She yelled at him. She felt that everything had gone bad since Floyd scattered Nathan’s magical formation.

“I swear this is not my mistake; it was all the fault of the person who cast that spell. I don’t think that person was trying to save his life; he was probably trying to kill him.” Floyd blamed Nathan. Even though he had no idea what happened to the grandfather, he didn’t want to take the fall for any of it.

“What the hell are you saying? Nathan was only trying to save my grandfather’s life!” Gwen expressed her anger. She was starting to feel like trusting Floyd was a huge mistake.

“Nathan was not trying to do that; his silly spell caused this; if he was the one that cast it to save his life, where is he now? Can’t you see he did this to your grandfather on purpose?” Floyd asked a whirlwind of questions that signified that Nathan was the one who worsened the old man’s condition.

“He might be telling the truth; where is Nathan now, sis? What if he was the one who worsened Grandad’s condition with that spell? Call him; let’s know whether he’s coming back or not,” Emily said, supporting Floyd’s notion.

They got to Gwen as doubts crept into her mind. She took out her phone and called Nathan, and within seconds, Nathan answered the call. “What’s going on?” Nathan inquired cluelessly as to what was going on.

Gwen didn’t want to give Nathan any hint of what was going on, as he wanted Nathan to come back into the ward. “Come back to the ward, please; there’s something you need to take a look at,” she responded in a calm tone, as she felt that if he had no idea what was going on, he would show up that way.

“Okay, I will be on my way now,” he said calmly.

“I am waiting,” she replied as she ended the call. She could tell that Nathan was clueless and was genuine when he said he was coming back to the ward.

But even at that, she was still not at ease with whether her grandfather would survive; she was an overthinker and had started thinking of the worst scenario possible.

“I am sure he will not come back into this ward; he knows what he’s doing; I am sure he was trying to kill your grandfather,” Floyd said rudely, still laying the accusations on Nathan.

“You are not even sure of what you are saying; he just told me that he’s coming back,” Gwen replied. She was trying her best to be neutral in the situation.

“He might have said that, but I am sure he would not dare to come back, not after what he has done to your grandfather,” Floyd said bluntly.

“Please check on my grandfather; I don’t need you to disorganize my thoughts,” Gwen fired at him.

Floyd turned to look at old man Smith on the bed as he placed his stethoscope on old man Smith’s heart and realized that he no longer had a heartbeat and that he was dead.

He was taken aback as his eyes widened. He didn’t know how he was supposed to face Gwen and Emily, but he knew he had to tell them that their grandfather was no more.

He turned to look at them with guilt and regret in his eyes as he spoke. “Your grandfather is dead; he no longer has a heartbeat."

Gwen was thunderstruck by the information, as she didn’t know how to feel but felt extreme sadness as she clenched her fist into a tight ball, restraining her sadness.

Emily cried uncontrollably. “Grandad!” She screamed with a lot of pain and agony in her voice. The Smith’s family bodyguards that were standing guard outside the ward quickly rushed inside as they heard Emily’s scream. Gwen told one of them to escort Emily out of the ward, and he did so. The other doctors that came into the ward with Floyd ran out in fear; they all knew that the situation had gotten out of hand.

Dr. Floyd also noticed that the issue was getting out of hand and that he would possibly be blamed for the death of the old man as he attempted to run out of the ward in great fear, but before he could do that, the bodyguard that was standing at the left side of the door in the ward captured Floyd and pinned him down on the ground next to the hospital bed. The bodyguard asked in a rumbling tone. “Where do you think you are running to?”

Gwen drew one of the chairs that was next to the bed as she sat down. She could only feel numb looking at her grandfather’s lifeless body on the bed. She had no idea what she was to do next, but she had hope that maybe Nathan could do something to revive him. Even though she felt that was impossible, she thought that since Nathan was a powerful magician and doctor, maybe he could get it done.

Gwen picked up her phone dialed Nathan’s number again,hoping that he would answer the call swiftly. The call connected. Just then, she saw Nathan standing at the front door of the ward.

Nathan ended the call. Gwen got up from the chair and rushed over to where Nathan was. “Please save my grandfather!” She begged.

“Your grandfather has woken up,” Nathan responded, gazing at him on the hospital bed. Gwen, the bodyguard, and Floyd all looked at the hospital bed. Noticing that the old man has transformed into a figure that appears to be a vampire, as he had a sharp set of protruding teeth and blood was dripping from the sharp set of teeth.

They were all taken aback by the transformation of the old man as they gasped. Only Nathan was not surprised by the change. Suddenly, the old man jumped off the bed and landed on Floyd, who was sitting on the ground next to the bodyguard.

As the old man was about to bite on Floyd’s neck, Nathan quickly cast a spell that turned the old man into his marionette as he pushed him back onto the hospital bed with great force.

“Who destroyed the formation that I had put in place earlier?” Nathan asked curiously.

“It was that doctor,” Gwen pointed at Floyd as she gave the bodyguard a hand sign to hold onto Floyd tightly.

“Never mind that." Nathan moved closer to the bed as he casted the semi-immortal spell once more, restoring the white ray of light that shined on old man Smith and the large circle around him.

After restoring the formation, old man Smith laid back on the bed calmly.

“The toxicity from the poison has disappeared with his transformation,” Nathan determined.

Gwen and the others wondered if he was going to remain like a vampire, as Gwen asked. “Is he going to remain like that?”

“No, I will transform him back now,” Nathan responded as he casted a spell, waving hand signs and saying enchantment words. Suddenly, old man Smith transformed back into a human as Nathan touched his hands and felt that his temperature was back to being a normal human body temperature.

Everyone in the ward looked at everything that Nathan was doing in shock; they couldn’t fathom how it was possible for Nathan to be able to pull everything off. Floyd, who had been sitting on the ground with a frightened look on his face, was shocked beyond measure as he crawled slowly towards Nathan.

“Can you please teach me your spells? I want to have this kind of power and knowledge that you have,” Floyd begged with his hands joined together in front of Nathan.

“No, it’s not possible for me to teach you,” Nathan responded bluntly as he turned to look at Gwen.

“Your grandfather is now okay and stable. I will be taking my leave now; don’t forget the favor that your family owes me,” he said calmly.

“Of course, but why don’t I drop you off?” She offered.

“Okay, let’s head out,” he responded. Gwen told the bodyguard to watch over her grandfather, just as she also told the other bodyguard to take Emily back into the ward to show that their grandfather was alive and well.