The press might have used the words ‘critically ill’ to describe Sophia’s condition all this while, but that was simply because they have always been careless in their choice of words. The hospital has never once told Wood that his mother was ‘critically ill’. Not until today.

When Wood rushed to the hospital, his mother had already been wheeled into the emergency room, and the only people he saw standing outside were Twain, Woox, and the nurse Vivian Miller.

“How’s my mother?” The first thing that Wood asked about after seeing both Woox and Vivian was his mother’s condition.

Woox shook his head and said nothing, whereas Vivian stood quietly by the side and hung her head. Vivian was just a nurse who took care of Sophia, but she looked as though she was responsible for causing this crisis.

Since neither of them spoke, the only person who could answer Wood’s question at the scene was Twain. Twain’s voice was low as he spoke, “She’s not in a good condition, George. You’d better be mentally prepared…”

All three of them conveyed a single message to Wood through either their gestures or words – his mother might really leave his side this time around.

Wood did not know what to think all of a sudden. He did not know what he should do or say, either. He simply stood rooted at the spot and panted heavily.

Twain was surprised by Wood’s lack of reaction. He had expected Wood to fly into a rage and yell words like, “I don’t believe you” or “you all must be lying to me”.

To Twain, it was normal for a person to have an outburst when they heard that their loved one might pass away soon, and he expected Wood to have an even bigger and more aggressive one than others might. He had braced himself for a fit from Wood all this while, but it never came.

Twain’s surprise quickly turned into worry as Wood continued in silence. He also appeared to be dazed as he stood rooted to the ground. Twain was worried that Wood was in a state of shock because he could not cope with the news that his mother might leave him. As a manager who was good at handling his players’ psychological state, Twain knew very well just how troublesome psychological issues were.

A while later, Woox left to deal with the reporters who had crowded outside the hospital after hearing word that Wood’s mother was in a dire condition. Likewise, Vivian also left because she still had work to do. The only people who remained outside the emergency room were Twain, who had nothing to do, and Wood. Twain looked at Wood and sighed after seeing how the latter had continued to stand rooted to the ground, seemingly oblivious to the departure of both Woox and Vivian.

Twain wanted to go up to Wood and comfort him, but he did not know what he should say. He knew very well that Sophia did not have much time left even if she managed to pull through this time around. Twain’s impression of Sophia ever since their first meeting was that she was a feeble woman who could die and leave Wood all alone at any time. None of the doctors expected her to be able to live until this day. It was hard to imagine the kind of willpower she must have had to be able to persevere for such a long time.

Wood had experienced the pain of Gavin’s death years ago, and now it looked like he was going to experience the tragedy of losing a loved one once again. Everyone knew that death is inevitable, but this fact might be hard to accept for Wood. Twain was extremely worried about how Wood would react to his mother’s passing when it happened. To Sophia, Wood was her sole pillar of support. Likewise, she too was the only source of support for Wood. Sophia could not lose Wood, and similarly, he could not bear to lose her either. Wood has lived with his mother ever since he was born, and they have both become an integral part of each other’s lives. Unfortunately, the pair would have to experience the greatest pain in this world soon. They have to endure the pain that was brought about by death and separation. Will Wood be able to deal with his mother’s death?

Twain would not be this worried if it had been any other person who was about to lose his mother. Wood was probably the only one who could make him feel this way. He was just like a child who has not grown up. His affection for his mother was far deeper than anyone could imagine, and he would not be just losing a loved one when he lost his mother.

Wood finally seemed to have gotten tired after standing for so long, and he walked aside and sat down soon after. However, his eyes never left the doors to the emergency room the entire time.

※※※

A while later, Evan Doughty arrived at the hotel to visit Wood and his mother. Twain could tell that Doughty had something on his mind, and whatever it was had nothing to do with Wood.

Wood was absent-minded, and so was Doughty. The two exchanged a few quick words while being preoccupied with their own thoughts. Thereafter, Wood continued in his seat and stared at the emergency room’s doors. Evan Doughty, on the other hand, did not seem to be in a hurry to leave, and he stood in the hallway and looked about. His eyes fell on Twain numerous times and it seemed like he wanted to say something, but he never did.

Doughty averted his gaze towards Wood and realized that the latter still had his eyes fixed on the doors to the emergency room. He then decided to walk towards Twain.

“Can we speak privately for a moment, Tony?” Doughty said quietly as he stood before Twain.

Twain lifted his head to look at Doughty as he was still in his seat. Doughty was alone and Allan Adams did not accompany him this time around.

Twain could not find a reason to reject the request, so he nodded in response.

The two walked past Wood and down the stairs before heading towards the back of the hospital. They then had their conversation as they strolled by the side of the lake.

“To be honest, I was quite surprised to see you on the big screen during the opening match of the season, Tony,” Evan Doughty said.

“I’m a Forest fan.” Twain was speaking the truth. He could not bring himself to support another football team, especially a Premier League team, after managing Forest for 11 years. Every other football team was an opponent that he had to fight against in the past, after all…

“Have you seen Forest’s recent matches?” The conversation topic was shifted onto Forest’s recent performance naturally.

“Of course.” Twain was a little wary.

“What do you think about Forest’s current situation, Tony? As a professional football manager…”

“I’m not a manager anymore, Evan.” Twain refused to answer.

Doughty did not expect Twain to cut him off. It looked like Twain had no intention of being compliant now that he was not working under him… Then again, when has Tony ever been compliant? Doughty was rendered speechless by Twain’s comments and did not know how to continue the conversation.

The pair walked side by side in silence for quite a distance. Twain tried his best to direct his attention to his surroundings to keep himself from feeling awkward. He noticed that there was a small island covered with trees in the distance, but there were not any bridges that led to it. He looked around trying to find a boat of some sorts but did not see any either.

Evan Doughty remained silent, and his eyes were fixed on the road before them. He seemed to be trying to make up his mind on whether he should say something.

“Uh, I’ll be honest, Tony. I came to find you today because I hope you’d be able to… to manage Nottingham Forest once again.”

Twain’s vague bad feeling had materialized!

He could not pretend that he did not hear Doughty’s words no matter how hard he tried.

Twain stopped in his tracks and directed his gaze away from the small island in the distance. His eyes then fell on Evan Doughty, who was next to him.

“I’m no longer a manager, Evan,” Twain repeated the words that he said earlier. He hoped that Evan Doughty would back off and leave him be. However, it seemed like he had underestimated Doughty’s determination.

“I know you have retired, but you are only fifty years old, Tony… You’re still considered young for a manager. The Forest team needs you. Wood needs you… and I need you too!”

Twain led out a smile. What an improvement Doughty has made. He would definitely not say such words to him in the past.

Doughty could discern the sarcasm behind Twain’s smile, but he paid it no mind. Or rather, he could not do anything about it even if he wanted to. Twain was not the one begging him for a job now. He was the one begging Twain to return to the club.

“I know you are upset with me, Tony. I have to admit that I… Uh… Made a mistake back then…”

Twain kept quiet and simply watched as Doughty admitted to making a mistake four years ago. He remembered the scenes of that night in the Madrid hotel room when he fell out with the club’s board after leading his team to achieve a historic treble. All the glory that he had earned with Forest became a distant memory in just one night.

The scene before him now was a stark contrast to that very scene from four years ago…

Evan Doughty would probably not have to beg Twain to return to the club if his behavior back then had been at all similar to what it was now.

After all, Forest was a team that Twain had built from scratch, and he was reluctant to just leave it behind.

“… Look at me now. I’ve already been sufficiently punished for my decision back then.” Doughty threw his hands before him in a helpless gesture.

“Did you really mean what you said, Evan?” Twain asked as he cast a sideways glance at him. He did not believe Evan Doughty’s words. “The reason why you have come to find me today is that the team’s poor results have made it difficult for you to get a good selling price for the club with the Bin Zayed Group, right?”

Doughty opened his mouth, but no words came out because Twain had hit the nail on the head.

Doughty was still hoping that the Bin Zayed Group would offer him a good price for Forest. When that happened, he would be free from all the mess that Forest found itself in. Forest’s results, Wood’s retirement, and all these other issues would have nothing to do with him from then on.

“Evan, I’ll repeat this again. I don’t care about how you treated me in the past. All you need to know is that I’ve retired now.”

Twain turned around and walked back to the hospital. The conversation with Evan Doughty was over.

Evan Doughty did not say anything to stop Twain from leaving. All he did was stare at Twain’s back and frown.

※※※

Sophia had already been wheeled back to her ward by the time Twain returned to the hospital. When he got to Sophia’s ward, he noticed Wood leaving and saw Vivian tending to Sophia at the side of the bed.

Twain scrutinized the expression that Wood had on his face. It did not seem to have gotten better, but it did not seem to have gotten worse either. It was hard for him to guess what Sophia’s condition was based on Wood’s expression alone.

However, there was no need for him to guess. The moment Wood saw Twain, he said, “My mum wants to see you.”

After he said this, Wood walked to a nearby sofa to rest.

Twain glanced at Wood before walking into the ward. The first thing he did after entering was to greet Vivian, whom he was getting increasingly familiar with. He then took a seat next to Sophia’s bed.

Sophia’s appearance had changed over the past ten days. She looked different from when Twain first saw her after he returned to Nottingham. She had gotten even thinner and weaker than before, and it would not be an exaggeration to describe her as being ‘skin and bones’. Her once beautiful face had been ravaged by sickness. Her cheeks were sullen and her cheekbones protruded. She was hollow-eyed and her once lustrous hair had become thinner after long periods of treatment. Her lower body, covered by the blanket, was skeleton-like.

The sight of a debilitated Sophia caused Twain agony. The once beautiful woman has become almost unrecognizable now. Twain could not bear to take a second look at her and directed his gaze elsewhere.

Sophia seemed to share his thoughts. She did not want Twain to see her in her current state either.

She did not pull on Twain’s hand and say many words like before. All she said after Twain sat down was, “Mr. Twain, I know you have always cared for George. He’s a 32-year-old man this year, but he still acts like a kid who knows nothing. I’m really sorry that you had to fly back from Los Angeles for this…”

Twain had a bad feeling once again…

“… I hope you will continue to look after him in the future.”

Twain’s heart skipped a beat, and he immediately held Sophia’s bony hand. “George has you to take care of him. You are his mother.”

Sophia did not say anything in response. She only closed her eyes. Twain understood from her gesture that she wanted to rest, and he took his leave.

Twain noticed Wood sitting on the sofa after he left the ward. Wood raised his head after hearing Twain walk out of the room, and their eyes met. However, Twain could not bear to look at Wood, and he averted his gaze quickly.

Twain wondered what Sophia had said to her son earlier. Did she tell Wood the same thing that she said to him? What would Wood think about her words if she did?

Could Wood accept that the day when his mother would leave his side might very well be coming soon?

※※※

Twain received a call from Pierce Brosnan shortly after he had reached the lobby of the hospital. The man who has not called him in ages sounded frantic as he asked, “Tony, I heard that you might return to manage Forest?”

“Who told you that?” Twain asked back.

“There are rumors going all around that you will go back and do it! I ran into numerous Forest fans recently, and they’ve all told me that you’d come back to rescue the team! Is this true, Tony?”

Twain was not in the mood to discuss those rumors with him. He cut Brosnan off curtly. “I’m sorry, Pierce. I’m not in the mood to give you an interview.”

“I’m not trying to interview you, Tony. I’m just seeking confirmation from you as an ordinary fan…”

“That’s just a rumor, Mr. Reporter.” Twain addressing Brosnan as ‘Mr. Reporter’ was a sign that he was in a bad mood.

The call ended soon after that. He was not willing to say anything else on the matter. He was not in the mood to speak at all now.

Twain decided to leave from the front entrance instead of the side entrance that day. Before he could even reach the doors, however, he heard noises coming from outside. Countless reporters had crowded in front of the hospital’s front entrance, and they were all trying to seek confirmation from the hospital staff about whether Wood’s mother was truly critically ill. Woox, who had left earlier to deal with these reporters, was nowhere to be seen by then. The security guards saw Twain appear, and they immediately knew that the situation was going to get worse.

Sure enough, the reporters behind them acted as though they were on meth when they saw Twain. They started shoving about wildly in their attempt to get to the front and threw all their microphones and questions at Twain at the same time. They were all hoping that they would be able to get some valuable information from Twain.

Of course, there were also some reporters in the mix who did not care about Wood and his mother’s condition. They yelled at the top of their lungs, “Tony! Hey, Tony! Is it true that you’ll be coming out of retirement?”

“Mr. Twain, there are rumors that you will manage Nottingham Forest once again. Is this true?”

Twain acted as though he did not see the crowd of reporters before him, and he pretended not to hear any of the questions that were thrown at him. He stopped in his tracks at the entrance and fished out a pair of sunglasses from his shirt pocket before putting it on. He then descended a flight of stairs and squeezed his way through the crowd under the protection of the police officers and security guards at the scene.

He soon left all the clamor behind him.