Never Judge

Cedric was stunned with what Ray had told him. He didn't know how to react, he was hoping that Julia's medical emergency would just be a light one like a stomach ache or that she sprained her ankle.

"What do we know?" Cedric asked Ray in the hopes that he could get more information.

"Miguel suspects that it's either poison or a medical condition." Ray told Cedric. 

"Did the pilot or Ming's mom tell you guys exactly what happened?" Cedric interrogated. 

"Yeah. They said that when they left Spain, Julia was fine." Ray said as he recounted the story that both Guan Ming's mom and the Pilot had told them. "As a matter of fact she was quite surprised to find out that the plane she was on was Guan Ming's."

"So what happened, did she feel some sort of pain or pass out?" Cedric asked.

"I was getting to that." Ray told Cedric. "According to them, Julia suddenly just passed out, no pain, no anything. As a matter of fact it happened the moment she stood up to get out of the plane, that's why they didn't even consider taking her to the capital."

"Did Miguel tell you when he will know more?" Cedric asked.

"He is running some tests now, based on his estimates we should get all the results by tomorrow. He didn't want to rush anything." Ray informed Cedric. 

"Alright. Thank you for this." Cedric told his brother-in-law.

"It's for everyone." Ray said nonchalantly.

"How is Jonathan taking this by the way?" Cedric asked as he remembered Julia's brother.

"He is taking it better than I would." Ray said in a sad voice. "I know I don't have a sister, but if any of the girls were hurt like that, I would be tearing the hospital apart."

"Well, the kid is a lot more passive than we are." Cedric told Ray. "I'm just worried he'll break down or something. Do you mind keeping an eye on him for me?" He asked.

"Already on it." Ray told Cedric. "Both he and Guan Ming's mom will be staying at my Villa. Miguel prefers to stay in his since it already has everything he needs. He also asked for some of his team to fly in after us so they should arrive soon."

"That's good to hear." Cedric said with a nod. "Guan Ming should arrive soon. We want people to think that it's his mom that had a medical emergency."

"The timing of things." Ray said in a sad tone. "I thought things would go according to plan this time."

"We both know that something always goes wrong." Cedric said with a laugh. "It's a hard and sad truth that we need to accept. Our plans will always get messed up somehow, that's why we plan with contingencies."

"Do you have the back-up running?" Ray asked.

"Yeah, all the assistants are here and the girls are helping me out with something." Cedric told Ray.

"You let your sister help, didn't you?" Ray asked Cedric.

"Yes." Cedric said in a decisive tone.

"Did you at least attempt to stop her from helping?" Ray asked. "She's pregnant, she should be resting."

"My sister is capable of taking care of herself, Ray. If I stopped her it would have caused an even bigger fight, something I would rather avoid." Cedric informed his friend.

"You really could never refuse your sister." Ray teased.

"I owe her for all the years I wasn't in her life." Cedric said in a much more serious tone that earlier.

"She doesn't blame you, Ced. None of us do." Ray told his friend as he tried to comfort Cedric. "If you didn't undergo your poverty training you wouldn't be the man you are now. Plus you brought her back another best friend."

"I swear my biggest worry was that she would hate Adrianna." Cedric said with a laugh. "Now I don't know if I want them to love each other or hate each other. They could both drive me crazy if they wanted to."

"You're happy with the way things turned out." Ray told him, knowing that Cedric got exactly what he wanted.

"Yeah, I am." Cedric said as he nodded and looked out at the view of the city.

There was an awkward silence as Cedric took a deep breath and thought of how much things had changed in four years. But that was life, ever changing and unpredictable.

"You should get some rest." Ray told Cedric. "I'm sure a lot will happen tomorrow."

"Thanks." Cedric told his friend.

"Don't worry I'll give my wife a call and tell Miguel to do the same." Ray said as he laughed, knowing that Cedric would remind him. "I hope you told her to go to bed as well."

"I did, she said she was waiting for an update from you." Cedric informed Ray. "But they were already packing up when I left. I'll just drop by and tell them what happened, I'm sure she's tired too."

"Yeah, and she still had to go to a series of meetings today." Ray told Cedric, clearly saddened by the fact that his wife was still as busy as she was before her pregnancy.

"I'll tell the girls, update me if there is news tomorrow. Bye." Cedric said as he dropped the call.

He gave the city below one last longing look before finally turning around and heading back to his sister's office.

When he returned, he found the room tidy once more without a file in sight. 

Ayanna, Nicole, and Veronica were happily chatting and Mien was nowhere in sight.

"We told Mien to go ahead." Ayanna explained to her older brother.

"The boys got to Kashmere safely but since it was an emergency they couldn't call. When I called Ray he said he was about to update you Ayanna. He should call in a bit." Cedric told the girls.

"And Julia?" Veronica asked.

"I thought you didn't like her?" Nicole said as she gave Veronica a confused look.

"I might not like her but she is innocent in all of this." Veronica told her friend.

"She's still unconscious and we don't know anything yet. I'll tell you guys as soon as I know more. Go to bed." Cedric told them as he turned and left the room.

He knew the girls would leave as soon as their husbands called. Nicole on the other hand would be staying over and was just keeping her friends company. 

Cedric dragged himself up back to the third floor and was surprised to find Dominic in the hallway with Adrianna.