The Alchemists

Mrs. Lu observed Nicolae for a long time and, finally, she nodded after releasing her hand. Her face was filled with gentleness. "You're a good man. Just call me Mother... You can call me Mother Lu, if you want."

Nicolae was stunned by Mrs. Lu's words. The way Mrs. Lu looked at him reminded her of Elena Lupei*, his adopted mother, who had taken care of him since he was a baby and loved him very much. Elena Lupei died 60 years ago, and Nicolae really missed her. He actually used the pseudonym "Wolf" from his mother's surname Lupei.

"All right, Mother..." Finally, the young man nodded. His warm smile immediately spread to Mrs. Lu, who now looked beaming.

"I really want to see the garden. Are you willing to take me out?" the frail woman asked with difficulty. It seemed that just talking gave Mrs. Lu a lot of pain.

"Of course, Mom," Marie said in a cheerful voice. She turned to Nicolae. "Could you help me?"

"Certainly," replied Nicolae.

"Doctor, it's okay, right, if I take my mom to the garden?" Marie asked Doctor Lin. The white-haired and bespectacled man shook his head.

"It's okay. As usual, please be careful, okay," he said.

Marie nodded. Slowly and very carefully, she was helped by Nicolae to lift Mrs. Lu's body into a wheelchair.

"I'll do it," Nicolae said quietly and gave Marie a signal to let him carry Mrs. Lu alone. The thin middle-aged woman's body felt very light when he carried her. Marie relented and let Nicolae lift her mother from the hospital bed and placed her in the wheelchair.

Nicolae watched Mrs. Lu and was impressed because, although her face remained calm, the young man could see the expression of pain that she was holding back.

The poor woman tried to smile many times, but because Nicolae was an experienced doctor, he knew that the woman was actually experiencing extreme pain in her body.

Now Nicolae can guess where Marie got her acting talent from. Mrs. Lu acted very well as if she was feeling no pain at all.

"Thank you, Nicolae ..." said Mrs. Lu with a bright face filled with a smile.

"With p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e, Mother..." Nicolae replied. Marie then took the wheelchair handles from Nicolae's hand and moved to push her mother.

"We'll go to the garden now, Doctor." She said goodbye and waved to Doctor Lin. The man waved back and smiled as he watched them leave the room and head for the garden.

Marie pushed the wheelchair slowly toward the garden as her mother liked. Along the way, Nicolae could hear Marie hum a song in a low voice.

He just walked after Marie, who was pushing her mother's wheelchair, without saying anything. At present, his only role was to be a fake husband, and he did not know exactly how to behave. He also did not want to carelessly say things that could reveal Marie's secret that in fact, they were not married.

The small group arrived at the garden in the middle of the Stamford Hospital Complex ten minutes later.

Nicolae must admit this place was very beautiful. Its green lawn stretched out, and there were many shady trees that provided a sense of peace for patients and their families who wanted to get solace.

He saw a number of wheelchair-bound patients who were also pushed by their family members into the garden. Some of them stopped and chose to sit, chatting under a tree, on a park bench, and some rested in beautiful gazebos surrounded by roses.

Marie stopped her mother's wheelchair under a shady tree by a beautiful pond. There were so many lotus flowers blooming in the pond and dozens of ducks and geese swimming gracefully, making the scenery that lay before them look very peaceful.

"This has been my mother's favorite place for years," Marie commented, parking the wheelchair and preparing to help her mother down to the grass. "We have always been sitting here since I was a child, every time we went to this garden."

"Does she want to sit on the grass? But the place is hot ... because of direct sunlight," Nicolae said in astonishment.

"Mom likes to feel the sunlight on her skin ... because she has been trapped in a hospital room for a long time, and very rarely can she enjoy the direct sun," Marie explained.

"Oh ... I see. How about I look for a blanket first, so Mother can sit on the blanket, not directly on the grass ..." Nicolae said again.

Marie shook her head with a smile, "Mom also likes sitting on the grass. We are happy to be at one with nature like that ..."

A happy smile was etched on Mrs. Lu's face as she felt her body sitting on soft, sweet-smelling Japanese grass because it had just been cut. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, looking very reverent. Nicolae could see how a small thing like this made Mrs. Lu very happy.

As he watched the woman, the corner of his eye accidentally caught sight of Marie, who was doing the same thing. The girl also breathed in air deeply with a smiling face and closed eyes.

The sight of the mother and daughter was so peaceful, made Nicolae charmed. He could see that Marie had inherited her mother's face, and maybe even her personality. When the two of them were sitting side by side like this and enjoying the natural beauty around them, the two women looked very similar.

Marie had a unique Asian face. Her hair was brown, and her cheeks had some cute freckles, which made her look so young. Her pair of brown eyes had a slightly slanted shape so that when she laughed, her eyes seemed to disappear into a straight line, hidden by her thick and long lashes.

Her red lips look very full and s.e.xy. For a moment, Nicolae was stunned to see the beautiful pair of eyes closed and full lips that were smiling. Marie looked like she was offering a prayer of gratitude to the sun god for bestowing light and warmth on them today.

Nicolae was fascinated to see that Marie looked very beautiful even though she was not wearing makeup at all, and when she sat side by side with her mother, Nicolae seemed to be able to see the figure of Mrs. Lu 20 years ago ... or he could see what Marie's face would look like in the next 20 years.

This was like a time machine.

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1] From Romanian "lup" meaning "wolf". That's why Nicolae used the nickname "Wolf" in Darknet, as a homage to his mother.