Chapter 512: Last Spring. 2
"Hello? Who’s this?"
Luca spoke into the microphone for the third time after still getting no response. What followed were some shuffling sounds and soft cracks before what seemed like someone finally grabbing the phone.
Foresighted curiosity wreathed Luca, but it was nothing like he expected. What flowed through the receiver was the sweet voice of a young lady.
"Sorry for the holdup. Please, am I speaking to Mr. Luca Rennick?"
Luca didn’t know if it was right to tell a stranger they had the correct number, even if the voice sounded harmless and pleasant. He was a public figure, after all, and one slip could lead to a mess. It might have been a genuine call, but it could just as easily be something else. He wondered how the person had gotten his personal number.
So instead of confirming, he sidestepped the question.
"Is there an issue here?"
"Yes, sir," the lady replied quickly, her tone shifting to formal. "I’m Nurse Elodie Grace from St. Barlow’s Clinic, Central London. I apologize if this is abrupt, but we had a woman walk in during the late morning hours. She appeared to be in mild distress while shopping nearby and asked for the number of her loved one. She identified herself as Mrs. Rennick and confirmed that her son is the F1 driver, Luca Rennick. You were the only contact she gave us."
Luca took a deep breath, and a soft wave of relief coursed through him. In the beginning, he’d expected the call to be tied to that ambiguous car confrontation from London. That encounter was still documented in his head.
But the relief was short-lived.
His mother, in the hospital? Luca sighed and rubbed his temple.
Since the nurse said "mild distress", he hoped it wasn’t something severe like last time.