Alicia looked at Ryu in curiosity and Ryu continued,"I can hear a baby crying too.."

The two of them stared at each other with their mouths hanging open.The sound was faint but clearly that of a baby.Alicia wondered if they were having a sams hallucination at the same time.Maybe her talk of babies had sparked Ryu's imagination as well?Or maybe the sound was coming from outside,maybe someone was pa.s.sing by with a baby.But that was also not possible since the distance betwwen the house and it's great outer walls was atleast a kilometer on each side.And since both their neighbors were Neil and Matt,a neighbor's baby was also not possible...

Ryu helped Alicia stand and then followed the sound to the treehouse.As they went closer,the cries could be heard loud and clearly.Alicia and Ryu looked at each other and then Alicia made to climb the ladder of the tree house but was stopped by Ryu."Don't.I'll go and check.It is not safe for you."

Alicia nodded and Ryu climbed the elevated tree house up the ladder.He had to bend at the waist to look inside.The tree house was a typical tree house,with a simple and small layout.And the moment,Ryu looked around,he saw a little baby lying on the floor crying,her hand held tightly by a small hand.The owner of the small hand was huddled under the blankets but was trying to soothe the baby blindly.The baby saw him and it's small cries stopped suddenly.It stared at Ryu with it's big s.h.i.+ny eyes and put a fisted hand in it's mouth!It seemed,they had discovered what their son was hiding.Ryu held out his arms to pick the baby,when suddenly the boy under the blanket realized the sudden silence.Peeping up from th blanket was a boy similar to Ru in age but his face was currently red.By the time the little boy got over the shock of seeing an intruder,Ryu had picked up the baby and moved towards the exit.Holding the baby in one hand,he climbed down the stairs.The baby was totally wet and cold and this could possibly be the reason why it was it was crying on top of her lungs.Coming down,he handed the baby to a shocked Alicia,making sure that the blanket on Alicia's shoulders also covered the little baby and ordered Alicia to take her inside and call the doctor..He then went upstairs to see the little boy struggling to get up from the bed.Ryu did not need to touch the boy to know that the boy had high fever.His s.h.i.+vering body and red face were proof enough.The boy tried to attack Ryu the oment he was close enough.But a little sick boy could not match the strength of a grown man.Ryu had easily wrapped the boy in the blanket he had been under and like a sack of rice brought him down the tree house and inside the house.

The boy was already suffering from a cold and was now trying to scream his throat out from the blanket.Alicia had already changed the baby into a new dress that they had bought for their baby and the little child was already sucking on a bottle of warm milk hungrily while kicking her legs up at the sky.The little boy was thrown albeit gently on the bed and he immediately leapt out of the blanket,staring around wildly.He calmed down the moment his baby sister lying on the bed drinking her milk.Staring at the man that had brought him here,the boy realized that the man was most probably his friend Ru's father and the lady standing at the back was his mother.By the time the boy a.s.similiated this,his adrenaline rush had gone and he fainted onto the bed right away.It was at this moment that Ru also reached the door of the room after having heard the commotion outside.Ru looked at the two people on the bed and then his parents who were now staring at his with questions in his eyes.Seeing his friend had fainted,Ru gulped and wanted to confess everything but stopped himself.His friend had made him promise to not tell anyone anything.He gulped and was about to escape when he was caught by the cuff of his neck by his father and placed on the chair near the bed and ordered,"Sit there,young man!You have some serious explanation to give."

Ru opened his mouth and closed it and then opened again.He was about to squeak out an explanation when he was literally saved by the bell.Alicia went out of the room and opened the door to the doctor she had called and brought him inside.The doctor checked over the boy and the baby and said,"The little girl has some cold due to the change in weather and will be fine after some medicine.The boy has serious fever and must be urgently admitted to the hospital as he has the beginnings of a pneumonia.I have given him an injection to bring down his fever and stop the pneumonia from spreading but I would advise you Mr Long to take the little boy to the hospital as fast as possible."

The doctor was about to take his leave when a small and panicked voice asked,"Doctor?Will my friend be alright?He won't die right?"

The little boy's scared voice answered the doctor's unasked questions about these children and also tugged at his heartstrings.Trying to calm the little boy the doctor said patiently,"Do not worry child.He was able to get medication on time so with a little warmth and medicine,he should be as good as new very soon.Calm your heart."