Never Judge

Cedric could feel the world around him disappearing. What exactly had happened? How brutal were the kidnappers that they almost took his son and could possibly kill his mom?

"Cedric?" Eric called out. He and the others had chosen to stay to help in whatever way they could. Eric had expected that the members of the Reyes Family would need someone like him around so he made sure to help in every way possible.

"Miguel is with mom." Cedric said weakly. "He can save her." Cedric was pleading in desperation.

"Cedric. . ." Emilio said with a frown. 

"How can you just give up like that? How can you not keep fighting, keep hoping? Don't you trust Miguel?" Cedric asked his father in an aggressive tone. If it weren't for his son he would have already rushed up to his father, he was angry that Emilio Reyes was sitting in his living room doing nothing. How could a man not care when his wife was dying.

"Dad is just telling you what the Chans told him." Ayanna said as she arrived with Ray. She must have left to gather herself and change out of the bloody clothes. She was much more composed now in comparison to Cedric.

"Ayanna, don't tell me you will just be calm about this too?" Cedric asked his sister. He couldn't believe her, she was there when the attack had happened. How could she remain so calm?

"Get a hold of yourself Cedric. This is very unlike you." Ayanna scolded him. "What use will our hysterics be to mom? Think rationally, or has that poverty training messed with the Cedric Reyes I know."

Cedric closed his eyes and took deep breaths, Ayanna was right, him losing it would do no good to his mother. What he needed to do was to remain rational, he needed to find out what could be done to save his mother and to find out what had happened.

"Please hold Emilio for me." Cedric told Ayanna as he stood up and handed his son over to his sister.

Ayanna simply nodded and did as he asked. She was more than willing to take care of her adorable nephew, plus it helped her practice her motherly instincts, she and Ray were planning on starting a family of their own soon enough.

Cedric walked out of the living room and took out his phone. He knew he couldn't just stand there and do nothing. He needed to think rationally, he needed to put his emotions aside for a moment to help his mother.

He calmed himself down first before finally giving his wife a call. He waited patiently as the phone rang.

"Cedric." Adrianna said in a sad tone.

"Adri, how are you? How is mom?" Cedric asked. He felt guilty about not calling his wife when he had heard about the attack, he was just so concerned about Emilio that he forgot to call.

"Cedric." Adrianna said his name as she sobbed. "Miguel said she's lost too much blood. Did you know mom was sick? She can't just have any blood, plus the injury it just made things worse."

"Adri, try to breath. I'm here for you." Cedric said over the phone. "Did Miguel say if anything could be done to help mom?"

"I should be telling you those words, she's your mom." Adrianna said as she cried.

"Adri, I know how much you love my mom. She's been like a second mother to you, and I know how much she loves you." Cedric told his wife.

"Cedric, how is Yoyo, how is our son? As soon as he and Ayanna could leave I sent them away." Adrianna asked, she had clearly placed her son's safety before her own, sending him away as soon as possible.

"He is safe. He is resting right now so I can't put him on the phone. But rest assured he is safe." Cedric said in an attempt to calm his wife.

"Cedric, there is something you need to know, your mother wasn't the only person hurt in the incident. There was a casualty." Adrianna said as her voice trembled.

"Who?" Cedric asked worriedly.

"Mia." As Adrianna said her bodyguard's name Cedric could hear her crying. In the past few years Mia had become one of Adiranna's closest friends. "Cedric she saved us, she took down the attackers but they shot her, the other guards were too late."

Cedric was at a loss, he didn't know what to say. 

"Is that Cedric?" He heard Miguel ask in the background. "I'll speak with him." Miguel said as Adrianna presumably handed the phone.

"Cedric? How are you holding up? How is Yoyo?" Miguel asked over the phone.

"I'm trying to keep it together. Emilio is traumatized, it seems that the attack was meant to be a kidnapping." Cedric told Miguel over the phone. "Miguel, how is my mother? What happened?"

"Cedric, auntie lost so much blood." Miguel said with a sigh. "Her condition was not good to begin with, back when I didn't know who's files I was looking at, I gave her two months to live, tops. So this injury just made things worse."

"Is the cancer that bad?" Cedric asked Miguel.

"Yes, it was much more aggressive this time around." Miguel explained. "We were supposed to give her an experimental form of treatment, but this incident happened."

"Isn't there anything you can do Miguel?" Cedric pleaded. 

"Nicole and I are trying our best." Miguel said sadly. "I have a doctor friend who is visiting. I contacted him in the hopes that he could help. He is on his way, but Cedric, don't set your hopes too high." Miguel warned.

"Miguel, I will always hope for the best." Cedric said in reply.

"We will do our best." Miguel promised over the phone.

"Thank you Miguel. We'll be there in a bit." Cedric said as he dropped the call.

Cedric stood in the hallway alone for a few minutes. He thought of his mom, how she had always been the kindest person he knew. Priscilla Reyes wasn't just kind to the people closest to her, she was kind even to strangers. She protected the weak and defenseless, she always told him that she would think of how Cedric was doing during his poverty training, then she would turn to those that had no choice but to live in poverty. 

As Cedric leaned against the wall he felt a tear fall from his eye. He didn't want to admit it but he wanted to cry. He wanted to feel, he didn't want to be the rational head of the Reyes Family, right now all he wanted to be was Cedric Reyes, a son.