Ian Preston ca back on the day before the Lunar New Year. He rushed straight to the hospital as soon as his flight landed in the early hours of the morning.
From the airport to the hospital, it was just getting light.
Thea Lynch had taken leave from work and had been at the hospital for the past few days. The old man had been moved to a general ward.
At first, everyone opposed it, but Thea said that she couldn’t sleep well even if she went ho, so she might as well stay there at night.
Her uncle and aunt were also getting old, and staying there overnight was too tiring for them.
Besides her, there was also the auntie who usually took care of the old man at ho.
During the day, Thea would go back to rest for a while, then co back in the afternoon.
In the winter mornings, it gets light very late. At five o’clock, Thea took her coat and stepped out of the ward.
Auntie heard the noise and ca out as well.
"Miss Lynch, are you going back?"
"Hmm." Thea responded. She had a eting to attend at the company in the afternoon, so she needed to go back and get so more sleep in the morning.
Auntie reminded her to be safe on the road, "Rember to have breakfast."
"Alright, thanks for your hard work here."
"It’s my duty." Auntie smiled at her and watched her leave.
At this ti, there was no one in the elevator.
Thea leaned against the side, slowly putting on her coat.
Silas Cheney had left her a car at the hospital. It would take just half an hour to drive back to her place at this ti.
She didn’t have much of an appetite in the morning and didn’t feel like going out to eat, so she went straight ho to sleep.
Wrapping her coat tightly, Thea walked out of the elevator.
The underground parking lot was cold and damp, but luckily Silas’s car wasn’t parked too far away, just beside the elevator.
She had just pulled out of the gate when another car drove in, blocking her path. Thea honked the horn, feeling a wave of irritation cross her brow.
It seed the other driver’s actions weren’t intentional, as they backed up a bit.
Thea looked up and happened to catch sight of the other car’s license plate.
"..." She was taken aback.
At the sa ti, the driver in the other car also stopped and turned to ask, "Mr. Qin, the car in front seems to be Mr. Cheng’s."
Silas Cheney liked cars and would switch them daily.
However, he did have a favorite car that he rarely drove because it was too precious.
Like the one in front now.
In the back seat, the man slightly raised his head upon hearing the sound.
Before he could see the license plate clearly, he looked up and saw Thea leaning out from the opposite car.
The other party rolled down their window and glanced in his direction, seemingly recognizing his car too.
——
Twenty minutes later, the Rolls Royce stopped at an inconspicuous breakfast shop.
"Put on your coat." Ian Preston pulled her coat up over her shoulders.
Thea murmured a response and got off with him.
Thea really liked the beef pancakes at this place.
Ian ordered so food for her matching her usual taste, and Thea managed to eat one.
"I can’t eat anymore. If I eat more, I won’t be able to sleep when I get back." Thea sat by the window, her voice sounding weak.
Ian didn’t force her.
On the way ho from the breakfast shop, the two didn’t exchange any words.
Because Thea fell asleep as soon as she got in the car.
She had barely closed her eyes all night, not because she had to take care of the old man but simply because she couldn’t sleep.
When they arrived, Ian carried her out of the car.
Thea slept lightly and woke up with just a slight movent.
"Go back to sleep, I’ll take you up."
Ian carried her in his arms and strode into the elevator.
Thea closed her eyes drowsily, the next thing she felt was being placed on the bed.
Ian took off her coat, and then her shoes and socks.
Then he tucked her in carefully.
He didn’t leave but sat down opposite the bed.
Thea lay on her side, and as soon as she opened her eyes, she saw him.
The curtains in the room were drawn tight, leaving not the slightest speck of light. The man’s silhouette was blurred, and she couldn’t see the expression on his face.
But Ian noticed her every move.
"Aren’t you going to sleep?"
The man’s voice was hoarse, with a hint of fatigue.
Thea gradually realized that Ian had also been working non-stop recently, and he’d co straight to find her once he landed.
He hadn’t adjusted to the ti difference either, just like her.
"Ian." She called out to him.
Yet her voice ca out soft and weak, like a cat’s ow.
"Do you want to sleep a bit?"
Initially, Ian intended to return to the hospital to check on Mr. Lynch after she fell asleep.
He didn’t plan to rest.
But after hearing her words, he hesitated and didn’t imdiately agree.
Not until she said, "I’m afraid to sleep alone."
When Thea was a child, she wasn’t very brave. After the Lynch couple moved out, she stayed in the compound with her brother and grandfather.
Before this, she always slept with her mom. Suddenly being away from her mom, and lacking a sense of security, she was too afraid to sleep alone.
Almost every night, Aaron Lynch would sit by her bed until she fell asleep.
At first, Aaron didn’t quite understand what she was scared of, but even so, he ca every night. Reading by her bedside, yawning as he read.
Back then, she found it amusing, staring at him with wide, bright eyes.
Aaron turned a page and inadvertently saw she was still awake, "Hurry up and sleep."
"If you don’t sleep soon, I’ll have soone else watch over you."
He was in high school then, with classes during the day.
"Who else? The second brother?"
"You wish, I’m calling Ian Preston over."
"..."
Back then, she wasn’t that afraid of Ian at all; she just thought he was not easy to approach, always with a stern face, like her brother.
Though she didn’t particularly like him.
But hearing Aaron say it, Ian seed like so sort of villain.
——
Seeing the figure lying beside her, Thea’s lashes quivered.
"When I couldn’t sleep as a child, my brother used to scare with you."
The man’s form paused slightly, realizing there was such a past.
"Were you so afraid of ?"
Thea nodded, then quickly shook her head lightly.
She didn’t fall asleep and took the initiative to extend her hand and hugged him. Ian’s breath stilled, and only after two seconds did he hug her back.
"Sleep, I’m not going anywhere."
Thea tightened her hold on him.
After a while, she spoke softly, "Ian, I was really scared that day."
It was rare for her to yield to him.
Ian lowered his head and kissed her forehead, "I should’ve co back sooner."
He apologized to her.
Her nose tingled involuntarily, and Thea let out a sob.
The first couple of tis she cried at the hospital, Thea held herself back, but now, she sobbed loudly in his arms.
She understood that life and death are natural phenona. She also knew her grandfather was getting old and would leave her eventually.
Her grandfather’s health was declining day by day, and she had ntally prepared for it.
But that day, when Silas ca to pick her up, she was still frightened.
That kind of helplessness and uncertainty.
Thea cried herself to sleep, and after she fell asleep, Ian carefully wiped her face with a warm towel.
After changing in the adjacent room, he hurried back, almost as if he hadn’t left, holding her in his arms.
Once the quiet set in, he realized that Thea had grown thinner than before.
Just after one month.
She not only looked haggard, but felt much lighter in his arms.
The man exhaled slowly, unsure of what to do with her.
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