The man outside seed to stand there for a good while after changing his clothes. Just as Yvonne thought he was about to push open the bathroom door, he walked away.
As the sound of his footsteps faded, Yvonne finally let out a sigh of relief.
Once she was sure he was gone, she tiptoed out of the bathroom. She crept to the door, opened it, and peeked into the hallway. Spotting the bedroom diagonally opposite, she made a dash for it.
She shut the door, then turned and looked at the bed, her eyes imdiately landing on the blue pajamas.
She quickly snatched them up and opened the door again. Seeing the hallway was still empty, she got on her tiptoes and crept out, hugging the wall as she moved. She had just reached the end of the hallway, the front door already in sight, when the sound of footsteps approached again.
She glanced around frantically before ducking into the nearest room.
It was a study. The curtains were drawn, making the room sowhat dark. The footsteps grew closer and closer, finally stopping right in front of the study door. Then, the doorknob turned.
Just as the door was about to swing open, Yvonne instinctively threw her weight against it, forcing it shut.
The man outside went still for a second. "Dad, are you in there?" he asked.
Yvonne’s heart leaped into her throat. Her fingers trembled with anxiety, and she was filled with regret. ’I should have just revealed myself earlier.’
"Are you crying in there again?" A sigh ca from the other side of the door.
"Have you had lunch?"
The man outside muttered a few more things to himself before walking away.
The mont he left, Yvonne rushed to open the door. But just as she stepped out, the voice called again. "Dad, how about I make you so noodles?"
Yvonne pulled her foot back. The kitchen was an open-plan design, right around the corner from the hallway. The second she showed her face, he would definitely see her.
Realizing this, Yvonne could only close the door again. ’He’ll probably still go to the office,’ she thought. ’I can just wait for him to leave before I go.’
About fifteen minutes later, there was another knock on the door.
"Dad, I made you so noodles. Open the door, I’ll pass them to you."
Yvonne exhaled, then stood by the door and opened it a crack—just wide enough for a single bowl to pass through.
Wyatt Shaw said with a sigh of resignation, "Fine, I won’t co in. But you have to finish the noodles. I’ll be back to get the bowl later."
A bowl of steaming seafood noodles was pushed through the opening. Yvonne reached out, grabbed it, and imdiately shut the door.
The familiar noodles, the familiar aroma... Yvonne really was hungry.
’Wyatt Shaw will be back for the bowl later,’ she thought. ’To keep up the act, I might as well eat it in his dad’s place.’ So, she picked up the bowl and, leaning against the door, began to eat.
"Is it good?" the voice asked from outside.
When she didn’t answer, Wyatt Shaw added, "If it’s good, knock three tis."
Yvonne obediently knocked three tis. After she did, she heard him laugh from the other side. It was only then that she realized sothing was off. ’Would his father be childish enough to play this kind of ga with Wyatt Shaw?’
’Does he know it’s ?’
"I’m heading to the office. Take your ti eating." After he spoke, it was quiet for a mont. Then, the sound of footsteps faded, followed by the click of the front door closing.
With mixed feelings, Yvonne finished the bowl of noodles. When she ca out of the study, the apartnt was, as expected, empty.
When Yvonne returned to the hospital room, Mr. Rhodes was already curled up asleep on the sofa. Daisy Shaw was lying on her side in the bed, watching him without blinking.
"Your blue pajamas," Yvonne said, placing the clothes next to Daisy Shaw.
Daisy Shaw looked at the pajamas and laughed. "There’s nothing special about these pajamas."
"I knew it. You were deliberately giving your father a hard ti," Yvonne huffed.
Daisy Shaw glanced at Mr. Rhodes again. "Did he secretly cry again?"
"Yes. You should know how terrified he is of losing you."
"I know."
"If you know, why aren’t you actively cooperating with your treatnt?"
Daisy Shaw sighed and looked at Yvonne. "You know my disease requires chemotherapy, right? Chemo makes you lose your hair, and it makes you so haggard you don’t even look human. And the whole process is agonizing."
"But there’s hope of curing this disease."
"My mom had stomach cancer too. I watched the whole process as she went from a blooming peony to a withered husk. She endured surgery after surgery, had tubes all over her body, and was in so much pain she was better off dead. In the end, she begged our family to let her go, to release her from her suffering. She suffered through every torture, casting aside all dignity and grace, but she still died in the end. If death is the inevitable outco, why go through all that? You suffer, and your family suffers right along with you."
Daisy Shaw looked at Mr. Rhodes again, at his hands. They were covered in several blisters from being scalded while cooking for her.
Daisy had clearly given this a lot of thought, and her conclusions were deeply rooted. It wouldn’t be easy to change her mind.
Yvonne stayed with Daisy Shaw all night, only leaving in the morning.
She had just driven her car out of the parking garage when Stewart Pace called, telling her to hurry back to the clinic.
When Yvonne got back, she saw a crowd of neighbors gathered outside the clinic, all discussing sothing.
She walked over and saw a tall, burly man with a buzz cut standing at the clinic entrance with a boy of about ten. He was yelling at the door. "You son of a bitch! You call my son a thief? I’ll cut your tongue out!"
Still not satisfied, he started kicking the door with a loud THUMP THUMP.
The door was locked from the inside. Stewart Pace stood in the courtyard, his face dark.
Yvonne pushed her way to the front and told the man to calm down. "I’m a doctor at this clinic. You can tell what the problem is."
The man had a vicious look on his face, which only grew more sinister when he saw Yvonne.
"You bitch. You with that wimp in there?"
Yvonne frowned. "Please watch your mouth!"
"My son’s being frad as a damn thief, and you’re telling to watch my mouth?"
"So what exactly happened?"
The man shoved his son forward. "This is my son. Does he look like a thief to you?"
Yvonne looked at the boy. He was tall and thin, with a sharp chin and large eyes that bulged slightly because of how skinny he was. His clothes were filthy, and as he looked at her, his gaze was just as cold and grim as his father’s.
"Yvonne, they just moved in yesterday, renting the place across from our clinic. This morning, the kid ca into the yard to steal pogranates..."
"Say ’steal’ one more ti!" the man roared, kicking the iron gate a couple more tis with a loud CLANG.
Stewart’s fair complexion flushed red with anger, but seeing Yvonne shake her head at him, he suppressed his temper. "He ca to pick pogranates. I told him not to, so he picked up a rock from the ground and threw it at our window."
Yvonne glanced toward the window of the west wing. Sure enough, a pane was cracked.
"I couldn’t catch him, so I went to his house to reason with his father. But not only was his father unreasonable, he said that when I was chasing his son, his son tripped and fell, and he wants to pay for the dical bills!" At this point, Stewart Pace was seething. "Do you hear this? What kind of logic is that!"
"It’s my logic! And if you don’t listen to it, you’ll get a taste of my fists!" the man shouted at Stewart, shaking his fist.
After hearing Stewart’s side of the story, the neighbors all sided with him.
"How can soone be so unreasonable?"
"Yeah, he was clearly stealing their pogranates."
"I’d say the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. His dad’s probably a thief too!"
This group of seniors never had much of a filter and said whatever was on their minds. Hearing this, the man glared with fierce eyes, pointed a finger at the crowd, and said, "I’ll be straight with you. I just got out of the joint. You piss off, and I’ve got no problem going back in!"
Hearing his words and seeing his nacing expression, the terrified neighbors quickly dispersed.
The man snorted, then looked back at Yvonne. "So, what’s it gonna be? Are you gonna pay up, or do you want a beating?"
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