"Absolutely. Why don’t you let call you? You heartless guy, you haven’t contacted since that day. Have you forgotten about ?"
She spoke with a mix of flirtation and sorrow.
"I really haven’t forgotten. It’s just been inconvenient these past days!"
"Are you swamped with work?"
"Yeah, I’m working on two major projects."
I smiled. "Big projects that are enough to let Kristina and Lily live a good life. Of course, I must work hard!"
"You still care."
She lightly tapped my forehead, then lay down, accidentally hitting my wound, causing to wince.
She was startled. "What’s wrong?"
"I... I’m fine!"
I pretended to be calm, trying to hide the pain.
"Don’t say you’re fine. You look pale."
She hurriedly inquired, "Did I hurt you sowhere?"
"No, not at all!" I replied.
"Tell the truth!"
Seeing her earnest expression, I scratched my head and lifted my left sleeve, revealing the bandaged wound.
She exclaid, "What happened?"
"It’s just a scratch."
"Don’t lie to . Do you need this much bandaging for a small injury?"
She carefully held my hand, her eyes suddenly welling up. "I was a nurse. This is definitely not a small wound!"
I was taken aback. I had never heard her ntion her nursing background before.
Knowing I couldn’t keep it hidden, I said, "Please don’t cry. It breaks my heart."
She pushed away my hand. "For such an important matter, you kept this from . Do you really care about ?"
I feared won crying the most and imdiately panicked. "It’s not like that. I didn’t want you to fret, so I didn’t tell you. I was planning to..."
"You were waiting until you healed to see , right?"
I was stunned and then nodded.
She was a mix of concern and frustration. "You always insist on shouldering everything alone!"
I was touched by her tenderness and care, holding her as I rested my head against her chest. "You’re so kind."
She remained silent. Instead, she carefully examined my right hand, the bruised skin. Tears welled up in her eyes and stread down her cheeks. "Even a simple IV drip has left you so bruised. The injury must be more serious than I thought."
I felt guilty. Why didn’t I tell her sooner?
I wiped away her tears with heartache. "I’m sorry. I... I was wrong. I should have told you right away."
"It’s my fault too. I should have contacted you earlier," she said, her face a blend of sorrow and guilt, making uneasy.
"However, this was rather sudden."
After pondering, I didn’t hold back and told her about the previous events, skipping the perilous parts.
She was both heartbroken and angry. "You always try to be strong, the hero. Why don’t you ever heed advice? It was the sa in Green Bay last ti, and now you’re tussling with kidnappers. Do you think you’re Superman?"
I could feel her fear. Last ti, saving soone from drowning was one thing, but this ti, I ended up injuring myself. Truthfully, I was scared too. A slower reaction, and that knife could have been fatal.
"I’m sorry. I won’t do this again. Please don’t be angry, okay?"
Admitting mistakes early was wise, and standing firm when being scolded. In front of Kristina, saving face was not important at all.
"Can I not be angry?" Kristina huffed, "William Maine, let tell you. If there’s a next ti, don’t co to !"
Except for when we first t, she called that. After that, it was just William. Using my full na now ant she was truly angry.
"It won’t, and I promise!"
After soothing her for a while, her expression finally softened. "Do you know how worried I was? If sothing happened to you, what would I do? What about Lily? After you saved others last ti, Lily beca a little hero at school. She was so happy. If sothing happened to you, she’d lose her dad again. How heartbroken would she be?"
"I was wrong. I was so engrossed in flexing my strengths that I overlooked the fact that there’s a big beauty and a little beauty here who count on . I’m such an idiot. I..."
"Tsk, what nonsense about that!" Kristina said.
Seeing her like that, I quickly hugged her, kissing away her tears. "All the mistakes are mine. I will always rember I have you and Lily on my shoulders!"
Kristina’s heart completely lted. She lay on top of and said, "You’re good at sweet-talking! I’m also at fault. Why did I rent the house to you?"
"Perhaps it’s fate." I chuckled.
She gave a playful eye-roll. "Fine, you’re on a break for the next few days, right? Just don’t bother going back, stay here. I’ll look after you!"
"What?"
’Stay here!’
’What about Mary?’
’If she sees not going back, won’t she co looking for ?’
"No need to worry. The hospital has caregivers," I said.
"Can the caregivers be as caring as ?" she retorted.
Kristina stated, "Tomorrow’s Friday, and I’ll take the day off. That gives a three-day stretch to look after you, just what you need to get back on your feet."
What could I do to resist the tender care of soone so kind? This was exactly it!
"I know you care about , but there’s really no need to take a day off just to look after . I’m not a child, and I’ll be discharged by Saturday!" I said.
Kristina perched on my lap and murmured, "Who knows better, you or ? If you’re trying to annoy , you can leave right now and see if I’ll let you back in later!"
My head was reeling.
She actually wanted to stay over tonight, and she was so insistent about it.
What should I do?
Kristina might seem gentle, but she was actually quite assertive. Otherwise, as a single woman, she wouldn’t have been able to raise Lily on her own and manage so well.
And I had finally managed to cheer her up. If I left now, who knew how long it would take to make her happy again?
I clenched my teeth and agreed. Fine, I wouldn’t go back to the hospital.
Anyway, I could be discharged tomorrow morning after the IV drip, and I just need to co back on ti for dication later.
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