Chapter 276 Stable Condition
Veronica leaned back into the seat and closed her eyes for a moment, then decided to give Daniella a call. “Hey, Mom. Where are you guys?”
“Collins City Hospital,” Daniella replied.
“Which ward?”
“Just a minute. We’re at Block 21, Room 2109.”
“Got it. I’m on my way.” Veronica hung up and turned to speak to Matthew, who had his eyes on the road. “Could you drop me off at Collins City Hospital?”
When she called Daniella earlier, she was told that Crayson had been sent to the district hospital for a medical examination. Now that he was transferred to the city hospital, there wasn’t much distance they needed to cover.
Both Veronica and Matthew were silent throughout the ride. They were as good as a pair of strangers.
It wasn’t until they had walked into the hospital’s patient ward that she shot him a warning look and said, “Don’t say anything weird in front of my parents.” She shuddered to think how her parents would react if they found out about the recent happenings in her life, and she would rather Matthew keep his mouth shut the entire time.
He hummed curtly in response, as if he was only humoring her, and said nothing more.
They then headed out of the elevator and made their way over to Room 2109. Pushing the door open, Veronica was greeted by the sight of her adoptive parents and Crayson, who lay unmoving in the hospital bed.
Panic seized her as she rushed up to them and pressed, “Mom, Dad, how is he doing?”
“He only just got out of the emergency room, and the doctor says he’s recuperating,” Daniella explained morosely.
“Don’t worry, Roni, he’s going to be fine. He’s always been a plucky one,” Tony added comfortingly.
“Mr. and Mrs. Murphy,” Matthew greeted with a polite nod. “I’m sorry that I came here empty-handed; we didn’t exactly have the time to stop by the store to get anything.”
“Oh, Matthew, how nice it is to see you. It’s so nice of you to drop Veronica off when the weather is so cold and the roads so icy. I’d be worried if she had come alone,” Daniella said kindly as she and Tony exchanged a small smile.
Veronica couldn’t care less about how Matthew and his parents were interacting. She was admittedly more concerned about Crayson. He was unconscious as he lay on the bed, and there was a bandage wrapped around his head. He looked to be sleeping soundly, and he did not budge even once, but for some reason, his idle state left her panicked.
She sat down in the caretaker’s chair next to the bed and reached out gently to pat the old man’s hand. “Crayson? Hey, wake up. I’m here to see you,” she murmured softly. She even tugged on his hand gingerly, but still, there was no physical response from him.
Swallowing, she turned to look at Daniella and urged, “Mom, why isn’t he waking up? What did the doctor say?”
“He suffered from intracranial bleeding after he hit his head, and the doctor performed surgery on him earlier. Now, all we have to do is wait for him to wake up,” Daniella explained.
If they had to transfer him to the city hospital, Crayson’s situation must be serious.
With a sigh, Veronica muttered under her breath with a frown, “You’re usually quite the agile fellow. Who would’ve thought that you would fall so clumsily?”
She sounded like she was chiding him, but really, her heart was twisting at the sight of him. She saw him as family, and she had practically grown up in his home. Never had she imagined something like this would ever happen to him.
When Matthew saw how grim she looked, he consoled, “Don’t worry. I’m sure he’ll be just fine.”
“Take a seat, Matthew. You must be tired after the long drive. Are you hungry? Want me to go and get you guys supper?” Tony offered earnestly.
Both Tony and Daniella knew who Matthew was, and they also knew they had to tread carefully around him. He might be someone like a brother to Veronica, but his kindness toward her aside, he was still the first heir to the Kings. Power and money were his birthrights.
“There’s no need to trouble yourself, Mr. Murphy. I’m not hungry at all,” Matthew answered, waving his hand dismissively. His gaze lingered on Veronica as she sat firmly next to the bed, where she was holding onto Crayson’s hand.
He was so used to seeing her boisterous and devil-may-care side that the sight of her looking so worried made his heart twist. It was as if she suddenly had a weight on her shoulders, and she was intent on carrying it on her own.
Just then, a thought crossed his mind, and he announced to the room, “I’m going out to make a phone call.” With that, he spun on his heels and walked out the door.
When the door fell shut, Daniella immediately leaned close to Veronica and asked quietly, “Roni, did Matthew drive you all the way here?”
“You should have told us he was coming with you. We wouldn’t want him to think badly of you after you asked him to drop you off,” Tony added.
Veronica looked out the glass window on the door and saw Matthew standing outside with his phone held up to his ear. She shook her head and said, “Mom, Dad, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it. It was Old Mrs. Kings who asked him to drop me off. She didn’t want me to drive alone in this weather.”
Tony and Daniella were honest country folk, and after becoming victims to Floch and Rachel’s schemes, they had grown weary of the rich and powerful, worried that the smallest thing could offset these people.
“How did Old Mrs. Kings find out about Crayson’s injury?” Daniella asked, bewildered.
Jerking her chin in Matthew’s direction. “He told her about it.” Then, she turned her attention back to Crayson. Age was catching up to him, and she could tell from the lines that mapped his face and the silver that peppered through his hair and beard.
She thought about his affable smile and his stern expressions whenever he was training her, and she felt her nose prickle.
“Mom, Dad, stay here for a bit while I go and check on his medical sheet,” Veronica said. She rose from her seat and walked out of the room to ask the nurses about Crayson’s condition.
Her parents were farmers, and they didn’t understand what the doctor said well enough to explain it to her. As such, she made her way over to the nurses’ counter, only to be stopped in her tracks when Matthew called out to her. “I already asked about your master’s condition. It was intracranial bleeding, and I’ve—I mean, Grandma has already arranged for a doctor to check up on him after I told her about it.”
Stunned, Veronica said, “She shouldn’t have. I’ll call her right now.” She had to thank Elizabeth no matter what.
“Nah, forget it. It’s late anyway, and she was about to head to bed when I called her earlier,” Matthew said, stopping her from making that call.
If it weren’t for the odd gleam in his eyes, one might actually be convinced that he had been telling the truth. However, Veronica was so worried about Crayson that his condition was all she could think about, and she did not dwell much on Matthew’s words. “Okay, then, I’ll thank her when we get back.”
After that, she went back to the hospital room.
That night, Matthew put Tony and Daniella up in the hotel next to the hospital, then stayed back in the ward with Veronica. He showed no intention of leaving her alone there.
“I’ll be fine on my own. You should get some rest,” she pointed out when she saw how busy he was as he sat to the side while scrolling through his phone, which buzzed every now and then. She wagered that his assistant must be texting him about company matters, and he was pouring over them.
“Yeah,” Matthew replied, then rose to leave, closing the door behind him.
Veronica blinked in disbelief. He’s leaving just like that? She was the one who asked him to go, but when he really did, she couldn’t help feeling empty.
As she sat in the caretaker’s chair and gazed down at Crayson’s sleeping profile, she mumbled, “How can you be this old and still be as stubborn as a kid? I told you to move in with my parents, but you insist on staying on your own. The fact that someone found you right after you fell was sheer luck because I don’t know what would have happened to you otherwise.”
