After Jessica came back from the bathroom, she began to look preoccupied the entire time. Rachel served her vegetables. “Jess, what’s the matter? Is the food not to your taste?”
“Jess?” Jessica came back to her senses. “No, it’s delicious.”
“What’s wrong? Why the long face?”
“I’m just a little homesick.”
Rachel was slightly startled. “Do you want to go home?” “Yeah, when my leg heals from the injury, I want to go back to Panzonia.” This was the first time Jessica said she wanted to go back.
It felt like a weight had fallen off Rachel’s heart, but she felt a little empty. “Don’t be so anxious. When your leg is healed, have fun in Riverdale for a while, and I will send you back.”
After she finished speaking, Rachel placed more food in Jessica’s bowl again. “No need; I’ll just go back by myself.”
Jessica and Rachel were not close, and she had always been impatient with Rachel to the point where she did not even eat the food that was given by Rachel.
Justin, who was on the side, saw Jessica and placed a bowl of soup in front of her. She took it naturally and drank it in small sips. Rachel was secretly surprised.
Habits were a terrible thing. Justin brought her meals these days and played games with her, so Rachel was not entirely certain whether the conflict between them had been resolved, but they got along better than any one of them. It was true he was more familiar with this girl than the rest of them.
After dinner, Jessica had to go back to the hospital and everyone else went back to their homes. “Jess, I’ll take you back in my car.” “I don’t need you to send me back.”
Jessica still had an indifferent attitude toward Rachel. “Justin will send me off.” Rachel wanted to say something, but was stopped by Justin. ‘It’s okay, I’ll send her back. You can head home first.”
As he said that, he helped Jessica into the car and placed the wheelchair in the trunk. His actions were smooth and practiced, and Jolly couldn’t help but admire him. “If I didn’t know better, I would’ve thought he had been a careworker for half his life. He’s so skilled at this, and he doesn’t even look like the Young Master of the Burton Family.”
Rachel heard these words and had mixed feelings. Then, she said, “He should have done. a lot of hard work for Jess to let go of her hatred so quickly.”
“I just can’t see it. I don’t know whether he worked hard or not, but with his face, he wins half the battle.” Jolly raised her eyebrows. “This girl Jessica is a sucker for attractive faces, can’t you tell?”
“What? No way, right?” “Look at how she said that my Leroy was not good looking before we started eating, but when she saw Leroy, she blushed.” Jolly suddenly thought of something and said in a low voice, “Hey, you should probably prepare yourself mentally. A 16 or 17-year-old young girl like Jessica is most likely to like a handsome and rich older man.”
“What do you mean?” “Look, there was a misunderstanding between the two at first. The little girl wanted to take revenge, but she later found out that the other party was actually a gentle and considerate handsome man. After spending so much time together, who knows-”
“Oh, shut up! Jess is only seventeen years old!” Rachel gave Jolly a blank look. “Can you be more serious?” “I’m being very serious.”
Rachel was too lazy to lecture her. “Stop talking nonsense. Let’s go quickly since your Leroy is still waiting for you.” “Fine, I’m done anyway. I’m leaving, then. You’re sleeping by yourself tonight, so don’t miss me too much.”
With these words, Jolly got into Leroy’s nanny car. After going back, Victor and Gloria had already packed their things and were going to live in their own home.
“Just stay for a few more days. Why are you in such a hurry? It’s already late.” Gloria said, “I’m going to Panzonia tomorrow morning. The global concert tour is about to start, so I have to prepare ahead of time.”
Victor answered immediately, “And I’m going to see her off in the morning.” If Gloria had not mentioned it, Rachel would have probably forgotten about it. “Oh yes, your tour is about to begin.” She was a little disappointed. “Then, I probably won’t be able to see you for a while.”
Gloria hugged Rachel with a smile. “All you have to do is wait for me to come back. The last stop of the tour will be in Riverdale.” Charlotte and Samuel lined up next to Rachel and consciously stretched out their arms to hug Gloria.
“Aunt Gloria, you’ll miss me, right?” Charlotte wrapped her arms around Gloria’s neck, and the smell of milk made Gloria want to kiss her several times. “You need to always listen to your mommy, okay?”
“Okay, I know.” “Okay, we’ll be going now. Rachel, don’t need to send us off.” At night, both children were asleep. Rachel looked at the clock on the wall-it was almost midnight and Justin had not come back.
She didn’t know why, but after returning from her business trip, her eyelids kept twitching and she had a persistent feeling that something was going to happen.
She took her coat and car keys and rushed to the hospital in unease. It was past midnight. In the ward, Jessica held the game controller and yawned.
After a few yawns, she leaned on the pillow and fell asleep. She had fallen asleep while playing a game. Justin took the game controller from her hand, adjusted the slope of the hospital bed, and then covered her with the quilt.
After doing all this, just as he was about to leave, his hand was suddenly pulled. Jessica grabbed Justin’s little finger and murmured, “Don’t go. Hans.”
When he heard those words, Justin froze for a moment. “Are you dreaming?” She also opened her eyes. Although she was still a little confused, she also seemed to see clearly that the man in front of her was not Hans, but Justin, who had been under her command recently. Then, she nodded lightly.
He didn’t ask any more questions, but he poured a cup of tea and placed it on the bedside table. “I’ll come back tomorrow morning.” When she saw that he was leaving, Jessica suddenly hugged the quilt and grabbed his sleeve.
Justin retracted his hand subconsciously, but he didn’t expect that she was holding it so tightly. Her strength was mutually exclusive and she was a little persistent as she clung onto him.
“Don’t go, okay? I can’t sleep alone.”
After taking care of her for so long, this was the first time he saw her showing any kind of weakness. She was usually like a thorny cactus, and never willing to concede to him.
Justin glanced at his watch; it was very late. “Alright. Go to sleep, I’ll be by your side.” As he said that, he glanced at his sleeve and gestured to Jessica. “I’m not leaving.”
Jessica refused to release her grip and said sullenly, “I couldn’t sleep when I was a child, and it was my brother who accompanied me. He would always tell me stories.”
He stood by the bed for a while, and finally said, “What do you want to hear?” Her eyes warmed. “What do you usually tell your daughter?” “All kinds of stories. She has a lot of storybooks.”
“Well, then I don’t want to listen to anything found in storybooks. I’m tired of listening to stories about princesses. I want to listen to something new. “Once upon a time, there was a big forest, and the little white rabbit family lived in it…”
He went on and on. The lights in the ward were dim, and the voice of the storyteller was gentle, powerful and reassuring. No one noticed that there was a figure standing outside the door, which had been there for a while.
