When Rachel rushed to the hospital, there was a group of people at the entrance of the ward.
Gloria had put off all her work to stay at the hospital. It happened to be a holiday, so Victor was also with her at the hospital. That was why Rachel was assured enough to leave and see Regina off.
“Rachel.”
Victor spotted Rachel first, and Gloria turned around as well.
Rachel walked over to them from the corridor. When she saw the crowd at the entrance from a distance away, her heart began pounding wildly. She was terrified that a tragedy would happen after all this good news. No one could foresee the future, after all.
“How is he?” Jolly was the one who asked about the situation first.
Gloria said, “The doctor is still doing a check-up inside. We’ve been asked to wait outside.”
Victor comforted Rachel, saying, “Rachel, he’s awake now, so he should be fine. Don’t worry.”
Rachel nodded, but she couldn’t help worrying in her mind.
Just then, the door to the ward opened, and the doctor walked out.
Rachel’s feet seemed to be planted firmly on the ground, and she couldn’t move as she watched Jolly and the others ask the doctor about the situation. She remained behind them, listening in.
“He’s alright now. We’ll observe him for a few more days, and if everything is fine, he can get discharged and rest at home.”
Everyone sighed in relief.
Gloria hastily said, “Thank you for the hard work, doctor.”
“You’re welcome. This is our duty, after all.”
“In that case, can we go in now?”
“Try not to go in all at once. He still hasn’t completely woken up. One of you can go in and talk to him, but please don’t cause a ruckus.”
“Thank you, doctor.”
After the doctor left, everyone turned their gazes simultaneously on Rachel.
They all knew that none of them were more worthy of seeing Justin than Rachel herself.
In the ward, the afternoon sunlight shone through the curtains into the room. It wasn’t too brilliant, and it was at the perfect intensity. It was just like the temperature in the ward; everything was just right.
Rachel sat down next to the bed. She didn’t move rashly, and she was even a little careful as if she feared that she might wake him. Nonetheless, this was contradictory to her wishes. She hoped that he would wake up and that he would look at her and talk to her.
“Weren’t you awake? Why are you sleeping again?”
Rachel carefully took Justin’s hand, her voice small as she spoke. “Why did you wake up today, of all days, when I’m not at the hospital? If I knew you’d be waking up, I wouldn’t have left no matter what.”
Justin’s fingers moved a little, and he began to frown.
Rachel didn’t notice that as she lowered her head and took a deep breath. “It’s okay, though. The doctor said that you can be discharged after some observation for a few more days. I’m glad enough that you can get discharged. This time, I feel as if we both died once and came back to life.”
Rachel spoke to herself, not realizing that Justin had already opened his eyes. He gazed at her for a long time, the look in his eyes gradually turning gentle.
“Rae.”
When Rachel heard his voice, she thought she was hearing things. She was stunned for a while before she slowly raised her head.
As their gazes met, Rachel saw that there were hints of exhaustion in Justin’s eyes. However, the gentleness was unmistakable underneath the fatigue. He looked at her quietly as if he were looking at a treasure he lost and found again.
Rachel gripped his hand tightly, instantly at a loss for words. Her tears began streaming down her face.
Justin tried to lift his hand to wipe the tears away for her. Sadly, his body was terribly heavy, and his other hand had a needle in it, so he couldn’t quite raise his hand.
When he saw Rachel choking on her sobs, Justin said helplessly, “Don’t cry, Rae.”
“I’m not crying.” Rae turned around and wiped her tears away. However, no matter how much she wiped, her tears kept coming.
Just when Justin was wondering what he should do, she suddenly turned around and hugged him.
Her weak body was light, and it felt like a small cloud had covered his chest. The cloud shivered slightly along with the sound of sobbing, and countless words were conveyed in silence.
Outside the ward, Victor scratched his head while comforting the two other women.
“Why are you crying? He’s awake, isn’t he? What are you so sad about?”
“Sad?” Gloria glared at him. “We’re moved to tears!”
Similarly, Jolly was also crying. “Yes, we’re moved to tears! What would you know about that?”
The two always fought with each other, but they stood on the same side today while facing a common enemy. In an instant, Victor turned into the fool who couldn’t read the room.
Victor was exasperated.
By evening, Justin could sit up and eat normally.
Gloria and the others just stood and watched from the entrance before going home to rest.
For the past few days, these people had been going to and from the hospital and their homes, so none of them had had proper rest. Now, they could finally sleep restfully.
During their meal, Justin asked Rachel about the fire, and the woman told him truthfully.
“Mr. Hudson was the one who saved us?”
“Yes.”
“In that case, is he alright?”
“He sustained minor injuries, but he’s more or less all healed now. He just saw Regina off this morning, but he will be staying in Riverdale for a while. He said he has some matters to attend to.”
“I take it that your relationship with him improved significantly, then?”
“Yes.”
“It should’ve happened sooner.”
Justin looked at Rachel, feeling sincerely happy for her.
“How are Charlotte and Samuel doing?”
“They’re all lively and well. In fact, they can eat and drink just fine. They seem to be quite relaxed as if they were never worried about us. They’re so plump that their faces are getting rounder.”
“That’s a good thing.”
“As long as you think it is.”
Rachel didn’t say more as she urged him to drink more soup.
“Right, did you find out what happened with the fire?”
At the mention of that, Rachel frowned slightly. “After the fire brigade put out the fire, they found that the fire was caused by some residents offering sacrifices in the mountain.”
Justin frowned. “That’s impossible.”
“True, it would be a stretch to say that. We were knocked out and tied up there. If it weren’t for this, people might even believe it was an accident. However, such coincidences don’t exist.”
Was it truly a coincidence for them to be tied up when the fire happened on the mountain?
That was absolutely impossible.
“Someone was trying to set fire to the mountain to burn us to death.” Rachel’s voice was firm. “Not many people would seek our lives, and you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure out who it was.”
Hints of coldness tinted Justin’s eyes.
He had already warned Julian to stop acting rashly, and he could overlook everything that happened in the past. However, with this fire, it was obvious that Julian was trying to kill Justin and Rachel. As such, Justin could no longer ignore this.
“Rachel, don’t get involved in this matter. I will handle it.”
Rachel looked at Justin and hesitated for a bit before nodding slightly.
Now that things had come to this, no matter what their relationship was like before, Julian was already trying to commit murder, so what other excuses could they possibly make for him?
Night silently crept up.
It had been almost half a month since the widely reported Somerset Mountain fire. Since no one had died in the incident, it didn’t garner too much attention in public before other news took its place.
The French windows in the hotel reflected a certain man’s cold and exquisite face.
Behind him, his assistant’s voice rang out. “President Peters, Miss Porter is here.”
