A gust of chilly wind blew into the ward. It seemed that the window wasn’t properly shut, and the wind had blown it open. Tugging on the blanket that she had on herself, Heather felt much more awake upon the stimulation of the cold wind.
Aware of the cold, Leon instinctively walked toward the window and opened it wider. The wind crept into the curves of his neck and the strands of his baby hair near his forehead started to dance along with the wind. Not long after, he shut the windows tight.
After bathing himself in the chilly wind, Leon felt more awake now. He then trotted back toward the hospital bed. At this moment, a dreamy blush flushed on Heather’s cheeks.
“Leon, do you not know me well enough?” She was confident that he would comply; she knew that she was the more domineering one between them, after all.
“Heather, stay in the hospital and don’t overthink.” At this point, he was unable to look at her straight in the eyes. Though he had fantasized about getting together with her numerous times, he couldn’t bring himself to take up the offer now that the opportunity was laid right in front of him.
She could see the hesitation in his eyes. With a flirtatious smile, she said, “Alright. Will you be visiting me tomorrow?” At this moment, she was acting like a little girl who craved love; even the look in her eyes seemed seductive.
“Of course I’ll come,” he answered. Unable to resist her beauty, he turned to look at the view outside the window.
“I’m going to rest, so you can head back for now.” She was lying on the bed with content plastered all over her face. She looked like she had just accomplished a big project, and she could finally take a rest.
With his back facing her, he nodded. Her kind actions toward Leon today were making him nervous. He knew that he would say yes to everything she said once he was looking at her; he just couldn’t bring himself to reject her.
Heather then watched Leon attentively as he left the room. The moment the door shut once again, she sighed to herself. She recalled how she treated Matthias earlier when Leon was in the same room. Thinking that she must have hurt Matthias’ self-esteem, she supposed that he would not be coming to visit her any soon.
However, she had underestimated him this time. Just as Leon left, Matthias came in right after. It was so coincidental that they didn’t bump into each other. As a result, Heather couldn’t even catch a break without entertaining the two.
After Matthias left the hospital earlier, he realized that he had acted too rashly. After all, she was ill now. Despite her usual strong-headed and stubborn demeanor, she was still sick. The initial reason he came to the hospital was to check on her and show his concern. Hence, he started regretting fighting with her, as he should’ve been more patient and understanding.
Just as Heather lay down, she saw him pushing the door to come in. At this moment, since she was really worn out, she was reluctant to sit up in bed, so she remained in her lying position.
“President Locke, why’d you come again?” She continued using a hostile tone to agitate him. She was now eager to do whatever it would take for him to dislike her. She was obviously crossing the line, yet she wouldn’t let her guilt show.
“The meeting has already ended, so there’s no use going back now.” It seemed that he had found himself a solid excuse.
After all, she didn’t like it when he’d comply with her. Perhaps it was better for him if they weren’t together. It didn’t make sense for him to keep bearing with her shenanigans; there was no reason for him to do that.
They were bound to hurt each other as long as they were together, and she didn’t want a relationship like this. There was a long future ahead, so she thought that he deserved a better woman, not someone as prickly as she was.
“I’m going to rest.” She continued to drive him away as she just wanted to settle this quickly.
Nevertheless, she wasn’t sure that she would be soft-hearted. After all, meeting him was unplanned, an accident. She truly didn’t want to continue facing him, because she was afraid that her plan would go down the drain if she were to slip.
“I’ll stay by your side.” Obviously, he had no intention of leaving and began to inch closer to her.
Matthias’ level of shamelessness was about to reach Leon’s. To Matthias, loving someone meant giving them exceptional treatment. That was why he was able to bear with Heather so much that it was beyond her expectations. Getting a chair, he then sat down next to her bed, looking down at her with an adoring gaze.
With a frown, she said helplessly, “President Locke, I can’t rest with you by my side.” Seeing that he seemed like he wanted to hang around, she couldn’t be at peace.
“If you’re really tired, you can definitely rest no matter how many people are around you.” Exceptionally persistent today, the man disregarded her hostile tone.
“I just want to be alone quietly,” she said, dissatisfied. He sure is becoming more and more full of cr*p!
“You are alone. You can treat me like I’m air,” he said nonchalantly. The warmth in his gaze was about to melt her.
“You’re harassing a sick patient.” Baffled, she looked at him. Now that Leon had left, she had no idea what she could use to agitate him and drive him away.
“Since you know that you’re a sick patient, you should know that a patient requires someone to take care of them,” he argued, sounding like he was full of facts.
Immediately, she pulled the blanket up over her head, covering her face. She really didn’t want to see him. Besides, continuing the argument wouldn’t be of any use anyway. Seeing that, he took it as her complying. At once, he smiled at her actions. Since when did she become so childish?
She must be truly exhausted because she had fallen asleep in no time. Living in different time zones truly messed up her body clock, so she wasn’t capable of bearing more blows. Patiently, he waited until she was deep asleep before he tentatively pulled down the part of the blanket that she used to cover her face. He made sure to be very careful so that he wouldn’t wake her up.
Though she had always been a light sleeper, she was deep into it this time. Seeing her pale face, he felt his heart ache a little. Although he knew that she had been hiding a lot from him lately, he felt it would be disrespectful for him to pry into her personal affairs.
In the end, he could only just let it be. He believed that she would explain it to him if she truly cared for him. Thus, he waited. The more he waited; the more agitated he became. This wasn’t like himself.
As he continued the wait, he didn’t expect that the next thing he heard about her was the news of her getting admitted to the hospital. Owing to that, he regretted the actions he had done in the past few days.
From this incident, he learned that abstaining from an act was wrong. When it came to the person he loved, the right thing to do was to give her unconditional love—everything else was wrong. He was willing to bear with all her shortcomings, and he’d even change his future plans for her. However, he had been doing all these without telling her as he valued action over words.
The moment Heather’s face was visible to Matthias, he gazed at her lovingly as he really wanted to touch her face. Craving for intimacy was an effect of love. In both mental and physical means, he was suppressing his urges and desired her greatly.
There had been numerous times where he had the thought of having her. Nonetheless, he wanted to wait till she was willing. He was willing to belittle and humble himself because of his love for her. The same couldn’t be said for merely liking someone as it was much simpler. At this moment, he had finally realized the difference between loving and liking someone.
However, she was still struggling in her own thoughts, so he couldn’t exactly pinpoint how long he would have to wait for her to finally fall in love with him.
There were a lot of words he wanted to say to her. So, in a very soft and gentle voice, he said sotto voce, “Heather, if I take a step back, will you be willing to accept me?” He knew that they were both strong-headed. Since she didn’t want to give in, he was willing to take the first step back. In fact, he had been giving in to her more than once. Now, all he hoped was for her to just stay right where she was so that he could make her fall for him slowly.
Matthias’ voice had appeared in Heather’s dream multiple times before. As she was still in a blur state, she couldn’t differentiate whether she was in a dream or reality. All she knew was that he sounded very close to her––so close she would be able to touch him if she reached out her hand.
At this moment, she saw the painful expression on his face, which was the opposite of what she wanted––she wanted him to be happy. That was why she didn’t want him to continue wasting his time on herself. Aware that she loved herself more than him, she knew that she’d bring him more harm than happiness. Here and now, she just wasn’t able to give him a blessed life.
As she had always been escaping when it came to love, she knew that she was a failure. Many people happened to be able to love one person throughout their entire life, but she had been running from it, not once, but multiple times. Since she was unable to love anyone at all, she pictured herself to be alone in the future.
When faced with love, she always lacked courage. After missing the chance to get with Leon, she was going to repeat the same mistake with Matthias as well. She just couldn’t learn to face love with courage.
In the dream, she reached out to caress his face. She was smiling at him, and she even took the initiative to kiss him on his lips. “I’m scared that I’ll really fall in love with you,” she said faintly.
That made him think that he had gotten an answer. Hence, he leaned closer, but he couldn’t hear anything. He had the urge to wake her up and have her say it again, but he knew that it was inappropriate.
Therefore, there was nothing he could do but sit upright. Love filled his eyes, but a tinge of pain could be seen. She was right in front of him, yet she felt so distant as he couldn’t even touch her.
“Heather, if we could go back in time, I’d definitely fall in love with you at first sight,” he said to himself. If people could go back in time, imagine how great the world could be!
At this moment, the tone of the sky had changed; a rainstorm was coming. A rainstorm in the winter was exceptionally cold. Leon didn’t bring any umbrellas when he headed out, so he stayed in his car and looked up at the gloomy sky. The weather made him more depressed.
Meanwhile, Matthias, who was still by Heather’s bedside, carefully stood up, trying hard to not make any noise. He was going to pull the curtains as the weather outside seemed scarily gloomy.
The sound of the curtains being pulled woke her up. With her eyes squinted, she could see the back of Matthias’ figure. She then blinked a few times as she was still unable to tell whether she was dreaming or was back to reality.
When he turned back, she faked sleep as she lay on the bed. Since she couldn’t face him, she might as well not do that altogether. He was exceptionally gentle and soft today; even the steps he took were light and silent. Heather felt like he would be a good boyfriend in the future.
The tenderness that Matthias was showing her had fulfilled her fairytale dream––something Leon failed to compete in. This might also be the reason why she had feelings for Matthias instead. After all, who wouldn’t want a boyfriend who could make their fairytale dream come true? With him by her side, she felt at home. How great it would be if there weren’t any disputes between the Langstons and the Lockes!
As she was still faking to be asleep, she couldn’t see him properly. In fact, she could barely see his figure. She thought that he seemed to be more and more good-looking. She foresaw that she wouldn’t get bored of him even if she had to stare at him for another decade or two.
