“Uncle, are you upset?”
Although he was still young, Ayaan was smart and could read faces well.
Brendon softened his expression and reached out to touch his chubby face. When he felt the soft skin, Brendon’s heart also became soft. Ayaan’s skin was as smooth as milk like Ranita’s, and it was also soft.
Was this their child?
Brendon didn’t really like children, but looking at Ayaan made him not dislike him. He even kind of liked him.
“I’m not upset!”
“Really Uncle? But you look upset!” Ayaan grabbed his finger with his round little hand and said cutely, “Don’t be upset Uncle! Even though you’re not my dad, I like you.”
Brendon felt a pang in his heart.
Stop talking about it or he’ll flip the table over.
“Okay Ayaan! You should go to sleep now!” Ranita patted Ayaan’s shoulder and he immediately fell asleep soon after that.
Finding Ayaan and taking him to the hospital had already taken up a lot of time. It was already late at night now.
“You should get some rest too. I’ll stay here with Ayaan.” The family members were only given one accompanying bed in the ward so Brendon couldn’t take it from Ranita since he was a man after all.
Ranita looked at Ayaan sleeping peacefully then looked back at the relatively large accompanying bed. “I’ll share half of it with you so hurry up and rest for a bit.”
“I set an alarm clock so I can wake up periodically to check on things.”
Ranita dimmed the lights then lay down first.
In this silent space, Brendon’s footsteps were very clear like they were stepping on her heart beat by beat making her feel anxious without knowing what to do.
Ranita sighed inwardly feeling useless.
Brendon sat next to her but didn’t lie down; instead he reached out and grabbed her ankle!
His fingertips were slightly cold which made her instinctively pull back her leg asking, “What are you doing?”
“I’m checking your feet.”
“Huh?” Ranita looked at him puzzledly while listening as he continued speaking, “When I went to the amusement park earlier today, I noticed that your walk wasn’t quite right. Is your foot hurting?”
Because everyone’s attention had been focused on finding Ayaan, no one paid attention that she still wore high heels causing numbness in toes long ago.
She never thought that Brenden would notice such small details about herself.
As Ranita looked into his eyes, she couldn’t help but notice how sharp and striking they were. They hadn’t changed a bit since the last time she saw him, still as captivating as ever.
“I’m fine, it doesn’t hurt,” Ranita said through pursed lips.
“Liar!” Brendon called her out on it and helped her take off her socks. He gently pressed down on the sole of her foot and she cried out in pain. “Ow! That hurts!”
“Brendon, be gentle!”
But instead of stopping, Brendon applied more pressure to her foot.
His fingers were cold but Ranita’s toes were even colder. Brendon furrowed his brow in displeasure. “Why are your feet so cold? They weren’t like this before.”
Between taking care of the kid and working all these years, Ranita’s health had taken a toll on her body.
“You mind your own business! Don’t touch me,” Ranita huffed before hearing Brendon say in a low voice, “I heard you’ve been telling people that I sacrificed myself?”
Ranita was still hurting when she suddenly heard those words which made her ears turn red with guilt, “No! I haven’t been telling anyone…”
“Only Ayaan then?”
Brendon chuckled softly. “You should thank him instead of spreading rumors about me again. You owe me for saving your life yet you keep slandering my name… you’re becoming quite something else, Ranita.”