Half a month had passed in the blink of an eye. Osborn’s injuries were slowly improving and he had started rehearsing his lines again. Jane was still running between the hospital and her company.
Nana and William hadn’t seen each other much since their last encounter. Although Nana would visit him at the hospital, there was a great sense of unfamiliarity between them, with even their conversations being polite and formal.
During his treatment, William would take some time every day to walk around as it was said to be beneficial for nerve recovery. Today, Rory removed the silver needles from William’s right leg one by one and put them away in his needle bag before saying, “Your leg injury has basically healed now but you didn’t take good care of yourself before so this is all we can do for now. Come on, stand up and try walking around to see if you’re comfortable.”
William had been thinking about his relationship with Nana these past few days. He wondered if he had been too stubborn in the past which led them to where they were today? Perhaps if he chose a different path back then, things might have turned out differently?
Rory’s words brought him back to reality as he looked at the middle-aged man with a gentle smile saying, “Thank you for your help during this period of time, Rory. You’ve put in so much effort into my leg recovery but I know what I’m capable of doing.”
Rory shook his head slowly before speaking, “You shouldn’t be thanking me; it should be your girlfriend Nana and Jane who came begging me that made me come save you here in Guavo.”
Hearing Rory mention Nana made William feel melancholic for a moment before snapping out of it after awhile. “Yes she did treat me well but that’s all in the past…”
Before Rory could say anything else though, Jane and Nana walked into the room pushing open its door. Jane saw that William sat up on bed while placing new flowers beside him asking, “How are you feeling today?”
William heard the voice and turned around. There was a moment of stunned silence when he saw Nana, but in the end, he managed to lift the corners of his mouth and smile.
His feet slowly touched the ground, supporting him as he stood up and cautiously moved forward.
Indeed, William’s right leg had mostly recovered now. However, when he walked forward, there was still a slight limp, but as long as he didn’t walk too fast, it wouldn’t be noticeable.
Nana felt both surprised yet happy seeing how far along Williams’ progress has come. She had always hoped for this day where he’d get better again
She covered her mouth, and if it were before, she would have hugged William. But now, she could only stand beside Jane and not take her eyes off the man. She sincerely smiled and said, “William, you’re finally better…”
[I’m so happy.]
Nana didn’t say this sentence. When William walked in front of her, he stopped abruptly and moved his throat but didn’t say anything.
Seeing this situation, Jane turned to Rory who was packing things up and said, “Uncle Rory, what are you doing?”
“Jane.” Rory stood up straight and walked to her saying, “Now his leg is almost healed. I did my best. It’s impossible for him to fully recover but at least it won’t affect his normal life. After helping you guys out here today, I’ll go back to Mont Brush.”
“So soon?” Jane was surprised while Nana also noticed them walking over towards them saying, “Rory, why are you leaving in such a hurry? You’ve cured William’s leg; I haven’t thanked you properly yet.”
“No need for that; I booked a flight for tomorrow afternoon so I’ll be going back then.”
Nana wanted to say something else but was stopped by Jane with a look so she had no choice but to stop.
The next afternoon when Jane and Nana went to the airport with Rory seeing him off; Jane looked heavy-hearted throughout the whole time until she couldn’t help asking Rory. “Uncle Rory. can you tell me who Bernice is?”
She had been wanting to ask Rory about Bernice for a long time now but because of his mood, she never asked.
If she didn’t ask today, then there may not be another chance.
When he heard that question again from Jane about Bernice; he pursed his lips tightly before speaking after being silent for half a moment, “Actually telling you isn’t really much of an issue since Bernice is your auntie, someone from my past.”
Auntie?
Jane frowned as it was the first time hearing that word come out of Rory’s mouth.
And weren’t both her parents deceased? How could there still be other relatives around? He never mentioned anything like this before either…
It seemed like this Bernice did have some sort of relationship with herself though whether or not it was really Auntie remained uncertain.
But just hearing this news alone had already surprised her enough…
Instinctively grabbing onto Rory’s arm tightly; Jane eagerly asked him, “Auntie? Uncle Rory, how come you’ve never told me about Bernice being my aunt?”
Rory remained silent while Jane quickly thought things over. Bernice and Rory seemed to have a good relationship, so if she was Jane’s aunt, then it was possible that Rory knew her parents.
As soon as this idea came to mind, Jane spoke up and asked, “If… if that’s the case, do you know my parents? How did they die? Can you tell me?”
Jane’s emotions were getting the best of her. After all these years, only news about her parents could make her feel this way. She wanted to know what happened back then and what caused her memory loss.
Her voice grew louder and some passersby began looking in their direction. Nana didn’t want anyone recognizing them or for Jane to get caught up in any rumors again. So she tightly held onto Jane’s hand and tried calming her down by saying, “Jane, calm down… this is an airport. If there’s anything you need to talk about with Rory, do it slowly.”
Rory frowned at Jane for a moment before sighing deeply and briefly lowering his gaze as he responded with the shortest sentence possible, “I’m sorry but I really don’t know much about your parents.”
“But…”
Jane clearly didn’t believe Rory’s words as she was just about to continue questioning him when suddenly an announcement came over the airport loudspeaker stating that the flight would be departing in half an hour.
Rory nodded his head towards them saying, “Jane, I have to board now; we can talk later.”
“Take care on your trip,” Nana added calmly while watching as Jane slowly let go of Rory’s hand with a look of disappointment on her face.
She placed a comforting hand on top of her friend’s shoulder before bidding farewell along with Rory who had turned around one last time before heading off towards his gate.