Carl didn’t want to disturb Nana, but he couldn’t leave her alone with their daughter in the hospital room.
“I’ll stay with you for a while until William comes.”
Carl said lightly as he placed their daughter on the bed to help change her diaper.
Today, William had to work an extra two hours to secure his hard-earned job, so he had to stay at the company.
Nana received a phone call telling her that he didn’t need to come to the hospital that night.
Hearing that William would be two hours late to the hospital due to overtime, a hint of relief flashed through Carl’s eyes.
He hoped that William wouldn’t show up at all.
After all, Nana would be discharged from the hospital tomorrow, and wherever she chose to stay, William had no reason to continue pestering her.
Thinking of this, Carl wanted to determine Nana’s place of residence as soon as possible.
“Nana, you’ll be discharged tomorrow. Let’s go live in the new villa. It has a beautifully decorated children’s room!”
Carl tried to spark Nana’s interest by approaching it from their daughter’s perspective.
“I’ve booked a hotel,” Nana’s voice sounded cold.
“Ah?”
Carl was taken aback for a moment and quickly tried to persuade her, “It’s not convenient for you to stay in a hotel with our daughter, and the space is small.”
“Janelle is already four months old. When she starts crawling, do you expect her to crawl around on the hotel carpet?”
“And what about when she starts eating solid food? How can you manage that in a hotel? You can’t go to the restaurant’s kitchen.”
…
Carl analyzed the downsides of staying in a hotel from various angles, hoping to dissuade Nana from the idea.
“I won’t stay in a hotel all the time,” Nana responded calmly.
Carl furrowed his brow and curiously asked, “Then where do you want to go in the future?”
Nana didn’t tell Carl that she planned to handle her parents’ affairs and then go to Naso.
“Let’s talk about it later.”
Nana’s voice sounded tired. “Let me have some quiet time. I really don’t want to talk anymore.”
“Well, lie down and rest for a while.”
Carl wanted to gently stroke Nana’s hair, but he noticed her consciously evading his touch.
Then Carl went to sit in the corridor, looking at the closed door of the hospital room. His eyelids gradually grew heavy.
Since Nana was admitted to the hospital, he had hardly slept, except for one night when he fell asleep for two or three hours with his head on the table while writing a script.
While dozing off, William saw his superior leave the company and immediately shut down his computer and left.
Originally, he was supposed to work two extra hours, but it ended half an hour earlier.
William hurriedly arrived at the hospital and saw Carl sitting on a bench, supporting his chin and dozing off.
“Bang!”
Seeing that Carl hadn’t left yet, William kicked the leg of the chair.
The bench shook violently, and Carl woke up abruptly from his sleep.
William’s arrival immediately darkened Carl’s expression.
“What are you doing? Are you full of food?”
William ignored him and waved his phone in front of Carl, showing the time displayed on it.
Understanding that William was reminding him that it was time, Carl gave him a disdainful look. “You’re late, and you blame me? There can’t be no one by Nana’s side, you should know that.”
“So I came in time,” William argued.
Carl showed a contemptuous expression. They almost started arguing again, but they restrained themselves from affecting Nana in time.
After Carl left, William didn’t know that Nana was resting on the hospital bed. He pushed the door open and greeted her.
“Nana, I’m sorry for keeping you waiting. If it weren’t for overtime, I could have come an hour earlier.”
William’s face was full of apologies.
Nowadays, Nana treated everyone with a cold indifference that seemed like it had nothing to do with her.
Her face still showed no expression as she calmly spoke, “William, you’ve been troublesome these past few days. Starting from tomorrow, you don’t need to come to the hospital.”
“Why? I promise not to work overtime tomorrow.”
William thought Nana was angry because of his tardiness.
Seeing William looking nervous, Nana smiled weakly with a pale face, “It’s not because of that. I’ll be discharged from the hospital tomorrow.”
He breathed a sigh of relief, afraid that he had upset Nana.
“Oh, where will you stay then?”
“I’ll temporarily stay at a hotel.”
With the exchange of a question and an answer, they had nothing more to say to each other.
William was contemplating whether he should ask his boss for a day off since Nana would be discharged from the hospital tomorrow.
Although the chances of getting approval were low, no one could stop him if he wanted to do it.
After a moment of silence, William asked in a kind and gentle tone, “Nana, what time will you be discharged tomorrow? I’ll take a day off to pick you up.”
“Just focus on your work,” Nana replied, shaking her head lightly. Her voice softened as she tried to convey her meaning, “You’ve been searching for a suitable job for so long. Don’t let my situation affect your work. Put your energy into your career.”
She didn’t want to burden others with her misfortune.
Especially William, who had no one to rely on in this city. The only thing he could count on was his own efforts.
“You are my priority, otherwise, going to work would be meaningless to me.”
William corrected Nana’s words, thinking about her staying in a hotel with a four-month-old baby, and the more he thought about it, the more uneasy he felt.
But what else could he do?
A hotel was still better than the rundown rental house he lived in.
But he was an incompetent man, with nothing to offer except his sincere heart.
Thinking about the dilapidated rental house with cracked floors, William didn’t want Nana to suffer with him.
If only he had a brand-new and spacious house…
William daydreamed in his mind, wishing to give Nana a new home.
“It’s really not necessary. Carl said he would take me to the hotel.”
Nana politely refused once again.
To avoid inconveniencing William and his normal work, this time she even asked Carl to help.
Carl again!
William’s brows furrowed with a hint of annoyance.
But he couldn’t say anything, so he reluctantly agreed to Nana’s request.
Late at night, Scarlet couldn’t help but call William when she realized he wasn’t coming back tonight.
The phone connected, and William sounded a bit impatient, “Scarlet, is there something important for you to call so late?”
His impatience and detachment were subtly hidden, but Scarlet could sense it.
“I’m having severe menstrual pain. Can you come back for a while…”
Scarlet pretended to whimper in pain to make it more believable.
At this moment, William was in the hospital corridor, looking out the window at the starry night sky. He patiently reminded her, “Make yourself a cup of ginger tea with brown sugar. I’ll come back tomorrow night to take care of you.”
Tomorrow night? What about tonight?
Scarlet felt disappointed, suspecting that she couldn’t even compare to a single strand of Nana’s hair in William’s eyes.
“My stomach really hurts.”
Scarlet emphasized once again.
Although it was just an excuse, she wanted to deceive William into coming back to the rental house.
“I’m sorry, Scarlet. I really can’t make it tonight.”
William sighed, not knowing when he would be able to repay this debt.
“Never mind then, you don’t have to come back.”
Repeatedly being rejected, Scarlet hung up the phone in disappointment.
Scarlet’s hatred towards Nana grew stronger in her heart, wondering why she hadn’t been burned to death.