The weather in the south changed little throughout the four seasons. Summer and winter stayed for particularly short times. Seeing the sun shining in from outside, Elisa suddenly realized the seasons were changing.
Hamish arrived at the hospital at two o’clock. After asking the front desk, he went straight to the ward with an ominous expression on his face, looking as if he was about to hit someone. The passing medical staff watched him warily, but he did not feel anything was wrong.
He kicked the door open. His sinister gaze fell on Elisa, first checking not her injuries but whether there were any new marks on her body.
He went up and grabbed Elisa’s collar to examine her neck and lips. His naked gaze was like scrutinizing a cheating wife.
Elisa of course understood his thoughts. Although she appeared indifferent on the surface, she felt ashamed inside. She pursed her lips, noticing Hamish had relaxed his grip.
Elisa said mockingly, “Are you done with the inspection?”
Hamish released her and looked at the chair behind him. He moved his hand and sat down, “Elisa, have I told you to obediently wait for me to come back?”
How obedient did she need to be? Obediently wait for death on the balcony? Elisa stayed silent.
Hamish’s face was a little unhappy. “How did you get to the hospital?”
“I fainted and Micah brought me here.”
“Pretentious. Fainting at the slightest thing. Don’t tell me you have some strange disease?” His words were full of sarcasm, hurting her ears.
Elisa felt ashamed. The more she thought about what he said, the more irritated she felt, like there was a fire burning in her chest.
Hamish didn’t care about her, so he had no idea how serious it was. He didn’t know every time she vomited blood, it shortened her lifespan.
“Hamish, when you handcuffed me to the balcony, did you ever think the handcuffs would scrape open the veins in my wrists and I would die?”
Hamish felt like something had stung his heart. It wasn’t fatal or very painful, but the feeling lingered in his heart for a long time, making him feel uncomfortable. His face darkened slightly.
Elisa looked straight at Hamish with her dull eyes. This was the man she had loved for so many years. She didn’t know how much she loved him. It seemed that as long as he was a little nice to her, she wished she could dig her heart out for him.
Books said giving would lead to returns, but what she had given for so many years resulted in late-stage stomach cancer and being trampled and humiliated by him time and again, handcuffed to the balcony railing, wind and rain beating her as she knelt against the glass.
This feeling was like a bottomless hole in her chest. Even if she gave up now, the empty hole would remain.
Elisa’s eyes were somewhat unfocused as she hoarsely asked, “Lila and I have the same blood type. If someday I really lost too much blood, would you let her donate blood to me?”
Letting Lila donate blood to Elisa was something Hamish had never considered. One look was enough to see who was weaker between the two women. Lila’s health was poor with coagulation disorders. How long would it take her to replenish the blood from one donation?
Wasn’t Elisa humiliating herself by asking this? How could she compare to Lila? Letting the other woman donate blood to her?
After so many years of marriage, Hamish knew what she was thinking from just one look. Elisa said self-deprecatingly, “Hamish, in your eyes, will I never get sick or become unhealthy, will I never die? Can you treat me like an unbreakable doll to recklessly abuse?”
A hint of sadness appeared in Elisa’s misty eyes. One had to taste the bitter fruit of one’s own planting. She took a breath, suppressing the tight pain in her chest, and continued in a trembling voice, “My place in your heart, you don’t need to say it, I know very clearly. Disposable. But if this thing for you to vent your frustrations dies one day, will you feel a trace of regret?”
“Like that time I was rushed into the emergency room, did you ever think I might not make it out? Did you ever think what the doctor handed you that day would not be my critical condition notice but my death notice?”