“Are you willing to forgive me now?” Hamish asked cautiously, watching Elisa’s softened expression, unable to control the upward curve of his mouth.
“Just forgiving you so easily, you sure have a vivid imagination,” Elisa replied.
Hearing Elisa’s words, Hamish’s body stiffened imperceptibly.
Elisa was moved, but she didn’t want to let emotions overcome her rationality. Even after dealing with Finn, there were still many unresolved issues between them.
Today it was Finn, tomorrow it could be someone else like Wang Tingchuan or Li Tingchuan, and they would still argue.
Addressing the symptoms without dealing with the root cause, although she had become somewhat dull due to amnesia, it didn’t mean she was truly foolish. She hadn’t forgotten the contraceptive pills Hamish had given her, and his “little sister” Lila.
All of this was like a thorn in her heart. She never believed in the idea that enduring would make things better. Unremoved thorns would only grow deeper and more painful.
Kneeling on the ground, Hamish’s dark eyes became moist. He looked like a guilty puppy seeking forgiveness. Several times, his gaze nearly overwhelmed Elisa, making her almost give in and call it quits.
She endured, gritting her teeth, closed her eyes for a moment, and finally made up her mind.
“You can get up now,” she said.
At this moment, Hamish became stubborn. “If you don’t forgive me, I won’t get up.”
Elisa gave him a blank look. “Do your previous words still count?”
“What words?” He had said many things and made many promises. Despite saying that he wouldn’t let Elisa get hurt, he still did.
Seeing the bruise on Elisa’s neck, he regretted and wanted to slap himself.
“The words where you said I was your leader, that when I asked you to stand, you wouldn’t sit, and when I asked you to forget, you wouldn’t dare to remember?”
“Those… those words count,” Hamish replied hesitantly, afraid that Elisa might take advantage of them. If he said something ambiguous, would he still be obeying or not?
“Then I want you to stand up now.”
Hamish stood up suddenly. Because of the lack of blood circulation in his legs, combined with the injuries on his thighs, his sudden movement made his legs feel like they had been electrocuted. He staggered backward, barely stabilizing himself.
In that moment, he didn’t miss the worried look that flashed across Elisa’s face. The stone pressing on his chest finally fell away. As long as Elisa still worried about him, it was enough.
“What’s the relationship between you and Lila?” Elisa asked.
Hamish hurriedly explained, “There is no relationship between me and her.”
“She likes you,” Elisa asserted confidently. Lila’s actions that day were undoubtedly a declaration of sovereignty. Those seemingly familiar intimate gestures might have been deliberate.
Elisa hadn’t thought much about it that day, but today, after arguing with Hamish, she clearly saw his face stiffen when she mentioned “Lila.”
Hamish knew he couldn’t deceive Elisa. One lie to cover another would inevitably have holes.
“Yes, she likes me, but I have no feelings for her. You’ve also noticed that I didn’t want to have anything to do with her during those days she was back in Chiwood, and I even asked you to stay away from her.”
“Why didn’t you explain that to me?”
“Because I was afraid you’d misunderstand,” Hamish replied. As soon as he finished speaking, both of them fell into silence. Elisa stood up. “You sit down first, I’ll get the medicine.”
Hamish sat dizzily on the chair, watching Elisa open the cabinet and take out the first aid kit.
“Take off your clothes and pants, let me see how serious the injuries are,” Elisa instructed.
Without a word, Hamish took off his clothes and pants, throwing them on the ground. Elisa approached with the first aid kit, and when she saw the extent of his injuries, she was taken aback.
His abdomen and waist were covered in bruises, along with his legs and wrists. Clearly, there were swollen abrasions. Elisa’s eyes turned slightly red. She opened the first aid kit and took out iodine and a healing balm.
Elisa suddenly felt at a loss when faced with Hamish’s injuries. She put down the medicine and cotton swabs, “Take a bath first, and then I’ll apply the medicine.”
“Okay.” Hamish, now obedient like a tamed wolf, acted quickly. He went in with his clothes and came out within ten minutes. Elisa sat on the bed, absentmindedly holding the cotton swabs.
The bathroom door opened, releasing a wave ofwarm, moist air. After the brief humid warmth passed, a comforting coolness followed. Hamish, having dried himself, dared not get on the bed and instead brought the chair he had been sitting on earlier, waiting for Elisa to apply the medicine.
Seeing his shameless behavior, Elisa didn’t know what to say. After all, she had suggested applying the medicine, and she couldn’t suddenly refuse to do it.
Hamish handed her the first aid kit, but seeing that Elisa didn’t take it, he said, “I’ll apply the medicine myself. Although my hand hurts a bit, and the injuries on my back might be inconvenient, I can use a mirror…”
He even knew how to play the pitiful card. Hamish was quite clever, always able to find a way to breach Elisa’s emotional defenses. Elisa took the iodine from his hand.
She began by applying medicine to his face. When the liquid touched his wounds, Hamish’s breathing became heavy, and his brow furrowed.
Elisa muttered under her breath, “Serves you right.”
Although she said that, her actions became gentler. However, due to her injured fingers, she struggled to maintain a steady grip on the cotton swab, causing it to tremble, making it difficult to apply the right amount of pressure.
After finishing his face, she let him apply the medicine to his arms, abdomen, waist, and thighs, while she used the healing balm to massage the bruises on his back.
Hamish’s skin, fair among men, made the extensive bruising on his back look alarming under the light. Elisa pursed her lips and remarked, “Looks quite painful.”
“It’s not,” Hamish said. His heart felt like it was being squeezed by a hand, and he could clearly feel the faint warmth behind him.
The injuries on his body were nothing compared to what Elisa had endured.
Hamish’s eyelashes trembled as he carefully watched Elisa’s fingers. Elisa unscrewed the cap of the healing balm, and it was evident that her fingers were stiff and not very agile. Even twisting off the cap required considerable effort.
Pouring a generous amount of the balm onto her hand, she massaged it onto Hamish’s back. “I’ll massage it for you. It might hurt a bit, but endure it. These bruises need to be dispersed quickly.”
“Okay,” Hamish murmured.
Elisa could only exert minimal force, so she could only massage him slowly. After about ten minutes, her hands were sore.
Hamish, handling his own injuries silently, suddenly asked, “Elisa, have you ever been unkind to me before…?”