The taxi gradually drove into the rainy area, and the driver asked Elisa behind him, “It’s raining heavily today, I’ll close the windows.”
Elisa leaned against the door, only coming to her senses upon hearing the driver’s voice. She looked at the rainy day outside, and the cold wind poured into the car with force.
She hadn’t felt the cold when she wasn’t paying attention, but now, seeing the trees being blown about by the wind and the distant sound of “whistling” from the wind, it sounded mournful.
Elisa rubbed her arms, her lips, lacking color, seemed to be either frozen or fearful.
“We’re almost there, do you know where you’re going?”
Going to each hospital one by one was such a waste of time. Elisa regretted not getting Louis’s agent’s phone number and not actively inquiring about his family situation. If she had known about his parents, she wouldn’t be going round in circles like this.
There was news about Louis online just now, but now no matter how she searched, she couldn’t find anything. Knowing roughly what the situation was in his family, she understood that it must have been done by his family.
Elisa tightened her slightly cool lips, tasting a faint taste of blood in her mouth. She gripped her phone, but her hand kept shaking from exertion, her knuckles turning white. Finally, she took a deep breath, unlocked her phone, and scrolled through her contacts to Tobias’s number.
Tobias was very surprised to receive Elisa’s call again, his tone unable to hide his astonishment, “Miss Powell?”
“It’s me. Do you know where Louis is?”
“How would I know where Louis is?” Tobias paused. Elisa wouldn’t have asked about Louis’s news for no reason. He answered the call while browsing the internet. He didn’t even need to search; the news of Louis’s car accident automatically popped up. However, they only knew about the accident, not the location of the accident, and even less about his current condition and which hospital he was in.
“Miss Powell, I don’t know where Louis is, but Mr. Burns must know. He went to the White family today to meet with the White family. Why don’t you try calling him?”
At the mention of “Hamish,” Elisa instinctively recoiled. She had been through it once, and naturally kept her distance from that person. To her, the current situation was fine, no need to disturb each other, just go their separate ways.
But it seemed like fate had other plans.
“Do you have the White family’s phone number?” Elisa asked tentatively.
“I’m sorry, Miss Powell, I really don’t have the White family’s phone number. Even if I did, I wouldn’t give it to you. You should know that these numbers can’t be given to outsiders,” Tobias explained, then asked, “Why don’t you just call Mr. Burns directly? Since you are so worried about Louis, he probably wouldn’t mind.”
“I understand. Send me Hamish’s phone number. I don’t have his number.”
Tobias sent a text while replying to Elisa, “Mr. Burns’s number has never changed.”
Elisa received the message on her phone and saw a familiar string of numbers. She had stared at it every day, dialed it, and then been hung up on many times. Every time she entered the number and pressed call, from the initial anticipation to desolation and disappointment.
Now, seeing this familiar number, her heart was as calm as water, unable to stir up any waves.
Elisa ended the call with Tobias and dialed the number.
The call went through, and Hamish’s voice came from the other end, just as surprised as Tobias, but with more delight.
“Elisa, do you… have something to discuss with me?”
“Why did you go to the White family today? Now Louis has had a car accident. Do you know where he is?”
Her boiling heart felt as if it had been plunged into ice, gradually quieting down after a crackling sound.
Hamish choked, “So… you’re calling me for him?”
Louis had called her so intimately. When Louis had said that he was suspicious when he had a relationship with Elisa, but now, hearing Elisa calling him to inquire about news, he had started to believe it.
“If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t have called you. If you know, tell me. If you don’t know or don’t want to tell me, then I’ll hang up.”
“What if I don’t know?”
Elisa wouldn’t care about his feelings at all, bristling with thorns to fight him, knowing he would be hurt, she would even want to hurt him all over.
“I will go to each hospital to ask and search until I find him.”
“Elisa, do you have anything else to sayto me besides him?”
“What needed to be said has already been said in the past life. We have nothing to say to each other now. Hamish, I don’t want to waste time. Tell me where Louis is.”
Every time she mentioned “Louis,” it was like stabbing him in the heart. Clearly, he was sick in the lungs, but his heart hurt so much.
“He’s at Central Hospital, on the eighth floor of the orthopedics department.”
With that, Elisa hung up the phone.
The car slowed to a stop, and Elisa said to the driver, “Sir, to Central Hospital, quickly!”
“Alright, I’ll turn around up ahead.”
Elisa also turned on the navigation. Under normal driving conditions, it would take twenty minutes to get there, but without encountering any traffic or red lights, it would only take fifteen minutes.
Elisa paid the fare online and got out of the car, heading straight for the hospital.
She was still wearing her costume, dressed like a woman from ancient times, resembling a female warrior in red.
When she rushed into the hospital, no one even noticed. Elisa went straight to the eighth floor in the elevator. The hospital was large, and although Hamish had only told her that it was the eighth floor orthopedics department, he hadn’t given her the specific room number, so she had to go from room to room to look for him.
The eighth floor was all single rooms. On the way, a young nurse saw her and said, “Are you… are you Elisa? Oh my, I can’t believe I’m seeing Elisa today, not only Louis but also Elisa!”
As soon as she mentioned Louis, Elisa immediately asked, “I’m here to see Louis. Do you know which ward he’s in?”
The nurse nodded quickly, her eyes shining as if on fire, staring at Elisa with wide eyes. “I know! Let me take you there!”
Following the nurse, they quickly arrived at the ward. The nurse whispered, “It’s here. You can go in.”
“Thank you.”
The ward door was half open, and voices could be heard inside, more than one person, probably Louis’s parents.
Elisa had wanted to fly over all the way, but when she reached the door, she hesitated and didn’t dare to go in. She stood at the door, uncertain. The nurse was called away, but before leaving, she said, “Good luck!”
Seeing the nurse so relaxed, Louis should be fine. Elisa knocked on the door.
The sound of knocking came from inside, and a man opened the door. He looked to be in his forties, very young, and his features resembled Louis’s; it was clear they were cut from the same mold.
Mr. White frowned, “Is it you?”
Without thinking too much about it, Elisa said, “Uncle, hello, I’m a friend of Louis.”
“How did you know he was here?”
“I asked around.”
Mr. White wanted to continue asking, but Mrs. White walked over. “Isn’t this…?” She stopped herself. She hadn’t asked much about her son’s private affairs, but she checked his Twitter every day to keep up with his online news, so she naturally knew about Louis’s relationship with Elisa.
Tear stains still on her face, Mrs. White’s expression softened considerably when she saw Elisa.
“Miss Powell, you’re here to see Louis, right? Come in quickly.” Mrs. White pulled Mr. White to the side, making room for Elisa to enter.
“Thank you, Aunt Burns.”
Elisa hadn’t expected to meet Louis’s parents in this situation. The ward was spacious and well-ventilated, but the smell of medication lingered in the air.
Louis lay on the hospital bed, his eyes tightly closed, his arm wrapped in bandages with a needle inserted for medication.
“Why isn’t he waking up yet?”
“The doctor said he has a concussion and will wake up in a while.”
Thankfully, Louis was driving inside a lane when he quickly turned the steering wheel and ended up in a ditch. The airbag deployed in time, and although he was unconscious, he didn’t suffer significant injuries, just a few small cuts on his forehead from the windshield, which the rain had washed clean.
The driver who accidentally turned on his high beams didn’t run away out of fear, but instead called for help and an ambulance, and took Louis to the hospital. Otherwise, there could have been real danger if they had arrived late.
Elisa carefully examined Louis from head to toe to make sure he was only slightly injured, then let out a sigh of relief. But then the atmosphere became awkward.
Elisa wasn’t good at exchanging pleasantries with elders, and given the special status of Louis’s parents, she stood by the bedside, sometimes looking down at Louis’s hand and sometimes out the window, to pass the time.
Mrs. White moved a chair next to Elisa. “Sit for a while.”
“Thank you,” Elisa replied, keeping her head down.
Mrs. White looked Elisa up and down. She couldn’t say whether she had a good impression of her or not. She had never really understood this person, her only impression being that she was beautiful, even more so than in pictures.
Mrs. White’s initial attention to Elisa had been due to a bunch of negative information about her, so her impression of her wasn’t very good. Later, she watched the show “Weekend Show” and was amazed by her outstanding acting.
Then rumors about her and Louis appeared online, and Mrs. White’s impression of her changed again. She thought she was just like other female celebrities, enjoying spreading rumors about others.
What truly changed Mrs. White’s impression was that Elisa always managed to turn things around whenever Mrs. White’s opinion of her declined, overcoming adversity each time. And Louis had always believed in her, and if her own son trusted her, she had no reason not to.
After all, once Louis woke up, he was very indifferent to everything, emotionally detached. This was his first time being so actively close to a girl.
Louis was not young, in his thirties. Although he looked like he was in his twenties, he was at an age when he should be getting married.
Mrs. White had been quite worried that Louis wouldn’t find a partner. In his eyes, there was a clear distinction between people and animals. It was impossible for a woman to elicit even a little sympathy from him.
He had worked on three movies, all with male co-stars. Mrs. White went to watch them when she had nothing to do, but the more she watched, the more uneasy she felt. She couldn’t help but wonder if Louis’s sexual orientation was different, if he naturally wasn’t interested in women and preferred men.
Thankfully, Elisa’s appearance dispelled that thought. Mrs. White had even started planning Louis’s wedding and had even thought about having two sets of suits for him…
Mrs. White tentatively asked, “What’s your relationship with Louis?”
“We’re friends.”
So she hadn’t caught up yet.
When she heard “friends,” Mr. White couldn’t help but chuckle. He had seen this “playing hard to get” act with the excuse of being friends many times.
His son had clearly expressed his feelings on Twitter, and she still saw him as just a friend. Were there pure friendships between men and women in this world?
Mrs. White glared at him, and Mr. White retreated, “I’ll go to the bathroom for a bit. You can talk.”
Women talk about things that have nothing to do with him, so he left.
At least he was quite self-aware.
Once the man left, Mrs. White asked again, “Is it just friendship?”
Elisa nodded.
“How do you feel about Louis?”
“He’s really great.”
Mrs. White’s thoughts differed from Mr. White’s. When Elisa subtly responded only as a “friend,” she guessed that Louis hadn’t caught up with her yet.
Every mother who genuinely loves her child would think her child was outstanding, even if she hadn’t said it out loud, she would acknowledge it in her heart.
And in Mrs. White’s eyes, Louis was absolutely outstanding. Setting aside his family background, just in terms of appearance and the career and influence he had built for himself, the fact that Elisa could reject Louis’s pursuit showed that there was still a chance. Seeing her anxiously running to the hospital, her son could definitely win over his future wife!