The doctor practically forced Harry to examine Hattie’s body, pointing out a specific area to him.
“Do you see it?” The doctor pointed to Hattie’s neck. What was meant to be long and delicate was now a large, blood-red scar that extended all the way to her back.
“This is a burn, and it’s already considered a second-degree burn.” Second-degree burns penetrate the dermis, causing blisters that change the skin tissue. This kind of burn doesn’t heal easily.
“From the wound, it seems like she didn’t receive timely treatment.”
“What do you mean?”
“After a burn, it will develop into blisters and pus. If it doesn’t receive timely treatment, it will repeatedly inflame and pus, and the wound will grow deeper. That’s why her scars are so severe and sunken.”
In addition to the neck and back, there were also numerous wounds on her thighs. When Harry was at the hotel, he quickly glanced at Hattie’s body and didn’t see many wounds.
Now, as the doctor pointed them out one by one, he realized she had almost a hundred old wounds on her body. It wasn’t just skin and flesh that were damaged; her internal organs were also deteriorating.
Harry reached out his hand, wanting to touch it. His slender fingers couldn’t help but tremble uncontrollably. When his fingertips touched the uneven scars, it felt as if he had been burnt.
Initially, he didn’t care. He even felt that Hattie deserved it all.
If she had obediently not stabbed him with that knife two years ago, she wouldn’t have ended up in prison. He admitted that ignoring her was a punishment for her. She suffered when she lost her finger, and he knew that. He just didn’t know it in such detail, didn’t know she had suffered so many wounds.
All he wanted was to inflict the same pain on her that she had inflicted on him, but this was ten times a hundred times or even a thousand times more.
Normal burns only need four to five weeks to heal, but Hattie’s wounds were four to five months old. As soon as the old wounds healed, new ones appeared day after day.
The doctor said heavily, “She’s suffered too much.”
That prison destroyed a doctor’s dream. Hattie could never return to what she once was. No wonder she stared at him with an even more vicious look than before.
Even though she was terrified of the prison, she chose to return to it, unwilling to lower her head for him.
Harry’s breathing grew heavy, and his jawbone protruded.
“I understand,” said Harry.
The doctor furrowed his brows at him, wondering what he understood.
“Stay here and watch over her; she’ll wake up soon,” said the doctor.
Harry didn’t even know when the doctor left. He quietly watched over Hattie, and a ripple of emotion appeared in his calm eyes.
A nurse came in and handed Harry the printed examination report. A full-body examination report that took up several pages.
Hattie slept until midnight. She had another nightmare, or rather, a recollection of the past. In her dream, she was in prison, her finger being smashed, while Harry looked on coldly.
She stared blankly at the ceiling, recalling the dream. Her head was foggy, and she later realized she was out of prison and had met Harry.
There was still an IV bag hanging from her arm, filled with white nutrient fluid. It was dripping so slowly that her hand had swelled and become numb.
It was the first time in two years that she had slept so soundly, and she didn’t expect it to be in a hospital.
After coughing up blood, her mouth tasted bitter, and her chest throbbed with pain.
“Awake?” A familiar voice sounded at the door, and Harry walked in. “Hungry? Do you want to eat something? Or do you want to drink water first? Oh, you’ve been asleep for so long, your body must be stiff. Let me help you up.”
Harry spoke so much in succession that Hattie almost thought he was concerned about her.
Hattie looked unappreciative. “You’re just…”
Harry looked slightly bewildered. “What?”
“What are you planning to do again?”
Harry’s expression changed, but he wasn’t angry. “You ungrateful dog.”
“I think you’re the one who’s a biting dog,” replied Hattie, unafraid of Harry. Her throat hurt, and if she could, she didn’t want to engage with Harry. She even felt that his presence was unwelcome, even if he didn’t say anything.
“With a body like yours, you still dare to defy me. When will you ever be afraid of pain?” Harry’s words indicated that he had seen the wounds on her body.
Hattie laughed again, her clean pupils gradually becoming shattered, as if they were blending into a dark ink…
In her dark eyes, only hatred remained, the kind of hatred that had seeped into her bone marrow, burning into ashes.
Hattie propped herself up, ignoring the pain, and pulled the needle from her hand. Her emotions flared up again. “This body of mine is all thanks to you. Because of your words, I endured torture in prison-burns, cuts, whippings. Do you see the long scar on my neck all the way to my back? Do you know how it came about? They scalded me with boiling water and hot oil during the hottest days of summer, causing the wounds to repeatedly inflame. They burst the blisters one by one and poured salt on them while burying me in the sand!”