Dorothy was shocked. When she could not find Germaine anywhere, she started looking for her.
She walked around the room and did not find anyone in the bathroom. There wasn’t anyone in the kitchen as well. She did not see any sign of Germaine in the mini lounge either.
Dorothy panicked. She didn’t know where Germaine had gone to, and it would be useless to call Germaine as she didn’t have her phone with her.
She called out, “Germaine, where are you?”
Just as she was about to go ask the doctors and nurses, Dorothy suddenly noticed that the french window’s curtains billowed, and the bottom of the curtain even brushed against Dorothy’s arm.
Her voice broke off immediately, and her gaze fell on the thin, frail figure behind the curtains.
“Germaine, it’s me. You’re awake. Do you feel any better?” Dorothy walked over slowly and spoke gently.
“Dory, I have been awake for some time now. Don’t worry, I’m fine.”
Germaine’s weak voice could be heard from behind the curtains. She sounded extremely weak, and there was a deathly stillness in her voice.
“Germaine, are you hungry? Is there anything you want to eat? There are plenty of ingredients in the fridge, and I can cook you anything you want.”
As she spoke, she’d already arrived at the window. She gently pulled the curtain away, and saw Germaine half-sitting, half-crouching by the corner. Her head was slightly raised, and her listless eyes were focused on the lights outside.
When she heard the noise behind her, she did not turn around. She only shook her head. “Dory, there’s no need for that. I am not hungry, and I don’t have the appetite for that either.”
“But… you haven’t eaten anything for several days.” Dorothy’s face fell, and her voice trembled a little. “I won’t be able to rest assured if you don’t eat and drink something.”
At that, Germaine finally turned her head around and said to Dorothy slowly, “Dory, I’m really fine. I promise you, I’ll get better soon.”
“Right now, I just want to be alone.”
After that, she tucked herself into the corner again, as if she wanted to be one with the wall.
The unexpected and torturous whipping she received seemed to have completely changed her. She was now afraid of the light as well as the dark, and she was scared of everything.
When she saw how weak and fragile Germaine was, Dorothy’s heart hurt. She knew that Germaine turned out like this because of Jeremy’s inhumane torture, which gave Germaine a phobia, and she felt extremely unsafe in her heart too. Moreover, she would subconsciously reject everyone who tried to approach her.
Dorothy did not even dare mention Jeremy’s name, for fear that Germaine would react wildly to it and cause her to be in even greater pain.
“Germaine, can you promise me that I will be the first to know about anything that happens to you?”
Germaine did not make a sound at all, and she only nodded her head gently.
When Dorothy saw how reluctant Germaine was to communicate, she could only turn to leave.
As soon as she left the ward, she remembered that she promised Juelz to send him her new phone number. She quickly took out her cell phone from her bag and sent him a short message.
As soon as she sent it, Juelz gave her a call.
At first, she thought that it was Juelz himself. However, when she answered the phone, she realized that the person on the other end of the line was Sontha instead. He told her in a gentle manner, “Miss Fisher, Mr. Sherman has been transferred to a different hospital about an hour ago. He told me not to tell you about it, but after thinking about it, I still thought that you have the right to know.”
Dorothy’s fingers, which were holding the phone, suddenly tightened. “Alright, I understand.”
“Alright, I won’t disturb you anymore, Miss Fisher. I’ll hang up the phone now.”
Dorothy could vaguely hear Juelz’s hoarse voice asking Sontha something about the company and Sontha hurriedly hung up.
Dorothy frowned. She knew that Juelz was in a hurry to move to another hospital because he was thinking about her. He did not want her to be in a dilemma between him and Credence.
However, the nicer he was to her, the more guilty she felt.
Dorothy was in a complicated mood as she went back to Belle’s ward. She watched her sleeping face quietly for a while before heaving a sigh and lying down on the bed.
She did not want to think about anything else. The most important thing right now was to treat Belle’s illness.
Over the next half a month, Dorothy accompanied Belle, checked on Credence, and spent as much time as she could with Germaine, trying to help her come out of her funk.
The days passed in a busy but fulfilling way.
One Sunday morning, Dorothy woke up very early. She noticed that Belle was still asleep, thus she bent down and planted a warm kiss on her forehead. After that, she took a lunchbox and prepared herself to go to the canteen to buy some breakfast for Germaine.
Germaine had recently started eating, and her appetite was slowly returning. She was particularly fond of a chicken chop that could be bought from the canteen.
Seeing Germaine willing to eat, Dorothy felt happy, too.
Germaine’s body, which had long been relying on nutrient-filled liquid supply, had become as thin as a piece of paper. It looked like she could be blown away by the wind at any moment.
At first, she did not understand why Germaine, a woman who was born in a family as wealthy as the Sherman family, would like to eat such common food.
Later, through a conversation, she learned that these were Jeremy’s favorite food back when he was young.
Germaine must have really loved Jeremy terribly.
Even if she was repulsed by him, her stomach still remembered what he liked to eat, and subconsciously made her want to eat the same thing.
When she thought of how badly Germaine was tortured by Jeremy, Dorothy was distressed, and she hated Jeremy even more.
After Dorothy bought the food from the canteen and returned to Germaine’s ward, she noticed that Germaine was sitting upright on the hospital bed. She leaned against the head of the bed, and there was a relieved smile on her face.
Hearing Dorothy’s light footsteps, she slowly turned her head around. Her pale lips moved, and she said in a low voice, “Dory, I feel much better now. Please help me arrange for a discharge.”
“That soon?”
Dorothy’s hands trembled, and she almost dropped the lunchbox. She quickly suppressed her panic and said calmly, “Germaine, I have no objection with you wanting to be discharged, but have you thought about what’s going to happen after that?”
Germaine nodded, a trace of pain flashing in her eyes. “I want to travel and take a look at the world. I have a university classmate who runs a homestay in one of Kowloon City’s tourist districts, and she invited me to become her partner two months ago. At that time, I only wanted to be closer to Jeremy and stay in Talco City, so I rejected her.”
“Now, I have thought it through. Since I can’t accept Jeremy’s true colors, nor can I forgive him for causing such terrible harm to me, I thought that I should leave Talco City and start a brand new life.”
“Dory, don’t worry. I can take good care of myself. My spirits have almost recovered too. My head is clear now, clearer than it’s ever been.”
As she spoke, she looked up at Dory, her eyes filled with exhaustion and pain. However, her expression was calm.
Dorothy parted her lips to say something when suddenly the door slammed open. Jonathan’s agitated voice rang out. “Dorothy, where are you? Come on, something’s happened, something big!”