Leland Burns pulled up all the surveillance footage, filling the screen with small windows. He singled out the one showing Winifred Dawson.
After he left in his car, he saw her crouching on the ground, crying. The camera’s resolution wasn’t great, and it was too far to see Winifred Dawson’s face clearly, but he could faintly see her shoulders shaking. She must have been crying. Leland Burns turned up the volume and heard her asking the guard questions. Something inside him felt blocked. Just from her voice, he could imagine how red her eyes were.
Winifred Dawson spent the entire morning in the living room watching TV. Rather than watching TV, it was more like she was in a daze, staring at her fingers and playing with her manicure.
It wasn’t until the midday news came on that she had a strong reaction and ran out. Seeing her almost trip over the coffee table made Leland Burns’s heart skip a beat.
Winifred Dawson was easy to comfort. The guard told her that once the news came on TV, he would come home. So she obediently sat in the living room watching TV, waiting for the news.
When it didn’t come by noon, she went upstairs to wait. The maid said he would be angry if she didn’t eat, so she obediently finished all her food, even stuffing herself when she was already full.
No matter what she was doing, her eyes kept looking out the window.
The premise of being easy to comfort was adding a “him.”
Winifred Dawson hadn’t been back in her room long when it was usually her nap time. Suddenly, she ran out of there. In the hallway surveillance footage, she stumbled as she ran, wrapped in a coat even at home. She ran all the way to the study door, where he worked and often stayed.
Winifred Dawson often waited for him outside this door; today was no exception. But today, he wasn’t inside.
After waiting outside for a while, Winifred Dawson suddenly leaned against the door as if trying to push it open. When she couldn’t, she started pounding on it. Her sobbing voice came through in the video. Tired from pounding, she slid down the door, hugging herself with her face buried in her arms.
He kept turning up the volume and heard Winifred Dawson’s hoarse voice.
“Leland Burns, I miss you so much… Why aren’t you back yet…”
It was like a tsunami suddenly hitting a calm sea or two icebergs colliding; his long-built fortress crumbled instantly.
In just one day, Leland Burns changed his previous thoughts. He wanted to keep Winifred Dawson by his side, even taking her to work if necessary.
Watching the video of Winifred Dawson curled up on the floor brought an unprecedented dull pain to his chest.
It felt like she couldn’t live without him…
Leland Burns finally understood what the maid meant when she said Winifred Dawson’s condition fluctuated and worsened when he wasn’t around.
Many illnesses accumulate from small ailments until they become irreversible. This was only the first day; Leland Burns couldn’t bear to think about what would happen next.
Leland Burns let out a long sigh; that swelling pain in his chest persisted and seemed only to ease when he saw Winifred Dawson again.
For a moment, he couldn’t tell who needed whom more or who was whose “cure.”
Leland Burns returned to Winifred Dawson’s side. She was asleep, so he sat by the bed watching her sleep until the butler came upstairs to call him down for dinner. He then woke Winifred Dawson up.
Just waking up, Winifred Dawson resembled a little kitten. She rubbed her eyes-a bad habit-so Leland Burns quickly grabbed her wrist: “Sweetie, don’t rub your eyes; it’s not good for them.”
Winifred Dawson pouted and said softly, “My eyes itch.”
Her eyelids were already red from rubbing. Leland Burns cupped her cheeks and gently touched her upper eyelids with his thumb.
Feeling uncomfortable and wanting to move,
Leland Burns anticipated her thoughts and stopped her: “Don’t move; there’s an eyelash in your eye.”
Leland Burns blew gently on it while Winifred Dawson tried not to blink. Her bright eyes filled with tears as Leland Burns carefully removed the eyelash from her eye.
“Is it better now?” Winifred Dawson asked in a trembling voice.
“Yes,” Leland Burns showed her the eyelash on his fingertip, “Do your eyes still itch?”
“No,” Winifred Dawson shook her head and said softly, “The TV isn’t interesting at all…”
“Hmm?”
Winifred Dawson mumbled on: “I said the TV isn’t interesting at all; neither is the news. They said you’d come home after the news aired, but I watched for so long… Finally, when it came on, you still didn’t come back…”
Every word lacked “miss,” but every word revealed “miss.”
Leland Burns finally understood that Winifred Dawson was complaining in disguise.
“Why did you leave me alone at home? Do you not want me anymore? Are you tired of me being sick? I take so much medicine every day; is it very expensive? I won’t take medicine anymore; I’m fine now. I’m not sick anymore; please don’t abandon me… I’ll be good; I’ll stay by your side… I’ll behave; I won’t cry or make trouble…”
“You say you won’t cry or make trouble, so why are you crying now?”
As soon as Leland Burns finished speaking, Winifred Dawson stopped sobbing and tried hard to hold back tears with puffed cheeks like a little pufferfish.
Leland Burns chuckled softly and embraced her fully in his arms, resting his chin on her soft forehead: “I won’t leave you anymore; you’re my only treasure. I’ll never leave you again.”