Isabella, rarely submissive, passionately embraced each other on the not-so-spacious hospital bed.
At this difficult-to-separate moment, there was a sudden knock on the ward’s door, and a calm female voice came from outside.
“Andrew.”
Andrew had heard this voice for over twenty years, incredibly familiar-it was his eldest sister, Layla.
Reluctantly leaving Isabella’s lips, he said, “It’s my sister. Do you want to meet her?”
At this point, Isabella’s cheeks were flushed, breath uneven. She looked unpresentable and definitely not fit to meet anyone, let alone his family.
“I’ll hide in the bathroom; you get rid of them quickly,” she hurriedly got off the bed, trotted and slipped into the bathroom.
Sitting up straight, he gazed at the tightly closed bathroom door, faintly smiling.
Subconsciously, he extended his fingertips, gently brushing his lips, which seemed to retain her scent. His mood instantly improved, even his voice lacked its usual depth as he said, “Please come in.”
The ward’s door slowly pushed open, and not only Layla entered, but also Joshua Scott.
Andrew was somewhat surprised by Joshua Scott’s presence. With his status, he generally wouldn’t leave Schenectady town.
“Why are you here?” Andrew asked. After a brief moment of surprise, his voice didn’t reveal much emotion.
Sitting by his hospital bed, Joshua’s face didn’t betray much emotion, but his gaze was warm and caring. “I came nearby for an inspection and heard you were ill, so I came to see you on the way.”
“It’s just a minor stomach issue, nothing for you to worry about,” Andrew replied.
Their conversation was polite, but there was an underlying unfamiliarity. Currently, this was how they interacted with each other as father and son. Joshua was Andrew’s adoptive father.
Standing aside, Layla inexplicably felt a twinge of melancholy.
Joshua didn’t say much to Andrew. Being a person of high stature, he was economical with his words except for giving orders.
He only advised Andrew, “You’re still young; health is your capital. It’s not worth sacrificing your health for external things.”
The Turner family foundation was seen as a gold mine by the world, but to the Scott family, it was merely a decorative piece. Initially, Joshua opposed Andrew’s resignation to return to Ithaca town, but Andrew was stubborn, and as an adoptive father, Joshua often couldn’t influence his son’s actions.
Andrew appreciated Joshua’s concern and nodded, replying, “I understand.”
Joshua didn’t stay in the ward for too long; he had to catch the next flight back to Schenectady town.
Accompanied by Joshua, Layla left as well. They walked out of the hospital, where a black Audi A8 was parked at the entrance, with a driver and a security guard inside.
This time, Joshua’s trip was private, so it was relatively low-key.
The driver got out and respectfully opened the car door.
Standing by the car door, Joshua looked sideways at Layla on the steps. He hoped she would offer to take him to the airport, but she seemed to have no intention of doing so.
“Anything you want to tell me?” he asked.
She pursed her lips lightly, her expression indifferent. She lifted her arm to look at the lady’s watch on her wrist, “It’s about to peak hour; if I don’t leave now, I might miss the flight.”
“…” His serious face revealed a hint of helplessness.
They gazed at each other, a brief silence and standoff ensued.
Finally, with an almost imperceptible sigh, he said, “Andrew is currently with the Turner family; I have limited control. Take care of him for me.
After hearing that, Layla merely lifted her eyelids. “I’ve been taking care of him all these years; your unnecessary request isn’t needed.”
What more could Joshua say? He could only silently get into the car.
As the car gradually moved away, in the rearview mirror, Layla’s figure became increasingly blurry, eventually disappearing.
…
Meanwhile, inside the hospital room,
Isabella came out of the bathroom, already tidied up in her clothes, her long hair tied up.
Andrew sat on the hospital bed, waiting to be discharged after the remaining IV infusion was completed.
Sitting beside him, she casually took an orange from a nearby fruit basket and started peeling it.
“Was that your elder sister and brother-in-law who just came?” she asked while peeling the orange.
Andrew hadn’t figured out how to explain his relationship with Joshua to her yet, so he replied, “It was an uncle.”
“That uncle is definitely pursuing your elder sister,” Isabella asserted. Sometimes a woman’s intuition was quite accurate; she hadn’t seen the person but felt they were a good match just from the voice.
“Maybe,” he just smiled faintly and didn’t say more.
She finished peeling the orange and offered a slice of the fruit to his lips.
Andrew seldom ate fruits; he wasn’t particularly fond of sour or sweet tastes. But whatever Isabella fed him, even if it was poison, he’d probably open his mouth to accept it.
As she fed him and ate herself, the orange was quickly finished.
She wiped her hands with a wet wipe and asked him, “Do you have anything to pack? Let me help you.”
He shook his head; he had only been in the hospital for two days, and he didn’t have much with him. The daily necessities Ryan brought were mostly disposable and didn’t need to be taken back.
As the IV bag emptied, when the nurse came to remove the needle, she couldn’t help but steal a few more glances at Andrew.
Though this was the VIP ward, the patients here were either wealthy or influential, from the offspring of high-ranking officials to company CEOs, seeing someone as handsome as Andrew was quite rare. The nurse felt like she’d be missing out if she didn’t steal a few more glances.
After all, he was about to be discharged.
Isabella was quite unhappy about this. Her man wasn’t some rare creature; whoever wanted to look could look. You even needed to buy tickets to go to the zoo.
“Why did it take you so long to remove the needle? Is it because of your lack of skill, or is my boyfriend’s veins different from normal people’s?” she said to the nurse.
The nurse turned red, apologized repeatedly, then left the room with the empty IV.
Andrew couldn’t help but smile helplessly and playfully pinched her nose. “Jealous little jar of vinegar.”
“Attracting flies,” she retorted, not wanting to appear weak.
They left the ward together, and only then did Isabella notice that the ward area was almost on par with a high-end hotel.
Passing by the nurse’s station, she noticed a few words written at the top: ‘Ward, please maintain silence.’
She stopped in her tracks and glared fiercely at Andrew.
A gastric ulcer patient staying in a VIP ward! What a spendthrift guy!